Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

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Wink Graphics
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Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

Post by Wink Graphics »

So, recently got a new PC with Windows 7, hooked up my old (perfectly working) HP Laserjet 5100. I use two versions of Adobe Illustrator: 10 for everyday work, and CS3 for when I need to open customers' newer files.

On my old XP computer, when I first installed Illustrator 9 or 10, I initially opened the separation setup and pressed the "open PPD" button and chose the file hp5100_7.ppd, and everything would print just fine. This was the correct PPD file for the LJ5100 on a XP platform, available years ago.

Now, with Windows 7, the only working printer driver for the HP5100 is the HP Universal Printer Driver. When I download and install this, the correct PPD file is automatically enabled in CS3 (it shows up as "Default (Universal Printing PS)" in CS3's print dialog box.

However, I use Illustrator 10 for all my work and need to be able to print from it, and I have no idea which PPD file to use. When I choose my old hp5100_7.ppd, it does allow me to print halftones (thank heavens) but the page layout is all over the place, and I'll go thru several sheets of vellum before I figure out exactly how to set up the page. When I check my printer properties under Control panel/Devices and Printers/HP Laserjet 5100 PS, it tells me the printer is using the PPD file called hpmcpc25.ppd, however when I try to choose that file in Illustrator 10's separations setup, it tells me that it's not a valid PPD file.

SOMEONE out there must be using Illustrator 10 with Windows 7 and an HP Laserjet 5100 (or 5000, they're nearly identical) and sorted this mess out already. How did you solve this problem? What PPD file did you use for Illustrator 10 and where is it located? Please don't ask me to use CS3 to print, I try to use it as little as possible. I would still be doing all my work in Illustrator 9 (love that program) but it won't install on a Windows 7 machine.

Thanks for reading.
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tompaine
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Re: Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

Post by tompaine »

A PPD file just holds page size data/bounding box data/default halftones etc. You should be able to print from many PPDs
Wink Graphics
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Re: Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

Post by Wink Graphics »

Yes, there are several PPDs that I *can* print from, but as I said, they're not the correct ones for my particular printer so the artwork is not printing in the correct location on the page, even though I center it in Illustrator and in the separation setup dialog box. So I'll have to print several dummy sheets until I have it printing in the right place, and obviously this wastes a lot of time over the course of a day. Other PPDs will automatically print multiple copies, or full color separations where I'd only specified one color to print. So I need to know the correct one to use, before I pull the rest of the hair from my head!
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Re: Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

Post by notauser »

Just wondering if you ever figured out how to fix this issue im trying of booting my computer from win 7 to xp just to print the jobs
Wink Graphics
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Re: Adobe Illustrator / HP Laserjet 5100 / Windows 7

Post by Wink Graphics »

No, I never did figure out how to fix this, and I'm still jumping thru hoops just to print out each job. I cannot be the only one out there (aside from notauser) who is trying to print with the Win7/Illustrator10/HP Laserjet 5100 combo. If anyone can help, I'd still appreciate it.
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