HP Printer Drivers - Can't find any to work with Designjet T530.

[mjt57]

I've just moved to the MacOS environment from Windows 10. I have a Mac Mini M1 with Big Sur and I am trying to get my HP Designjet T530 (36") printer to work with it.

It's been fine using my wife's WinPC, but we cannot get it to print properly. For starters I cannot select the paper roll, it's not shown anywhere for the paper source, only the usual, A3, A4, Legal, Letter and so on.

The HP website is damned useless as it wants me to install "HP Click" or "HP Smart" which don't work either.

Doing a search for printer drivers for it doesn't work as I can only find Windows drivers.

My wife is cursing me to hell and back for going Mac and I'm starting to think the same. My WinPC died and the M1 Mini seemed attractive, given that it's a lot cheaper than similar performing Intel desktops. And I thought that a change is as good as a holiday, but not when it sends my stress levels through the roof.

Hopefully, someone can help, otherwise, if I can't get this to work my experience with an Apple computer will be a short lived one.

Thanks.

 

[Slartibart]

Please try following the HP Uninstaller below first and uninstall any currently installed print drivers:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software12/HP_Quick_Start/osx/Installations/Essentials/HP_Uninstaller...


For HP Click, please make sure you install the latest version below:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/hpdesignjetclick/HPClick_3.3.168.dmg

you might want to update the printer firmware:

HP DesignJet T530 24-in Printer Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Support

Download the latest drivers, firmware, and software for your HP DesignJet T530 24-in Printer. This is HP’s official website to download the correct drivers free of cost for Windows and Mac.

support.hp.com

 

[mjt57]

Thanks Slarti, I'll have a look. I haven't been back to it. Can't handle the stress at the moment...

 

[chrfr]

I've just moved to the MacOS environment from Windows 10. I have a Mac Mini M1 with Big Sur and I am trying to get my HP Designjet T530 (36") printer to work with it.

It's been fine using my wife's WinPC, but we cannot get it to print properly. For starters I cannot select the paper roll, it's not shown anywhere for the paper source, only the usual, A3, A4, Legal, Letter and so on.

The HP website is damned useless as it wants me to install "HP Click" or "HP Smart" which don't work either.

Is the "Basic Driver" not working for you? https://support.hp.com/us-en/driver...t-t500-printer-series/28254950/model/27315482
Make sure to set the proper version of macOS before downloading.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I don't think this is going to have a simple solution. From what I see (and I could be wrong) that model printer isn't going to work properly (large format) on ANY Mac with the HP drivers available.

Sharing the printer from a Windows machine leads to the same problem.

What happens if you print, from the Mac, a large format document and choose "letter" size. Does anything print?

 

[mjt57]

I don't think this is going to have a simple solution. From what I see (and I could be wrong) that model printer isn't going to work properly (large format) on ANY Mac with the HP drivers available.

Sharing the printer from a Windows machine leads to the same problem.

What happens if you print, from the Mac, a large format document and choose "letter" size. Does anything print?

Yes, I can print to it, in "letter" although the default here is A4 (Australia). So, a huge page is spat out with one corner of it having the document on it.

I've only gotten back to this to see if I can get it to work on my Macbook Air (which is in the same room as the printer).

I'll have a play with the links above and see how it goes.

Thing is, the Macs are renowned for their desktop publishing and photography work. Surely they should be able to print to the more expensive printers such as the Designjets?

Or what do Mac users use when they want to print out large banners, large photos and the like?

 

[mjt57]

For HP Click, please make sure you install the latest version below:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/hpdesignjetclick/HPClick_3.3.168.dmg

Unfortunately either HP has removed this file or there's a problem with the link. (or that they knew it was me and want to mess with me...)

The requested URL /pub/softlib/software13/hpdesignjetclick/HPClick_3.3.168.dmg was not found on this server.

 

[lostom]

Unfortunately either HP has removed this file or there's a problem with the link. (or that they knew it was me and want to mess with me...)

The requested URL /pub/softlib/software13/hpdesignjetclick/HPClick_3.3.168.dmg was not found on this server.

Please keep us update on your progress mate, I have had Macs forever and HP printers have always been sketchy for me.
I hope you find a solution.

 

[lostom]

"I see that Apple's AirPrint supports the 24 in model of the HP DesignJet T520, but does not show the T530. Wondering if you could perform a Reset printing system… and choose AirPrint instead of any HP DesignJet driver code when re-adding the printer. I know that there are AirPrint compatible printers that just work on Catalina, but are not in Apple's list of supported AirPrint devices. Case in point, I am using a Samsung laser without vendor drivers."

Not from me, I just looked around.
Credit: VikingOSX, Apple discussions forum.

I do see your printer is listed in Apple's current support document: HT201311, so the above may just work for you.

 

[mjt57]

Bit more progress. On the Mini I can now select "A0" in sheet format. But on the Macbook Air (2020) I can't.

Also, on the Macbook Air, when I print from the Preview app, it only shows the selected image as a greyscale one. Printer profile shows greyscale in its name and I can't figure out how to change that. The Mac Mini shows an RGB profile.

I'll get there, I think. It's now a challenge. And for those who say Apple products "just work", well, what can I say?

 

[mjt57]

"I see that Apple's AirPrint supports the 24 in model of the HP DesignJet T520, b

I don't know how to do that. I deleted all printers via that reset method and started again. It shows nothing about airprint. How do I do that?

Thanks.

 

[mjt57]

Is the "Basic Driver" not working for you? https://support.hp.com/us-en/driver...t-t500-printer-series/28254950/model/27315482

Ah, found it. I had the wrong MacOS version selected. Downloading a "universal-raster.dmg" file now. Will update when I get it installed.

Thanks.

 

[Slartibart]

Yes, I can print to it, in "letter" although the default here is A4 (Australia). So, a huge page is spat out with one corner of it having the document on it.

You can easily define your own paper sizes.

 

[mjt57]

Update:

Thanks to chrfr I found the basic driver and have installed it. I can now manage paper sizes. However, this is in Photoshop. In Preview (the MacOS app) when I go to print it the paper settings can't be edited and it defaults to some greyscale profile which I can't change.

So, some progress.

In any case, I've found that the Designjet isn't meant to print photos. Both an A0 photo which I printed on the plain paper roll and an A4 coated paper printing the same image were washed out and heavily banded. This is after I did a print head alignment.

I'm going to buy a dedicated photo printer. There's an Canon A3 one which I'll be getting. I forget the model number but it takes 8 or 9 ink tanks.

Thanks for all of your help. folks. It's appreciated.