ProtoView™ FAQ
Q: What is ProtoView™ 3D?
A: ProtoView is a plugin that runs within your web browser that enables the user to view their part in three dimensions. The application will retrieve your part geometry from our server and display it within a fully manipulatable control.
Q: How do I install ProtoView?
A: Click the following link to download the ProtoView installer file: http://www.protolabs.com/downloads/ProtoViewSetup.exe. After downloading you need to run the file and complete the installation steps.
Q: How do I uninstall if I need to?
A: Uninstallation can be done from the Windows Add/Remove Programs dialog. Follow these steps:
1. Enter the Windows 'Control Panel': Select 'Start' and 'Control Panel'
2. Select 'Add or Remove Programs' or ‘Uninstall a program’ from the dialog that appears.
3. Select ‘Protoview’ from the list and select ‘Uninstall’. Older versions may be named 'ProtoView for IE' or 'ProtoView Browser'.
Q: Why does my installed viewer display 'Download Error: 403', 'Error Downloading File:', or '...check your proxy setings' error messages?
A: This usually happens when your computer is connected to the internet through a proxy server. ProtoView needs to download geometry files from the Internet and needs to know about your proxy settings.
1. Within Protoview, there is a 'Settings' button in the upper-left corner. Click the button and locate the 'Proxy Settings...' area in the window.
2. Within the Proxy Settings area, press the 'Auto-Detect' button. If it was successful select 'OK'.
3. If it was not successful, input the settings manually or contact your IT department for the correct settings.
Q: Why does my browser still ask to install ProtoView even though I’ve run the install?
A: There was a browser that had ProtoView loaded already , but the application did not install correctly. Follow these steps:
1. Close all browser windows.
2. Reopen the quote. Install the application again if prompted.
3. If the viewer is still not displaying, try closing the browser and re-opening it.
4. If it is still not working, uninstall the application (as above) and re-enter the quote. The installation should go smoothly at this point.
Q: How can I zoom without using a mouse wheel?
A: Zooming can also be accomplished by holding down the ctrl key and left mouse button simultaneously while dragging the mouse up and down.
Q: Why does Internet Explorer crash when I try to view my quote?
1. We have found that ProtoView is not compatible with the 'Windows Live Toolbar' and the 'MSN toolbar'. Uninstalling these programs has been known to fix this problem.
2. Updating the graphics card drivers have also been known to help.
3. If possible, try using Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Netscape to view your quote.
4. If these steps do not help, ProtoView must be uninstalled to view your quote.
Q: All I see is a black box or strange graphics in the window. What's going on?
A: The application installed correctly, but the graphics hardware is unable to display the viewer. A known cause for this is the graphics card’s hardware acceleration is not set to a high enough level. To view your settings:
1. Enter ‘Display Properties’ by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting ‘Properties’.
2. Select the ‘Settings’ tab and press the ‘Advanced’ button at the bottom of the form.
3. Select the ‘Troubleshoot’ tab. If the slider is not set to ‘Full’ this may explain your problem.
If, after reloading your quote, this did not solve your problem, or the acceleration was already at the highest level, we recommend updating your graphics card drivers. This has also been known to solve the problem.
Q: Why do I only see a blank white box containing a red 'x'?
A: This problem may be caused by high security settings set within Internet Explorer. This can be checked as follows:
1. Select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu.
2. Select the 'Security' tab.
3. If the security level is set to 'High', this is preventing the install program from loading.
4. If it was set to 'Medium' or lower, then the cause is unknown and we recommend a manual install available under the question 'How do I Install ProtoView?'
Specifically, the custom security setting 'Download signed ActiveX controls' must not be set to 'Disable'.
Q: Why does ProtoView display the error 'Download Error: 404' when I try to access my issue?
A: This is probably an intermittent problem. Try reloading your quote. If this problem persists, please let us know.
Q: Why doesn’t Netscape 7.1 show my issues correctly?
It has been reported that Netscape 7.1 is not showing ProtoView issues properly. It is recommended that the user upgrade their Netscape version.
Q: What is the installation procedure for Firefox?
1. Navigate to your quote or the webpage containing the plugin.
2. Within the viewer area, select the “click here” link to install protoView.
3. It will ask you to download 'ProtoViewSetup.exe'. Click 'Save File'.
4. Once it is finished downloading, open the file from your desktop. This will start your install process.
4a. It may not be obvious where the file downloaded to. This can be found by selecting the 'Tools' menu from within Firefox. Select 'Options' from the menu. From within the Options dialog, select the 'Main' tab and notice the section labeled 'Downloads'. This displays the directory where all downloads are saved to.
5. Click 'reload' or press F5 to refresh your quote after the installation completes. If the ProtoView still does not display close all of your browser windows before trying to navigate to your quote again.
Q: What is the installation procedure for Netscape?
1. The steps are similar to the Firefox install.
2. The Netscape browser has been known to 'hang' after clicking the 'Install Missing Plugins...' button. In this case, use the manual install process, from the question 'How do I install ProtoView'.
3. Netscape must be closed and reloaded before ProtoView will appear.
- Note that ProtoView is not supported for Netscape version earlier that 8.0.
Q: What is the installation procedure for Chrome?
1. Navigate to your quote or the webpage containing the plugin. 2. Within the viewer area, select the “click here” link to install protoView.
3. It will ask you to download 'ProtoViewSetup.exe'. Click 'Save File'.
4. Once it is finished downloading, open the file from your desktop. This will start your install process.
4a. It may not be obvious where the file downloaded to. This can be found by selecting the 'Tools' menu from within Firefox. Select 'Options' from the menu. From within the Options dialog, select the 'Main' tab and notice the section labeled 'Downloads'. This displays the directory where all downloads are saved to.
5. Click 'reload' or press F5 to refresh your quote after the installation completes. If the ProtoView still does not display close all of your browser windows before trying to navigate to your quote again.
Q: What is the installation procedure for Opera?
1. Within your quote there will be a paragraph stating 'You need the latest ProtoView Browser Plugin...'. Click 'latest version here'.
2. Save the file 'ProtoViewSetup.exe' to your computer.
3. Open the file from the saved location.
4. Follow the install instructions.
5. Close Opera and restart.
6. We have noticed that the viewing area must be clicked before the part is visible. Before this, the viewing area may be filled with strange graphics from other areas of the webpage. Just click in that area.
Q: I've got a question, comment, or problem. How can I contact you?
A: We encourage you to share your thoughts about ProtoView. We can be contacted at customerservice@protolabs.com and will get back to you as soon as possible.
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