We've been plagued with the inability to print posters longer than about 55". Well, after innumerable web searches, two rolls of paper, and much frustration, I have found a solution!

Here is how to do it in Adobe Illustrator. Other applications should work similarly.

Select "Print" from Illustrator's File menu to open the print window. Make sure you have selected the plotter then click "Setup" at the bottom left. If a warning message appears, just click "Continue"

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In the next window, click "Preferences."

On the Paper Size tab, click "More sizes..." NOTE: If you don't see these options, you have the wrong driver loaded. Let me know and I'll update it for you. All the student computers should have the correct driver loaded.

Under Custom Paper Size, set the width and height of your plot. Click "OK"

Here's the trick: At the bottom of the Page Size tab, there's a section labelled "ZoomSmart" Click "Use this scaling factor" and leave it at "100%" Yes. Dumb, huh. Click "OK"

While you're here, go to the Advanced tab, and select "Inked area" This will prevent plotter from spitting out lots of blank paper.

Click "Print" on the next screen. (It won't really print. It just returns you to Illustrator's print screen.)

In the Illustrator Print window, check the preview at the lower left corner. What you see is what you will get when you print. If it's not to your liking, you'll need to check your setup, which is beyond the scope of this help! Now in the Options section, click "Custom Scale" and make both the width and height 100. Now print!