OfficeJet 7500A can't print custom sizes??

[freethinkin]

I recently bought the HP Officejet 7500A to print on large custom sizes. In the product specifications it says that custom sizes are available for the printer. However, when I tried to print on a custom size there was no option to set up a custom paper size. I checked out the user manual and was shocked see a note saying that custom media sizes are only available for Mac OS X users!! I can't believe this "detail" was convniently left out of the product specifications. Is there any possible way to print costom papers sizes in Windows on this printer? This problem is inexplicable to me. It seems like if the printer is able to do it when a MAC is hooked up to then it should be able to do it when a PC is hooked up to it? Are there any drivers that could allow me to print custom paper sizes in Windows??

[Bob_Headrick]

What operating system?  

[freethinkin]

My computer is Windows XP Service Pack 3. My wife's computer who will also be printing from it has Windows 7.

[Bob_Headrick]

OK, I do not have an Officejet 7500a to test but did download and install the driver on my Windows 7 machine.   While the driver does not directly provide capability for customer paper sizes you can define them and use them in the Officejet 7500a driver as follows:  click Start, Devices and Printers, click once on the Officejet 7500a which will bring up a  menu item in the upper row that will allow you to click on Print Server Properties.

Click on Print Server Properties which will open a dialog where you can set a custom form as follows:  click on a form size in the Forms box.  Next check the "Create a new form" box and type a new name in the "Form name" box.  Put in the appropriate sizes for the form, then Save form, Close.

Once you have created a new form it will show up as a choice in the paper settings the next time you open the Officejet 7500a printer properties.  It has been a while since I did this with Windows XP but the process is similar.  In XP open the printers folder and right click on an empty area in the folder, then click Server Properties.  From that point it is a similar process to define the new paper size.

[freethinkin]

Thanks, Bob, for your time and detailed response. I tried your steps to create a custom size for 12 x 18 paper which I use frequently. I created a new "form" for 12 x 18 like you showed me but then when I went to printer preferences it didn't show up as an option. Out of curiousity, I created a size that was identical to one of the sizes that it already supported (13x19). I created it and called it "test." This time when I opened printing preferences the paper size called "test" showed up in the list. It seems it won't add any new sizes to the list when I go to print unless it is identical to one of the sizes that is already in the list.

Out of curiousity, I looked at the manual for an earlier wide-format model: HP OfficeJet 7000. In the manual it shows that this one actually does support custom paper sizes both for PCs and Macs. The OfficeJet 7000 looks ver similar to the 7500a minus the scanner part. You don't think there would be anyway to try to use drivers for the OfficeJet 7000 to run my 7500a and create custom papers sizes. Just a thought. What do you think?

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

It would certainly be worth a shot to use the 7000 drivers.  You should be able to download the proper drivers and install them, and when the installer does not find the printer select "continue anyway".  Then use "Add Printer" and select the same port the 7500 uses.  If for some reason the driver will not install without the actual printer connected let me know and we can find a workaround for that.

[freethinkin]

To my amazement this actual worked! Here is what I did for anyone else who might want to do the same thing (Windows XP). I'm not an expert so this may not work for everyone. This is just what worked for me.

1. I downloaded the drivers for the HP Officejet 7000 (just download the basic print driver).

2. I installed the driver. When it asked to connect the printer at the end, I chose the option to connect the printer later.

3. Since I've been using the 7500a via wireless, I had to set it up to be used via USB cable (Do this by "connecting a new printer" in Start Menu - HP- HP Officejet 7500 E910 - Connect a New Printer). You don't need to do this if you're already using the printer via USB.

4. Find out what printer port the Officejet 7500a uses. For me it was USB 004.

5. I went to "Add a Printer": Start - Printers and Faxes - Add a Printer. I Chose to set up a "Local Printer attached to this computer" not a network printer.

6. I selected the same port that the 7500a uses, and then when it asks for drivers I chose the drivers for the 7000. I told it to replace the existing drivers.

Now the printer "Officejet 7000" appears in the list of printers, and when I want to create custom sizes on my 7500a I can connect via USB and print with the "Officejet 7000" printer. It worked perfectly, and I was able to print my documents on my 12 x 18 in. paper! When I want to print typical things, I can just print from Officejet 7500a to use the normal drivers and also still connect to it wirelessly. Maybe there is a way to connect to it wirelessly also using the 7000 drivers, but I didn't get it to work.

Thank you Bob so much for your help!! I hope this helps a few other people as well. I don't understand why HP didn't include this custom page option in their driver for 7500a since it is able to do it...very perplexing. But regardless, I'm still happy that I found a way to do it.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Bob_Headrick]

I am glad you got things working.  You could probably have left the printer connected by wireless and in the Add Printer setup just said it was a local printer on a TCP/IP port and then put in the proper IP address for the printer.

[freethinkin]

This worked as well! Now I have the printer that I thought I was buying: a wide-format, wireless printer, with the ability to print on custom page sizes! Thanks again for all the help!!!

[Bob_Headrick]

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freethinkin wrote:

This worked as well! Now I have the printer that I thought I was buying: a wide-format, wireless printer, with the ability to print on custom page sizes! Thanks again for all the help!!!

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I am glad I could help.  Please mark an appropriate answer as "Accept as solution", this will help others with similar issues find a solution.