Printers: HP 7150 printer does not print psd files

[Ben]

I have a Hewlett Packard 7150 printer. It does not seem to want to print out psd files is this normal or do I have to convert the psd files to another format? I hope I am not the first to come up with this silly question.

[gland]

Have you tried printing in any other format? Maybe you've got a printer driver problem.

A few more details would be helpful:

What OS are you running?

What version of photoshop?

How large is this file you're trying to print?


Normally printers have a utility that prints a test page. Make sure that works.

[dcarr]

Hello again Ben,
Did this start after you installed PS 7? Check to see that it recognizes you have a printer installed. Can you print any other format?
Send some more info.
Debbie

[Ben]

Further to printing problem. I am running Windows ME using PS6 and if I save the psd file as a tiff file or a jpeg file they will print out without any problem. The psd file starts to print and then just comes up with an error message. The psd file I am trying to print is 105mb if I save it as atiff file 101mb it prints ok. I have also tried a 73mb psd file which prints ok!! The error message says "A device attached to the system is not funtioning" Confused because I am. Over to you experts.

[jeaniesa]

Ben,

Do you have the latest driver? I found a download on the HP site for driver version 4.1 (dated 7/24/02) specifically for Windows 98 and Me. Perhaps that might help?

I've also been searching the HP knowledge base, but not finding anything related to your problem. (Lots of Mac OS issues though.) The only thing I could come up with is the new driver.

You can download the driver here.

Good luck,
Jeanie

[Ben]

Hi Jeanie
Yes I am using driver 4.1 have checked. Could it be anything to do with the size of the file?

[jeaniesa]

It most definitely could be the size of the file. However, I would think the printer (being a photo printer) should be able to handle larger than 105MB!

Have you tried flattening the image just for printing? You can store the PSD file with all of it's layers - just flatten it before you send it to the printer. (You can always undo the flatten after printing if you need to tweak any of the layers.) Flattening should significantly reduce the file size.

If you've already flattened it, how many alpha channels do you have? (Also know as saved selections - they'll be at the bottom of your channels palette.) If you've got a bunch of those, you might try deleting them before printing. They also add to the file size.

In any case, you might want to send an e-mail to HP support and ask them if there is a file size limit. Seems like 105MB is relatively small though.

Jeanie

[dcarr]

Hi Ben
One problem I have found with printers is they don't like to release resources after being finished. This may sound dumb, but if you try again and the psd still won't print try this. Shut down computer and printer. Then restart both. Go directly to photoshop and try to print the psd file.
If the problem comes up this time. Go to your desktop, to my computer, right click and choose properties. Click on device manager and see if there is a yellow question mark anywhere on that page. If there is, there is a device problem. Try reinstalling printer at that point.
Windows Me tends to be very finicky working with many devices.
I will look around and see what else I can find.
Debbie

[G. Couch]

Do small PSD files print?

[dcarr]

Hi Ben ,
I searched all my sources and most do not recommend printing in psd format, as they are extremely large due to the information stored for editing. There seem to be no specific articles related to printer problems with the hp7150, but all recommend converting to a flattened format. Here is an exerpt of an article I found:

"With the printing process used there will not be exact color matches- each time the design is printed, it will vary a bit.

And there is no advantage to uploading a PSD file- they are huge files that contain information necessary for editing your graphics, such as layers, channels, paths, fonts, etc that don't help in the printing process.

You should always export your file as GIF, JPG, PNG, or TIFF."
Is there a specific reason you need to print in psd?
Debbie

[gland]

Gosh, just what sized graphics files are all of you used to printing? I've never tried to print anything over a 70 meg file.

I do generally print PSD files but sometimes convert to TIFF.

[BigAl]

Gosh, just what sized graphics files are all of you used to printing?

I agree with Gary, even at A3 I get away with less than 70MB (it doesn't help to print at more than 300dpi ). I think it was Norman Koren who said that anything larger than postcard size you can print at 150dpi coz you look at it from arms length so the dot size doesn't matter.

[Ben]

It must be a printer problem I've just started to have problems printing the TIFF files now although the smaller JPEG are still printing ok. I must admit I haven't tried printing out much smaller PSD files. Will give this a go but I think Debbie may be right it's a reinstall for the printer drivers. Do I need to uninstall drivers already there or could I just reinstall over the top?

[KevinBE]

The size of the file should not be an issue normally. I know PS 6 has no problems with files that size. This underlying problem seems to be a Windows or driver problem. I accidentally printed a 468 meg psd file a couple of weeks ago and had no problems. But I am running XP. If you were printing to a laserjet then size would matter because lasers are page printers, inkjets are not.

I'm leaning toward ME being the problem. If this is the case then simply flatten and convert to tiff before printing. ME has so many problems, I wouldn't be surprised to find that you have discovered another one.

[Ben]

Kevin
I have tried flattening, changing to TIFF reducing the PSD file size to less than 50mb and the HP will still not print them out. I can send these files to my Epson ColourII's printer which has been in service a long time without a problem but unfortunately I just do not get the quality of print which is why I have just spent some £130 on this useless HP printer. Any more suggestions and believe me I will try them. We shall not be beaten!!