How can I print my Glass Eye 2000 designs onto large-format paper? Can a commercial printer do this for me?

Yes. Here are several approaches that are in common use:

  1. For most customers, the best choice is to generate a PDF file which virtually all printing services can read and print. Creating such a file is easy: instead of printing to a printer, you "print" to a PDF file. On modern versions of Windows you do this by choosing "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your printer. Be sure to select a suitable page size before printing. If your version of Windows does not show this pseudo-printer, you can add it without cost. We recommend PrimoPDF but there are several similar programs, such as CutePDF. After installing PrimoPDF on your computer, your design can be saved as a PDF file by printing it from Glass Eye 2000 with "PrimoPDF" selected as the printer. Another common program that does this, but is not free, is Adobe Acrobat (which is different from the free Adobe Reader). If you have Acrobat you can create a PDF version of your design by selecting "Acrobat PDFWriter" as your printer.

  2. Another solution is to install Glass Eye 2000 on a computer connected to the printer you wish to use. You'll also need to bring your .eye file over to that computer. Once you've done this, open and print your design from within Glass Eye 2000. You are not required to have Glass Eye 2000 licensed on a computer used only for printing, and you can print from a trial (downloaded) copy even if the trial period has expired. Note that a commercial printer might not allow Glass Eye 2000 to be installed on their computers.

  3. You can export your design as a JPEG or other raster format supported by Glass Eye 2000, though the image quality using this option may suffer. With the Professional and higher editions, you can increase the resolution by putting a larger number in the DPI field in the Export Design dialog box. Your exported file can then be printed to the desired printer using many common image manipulation programs such as Photoshop. The Professional and higher editions also have the ability to export a Glass Eye 2000 design in AutoCAD DXF format for use with vector image applications that drive large format printers or plotters.

  4. There are companies that will accept an .eye file as an email attachment, print it to your specifications, and overnight the design back to you. You pay printing and shipping fees. Contact Dragonfly Software customer support for more information.