KIP could this be my worst mistake in 20 years?

[ejc]

I appears KIP and Revit have issues. The last post was from mid-2007. It contained promises of new drivers, etc.

Has anyone resolved the KIP printing from Revit issues.

-Screwed up Gray Scales
-Using Hp drivers to get it to work
-Not having to plot to PDF or DWF first then send to the KIP

Most people resolve their issues by dropping KIP and going with OCE.

I really need help here guys!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,

ejc

[sbrown]

We dropped Kip and went back to OCE. KIP worked on our problems for a couple months, then we decided they weren't going to get it working and gave up.

[BATx2]

We just dropped our OCE and went back to KIP. We hated our OCE TDS 400. That was the single worst purchase our firm has made in its 62 year history. The machine was down frequently. The repair guys were idiots. Tech support was non-existent. We had no control over the machine or its output. We love our KIP 5000. We have the control we want. The software works as expected. The output is as expected. The maintenance guys know everything about the machine. The color scanning is great! We did have a minor issue with some greyscale text in our title block. After waiting a couple weeks for KIP engineers to investigate we decided to use a darker grey for that text and it worked. Results are more than acceptable. We use it for all of our checkplots and 90% of our final CD's. Maybe we're simply not trying to make it do as much as you or maybe our standrads are just different, but we will NEVER go back to OCE.

[jmctamney]

We just upgraded from a KIP 2000 to a 6000 with a scanner. We had troubles with the 2000 but so far with the new one, printing directly from Revit given us any problems. We still have to use HP drivers when making plot files.


We just dropped our OCE and went back to KIP. We hated our OCE TDS 400. That was the single worst purchase our firm has made in its 62 year history. The machine was down frequently. The repair guys were idiots. Tech support was non-existent. We had no control over the machine or its output. We love our KIP 5000. We have the control we want. The software works as expected. The output is as expected. The maintenance guys know everything about the machine. The color scanning is great! We did have a minor issue with some greyscale text in our title block. After waiting a couple weeks for KIP engineers to investigate we decided to use a darker grey for that text and it worked. Results are more than acceptable. We use it for all of our checkplots and 90% of our final CD's. Maybe we're simply not trying to make it do as much as you or maybe our standrads are just different, but we will NEVER go back to OCE.

Sounds like our first KIP. The new one has been more reliable but I sure that will change with age.

[Steve_Stafford]

Careful not to blame the machine and manufacturer for poor local support. Unfortunately they are only as good as the company and tech servicing them. Find another source for support and/or take it to the manufacturer directly. I've been in several firms using KIP successfully and many using OCE as well as having used OCE/HP/Xerox myself in the past. All can generate quality output.

Try to ride out the storm and hopefully some "KIPperts" will chime in with some suggestions.

[patricks]

We've had an OCE TSD 600 for over 3 years now, and most of the time it runs great, flawlessly.

[ejc]

Thanks to everyone for the input. We are moving the entire office this weekend!

ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

BATx2,

I would be grateful If you could tell me a couple of things?

Do you print straight from Revit to the KIP from your machine or through a server installation?

Do you use the KIP drivers, or an hp driver? (not printing to files, just printing)

Thanks,

ejc

""We just dropped our OCE and went back to KIP. We hated our OCE TDS 400. That was the single worst purchase our firm has made in its 62 year history. The machine was down frequently. The repair guys were idiots. Tech support was non-existent. We had no control over the machine or its output. We love our KIP 5000. We have the control we want. The software works as expected. The output is as expected. The maintenance guys know everything about the machine. The color scanning is great! We did have a minor issue with some greyscale text in our title block. After waiting a couple weeks for KIP engineers to investigate we decided to use a darker grey for that text and it worked. Results are more than acceptable. We use it for all of our checkplots and 90% of our final CD's. Maybe we're simply not trying to make it do as much as you or maybe our standrads are just different, but we will NEVER go back to OCE.""

[BATx2]

ejc

I believe we print through the server installation but I'm not positive on that. If I'm wrong I'll let you know Monday (I'm actually taking this weekend off :)) In a sense, this was one of the things that caused us so many problems with the OCE ... we HAD to use the controller (a dumbed down WinNT Dell box) to print to the OCE. We had practically no control over what that box did ... AND we found out this summer that our controller software was about 5years out of date (we had only had the machine for four years!!!) and it would cost US over $5000 to upgrade. AND we couldn't transfer licenses of the OCE PrintExec Lite reprodesk software with out significant headache and months of waiting ... they actually suggested that we buy 20 additional licenses (for our 60 person office) so we wouldn't have to wait for their transfer process to be completed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry ... I digress.

I do know, though, that we use the KIP drivers. No one has ever suggested that we try HP drivers.

I should also point out (if it's not already obvious) that our love for the KIP is primarily due to our complete hatred of the OCE. The KIP machine is far from perfect, but as I said before, we will NEVER go back to OCE.

Hope your move goes smooth.
BT

[todd.69291]

Over the past 10 years I have worked with different firms with different equipment. Oce, KIP & Xerox.
Every machine has there pros & cons. I do not believe that there is one company to say away from. I have see different firms using the same machine and have different problrms. Sometimes the only difference is which drivers they are using. I do believe that the older machines do not get the support from the manufacturernthey should.
As mentioned in earlier post, how good is your local support?. Your local support will actively work with the manufacturer to work out any driver or hardware problems. Older machines are not so easy to keep updated with newer software.
We just bought a new Kip 5000. It had printing issues caused by the driver. They local support worked with with the manufacturer and gave us at least 4 different drives until we found one that works. Now everything is fine.

[ejc]

BATx2, I appreciate any help you can give!

for everyone,

A couple of things i have found out:

1. the KIP america website promotes Revit compatability! Hopefully this means they have addressed past issues!

2. When printing from Revit, to a (Local) Kip printer:
--- The print preview shows small lines to the side, or in the center (if plot in center is checked). Printing this causes and error.
--- If you use the "to Fit" option, you will see your sheet in it's "to fit" form. Completly out of scale, but it shows the drivers at least work. (this should mean the previous lines and error had to do with entities to small to print)
--- I then maxxed out the percentage scale to 32,000+. This gives me a 24x36 sheet the size of a large post card.

THUS - - there appears to be a scaling issue of some sort!

I am also going to call KIP America directly, since my current KIP contact is clueless!

Thanks for all the feed back and assitance,

ejc



ejc

I believe we print through the server installation but I'm not positive on that. If I'm wrong I'll let you know Monday (I'm actually taking this weekend off :)) In a sense, this was one of the things that caused us so many problems with the OCE ... we HAD to use the controller (a dumbed down WinNT Dell box) to print to the OCE. We had practically no control over what that box did ... AND we found out this summer that our controller software was about 5years out of date (we had only had the machine for four years!!!) and it would cost US over $5000 to upgrade. AND we couldn't transfer licenses of the OCE PrintExec Lite reprodesk software with out significant headache and months of waiting ... they actually suggested that we buy 20 additional licenses (for our 60 person office) so we wouldn't have to wait for their transfer process to be completed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry ... I digress.

I do know, though, that we use the KIP drivers. No one has ever suggested that we try HP drivers.

I should also point out (if it's not already obvious) that our love for the KIP is primarily due to our complete hatred of the OCE. The KIP machine is far from perfect, but as I said before, we will NEVER go back to OCE.

Hope your move goes smooth.
BT

[ejc]

Bottom line: NO this is not the worst mistake in 20 years!!!!

The kip works fine, if the service person doesn't install the wrong driver!

If you are going to upgrade or purchase a KIP or any plotter, you should ask the person installing it:

"Have you install this before on a system that uses Revit, and printed with no problems?"

If they say " I am sure it works" or "It has been do before", tell them to hit the road!!

The service group that has completely choked with my office is:
Eastern Engineering Supply, from Indiana (they SUCK)

The worlds most wonderful KIP reseller is:
Alabama Graphics (They ROCK)
Mystie Stanford - is the contact
205-252-8505

My thanks to this forum and to ALACAD for hooking me up with Alabama Graphics.

ejc