Print to File & Navigate to a Directory

How to you chose a print to file directory instead of manually typing it in the file name box?

On the win9x machines I had the full size print to file box where you can chose the file name & directory. Now on the Win2K SP3 machine if I have a printer dedicated to the "File" port I only get a smaller File Name dialog box.

This presents a problem for the less PC people in our pre-press dept that don't know that you can point that file name to directory by manually typing the path+file name into the smaller dialog File name box. But I can not figure out how to make easy for them to navigate to the directory.

Specifics:
Win2K Pro, 2 printers dedicated to "File" port (Distiller & Scitex Dolev PS 2) plus 2 other network printers on their respective ports. And alot of Adobe products. plus QuarkXpress. This particular machine is also running PC MacLan to enable it to communicate with the AppleTalk network.

 

Sorry Rob - I've read your post several times and I'm still not sure what you want to do.

Restate your problem - maybe with a specific example?

 

Some programs do not have the option of "print to file ", so to get around that I have 2 different printers (Postscript Levels 2 & 3) installed that are ported to the "File" port. I am then able to get a file, BUT the print to file box is a small box that only asks for a name & does not allow navigating to a directory, this did not occur on the recently replaced 98SE machine.

When printing a Word document to either one of these printers I get the full size print to file dialog box, but if a use QuarkXpress or Powerpoint or several other programs, I only get the small name dialog box.

How do you get the full size print to file box to come up to allow for easy navigation to a directory every time, and not just out of a select few.

Thanks for any insight

 

Thanks. Now I think I at least understand the problem.

I just loaded a couple of printers the way yours are - to a file - and tried printing a PP presentation. It presented me with a normal, full-size window to name & place the print file. Using Office-XP (so power point version 2002 sp2). Same results from XP-pro and from 2K-pro with both admin and user logons.

I don't have QuarkXpress to test but I suspect the results would be the same. HP Laserjet and a tektronics graphics printer for the PS stuff.

There has to be a cause but it also has to be something with your setup I think or possibly an issue with an older version of the software. Puzzling.

Maybe if you provide hardware and software detail someone else with a setup that matches yours can give a try.

As a thought - do you see the same behavior regardless of the user's rights to the PC? User, super user, admin all do the same thing?