Here are some tips for using the UV printer for the first time.
We assume you are printing with CMYK only on rectagular flat media less than the full dimensions of the print area, and that you are not printing to the edges of the media (full bleed).<br>
Follow the First Time Printing procedure at the beginning of the Printer Introduction Part 2 document available on this page. It starts on p. 36.
The tips here refer to the step numbers in that document. That guide has some information that is not applicable, and is missing some steps.
Step 1: Turning On
The printer should always be switched on. Do not turnof the main switch identified in #2, The buttom in #3 wakes the printer from a sleep state. The cabinet the printer sits on is a exhaust air filter, and should be always on as well.
Step 2: Loading Media
If "setup media" is not in the display, press the Setup button for one second. Then place your media and short press the Setup button to set height and media area.
Position media in the lower right corner, aligned with the rectangle scored in the plate. Use magic tape to hold the media at the corners.
Media and tape must be flat. A 1mm curl or ripple with stop the printing process.
Step 2.2 Setting Height
Follow the automatic height setting procedure exactly. The steps are on p.40. The procedure sets the printing height one mm higher than the media which is optimal for print quality, print head life and collision prevention.
At the end of the height procedure, you will be propted on the display with "SCAN: FEED:" Here, the lower right of the media is set. If the media is on the scored border on the table that is 0,0.
The printer recalls the setting for the last print, so it is likely that 0,0 is already set and you can press Enter to continue.
"WIDTH: HEIGHT:" then appears in the display. Here, the upper left of the media is set, and the previous value is displayed. 508, 330 mm is the full bed size, and that can be used for any smaller media. Print times will be shortest if you set the exact media size. Pressing a directional arrow will start that procedure.
When a directional arrow is pressed, the print head will move, eventually indicating the current upper left position with a projected red LED. Use the directional arrows to position the dot on the approximate upper left corner of the media. Notice that the position is indicated in the display. If 0,0 is the lower right coner, the display will be the media dimensions in mm. Press enter to continue.
If you are printing a number of sheets of media of the same dimension, you do not need repeat this procedure. If the thickness of your media changes, you must repeat the procedure.
Step 3 Test and Clean
This procedure should be done once at the beginning of a print session to ensure the ink is flowing to all printheads.
CLeaning should only be done if the test reveals numerous gaps. One normal cleaning cycle is usually adequate.
This step uses a scrap piece of media. Thin sheets of white HIPS or paper are stored in the printer cabinet for this purpose.
Step 4 Actual Printing
Versaworks Dual is used on the attached computer to send jobs to the printer. It is an application made for production printing on roll feed printers, so some parts of the interface are specific to that type of printer and do not apply to our flatbed printer.
Your art file should be in PDF format. Save it to a directory your create in the documents or desktop folder. The PDF must be available when the job is printed, so save the file to the computer. Keep files on your own media for safe keeping - this computer may be altered or replaced without notice.
There are two queues in VersaWorks, A & B. There is no differnece in the queues for our operation.
Step 4:2 Double click A or B queue
Instead, double click the file you which to print. Set the following settings:
Layout section: Width and Height to match the printer setup, which is displayed on the printer screen.
Scale and positon are available if you wish to change, but the default settings are used fir most pritning.
The printer prints media rotated 180 degrees by default.
The top edge of your media as seen on the screen is the leading edge of the table, that edge closest to the door. the 0,0 corner of the media is the top left on the screen.
