EasySIGN with USB or networked plotters
Some large format full colour printers can also be used to plot. Nowadays these devices are equipped with a USB-port or
network interface card (NIC).
Although EasySIGN cannot open such a port directly, there’s a trick available that makes it possible to connect any device.
The instructions below will guide you through the required steps to make this possible.
Windows Printer setup
First of all, we need to install a local printer in Windows. You might wonder why a printer is used to drive a plotter. It’s
simple: the Windows printer driver is going to be used to forward the data to a port that cannot be opened by EasySIGN.
So please open the Windows Control Panel and open the Printers folder. Once this folder is open, start the add printer Wizard:
Click ‘Next’ to continue the Wizard.
In this case, we are going to add a "Generic/Text only" printer as a local printer.
Before you click ‘Next’ in this dialog, make sure that the checkbox in front of ‘Automatically detect and install my Plug and
Play printer’ is not checked.
In the dialog that follows, the port can be chosen to which the device is connected. Select a port from the list, or create a
new port. If the device is attached to a USB port, select it from the dropdown list. If the device can be reached over the
network, follow the instructions at the end of the document: ‘Creating a TCP/IP port’.
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Now click ‘Next’ to choose the printerdriver (Generic, Text only)
Once chosen, click ‘Next’ to enter the name of the printer.
If you’re now asked to replace or keep the existing driver, you can keep the existing driver.
We advice you to enter the name of the device: CX-500 or SC-540. In the dialog below we’ve use a generic name. You’re free
to change it.
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Before you click ‘Next’, make sure that this Printer is not going to be used as the ‘Default Printer’
Click next to share the Printer over the network:
Again use the name of the device, but any name will do, as long as you write it down.
If you press ‘Next’, Windows allows you to enter extra information about the Printer being installed. We advise you to enter
that this Printer is required for EasySIGN to drive a certain plotter.
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Again click ‘Next’. In the dialog that follows, Windows asks you whether a test-page is required. Select ‘No’ and click ‘Next’.
You now see a summary of the settings that you’ve entered for the new Printer. Click ‘Finish’ to add the Printer.
This completes the required settings in Windows. Now it’s time to add the plotter in EasySIGN.
EasySIGN Plotter setup
In EasySIGN, install a plotter driver for your device. Use the menu “File, Device setup, ‘Add plotter’ wizard…” for this task.
Once the drivers have been loaded, select your device from the list:
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And follow the instructions in the dialog.
In the dialog that follows, you can select the port for the device.
In this case, do not select the local port, but select the share that we’ve just created:
To be able to see the shares in the list, check the box called ‘Include network shares…” and press the refresh button. The
shared port is now present in the list with ports:
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If the port is not present, something must have gone wrong with installing the Printer in Windows. Please review that section
of this document.
If EasySIGN hasn’t got the possibility to show network ports, you can also enter it manually using the UNC (Universal Naming
Convention).
After completing the Wizard, there’s one thing left that might have to be changed.
EasySIGN Production Manager setup
If you’ve followed the above procedure and it still doesn’t work, please toggle the ‘Use Windows spooler’ setting in the
“EasySIGN Production Manager”. This setting can be changed by starting the “EasySIGN Production Manager” from the
EasySIGN Start menu in Windows:
Once open, select the ‘Spooler, Settings…’ menu.
In the dialog that follows, toggle the above mentioned setting:
Restart the “EasySIGN Production Manager” and try to plot again.
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You should now be able to plot to your Plotter using the "Generic/Text-only" printer as a data pump.
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Instructions for ‘Creating a TCP/IP port’
If the Plotter is not connected to a local USB port, but instead attached to the network, Windows allows you to create a
TCP/IP port for the Plotter.
For the port, choose the TCP/IP port that you're going to create using the 'Add TCP/IP port'-wizard.
Windows is now trying to identify the device over the network. If it cannot be identified, use 'Generic network card'. Once the
port has been added, it can be used by the Windows Printer.
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