Solved Large font refuses to print. Why?

[dc2000]

I had a very strange thing happen today. I was trying to print a "Wet paint" sign in Word. So I made it big with 120 pt default font. But then when I clicked Print, the page came out blank. Hmmm? I tried again ... the same. I then saved it as PDF and tried printing from Acrobat. Still nothing...

Eventually I made a screenshot of the page (with Prnt Scrn key), saved it as jpeg, inserted it back into Word as a picture and only then I was able to print it.

Any idea what's going on?

PS. Just to note, I can print just fine any small (default) font size text.

PS2. Our printer is HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401dne

 

[UsernameIssues]

From the "For what it's worth" department
(or perhaps the "Misery loves company" department):
I was able to replicate (but not solve) your problem...
...using MS WORD 2010,
wet paint,
120 pt font and
an HP LaserJet 400 M401 printer.

I did not test the PDF part.

 

[Indianatone]

I printed it just fine in my copy of Word 2010. However my system word was running on has 32GB and the machine that did the printing has 16gb of ram. When something like this does not print it is usually a memory issue. How much ram does your system have?

 

[UsernameIssues]

The computer that MS WORD 2010 is installed on for my testing has 16GB of RAM. The printer is networked via LAN cable.

We will see what the OP has

 

[Indianatone]

The computer that MS WORD 2010 is installed on for my testing has 16GB of RAM. The printer is networked via LAN cable.

We will see what the OP has

Exactly like mine. The printer was on the network connected to another PC. I suspect it is a memory issue, remember when with Windows 95 the hard drive would be written to for 10 mins to print a big picture? Or are you not that old ?

 

[dc2000]

Thanks guys. Sorry for the delay. I don't think it's ram. We have a fairly recent Dell desktop with 6GB RAM that doesn't have much installed on it. It is actually our office's main PC. We print receipts off of it many times a day.

I think the issue is with the HP driver or maybe the font. The one I was printing it with was Calibri. And yes, it was Word Home & Business 2010 & later Adobe Acrobat.

The printer is a network printer, but it is actually connected via a USB (or ethernet) to this particular PC.

@Indianatone: What printer did you try it on?

 

[UsernameIssues]

I'm that old and then some

The HP printer that I tested on has its own network adapter. The printer is tied directly to the network via a LAN cable without another computer being involved. Fortunately, I don't need to make/print signs.

 

[Indianatone]

I have an HP 830C It is an office printer I have had for 10+ years. Printing is set up to render the print job on the local PC not the one connected to the printer. You need more memory for bigger fonts.

 

[dc2000]

You need more memory for bigger fonts.

You mean 6GB is not enough to print "Wet paint"?

This printer is relatively new. Maybe a couple of years at max and it's been working without any problems. This is the first issue that came up.

@UsernameIssues: Have you by any chance updated that printer's firmware recently?

 

[UsernameIssues]

~~~
@UsernameIssues: Have you by any chance updated that printer's firmware recently?

I've never updated the firmware.

Via the printer's web interface:
Firmware Datecode: 20140521
Total Memory: 256 MBytes
Available Memory: 183.37 MBytes


It looks like new firmware is available from here:

 

[UsernameIssues]

That firmware update solved the issue for me. I was able to print from MS WORD using 120 pt font. Calibri and Arial. According to the web interface for that printer, it is an HP LaserJet 400 M401dn.


I also tested a second HP printer (HP LaserJet 400 M401n) that has even less memory built in:
Firmware Datecode: 20140521
Total Memory: 128 MBytes
Available Memory: 62.44 MBytes

It failed to print the 120 pt font too.

Once the firmware was updated...
Firmware Datecode: 20150410
...it printed the 120 pt font just fine.

 

[dc2000]

That firmware update solved the issue

Oh, you're the man! Thanks! It totally worked. It also started printing much much faster.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm not so sure RAM is the issue. I made a Word doc with Wet Paint at 120pt and using Calibri, then saved it. The size of the file is only 13KB.

Did you save the file before trying to print it?

 

[dc2000]

I'm not so sure RAM is the issue. I made a Word doc with Wet Paint at 120pt and using Calibri, then saved it. The size of the file is only 13KB.

Did you save the file before trying to print it?

Lady Fitzgerald, please read the posts above. RAM has nothing to do with it.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Glad that it worked for you.

I agree. RAM is probably not a factor with Windows 7 like it was in the old days. I had just never noticed the memory numbers for those two printers before. Time will tell if this firmware update solved some other issues that we had

 

[dc2000]

Those RAM numbers on the printer specs are just its internal RAM. For instance mine says 256 MBytes. That's what it uses to print & store its own printing related code. The way Windows works is by quickly caching first whatever is being printed, and then by feeding the printer one print section at a time (through its spooler service) thus creating an illusion for a user of being able to print massive documents. In reality the printer can get away with much smaller amounts of its internal RAM.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Those RAM numbers on the printer specs are just its internal RAM. For instance mine says 256 MBytes. That's what it uses to print & store its own printing related code. The way Windows works is by quickly caching first whatever is being printed, and then by feeding the printer one print section at a time (through its spooler service) thus creating an illusion for a user of being able to print massive documents. In reality the printer can get away with much smaller amounts of its internal RAM.

Yep - that is what I figured happen with the print spooler. I've watched the values in size column in the "See what's printing" (status?) window while documents are sent to the printer. You can see it go out in small chucks in that window.

I had just never noticed the different amounts of internal RAM on our slightly different printers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm not so sure RAM is the issue. I made a Word doc with Wet Paint at 120pt and using Calibri, then saved it. The size of the file is only 13KB.

Did you save the file before trying to print it?

Lady Fitzgerald, please read the posts above. RAM has nothing to do with it.

I had read all the available posts before I started mine. I got interrupted before I finished so I didn't see your post just before mine.

 

[Indianatone]

Glad you got it sorted. RAM can be the issue with printing large fonts. Sometimes printing as a bitmap is better that is effectively what you did to overcome the issue before you updated the firmware. Did it say what the firmware update fixed?

 

[dc2000]

Did it say what the firmware update fixed?

I didn't check the specifics. I'm sure that HP page that was linked to earlier has all the details.