Architosh has received a number of emails from readers concerning the lack of current Mac OS X drivers for plotters from manufactures such as HP, Epson and others. This has been a concern for quite some time—at least as long as last September when Apple introduced version 10.1 of Mac OS X.

Beyond More Apps

While there has been much to be positive about in the Macintosh CAD and 3D markets (especially the 3D market), CAD professionals with large investments in plotter and mid-format printers from HP and Epson are currently stuck, with few exceptions.

Jennifer Chandler wrote in to say, "all those HP printers and plotters, and presumably other plotters, will need OS X drivers—something they seem to be taking their sweet time about."

Espon has done a little better but they still do not have the Epson 1520—a popular mid-size printer for CAD—ready for Mac OS X. Some other similar models now have OS X support.

Who is at Fault Here?

The fault cannot fall on HP and printer makers. Like many developers have told us, Apple has failed to deliver the necessary developer tools—fast enough—to make printing in Mac OS X as functional (to say nothing of better) as Mac OS 9.

Are Drivers Holding Back CAD Upgrades?

Currently in one of Architosh's Forums there is a thread about plotter drivers for OS X and how it is holding up individuals from both upgrading to Mac OS X as well as to CAD programs that can utilize it. One individual would like to move from VectorWorks 8.5 to the latest 9.5 release (a version which supports Mac OS X) but cannot because there are no OS X drivers for his HP DesignJet 500ps plotter. This is a predicament many Mac CAD users appear to be facing and it is delaying the upgrade cycle for both OS X and CAD products.

Back in February we did some calling around and found out that HP's anticipated schedule for OS X drivers on the majority of their plotters was summer 2002. This is consistent with inside information we heard from developers that said the problem was with Apple's delay of key components that would enable printer driver OEM's to make quality drivers with all of the rich features they were use to under Mac OS 9.

The Languages Equation

In regard to printer languages and so forth—in upcoming PostScript plotters from HP—PostScript drivers will be the responsibility of Apple Computer. This is one large item which Apple is reportedly working on for the next major release of Mac OS X -- anticipated to be at Macworld Expo New York this year. This largely affects graphics pros more than it affects the CAD industry but a number of key Mac CAD apps depend on solid PostScript printing.

In terms of HPGL/2 driver support, Microspot has released X-RIP for a limited set of plotter scenarios, with planned support for other plotter scenarios in the future, as well as network support.

Mid-Range Printers Key as Well

HP has a relatively new line of mid-range DesignJets which currently do not support Mac OS X in native mode. The HP DesignJets 10ps, 20ps and 50ps work in various capacities on the Mac platform (Classic and OS X in Classic mode) but have steeper limits than they do under Windows flavors.

One of the nicer models is the 20ps, which sells for about $1500 US. This DesignJet has a server-based software RIP which works with Classic and Mac OS X under Classic. It supports Adobe PostScript 3 and has a good range of flexible page sheet tray arrangement options, allowing for the printer to serve general 8 1/2 x 11 documents in addition to larger (up to 13 x 19) small check plots and presentation color graphics. It works across platforms (clients/server) and comes with a HP JetDirect 610n EIO internal print server for fast Ethernet (10/100Base-TX).

The 50ps is for pre-press pros and the 10ps has a client-based software RIP which will tie up your CPU's power while you print documents. With a dual-processor OS X machine this printer would likely be fine.

What are the Solutions Mac CAD Pros are Looking For

Regardless why these devices lack native OS X driver support (and it probably is mostly Apple's fault) here is a list of key mid-range and large-format printers that Mac professionals would like to have:

Currently HP has yet to deliver key OS X drivers for their DesignJet line. But when they do we are hoping to see OS X drivers across all of these printers: DesignJets 10ps, 20ps, 500, 800 (which they do support now) and 1000 and 5000 series plotters.

If you have any information or comments on this subject, please drop us a line. Thanks.

To learn more visit: http://www.hp.com and http://www.microspot.com