HP Solutions for Technical Applications

Preferred solutions

• Introduction
  HP works closely with a wide range of industry-leading companies to deliver the best customer experience and compatibility with design, print and specialty applications.

• HP and leading design applications
  HP has partnered with companies like Autodesk, Bentley, ESRI, and Dassault, as well as many others, to ensure that customers of HP Designjet Printers, have the connectivity and software compatibility needed to produce high-quality professional prints.

» Autodesk
» Bentley Systems, Inc.
» ESRI
» Dassault Systèmes

• HP Certified Partner solutions
  The HP Certification Program ensures smooth integration of application-specific, software solutions from industry-leaders in full confidence. Third-party solutions that qualify for HP Certification have proven compatibility with the HP Designjet portfolio of products. 
  
  Learn more about: Production Workflow & Output Management
  Learn more about: Accounting
  

• HP Web-to-print solutions
  The HP Instant Printing Toolkit is a web-to-print solution for the construction industry, available via the HP Partner Program
  
  Learn more: www.hp.com/go/hpinstantprinting
  » 3rd Party Solutions & Accessories

Autodesk

Description

HP has a close relationship with Autodesk, the industry's leading provider of advanced 2D and 3D design, digital content creation, and project collaboration solutions.

HP has worked closely with Autodesk to specially optimize HP printer drivers for AutoCAD® software, providing Microsoft® Windows® operating system ease of use with the performance of HDI.

Another result of the collaboration is HP Instant Printing for DWF™ files. This technology provides HP customers a radically simple one-click printing experience from Autodesk® Design Review software.

For years, HP has worked very closely with Autodesk to provide the best possible solutions for Autodesk users.

It has invested great resources to develop a detailed understanding of Autodesk products so that it could optimize

its large-format printing solutions to ensure the best possible performance and reliability.

HP has led this (and most other) printing markets for decades, setting standards for quality and innovation that

other imaging groups have struggled to emulate. HP has leveraged its leadership technology and know-how in

Autodesk and large-format printing to provide AutoCAD users with a printing/plotting interface that is simpler

to use, richer in features, and more flexible than its competitors.

Available Driver Types

To print from Autodesk AutoCAD there are three possible types of drivers:

• Standard Windows drivers

Standard Windows drivers with its Graphics Device Interface (GDI) are commonly used to print from most

Windows applications. While familiar and easy to use for most users, they sometimes do not work well with

specific AutoCAD printing/plotting functions and requirements

• AutoCAD Heidi® Device Interface (HDI)

HDI drivers are exclusively for AutoCAD. However, they require added steps to access and configure, and

also have a different look and feel depending on the printer used. The interface is less familiar for Windows

users, since each hardware printer manufacturer must develop its own HDI drivers for its hardware. The quality

and functionality of these drivers are closely linked to the knowledge and understanding the manufacturer

has of the Autodesk applications.

• Optimized Windows drivers

HP and Autodesk co-developed this alternative route, creating an optimized Windows driver that interfaces

transparently with Autodesk’s HDI standard, allowing the optimized performance of HDI within a familiar,

integrated Windows user interface.

The new HP Designjet T610/T1100 Printer series presents the latest HP Optimized system driver which provides

performance optimization that results in a better user experience and substantial benefits to the AutoCAD user.

Why HP drivers

Ease of use and solid performance with one single interface

A single familiar Windows interface in AutoCAD ensures a better user experience, free of disruptions from different

software applications. Because it is a standard Windows interface, it is easier to access by a single click from

inside the application, and because it is such a familiar and simple format, the user can readily access all the

printer settings and commands needed without unnecessary mouse-clicks. The HP driver also provides a common

interface when printing to another application or printer, again simplifying the printing process without having to navigate different and proprietary controls.

Furthermore, the HP drivers are installed via the standard Windows installation path, so the installation is virtually

seamless. Users simply install the driver in Windows and they are ready to print from AutoCAD. That’s all there

is to it!

Free up your workstation and print trouble-free over the network with HP in-printer processing

architecture

The HP Optimized system driver works in conjunction with the Custom System Printer or CSP, a joint development

venture with Autodesk to enhance output capabilities. This printing architecture provides a mechanism to process data

very fast as well as to optimize the memory usage in the printer. It permits the HP driver to free up the AutoCAD

application quickly while processing the files in the printer’s hardware. AutoCAD users can continue working without

interruption, concentrating on their core tasks and design work.

Color processing, pixel scaling, and halftone processing are done in the printer, not in the workstation, reducing the

amount of resources needed in the workstation and facilitating the processing of complex files. Sending batches of

copies using other drivers means the resources in the workstation are drained and the AutoCAD application “freezes”

after processing a few prints, forcing the user in many cases to restart the computer.

In-printer processing architecture eliminates “wait-state” banding, which might affect the quality of the final print.

“Wait-state” banding occurs when the workstation and network cannot provide data fast enough to the printer. In

this instance, the printer stops and waits for data, and these interruptions leave a visible band on the print as the

ink dries differently after stopping compared to when there are no interruptions and the printing is continuous. Loss

of information can also occur during “wait-state’ and make for lesser quality prints.

Fig 1. Optimized Windows drivers offers one single interface

Thanks to the Raster Management module and its Raster Smart Engine enclosed in the Custom System Printer,

the HP Optimized system driver outperforms AutoCAD HDI and Standard Windows drivers solving problems

To achieve this level of performance, the Raster Smart Engine divides the size of the raster image

on-screen, measured in pixels, by the size of the raster image as it will print on paper. The outcome

value, called the Raster Ratio, is always kept inside a known range depending on the printing mode chosen - draft, normal or quality - and reduces significantly the amount of data sent to the printer without losing any perceptible quality.

The Banding Modes engine is the second module enclosed in the CSP. This module determines how data sent to the driver is managed, grouping data intelligently to print even the most complex files.

AutoCAD users can print with confidence andforget about “out of memory” printing errors.

This latest generation of HP drivers functions with an innovative “backdoor” mechanism to allow bi-directional

communication; from the computer to the printer and from the printer to the computer. This feature lets users know

useful information about the printer from their AutoCAD application. For instance, an alert is sent from the printer

to the application if the media loaded is not the same as what was selected from the printing menu. On the other

hand, there is no need to go and check the printer; the physical paper orientation can also be assigned from

No one knows printing and plotting as HP does, and no one works with Autodesk more closely than HP. This

potent combination of expertise and synergy allows HP to provide the strongest, most reliable, highest performing