Nitro 14 unable to Print to HP Designjet 500 Plotter

[John Beaver]

I upgraded from Nitro 12/13 in September 2023 to NitroPro 14, and in all previous versions (from 2015 on) have been able to print A0 and A1 and any size plots on my HP Designjet 500 plotter.

This seems no longer possible with Nitro 14, as although the plotter is listed in the available printers, it cannot be configured as the 'Printer Properties' command is inactive.

Can you please advise a fix for this issue, as I am not using the plotter enough to justify buying another one, but sometimes require it.

Many thanks.

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver,

Thank you for reaching out to us through our Community Forums and we sincerely apologize for the delay!

What type of driver do you use for your HP Designjet 500 plotter, is it PCL or PostScript?

Thank you very much in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you.

[John Beaver]

Hi Allain Umailin, many thanks for your response.

I am unsure whether the driver is PCL or PostScript. It came to me in a file 'hpdj500wx64pclen', which when being installed opens as 'dsgj500.inf'. I am sorry I can't be more specific.

I use CAD software called IntelliCad v11.1, and the HP DesignJet 500 plotter works fine with that, as well as with Microsoft products, such as Excel.

As I said in my original enquiry, the plotter also worked with Nitro 12/13  without problems, so hence the reason for my question.

I hope this helps in some way, or perhaps you can point me in a direction to find an answer to your question.

Again, many thanks.

 

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver,

Thank you for this information.

To further assist you, what build of Nitro Pro are you working with? You can find this out by clicking on 'About Nitro Pro' under the Help tab (format is 14.XX.X.XXX, e.g 14.18.1.41) or you can go to Control Panel > Programs and Features under the Version column. 

Thank you in advance!

[John Beaver]

Hello @Allain Umailin

The  current build is 14.7.1.21.

Hope this helps,

Cheers....

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver

Kindly update to 14.19 and let us know if it helped:

x64   https://downloads.gonitro.com/professional_14.19.1.29/en/retail/nitro_pro14_ba_x64.msi 
x32   https://downloads.gonitro.com/professional_14.19.1.29/en/retail/nitro_pro14_ba_x86.msi

To know if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows system, please refer to this article:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ph/help/15056/windows-32-64-bit-faq 

[John Beaver]

Hello @Allain Umailin

Many thanks for the information, and the link to build 14.19.

I followed the link and am now running build 14.19.1.29 x64. Sadly there is no improvement to the situation, and NitroPro does not recognise the plotter, in fact now doesn't even put a preview of the document (any paper size) in the 'Before you print...' preview.

It's quite strange. 😒

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver,

Thank you for your patience.

Could you please update to our latest release which is 14.22 and see if that helps?:

https://downloads.gonitro.com/professional_14.22.1.0/en/retail/nitro_pro14_ba_x64.msi

[John Beaver]

Hi @Allain Umailin

My apologies for the delay in replying, I wasn't aware you had sent a response - no email was received.

I have installed release 14.22.1.0, and Nitro is still not able to recognize the HP Designjet 500 plotter. Obviously the plotter appears in the list of available printers, but when selected, there is no preview (I've taken a screenshot but unable to upload it - saved as a .docx).

It would just be easier to go back to Release 12, which I've tried to do, by using your Nitro full uninstall program, but something (I assume in Release 14) doesn't allow an original Release 12 installation, as the same thing that is happening now with Release 14, occurs in a re-installed Release 12!!

 

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver,

Thank you for this information.

To send the document via private message, hover your mouse on top of my name, 'AllainU,', and select 'Message.'

Thank you very much in advance and I look forward to hearing from you. 

[Allain Umailin]

Hello @John Beaver

Thank you for the documents, and I apologize for the delay.

1. Download and run our Clean Up utility to uninstall your current Nitro Pro and reboot your machine:

x64   https://downloads.gonitro.com/professional_14.22.1.0/install-cleanup/install-cleanup.zip 

2. After rebooting, download and install the latest version of Visual Studio (vc_redist.x64.exe & vc_redist.x86.exe) then reboot your machine again. Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 all share the same redistributable files:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads 

3. Clear all your Downloads folder or delete all downloaded Nitro installers. This step is important because we noticed that if you are saving all the installers and you download them in the same folder (like the downloads folder), the EXE can pick up any MSI installer in that folder, and you may pick up one of the older builds instead of the newly downloaded package.

4. Download and install Nitro PDF Pro 14.22 using this installer:

https://downloads.gonitro.com/professional_14.22.1.0/en/retail/nitro_pro14_ba_x64.msi 

Important: If you are using Chrome or any of the Chromium-based browsers (e.g., Vivaldi, etc.) and you are unable to access the above installer links, you're more than likely experiencing the results of a new security feature that was silently pushed out to the browsers, which blocks .exe/.msi/etc downloads without any visible error or prompt on the browser's frontend user space. 

To bypass this, please try these steps:

a. Right-click the link you're trying to download and select "Save link as..."
b. Choose your save location and select "Save"
c. On the bottom edge of your browser window, the Downloads bar should now appear and the file will show up with a red error icon, attempting to block the download. Press the caret button and select "Keep"

5. After installation, you can activate it by opening Nitro PDF Pro, clicking on the Help tab > About Nitro Pro > Activate by entering your serial number.

6. Turning off User Account Control (UAC) for Nitro Pro. Here are two methods that you can follow:

a. Right-click the Nitro shortcut > Properties > Compatibility > Turn off any settings there.

b. 
i. Right-click > Troubleshoot Compatibility > Troubleshoot Program
ii. Check "The program requires additional permissions" > Next > Test the program...
iii. Wait for the program to launch > Next > Yes, save these settings for this program > Close

Thank you very much in advance and I am looking forward to hearing back from you. 

[John Beaver]

Hello @Allain Umailin

The situation is resolved, as I am moving home, and had have no room for the plotter at my new place, so I have got rid of it, and will find another way to print large format.

I will do the upgrade you have suggested, to ensure my Nitro Pro is up to date, but the need to fix the plotter situation no longer exists.

Many thanks for your help.