USB Printer needs to be connected to 'print to file'

Could someone shed some light on why my USB printer has to be plugged in to allow me to 'print to file'. Is this a requirement of a USB printer? Is there a way to avoid it - link it to a virtual LTP port or something as I don't want to have a printer attached to the machine in question as it defeats the purpose of what I am trying to do.

PS: Using Epson R265 and Adobe Photoshop CS to 'print to file'

Cheers,

Nat

Should have mentioned...

If it is not plugged in it allows the option to print to file but just hangs and when I eventually force quit it just leaves a 0K prn file on the C drive. As soon as the printer is plugged in all is fine!

Nat,

In the Printers folder in Windows right click on the printer and select properties. Look in the Ports tab and uncheck "Enable Bidirectional Support"

Hi Tony,

thanks for the reply your advise is really appreciated! I tried this but it still hangs. Do I need to change anything else like create a virtual LPT port or something?

Nat,

I'll download the driver and test it here, there are a few printer drivers out there that need to talk directly to the printer, this may be one.

Nat,

Seems to work fine here although I configured it using the file port rather than USB.