printing a large poster

[cmlad]

I have used powerpoint to create a poster for a conference. The poster is
56x36, I am sending it to a 60", roll paper plotter. When I try and use the
custom option for the paper size it won't let me. I can't save the new custom
file with the new sizes. It appears to let me save the new file, but when I
try and say ok I get an error message: The custom paper size could not be
modified because it is currently in use. Please close all applications and
try again. The only application I have open is the ppt I am trying to plot!
What does this mean? I am running powerpoint 2007 on a 64-bit XP system.
Any ideas?? Is this a powerpoint problem or something with how my plotter is
set up or my 64-bit machine????

 

[Bill Dilworth]

Usually, when printing a large scale poster you will save the PowerPoint
file at 50% of the desired end-size and use the printer option to print at
200% of the original PPT file. However in this case, your max. dimension is
56". This falls within PowerPoint's page set-up size (it has a maximum page
set-up size of 56" x 56")

Therefore, what Steve says rings true. Since PowerPoint uses the printer's
drivers to render a lot of the slide appearance, it may be a problem with an
old driver or a limited one. You should check for updates to the printer
driver. If the printer is installed over a network, it doesn't count, at
least from PowerPoint's point of view. In that case, you should also
install a local printer (directly attached to the computer) so PowerPoint
has the drivers required to render the large slides.


Bill Dilworth