Print dialog box partly empty

download latest printer driver
write down UNC path of network printer share (i.e.: \\ServerName\PrinterName)
delete the Xerox WS 7835i printer
restart Windows
install latest driver version downloaded above preferrably w/ admin rights (“r-click > run as admin”) by connecting to the port written down above

I have an opinion of Xerox printer drivers but this is a family-friendly forum so I’ll keep it to myself.

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Thanks for sharing this potential workaround. The other users who reported this issue were using HP printers so it’s interesting to hear that a different printer/driver also exhibits the issue.

That is actually not correct, the (my) initial post reports the problem when printing to PDF.

The workaround by 2k328ci works for me too.

BrR.

Hi,

I have the same problem ever since I have a new printer (HP officejetpro 7740)
Former printer was also HP, never had issues.

I tried:
reinstalling SU
Reinstalling printer drivers

Workaround by 2k328ci works but I need to do this every time again.

Did anyone found a good solution yet?

Thank you,

Dieter

Not so much a solution as another workaround, I stopped using print altogether and nowadays use Export => 2D Graphic. If necessary I print the resulting images.

BrR.

Curious to know if anyone who experienced the problem was using Parallel Projection or Two-Point Perspective (camera) views.

No, neither of those.

BrR.

All,

We believe we have root-caused this issue. It appears to be related to Win 10 systems where the Microsoft Print to PDF driver is set to the default.

If you’ve encountered this issue, could you see if your default printer is the Microsoft PDF driver?

In Win 10, you can find this in Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners.

First, un-check Let Windows manage my default printer.

When that is un-checked, the default printer will be displayed.

We have found that changing the default printer to a different one fixes the empty print dialog box. You can change the default printer by clicking next to another device, and selecting Manage.

Then click on Set as default, and close the window.

Relaunch SketchUp, select File > Print, and you should see the correct values.

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Thank you mchandler, seems to be working for me.

BrR.

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I have exactly the problem described here. Windows print to PDF worked the first time, very nicely. But now the print preview and/or print dialog boxes are empty, if I have Windows PDF selected. Selecting other printers works OK. I have tried setting the printers through the windows control panel. No help.

This thread was short and intense in January. Anybody have any experience since? Is there a workaround to getting Sketchup to print using “Microsoft Print to PDF”? Thanks for any feedback.

Are you trying to print from Sketchup or Layout/? Possibly share the file so someone else can try to duplicate the issue. Also what version of Windoze do you have?

I am trying to print from Sketchup Pro 2018. I have a new (3 mos old), clean computer with Windows 10 Pro.

I launch Sketchup. My default template has only “Stacy” in it. To make this easy, I try to print Stacy. I have turned off the “Let Windows manage my default printer” as suggested above.

I go to “Print Setup…”, and select my network printer. I go to “Print Preview…” Dialog box is fine. I get a good preview of Stacy.

I go back to “Print Setup…” and select “Microsoft Print to PDF”. Now I go to “Print Preview…” The dialog box is full of empty fields, as reported above. No Scale. No Page Size. No radio button set on current view or scenes.

I go back to “Print Setup…” and select “Microsoft XPS Document Writer”. Now I go to “Print Preview…”. The dialog box is now good, and filled out as expected.

One more time back to “Print Setup…” and “Microsoft Print to PDF”. Then “Print Preview…”. Dialog box has empty fields again.

It seems there is something buggy in the interface to “Microsoft Print to PDF”. Printing directly to PDF is a very useful function. To get by, I downloaded a generic PDF printer, which worked fine. It is a shame that Sketchup does not work directly with the native Windows 10 PDF generator. (As mentioned earlier, I am trying to avoid bloating my machine with too many add ons)

The best clue in this whole chain is the very first blog entry from RuudM. I experienced EXACTLY what he described. “Microsoft Print to PDF” worked exactly one time for me, the first time I tried it. I created a PDF with four scenes. I thought that was really great. The second and subsequent times the dialog box was corrupted. I have rebooted my machine once, no improvement.

If you try to duplicate this, see if you can do a “Microsoft Print to PDF” more than 1 time, switching to another printer between tries.

Tschuss

I don’t have that issue, that is why I am asking about the exact windoze version. Type winver in the search box, it should return the version, 17…, 18…

Dave,

Version 1709

OS Build 16299.28

Joe

You might try updating to the Spring 2018 up date. If you do , make sure you back up all your important files to another drive or location. Go to All settings>update and security>windoze update>check for updates. This should start the update process. If it doesn’t ck back< I will give a link to a download. Once the update is ready to install it should take about 1/2 hour to complete. You can choose to keep all files and only update the OS

I have the Spring Update (1803) but the print issue is still there. Changing the settings as described above allows me to print again one time and then the dialog boxes are empty again. Still using “export to 2D graphics” instead though and since that does what I need no problem for me anymore.

BrR.

What happens if you set a physical printer as default?

I’m also suffering with the mostly empty dialog box with my HP OfficeJet 7740.
I have noticed that if you enter the scale to print that you want (i.e. 1:8) it does seem to work.
Now, I’m suffering to get the image on a single page. It seems to have a mind of its own and will do it when it feels like it. Like yesterday, but not today!

I did the update to 1803. As RdddM says, the issue is still there.

  When I open "Print..." or "Print Preview...." and any printer other than "Microsoft Print to PDF" is selected, the dialog is filled out.  I can then change the printer to "Microsoft Print to PDF", the dialog remains filled, and it functions, and I can create a PDF as I wish.

  The next time I do a print, "Microsoft Print to PDF" remains the selected printer, but the dialog boxes are empty.

  My workaround is to print a PDF in two steps.  First do "print setup..." and select a hardware printer.

  Then do "print..." and select the Microsoft PDF.  Awkward, but it works.