Printer will not print from Sketchup

[GeoffM62]

For several years I have been using an HP Officejet Pro 8000 A809 printer that served me well and printed everything that I wanted. When I printed from Sketchup, the printer preferences dialogue boxes were strewn with special characters and empty dropdown lists, but it still printed the diagrams that I had made, which was the main thing.

Recently, however, after printing more than 9000 pages over the years my Officejet Pro 8000 started to play up. It seemed that the black/yellow printer head was wearing out and anything that was supposed to come through in black began to appear faded or not there at all. Because of this unreliability, I upgraded to an HP Officejet Pro 8210. Now, everything prints just fine except for anything that I try to print from Sketchup. All the dialogue box dropdown boxes are empty and I cannot print anything except occasionally when dimensions print out. However, they are very small on the page and are not oriented in anyway according to the 'current view' that I am trying to print. Nearly all attempts at printing result in a blank page output.

I have looked at a number of forums online concerning this problem and I have inferred from the comments made by Sketchup experts that this problem is most often reported by people with HP printers.

Is there any way that you can help me get my design diagrams printed on my current printer? Have you made any attempts to liaise with the designers of Sketchup to overcome this problem?

I am running Sketchup 2017 on Windows 10 64 bit.

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @GeoffM62, Welcome to HP forums.

I understand you have issues printing from SketchUp 2017 application on your printer.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any changes to your printer?

Are you able to print using a different application?

Does the issue persist when you make a copy from the printer?

When you click on File>Print does the window show your default printer in the Printer Name field?

Try uninstalling the printer software from root level and install the full feature printer software and check if it helps.

In Windows, search for and open Programs and Features.

Select your HP printer.

Select Uninstall.

In Windows, search for and open Devices and Printers.

In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP Printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose "Delete" or "Remove Device.”

Open up the run command with the "Windows Key + R" key combo.

Type printui.exe /s and click OK.

Click on Drivers tab.

Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it click on it and click remove at the bottom.

Select OK.

Select Apply and OK on the Print Server Properties windows.

Close Devices and Printers.

Update the full feature printer software using this link.

Please let me know the outcome.
Have a great day ahead! 🙂

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
    
Click the "Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say "Thanks" for helping!
 

[GeoffM62]

Thank you for your response.  

Here are the answers to your questions:

No I have not made any changes to my printer. By the way, it is network connected.

I have printed successfully from Google Chrome, Reckon, Microsoft Word and Outlook 2013, and Adobe Reader; and msprint and Wordpad, just for the sake of it.

I am not sure what you mean when you say 'make a copy from the printer'. (It does not include a scanner.)

Yes, the printer name appears correctly in the Printer Name field.

Because the standard instruction on all support forums seems to be to uninstall and reinstall the software and drivers, that was one of the first things that I did. I even made sure that I had uninstalled all the software for the Officejet Pro 8000 in case there were any out-of-date common files that had not been overwritten by the 8210 installation. The only difference in the procedure was that I used the Properties dialogue boxes to remove the printer drivers instead of the printui.exe avenue. Excuse me while I try Your method. ... (Removed drivers including "HP PCL3 Printer Class Driver)

Sorry, same outcome. It spat out a completely blank page when I tried printing a Sketchup design.

Do you have any other ideas?

[A4Apollo · Accepted solution]

@GeoffM62, It's great to hear from you again.

I appreciate your efforts for trying out the steps.

As you mentioned you are able to print from Chrome, word, and outlook without any issues.

I would certainly think it is an issue with the SketchUp application.

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the SketchUp application from your PC and check if it helps.

If the issue still persists, please contact SketchUp support for more assistance.

Have a pleasant day ahead!

Take Care! 🙂

[GeoffM62]

I will try re-installing Sketchup, but, as I said, from looking at the Sketchup forums it is clear from the Sketchup experts that problems similar to, but not exactly the same as, this kind occur most often with HP printers.  The nearest problem I saw on the Sketchup forum was blank dropdown lists on the printer dialogue.  One person having this problem on a Xerox printer found a workaround that did not work for me.  I think it is a problem both of Sketchup and HP printers, which is why I initially asked if you had ever met with the Sketchup designers to find a solution.  I assume there are international standards on interfaces between applications and printer drivers.  Somewhere at that interface things are not right.  

[GeoffM62]

My humble apologies.  I have reinstalled Sketchup 2017 and I am now able to print to the Officejet 8210.  The dropdown lists in the printer dialogue are stll empty though.  I assumed that since I could print to the Officejet 8000 before the installation of the 8210 then all would have been well with Sketchup.  

[A4Apollo]

@GeoffM62, Thanks for your quick response and time.

I appreciate your efforts for getting back to us.

It's great to know that after reinstalling Sketchup 2017 you are able to print.

I am glad to hear that your issue got resolved.

If you have any queries in future related to any HP products, you can always reach out to us.

We will try our best to help you out.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Have a great day ahead! 🙂