How do I set default printer?

New to MS.... can someone tell me how to set a default printer so that i don't have to pick the one i use every time? It would be great if i could also set the paper size and color scheme as well.

thanks

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  • Hi there, and welcome to our corner of the Internet.

    In MicroStation Help, there's a section that reads as follows:

    How the Default Printer Is Selected
    When the Print dialog is invoked, the procedure described below is used to select the default printer driver configuration file and the Windows printer, paper size, and tray names.

    If the Print dialog has never been opened before, two printer driver configuration files are selected for future defaults. One, printer.pltcfg, is selected as the default for the Windows printer driver. The second, pdf.pltcfg, is selected as the default for the Bentley printer driver. The search path defined by the MS_PLTCFG_PATH configuration variable is used to locate printer driver configuration files.

    The Windows printer driver configuration file is used the first time the dialog opens, assuming that this setting has not already been overridden using configuration variables.

    The Print dialog stores the active printer driver type and configuration file in the user preference file. When the Print dialog is subsequently invoked, the most recently used printer driver type and configuration file are selected by default. This behavior may, however, be overridden using configuration variables.

    If MS_DEFAULT_PLTCFG_FILE is set to a fully qualified printer driver configuration file, that file is loaded instead of the most recently used file when the Print dialog is opened.

    If MS_PLT_SYSPRT_PLTFILE is set to a fully qualified printer driver configuration file, that file will be used instead of "printer.pltcfg" when Windows driver is selected in the Print dialog.

    In the event the selected printer driver configuration file cannot be loaded, you are prompted for a file name to use. If you abort the file selection box without selecting a file that can be loaded, the Print dialog attempts to load one of the following files.

    "pdf.pltcfg"

    "pscript.pltcfg"

    "hpglrtl.pltcfg"

    any .pltcfg in the MS_PLTCFG_PATH search path

    If none of these can be loaded, the Print dialog cannot be opened.

    If a Windows printer driver is loaded, the Print dialog must select a default Windows printer name, paper size name, and tray name. Normally, this information is obtained from the Windows default printer, but may be overridden using either the printer driver configuration file or configuration variables.

    MS_PLT_SYSPRT_DEFAULT_PRINTER specifies the printer name that is selected when a system printer is opened.

    MS_PLT_SYSPRT_DEFAULT_FORM specifies the paper size name that is selected when a system printer is opened.

    MS_PLT_SYSPRT_DEFAULT_TRAY specifies the tray name that is selected when a system printer is opened.

    If the above configuration variables are not defined, you can specify the default printer, paper size, and tray names using the properties in the Windows printer driver configuration file.

    -----

    To define variables, go to Workspace > Configuration.  Then navigate to the Printing category on the left side.  On the right side, choose Default Windows Printer Name.  Clcik Edit.  Enter the name of the printer in the New Value field.  Click OK.   You could also sort the variables alpabetically and then look for and edit MS_PLT_SYSPRT_DEFAULT_PRINTER
     

  • thanks for the reply...i'm beginning to understand how this works. i'm still not sure what i should name the printer. what i'd like to use is the bently PDF driver. all my drawings will be printed to PDF. do i need to type in a specific path here?

    thanks

  • i do see that it has been answered..i've gone over the entire discussion several times. the problem is that my plot dialog file menu does not have the Edit Printer Driver Configuration option. i cannot access the Printer Driver Configuration window that has the different tabs. thats whats confusing me so much. i've also gone thru your first post way at the top several times but that is really confusing me. i just dont understad it. I appreciate your patience.

  • Please attach your UCF file so that I can see what you've done, or not done.   You can learn about attaching files via this link:  communities.bentley.com/.../be-communities-forums-help.aspx  Thank you.

  • Update:  It appears that the variable may be locked by the Administrator which would explain why your edit to the UCF is not having an effect.  

    The only workaround is to copy the plot configuration file and create a custom version for yourself.  You can then make revisions to it via an XML or Text editor as suggested above.

  • I noticed an error which is the result of a mis-type on my part. 

    Remove the last two lines.

    And edit MS_DEFAULT_PLTCFG_FILE to point to your custom version.

    Apologies for adding to your confusion.

     

     

Reply Children
  • Update:  It appears that the command print editpltfile will allow you to edit a pltcfg file - even if the menu item is hidden!

    With thanks to Phil for pointing out this gem!

     

  • before i make that change...i'd like to save my own UCF file. right now i have the UCF file saved on my desktop. it was in a shared folder and i'd like to have my own. where should i save that and how can i make MS see it?

    After i save my own UCF file, i'll go in and change MS_DEFAULT_PLTCFG_FILE to point to my custom version.

    i used the command suggested by Phil (thanks Phil) and made the change to the default paper size but it had no effect. Could that be because the UCF is incorrect?

  • PMFJI...

    cadman33619 said:

    before i make that change...i'd like to save my own UCF file. right now i have the UCF file saved on my desktop. it was in a shared folder and i'd like to have my own. where should i save that and how can i make MS see it?

    After i save my own UCF file, i'll go in and change MS_DEFAULT_PLTCFG_FILE to point to my custom version.

    Workspaces were created and exist to provide various levels of customization to ensure that various aspects of the product, workflows, and processes specific to a site, project, application, user, etc. cannot be changed at other levels. From what you have described so far, it seems that there is customization set specifically for the purpose described, so you might be best served by connecting with the author(s) of the workspace you are using to make sure that what you are looking to do works within what has been set up at your end. Note that this is not a dismissal of your efforts, we just believe that you would have a much easier time with customizations like this.

    cadman33619 said:

    i used the command suggested by Phil (thanks Phil) and made the change to the default paper size but it had no effect. Could that be because the UCF is incorrect?

    When you make a change to the print driver configuration, you have to first save the print driver configuration and then reload the print driver in order for any changes to take effect. So you should first do a File > Save in the Printer Driver Configuration dialog and then do PRINT RELOADPLTFILE and see if the changes you made took effect.

      

  • i understand what you're saying about a customization pre-set. i found that this IS the case. it was set up for another group thatdoes roadwork here at my job. I'm working on completely different types of projects and i need to use different settings/customizations.  i'd like to save my own UCF file, if thats possible, so that i can customize as needed.

    re reloading the print driver, i've saved the my own file called MyPDF.pltcfg as sugested by Inga and i've edited the Default Printer Configuration Variable to show MyPDF.pltcfg (in the New Value field).

    next i need to do a PRINT RELOADPLTFILE...do i need to do that in the Key-in? I tried that but it had no effect. I'm not sure what i'm missing

  • i just noticed that my Windows Driver has been set to 17x11/ANSI B paper size. it looks like i inadvertently set that one instead of the Bently driver for PDF... i need for the PDF driver to be set to 17x11 (MyPDF.pltcfg)