If you are running a Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system, then the procedure to select different printers has changed from earlier versions of Windows.  This article applies to PIPE-FLO and Flow of Fluids, version 2009 and earlier, and PUMP-FLO version 10 and earlier.  First, make sure that you have the correct pdf printer driver for your version of PIPE-FLO, Flow of Fluids, or PUMP-FLO by following the instructions in the Related Article link at the bottom of this Knowledge Base article.

Printing with Windows XP or earlier versions of Windows:

First, we’ll look at the old way to change printers.  This applies to computers using the Windows XP operating system or earlier versions.  While you are using PIPE-FLO, Flow of Fluids or PUMP-FLO, if you click on the Print button  , or select “Print” from the File menu, a Print Report dialog box is opened as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 below.


Figure 1:  Print Report dialog box for PIPE-FLO and Flow of Fluids


Figure 2:  Print Report dialog box for PUMP-FLO

Now, when you click the “Setup…” button in either of these programs, you will see the Page Setup dialog box as shown in Figure 3 below.


Figure 3:  Page Setup dialog box for PIPE-FLO, Flow of Fluids and PUMP-FLO

Notice that there is a “Printer” button in the lower right corner of the dialog box.  When you click this button, the Page Setup dialog switches to a drop-down list where you can select from any of the mapped printers or drivers as shown in Figure 4 below.


Figure 4:  Printer selection from the Page Setup dialog box

Clicking OK sets the printer and page setup properties and returns you to the Print Report dialog box where you can initiate the print job.


Printing with Windows Vista or Windows 7

Now, if you are using PIPE-FLO, Flow of Fluids, or PUMP-FLO, and you click on the Print button  , or select “Print” from the File menu, the Print Report dialog box is opened as shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6 below.


Figure 5:  Print Report dialog box for PIPE-FLO and Flow of Fluids


Figure 6:  Print Report dialog box for PUMP-FLO

And when you click the “Setup…” button in either of these programs, you will see the Page Setup dialog box as shown in Figure 7 below.


Figure 7:  Page Setup dialog box.

This time, notice that the “Printer” button is missing from the dialog box.  This is a consequence of the newer Windows operating systems.  Now if you want to change printers or print drivers, you must change the default printer from the “Devices and Printers” window as shown in Figure 8 below.


Figure 8:  An example of the Devices and Printers dialog for Windows 7

You can change the default printer by right-clicking on the device you want to use, and choosing the “Set as default printer” option.  You will see a green check-mark  next to the selected default device.  Now you can go back to the Print Report dialog box and initiate the print job.  You may need to restart the PIPE-FLO / Flow of Fluids / PUMP-FLO program in order for the program to read the new default printer.