HP Designjet 500 Plus User's Guide

Introduction

This User’s Reference Guide explains how to use your D/A1 size or A0+/E+ size HP Designjet 500 Plus Printer.

The Introduction Tab contains these topics:

•Introducing the Documentation Introduces your printer’s documentation.

•Introducing Your HP Designjet 500 Plus Printer

Contains a brief overview of the printer. It contains information about the printer’s features and what is included with the printer.

•Front View of Printer

Contains a view of the front of the printer showing the location of the printer’s consumable items.

•Printer Connections

Shows all the connections to the printer: power, parallel interface, USB and optional network interface.

Introducing the Documentation

You have the following resources to help you in using your HP Designjet 500 Plus printer.

• The Assembly and Set-up Poster comes with your printer and shows step-by-step information on how to prepare your printer for use.

• This User’s Reference Guide explains the details of using your printer. For more day-to-day guidance you can refer to the Pocket Guide.

• The Pocket Guide can be found in a slot on the right-hand side of the printer (as shown). It gives information that you are most likely to need for printer operation on a daily basis, such as loading paper or replacing ink supplies.

• You can also visit us on our Web page:

www.hp.com/go/designjet.

Pocket Guide location

Introducing Your HP Designjet 500 Plus Printer

•Your Printer’s Main Features

A general overview of the major features of your printer.

•HP Ink Supplies

A description of the HP Ink Supplies required for your printer.

•Print Resolution

Specifications of the print resolution for your printer.

•Media

A description of the different types of media available for your printer.

•User Interface

A description of the printer’s user interface.

•Memory

Details of internal memory and memory options available with your printer.

•Drivers

Details of the drivers delivered with your printer.

Your Printer’s Main Features

The HP Designjet 500 Plus printing system is specially designed for individuals or small work-groups in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) and mechanical CAD design.

For the complete printing solution, HP also offers a wide range of media including HP Heavyweight Coated Paper with fade-resistant photo-quality output and HP High-Gloss Photo Paper for high-quality long-lasting prints that produce a professional look and feel. And with the HP Complementary Media Program, HP provides users with a wide spectrum of choice and flexibility in their media selection.

The HP Designjet 500 Plus printer comes in two sizes: A0+/E+ size (42 inches/1066.8 mm) and D/A1 size (24 inches/609.6 mm) models. Both models have roll-feed capabilities and come with an HP-GL/2 Accessory Card. The A0+/E+ size model also includes legs and a media bin.

•Ultimate Photo Image Quality and Excellent Line Quality: The HP Designjet 500 Plus printer delivers ultimate line quality with a true resolution of 1200×600-dpi, using HP’s color layering technology, which layers multiple color ink drops on a single drop, on coated paper. This excellent line quality is achieved due to the fact that each one-half inch/12.7mm printhead contains 304 nozzles, producing miniscule 18-picoliter black pigmented ink drops and four picoliter color dye-based drops, that are idea for engineering and architectural applications. In addition, the HP Designjet 500 Plus printer delivers excellent photo quality for renders and photographs, providing continuous tones and smooth transitions.

•Unattendedness: The HP Designjet 500 Plus printing system includes a modular ink delivery system, with 69-cc cartridge capacity, and long life printheads which last, on average, through ten black ink cartridges and six color ink cartridges, depending on use. This modular system allows users to replace individual ink supplies separately, as needed and also provide automatic alignment and cutting and stacking of finished prints in the media bin, enabling continuous and unattended printing. In addition, the HP Designjet 500 Plus printer includes smart chips that are embedded into each individual printhead and ink cartridge that alert the user if it time to replace the printhead and continuously monitor ink levels.

•Ease-of-use: The HP Designjet 500 Plus printing system is a true out-of the box solution and provides the user with everything he or she needs to install and use the printer. The HP Designjet 500 Plus printer includes a control-display panel for simple navigation, straightforward media loading and easy-to-install drivers.

More…

•HP Premium Printing Material: The HP Designjet 500 Plus A0+/E+ size and D/A1 size printing systems accept a wide range of roll and sheet media from 24 inches/609.6 mm (D/A1 size) to 42 inches/1066.8 mm (A0+/E+ size) wide including HP Satin Poster Paper, HP High-Gloss Photo Paper and HP Heavyweight Coated Paper. In addition, the HP Designjet 500 Plus printer accepts a wide range of media for technical applications.

•Complementary Media Program (CMP): The CMP helps HP customers grow their businesses by referencing third-party printing material choices to ensure maximum HP Designjet printer flexibility and printing solutions.

HP Ink Supplies

HP Ink Supplies for your printer contain two components: printheads and ink cartridges. Your HP Designjet 500 Plus printer uses the following HP Ink Supplies:

•Black Ink Cartridges are HP No 10 Supplies.

•Cyan, Magenta and Yellow Cartridges are HP No 82 Supplies.

•All Printheads are HP No 11 Supplies.

Each 600-dpi thermal inkjet printhead applies thousands of ink droplets onto the paper. The printer automatically refills the printhead as it prints, enabling continuous uninterrupted printing. The ink is supplied to each printhead from a separate large capacity ink cartridge.

There is more information available in a pamphlet which comes with the printheads and in Print Times for a Selected Print Quality.

Print Resolution

Your HP Designjet 500 Plus printer provides two different print modes that change the print resolutions of each of the print quality modes. These different print modes are optimized for: Line Drawings/Text or Images.

You can then choose between three levels of print quality for each of the print modes: Best, Normal or Fast from your software or from the printer's front panel.

With the best mode selected you have an additional selection available to provide maximum detail for your printed image by increasing the resolution of your job above the default resolution.

Print Quality Setting	Optimized for Line Drawing/Text		Optimized for Images
	Resolution in dpi		Resolution in dpi
	Re0×nder	Halftone	Render	Halftone
Fast	300×300	600×300	150×150	600×300
Normal	600×600	600×600	300×300	600×600
Best (default)	600×600	600×600	600×600	600×600
Best (maximum detail)	600×600	1200×600	600×600	1200×600

Use Fast to get draft copies of your prints at maximum throughput. Normal is optimized so that you get the best line quality with the fastest throughput. Select Best if you want to get the best quality for images and renderings.

Media

You can print on roll media or sheet media up to 42 inches (1066.8 mm) wide with the A0+/E+ size HP Designjet 500 Plus printer and up to 24 inches (609.6 mm) with the D/A1 size model.

The following media types are supported on the HP Designjet 500 Plus printer:

• HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (Bond)		•	HP Paper-Based Semi-Gloss
•	HP Vellum	•	HP Clear film
• HP Natural Tracing Paper		•	HP Translucent bond
•	HP Coated Paper	•	HP Studio Canvas
• HP Heavyweight Coated Paper		• HP Satin Poster Paper
•	HP Matte film	• HP Banners with Tyvek®
• HP High-Gloss Photo Paper		• HP Colorfast Adhesive Vinyl

•HP Semi-Gloss Photo Paper

User Interface

The printer’s front panel includes an easy-to-use interface with a display, giving you access to a comprehensive set of printer functions.

See Navigating the Menu System, for a short tutorial to teach you how to navigate through the menus and a description of internal prints.

Memory

The D/A1 size and A0+/E+ size HP Designjet 500 Plus printers come with 32 MB of internal Random Access Memory (RAM). Additional memory can be added to the HP-GL/2 Accessory card that came with your printer. You can add 64 MB (part number C2387A) or 128 MB (part number C2388A) of memory for large file processing and improved printing.

Drivers

Always use the right driver (configured correctly) for the combination of your application software and your printer to ensure that your printer prints exactly what you were expecting in terms of: size, position, orientation, color and quality.

NOTE: Many software applications include their own drivers.

Your HP Designjet 500 Plus printer comes supplied with:

•Windows drivers

•Mac OS X drivers

•AutoCAD drivers for Windows

NOTE: If AutoCAD drivers are available for the specific AutoCAD release you are using, it is strongly recommended that you install them to print from AutoCAD.

Front View of Printer

		Ink Cartridge
Power	Printhead	Front Panel
Switch/Indicator

Printer Connections

Your HP Designjet 500 Plus printer can be connected directly to your computer via the traditional parallel interface or through the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.

For Local Area Network (LAN) connection your printer can be fitted with an optional HP JetDirect Print Server Fast Ethernet 10/100 base TX network interface card.

See the Assembly and Set-up Poster for information on connecting your printer to a computer or network.

Connection

Power socket Parallel Port

USB Connection

Media & Ink

The D/A1 size and A0+/E+ size format HP Designjet 500 Plus Printers use a variety of media. The recommended media are engineered to use with your printer and your printer’s ink system to give you the best results.

The Media & Ink Tab contains these topics:

•Media Choice explains how to choose the correct media type. Choosing the correct paper type for your needs is an essential step in ensuring good image quality.

•Roll Media details the procedures used for loading and unloading your roll media.

•Sheet Media details the procedures used for loading and unloading your sheet media.

•Ink System gives you an overview of the printer’s ink system, with some warnings and precautions for its optimum use.

•Ink Cartridges details the procedures used for: obtaining information, interpreting errors, checking levels and replacing ink cartridges.

•Printheads details the procedures used for: obtaining information, interpreting errors, replacing printheads and aligning printheads.

Media Choice

•Choosing Paper or Other Media

Your printer supports several types of paper. Choosing the best paper type for your needs is an essential step in ensuring good image quality. These topics help you to select the best media for your particular printing task.

•Paper Types

Detailed information concerning the different types of media available for your printer. This includes information on: the types of paper supported, their physical characteristics, quality selection, handling and how to obtain information.

•Print Times for a Selected Print Quality

Typical Printing Times for color and black lines and images on different types of paper.

•Printable Area

The dimensions for all the printable areas for all paper and other types of media formats.

Choosing Paper or Other Media

For best printing results, use only genuine Hewlett-Packard paper or other type of media, whose reliability and performance have been developed and thoroughly tested. All Hewlett-Packard printing components (printer, ink system, and paper/other media) have been designed to work together to give trouble-free performance and optimal image quality. For detailed information on Hewlett-Packard paper, see Paper Types.

You should also take note of some important points about paper and other types of media:

•This printer supports many types of paper. However, the quality of some images may be reduced if you do not use the correct paper for your application. For example, images with large regions of intense color, where many ink drops are needed to fully saturate the color, will not print well on HP Bright White InkJet Paper. On HP Coated paper, the same images might cause the paper to wrinkle and then come into contact with the printheads, smearing your print and risking damage to the printhead. See Combinations of Media Type and Print Quality Selection.

•Whenever you load a roll or a sheet, the printer’s front-panel display prompts you to specify the paper type you are loading. It is absolutely essential to specify this correctly for good image quality. The Physical Characteristics of Paper Types table gives you all the information you need. If paper is already loaded and you are unsure which paper type was specified, go to the Paper Menu and press Enter; see Obtaining Roll or Sheet Paper Information.

•Make sure the appropriate print-quality setting (Best, Normal or Fast) is selected. You can set the print quality either from your software or from the printer’s front panel (software driver settings override any print-quality settings made on the front panel). The combination of paper type and print-quality settings tells the printer how to place the ink on the paper—for example, the ink density, dithering method, and number of passes of the printheads. For more details, see Combinations of Media Type and Print Quality Selection.

•Included with this printer is the Hewlett-Packard Printing Materials catalog which gives ordering details for Hewlett-Packard paper supplies. To get the latest version of this document, contact your local Hewlett-Pack- ard Sales and Support office.

Paper Types

The following topics address the various types of media available, their particular use and how to obtain information about them.

•Physical Characteristics of Paper Types

Details the physical characteristics of each of the supported paper types.

•Combinations of Media Type and Print Quality Selection

Gives guidelines for selecting the correct Print Quality selection for the type of paper or other type of media you are using.

•Handling Your Paper or Type of Media

Explains the precautions to take when handling paper or other type of media.

•Obtaining Roll or Sheet Paper Information

Physical Characteristics of Paper Types

The following table lists the physical characteristics and selection numbers of supported HP Premium Printing Material. Always print on the image side with the special coating. Image side faces outward on roll products from Hewlett-Packard.

Physical Characteristics of Paper and Other Media

	HP Premium Printing Material	24 inch	36 inch		42 inch
		610 mm	914 mm		1067 mm
	HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (Bond)	C1860Aa	C1861Aa
	24 lb. (90g/m2) - 150 ft. (45m)	b	C6036A	b
		C6035A
	HP Vellum	C3862A	C3861A
	3 mil (75g/m2) - 150 ft. (45m)
	HP Natural Tracing Paper	C3869A	C3868A
	3 mil (90g/m2) - 150 ft. (45m)
	HP Coated Paper	C6019B	C6020B		C6559Ba
	26 lb. (98g/m2) - 150 ft. (45m)				b
					C6567B
	HP Heavyweight Coated Paper	C6029C	C6030C		C6569C
	35 lb. (130g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)
	HP Matte film	51642A	51642B
	5 mil (198g/m2) - 120 ft. (36m)
	HP High-Gloss Photo Paper	C6813A	C6814A
	8 mil (207g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)

Click on the Next Page Icon to see more Paper and Other Media Types

Physical Characteristics of Paper and Other Media (Continued)

	HP Premium Printing Material	24 inch	36 inch	42 inch
		610 mm	914 mm	1067 mm
	HP High-Gloss Photo Paper	C3882A	C3881A
	6 mil (158g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)
	HP Semi-Gloss Photo Paper	C3884A	C3883A
	6 mil (158g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)
	HP Paper-Based Semi-Gloss	C6782A	C6783A
	6 mil (158g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)
	HP Clear film	C3876A	C3875A
	4 mil (174g/m2) - 75 ft. (22m)
	HP Translucent bond	C3860A	C3859A
	3 mil (67g/m2) - 75 ft. (45m)
	HP Studio Canvas		C6771A
	20 mil (368g/m2) - 35 ft. (10m)
	HP Satin Poster Paper		C7011A
	5.5 mil (162g/m2) - 100 ft. (30m)
	HP Banners with Tyvek®	C6786A	C6787A
	10 mil (140g/m2) - 50 ft. (15m)
	HP Colorfast Adhesive Vinyl		C6775A
	10 mil (140g/m2) - 50 ft. (15m)

a.Available in United States, Canada and Latin America

b.Available in Europe, Asia and Japan

Additional Information About Paper Types

Additional Information About Paper Types

The following HP Premium Printing Material can be used to perform the printhead alignment, see Printhead Alignment.

•HP Bright White Inkjet Paper (Bond)

•HP Coated Paper

•HP Heavyweight Coated Paper

•HP High-Gloss Photo Paper

•HP Satin Poster Paper

You can also use Plain Paper in addition to the above.

To order any of the HP Premium Printing Material, see the pamphlet Hewlett-Packard Printing Materials.

From time to time, new paper types may become available. For up-to-date information, please contact your Hewlett-Packard dealer, local Hewlett-Packard Sales and Support Office or the Designjet Online Web site.

Combinations of Media Type and Print Quality Selection

Use the following tables, given by application, to guide you when choosing your paper and selecting the print quality setting (Fast, Normal, Best).

•CAD Drawings—Mono

•CAD Drawings and GIS—Color (Lines and low density)

•CAD Rendering, GIS and Images—Color and CAD (high ink density). As a general guide:

•Fast is best for draft copies of your prints at maximum throughput

•Normal is optimized so that you get the best line quality with the fastest throughput

•Best is for when you want to get the best quality for images and renderings.

CAD Drawings—Mono

The following table lists the recommended print quality settings for specific usage with typical media.

Supported Paper Types—Mono

Usage	Typical Media Selection	Recommended Print Quality Setting
Drafts	Plain Paper	Fast or normal
	Bright Inkjet Paper
	Natural Tracing Paper
	Translucent Bond
Final Versions	Plain Paper	Normal or Best
	Bright Inkjet Paper
	Natural Tracing Paper
	Translucent Bond
	Coated paper
	Heavy Coated Paper
	Matte Film
	Clear film
Archives	Vellum	Best
	Matte Film
	Clear Film
Diazo	Translucent Bond	Normal or Best
	Natural Tracing Paper
	Vellum
	Matte Film

CAD Drawings and GIS—Color (Lines and low density)

The following table lists the recommended print quality settings for specific usage with typical media.

Supported Paper Types—Color

Usage	Typical Media Selection	Recommended Print Quality Setting
Drafts	Plain Paper	Fast or Normal
	Bright Inkjet Paper
	Natural Tracing Paper
	Translucent Bond
Final Versions	Plain Paper	Normal or Best
	Bright Inkjet Paper
	Coated paper
	Heavy Coated Paper
	Matte Film
	Clear film
Archives	Matte Film	Best
	Clear Film
Transparencies	Clear Film	Normal or Best

CAD Rendering, GIS and Images—Color and CAD (high ink density)

The following table lists the recommended print quality settings for specific usage with typical media.

Supported Paper Types—Color and CAD

Usage	Typical Media Selection	Recommended Print Quality Setting
Matte Paper	Heavy Coated Paper	Normal or Best
Glossy	High Gloss Photo Paper	Normal or Best
Transparencies	Clear Film	Best

Handling Your Paper or Type of Media

Take the following precautions when handling paper or other type of media:

•Handle film and glossy paper by the edges or wear cotton gloves. Skin oils can interact with the ink and cause it to smear.

•Although the ink systems supplied with this printer have good light fastness, colors will eventually fade or change if exposed to sunlight over a long period of time.

•Rewrap partially used rolls if they are not being used and do not stack rolls.

•Always keep unused rolls in their plastic wrappings to prevent discoloration.

Obtaining Roll or Sheet Paper Information

If roll media or sheet media is loaded, the type of media is displayed when you select the Paper menu on the front panel.

Bright White Inkjet Paper
Plain Paper
Vellum
Natural Tracing Paper
Translucent Bond
Clear Film
Matte Film
Coated Paper
Heavy Coated Paper
High-Gloss Photo
Canvas	Roll or Sheet
Poster Paper

If there is no paper loaded the front panel display shows the following message and you will need to load roll or sheet media.

Print Times for a Selected Print Quality

The following table lists some typical printing times for D/A1 size paper.

Typical Printing Times

Print Quality		Time (in seconds)
	Mono Lines	Color Lines	Images	Images
		on Coated	on Coated	on Glossy
	on Bond
		Paper	Paper	Paper
Fast	96	96	234	480
Normal	216	216	550	690
Best	360	285	940	990

More Printing Times

Printable Area

The following topics detail the printable areas for each of the different paper size systems:

•ANSI Paper

The American National Standards Institute imperial paper sizing system.

•Architectural Paper

The Architectural paper sizing system.

•ISO Paper

The International Standards Organization metric paper sizing system, which is the size system commonly used in Europe.

ANSI Paper

The following table lists the printable area for the ANSI paper size system. The left and right margins are 0.2 inches (5 mm) and the leading and trailing edge margins are 0.7 inches (17 mm).

Where: Printable area = Paper Size – Margins

Printable Areas for ANSI paper

				Printable area (width × height) by Image Orientation
	Paper	Orientation of		Inches				Millimeters
	size	paper in
			Landscape		Portrait		Landscape		Portrait
		printer
			Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height
	A	Portrait	9.7	8.1	8.1	9.7	245	206	206	245
		Landscape	7.2	10.6	10.6	7.2	182	269	269	182
	B	Portrait	15.7	10.6	10.6	15.7	398	269	269	398
		Landscape	9.7	16.6	16.6	9.7	245	422	422	245
	C	Portrait	20.7	16.6	16.6	20.7	525	422	422	525
		Landscape	15.7	21.6	21.6	15.7	398	549	549	398
	D	Portrait	32.7	21.6	21.6	32.7	830	549	549	830
		Landscape	20.7	33.6	33.6	20.7	525	854	854	525
	E	Portrait	N/A		33.6	42.7	N/A		854	1084
		Landscape	32.7	43.6	N/A		830	1108	N/A

Indicates this printable area is only available if you are using the A0+/E+ size format

HP Designjet 500 Plus printer

Architectural Paper

The following table lists the printable area for the Architectural paper size system.

The left and right margins are 0.2 inches (5 mm) and the leading and trailing edge margins are 0.7 inches (17 mm).

Where: Printable area = Paper Size – Margins .

Printable Areas for Architectural paper

				Printable area (width × height) by Image Orientation
	Paper	Orientation of		Inches				Millimeters
	size	paper in
			Landscape		Portrait		Landscape		Portrait
		printer
			Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height
	C	Portrait	22.7	17.6	17.6	22.7	576	447	447	576
		Landscape	16.7	23.6	23.6	16.7	423	600	600	423
	D	Portrait	34.7	23.6	23.6	34.7	880	600	600	880
		Landscape	22.7	35.6	35.6	22.7	576	904	904	576
	E1	Portrait	40.7	29.6	29.6	40.7	1033	752	752	1033
		Landscape	28.7	41.6	41.6	28.7	728	1057	1057	728
	E	Portrait			35.6	46.7			904	1185
			N/A				N/A
		Landscape	34.7	47.6	N/A		880	1209	N/A

Indicates this printable area is only available if you are using the A0+/E+ size format

HP Designjet 500 Plus printer