You can print to the HP Designjet 5500ps from within any application installed on the PC that it is attached to. The major applications are Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Deneba Canvas and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

1. First open the document that you wish to make a poster of.
2. Go under the File pull down menu and select Print.
3. In the next window click on the Name box and change it to HP Designjet 5500.
4. At the bottom of the window click on the Scale to Fit Paper button
5. Next click on the Properties button at the top of the window.
6. In the next window make sure that the Roll is selected under Paper and set to 36 inch Roll for the 36" paper or 42 inch Roll for the 42" paper.
7. Under the Quality section set the quality to Best and set the Optimize to Images.
8. Next click on the Scale to Fit button.
9. In the next window under the Zoomsmart options click on the Fit the Document to this Paper button.
10. Under the pull down bar select Ansi D 22 X 34 in. for the 24 inch roll, Ansi E 34 X 44 in. for the 36 inch roll and Custom 40 X 54 in. for the 42 inch roll and then click OK.
11. You will then be taken back to the Properties window where you can also click on OK. Afterwhich you will be taken back to the print window where you can click on OK to start printing your poster.

The poster will take a good 20 minutes to print and should you not like how it is turning out you can push the Cancel button located on the printer to stop printing. The manual for the printer is located on the side of the printer should you need it for further assistance or instructions.

To get tips on going from a Macintosh computer to a Windows computer for Powerpoint see below. These procedures can also work for other applications as well. You can get other tips and software by going to Microsoft's Mactopia web site

Pictures:   When inserting pictures from files, be sure to use pictures saved in a graphics file format that is common between both platforms, such as Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), or Graphic Interchange Format (GIF). If color fidelity is important, use pictures saved in Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format, and make sure those viewing your presentation are using PowerPoint 2000 or later. If you need to use a picture saved in another format, use a graphics conversion program such as Adobe Photoshop, Apple QuickTime Pro, or Lemke Software's Graphic Converter to convert it to a common graphics file format.

Fonts:   Use fonts that you know are installed on both computers, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, and Courier. You can install some common Windows fonts on your Macintosh computer from the Microsoft Office Value Pack.

Animations:   Use simple entry animation effects, such as fly in/out, appear, and dissolve. Also, don't use exit animations: PowerPoint 2000 for Windows does not support exit animations. Furthermore, PowerPoint 2001 for Mac and PowerPoint X for Mac do not support PowerPoint 2002 for Windows animations. If you are creating a presentation in PowerPoint 2002 for display on a Macintosh computer, avoid using any animations.

QuickTime:   Do not use QuickTime transitions. If you insert a QuickTime movie into your presentation, make sure the movie is encoded in Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) format.