HP 72SI, 98SI User Manual

DisplayMaker Legacy 72SI, 98SI

User Guide

Part Number 0700048

1

Legal notices

© Copyright 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP

products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such
products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Printed in the US
For additional technical support and user documentation please refer to:

www.hp.com/go/graphicarts

2

Revision Log The following is a list of major changes and additions that have

been made to this manual since it was first released.

See the accompanying Release Notes for specific changes to the
soft ware and hardware between manual updates.

Revision Description

Revision B Chapter 2: Updated Ready screen image. Menu items

added: Clean Grit Rollers, Capping Purge, Printer
Name, Localization, Print Menu Tree. Menu tree
updated.
Chapter 3: Added Fine Text mode. Added Media Feed
Number prompts to the end of the roll-fed media load
process. Added media alignment bar to the rigid media
load process. Set Sort Method added to the Media Wiz­ard.
Chapter 4: Fig. 4-5 showing AutoSet Summary
updated with new “All Jets Replaced” row headings.
Chapter 5: Added cleaning procedure for the post­heater cover. Added note about Prep for Storage/Ship­ping requirements.
Appendix A: Specifications for DisplayMaker 98
added. Maximum media thickness corrected.

SI

iii

Regulatory Statements

FCC-A This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the

limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protec­tion against harmful interference when the equipment is oper­ated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed
and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful inter­ference in which case the user will be required to correct the
interference at his or her own expense.

This equipment must be installed exactly as instructed in this
manual using only the components supplied. If a supplied com­ponent ever needs to be replaced, it must be replaced with the
same part supplied by the manufacturer. It is your responsibility
to follow these instructions in order to maintain compliance
with the FCC regulations. Changes or modifications not
expressly approved by ColorSpan Corporation could void your
authority to operate this equipment. In particular, this device
must be operated with shielded cables to maintain FCC
compliance.

A booklet is available from the Federal Communications Com­mission entitled, How to Identif y and Resolve Radio-TV Interfer-
ence Problems (#004-000-00345-4). Write to the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

DOC (Canada) This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for

radio noise for digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interfer­ence Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communica­tions.

Normes de Sècuritè (Canada)

Le présent appariel numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélec­triques dépassant les limites applicables aux appareils numériques
de la Classe A prescrites dans le réglements sur le brouillage
radioélectrique édictés par le Ministére des Communications du
Canada.

iv

Telecommunications

Network Statement

The ColorSpan VideoNet port on this device is not intended to
be connected to a public telecommunications network. Connec­tion of this device to a public telecommunications network in a
European Community Member State will be in violation of
national law implementing Directive 91/263/EEC on the approx­imation of laws of the Member States concerning telecommuni­cation terminal equipment, including the mutual recognition of
their conformity.

Der VideoNet port ist nicht dafür vorgesehen an ein öffentliches
Telefonnetz angeschlossen zu werden. Der Anschluß dieses
Gerätes an ein öffentliches Telefonnetz in einem Mitgliedstaat
der EU, verstößt gegen nationale Gesetze zur Ausführung der
Direktive 91/263/EEC, die sich mit der Annäherung von
Gesetzen von Mitgliedstaaten beschäftigt, betreffend Tele­kommuniktionsanlagen und die gegenseit ige Anerkennung ihrer
Konformität.

v

About This Manual This manual contains the following topics:

◆ Chapter 1, Getting Started, shows you how to unpack and
assemble the printer, and introduces you to its main fea­tures.

◆ Chapter 2, Using the Control Panel, shows you how to use
the control panel to specify printer options.

◆ Chapter 3, Ink and Media, shows you how to install ink and
media.

◆ Chapter 4, Calibrating the Printer, shows you how to cali-
brate the printer for optimal print quality.

◆ Chapter 5, Maintaining the Printer, explains scheduled
maintenance, how to recover clogged printheads, how to
prepare the printer for extended power-down (such as for
shipping or storage), and more.

◆ Appendix A, Technical Specifications, lists the printer’s
technical specifications.

◆ Appendix B, Troubleshooting, shows you how to trouble-
shoot common printing problems and interpret Action and
Warning messages.

For further information, refer to the following ColorSpan
documentation:

◆ Site Preparation Guide — explains how to prepare your site for
the printer’s arrival and installation.

◆ Release Notes — late-breaking information, update descrip-
tions, and update instructions.

◆ ColorSpan Print Server Documentation — the System Control
User Guide, Print Server & Driver Setup Guide, and Printing Tools
User Guides shows you how to print and RIP files through the

ColorSpan print server. If the printer is connected to a non­ColorSpan print server (RIP), refer to the documentation
that accompanies the server.

◆ ColorSpan web site — http://www.colorspan.com.

vi

Conventions This manual uses the following informational conventions:

Note

Hinweis

Caution

Vorsicht

WARN ING

WARN UNG

Other WARNING symbols used:

A special technique or information that may help
you perform a task or understand a process.

Ein Hinweis beschreibt eine spezielle technik zur
Lösung einer Aufgabe oder enthällt Informationen,
die Ihnen eine Prozedur näher erläutert.

Alerts you to something that has the potential to
cause damage to hardware, software, or data.

Dieses Feld weist auf einen Umstand hin, der einen
Hardware-oder Software-Schaden oder Datenverlust
verursachen könnte.

Alerts you to something that has the potential to
cause physical harm to you or others around you.

Eine Warnung auf weist auf einen Umstand hin,
durch den Ihnen und anderen Personen ein phy­sischer Schaden erwachsen könnte.

Electrical Hazard

Vorsicht steht unter Spannung

Lifting Hazard

Vorsicht beim Anheben

Hot Surface

Heiß, nicht berühren

Moving Parts

Bewegliche Teile, Verletzungsgefahr.

vii

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Revision Log..............................................................................................iii

Regulatory Statements.............................................................................. iv

FCC-A ....................................................................................................iv

DOC (Canada)...................................................................................... iv

Telecommunications Network Statement..............................................v

About This Manual ...................................................................................vi

Conventions............................................................................................. vii

Getting Started

Operating Requirements ....................................................................... 1-2

Electrical............................................................................................. 1-2

Environmental.................................................................................... 1-2

Important Operating Notes............................................................... 1-3

Safety Warnings ................................................................................. 1-5

Unpacking and Assembly ...................................................................... 1-7

Workflow Overview ............................................................................... 1-8

Power Up the Printer ......................................................................... 1-8

Daily Startup ...................................................................................... 1-8

Printing .............................................................................................. 1-9

600x300 Printing ........................................................................... 1-9

Daily Shutdown ................................................................................. 1-9

Parts Overview..................................................................................... 1-10

Auxiliary Dryer ................................................................................. 1-14

Special Features ................................................................................... 1-15

Printheads ........................................................................................ 1-15

Ink System........................................................................................ 1-15

Calibration ....................................................................................... 1-15

Media Handling............................................................................... 1-16

Performance and Ease-of-Use .......................................................... 1-17

Using the Control Panel

Overview................................................................................................ 2-2

Ready Screen...................................................................................... 2-2

Front Page.......................................................................................... 2-2

Menu.................................................................................................. 2-2

User Assistance................................................................................... 2-3

Front Page.............................................................................................. 2-4

Navigation Keys ..................................................................................... 2-8

Menu...................................................................................................... 2-9

Calibrate Printer................................................................................. 2-9

Table of Contents ix

Printer Settings................................................................................. 2-10

Maintenance .................................................................................... 2-14

Service Printer .................................................................................. 2-15

User Diagnostics .............................................................................. 2-15

Warnings & Actions ......................................................................... 2-16

Print Menu Tree ...............................................................................2-16

Menu Tree............................................................................................ 2-17

Front Page........................................................................................ 2-17

Menu................................................................................................2-18

Ink and Media

Ink System Overview.............................................................................. 3-2

Idle Jet Maintenance.............................................................................. 3-3

Selecting a Print Mode........................................................................... 3-4

General Printing Tips ............................................................................. 3-6

Checking Jet Health ............................................................................... 3-7

Print Prime Bars.................................................................................. 3-8

Purge-n-Wipe Printheads................................................................... 3-8

Print Jet-Out Lines.............................................................................. 3-9

Map Out Missing Jets ........................................................................ 3-9

Loading Ink .......................................................................................... 3-10

When to Load Ink ............................................................................ 3-10

Unloading an Empty Ink Box........................................................... 3-10

Loading a Full Ink Box ..................................................................... 3-10

Pause-Swapping Ink.........................................................................3-12

Capping the Printheads ....................................................................... 3-13

Cap the Printheads .......................................................................... 3-13

Uncap the Printheads....................................................................... 3-14

Loading Roll-Fed Media....................................................................... 3-16

Support for Large Narrow Media Rolls ............................................ 3-17

Loading Wide Media ....................................................................... 3-24

Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media............................................... 3-25

Takeup Spool Pin Release ................................................................ 3-26

Respooling Media ................................................................................ 3-27

Loading Rigid Media............................................................................ 3-29

Releasing a Pinch Roller ................................................................... 3-33

Reloading Rigid Media ........................................................................ 3-36

Edge-to-Edge Printing.......................................................................... 3-38

Document, Application, and RIP Settings........................................ 3-38

Media Properties.............................................................................. 3-39

Printer Setup .................................................................................... 3-39

Loading and Squaring the Media....................................................3-40

Example............................................................................................ 3-41

Document Design........................................................................ 3-41

x Table of Contents

Media Properties.......................................................................... 3-41

Printer Setup ................................................................................ 3-42

Media Wizard ...................................................................................... 3-44

Setting Heater Temperatures............................................................... 3-47

Calibrating the Printer

When to Calibrate.................................................................................. 4-2

AutoJet ................................................................................................... 4-3

AutoTune ............................................................................................... 4-4

Quality Check .................................................................................... 4-5

Media Feed ............................................................................................ 4-6

Manual Calibrations .............................................................................. 4-8

Manual X Head Registration.............................................................. 4-9

Manual BiDi Registration................................................................. 4-11

Manual Jet Mapping........................................................................ 4-13

Report Individual Bad Jets ........................................................... 4-15

Clear Individual Bad Jets ............................................................. 4-16

View Current Bad Jets.................................................................. 4-17

Clear All Bad Jets.......................................................................... 4-17

Jet Status Lines................................................................................. 4-19

Default Registration Data ................................................................ 4-19

Auto Calibrations ................................................................................. 4-20

Calibration Summary........................................................................... 4-21

Straightening the Media Path.............................................................. 4-22

Image Sensor Calibration .................................................................... 4-23

Linearization ........................................................................................ 4-24

Maintaining the Printer

Maintenance Schedule .......................................................................... 5-2

Clean the Rail and Bearings................................................................... 5-4

Pinch Rollers....................................................................................... 5-4

Rail ..................................................................................................... 5-5

Carriage Bearings............................................................................... 5-5

Cleaning the Encoder Strip................................................................ 5-6

Empty Excess Ink.................................................................................... 5-7

Printhead Maintenance ......................................................................... 5-8

Cleaning Clogged Ink Jets ..................................................................... 5-9

Purge-n-Wipe..................................................................................... 5-9

Manual Cloth Wipe ........................................................................... 5-9

Cleaning Solvent Soak ..................................................................... 5-10

Cleaning the Service Station Doctor Blade...................................... 5-11

Set the Printhead and Camera Height................................................. 5-12

Setting the Head Height.................................................................. 5-13

Table of Contents xi

Setting the Camera Height .............................................................. 5-15

Calibrate the Service Station ............................................................... 5-17

Replace Ink Filters ................................................................................5-19

Extended Power Down and Restart..................................................... 5-21

Power Down .................................................................................... 5-21

Restart .............................................................................................. 5-22

Technical Specifications

Specifications .........................................................................................A-2

Supplies and Accessories ....................................................................... A-6

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Checklist ..................................................................... B-2

Warranty Claims..................................................................................... B-5

Diagnostics............................................................................................. B-7

MacDermid ColorSpan Technical Services...........................................B-14

Help From Your Reseller .................................................................. B-14

Help From ColorSpan ...................................................................... B-14

If All Else Fails...................................................................................B-14

Index

xii Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

Getting Started

This chapter shows you how to get started using your printer. It includes
these topics:

◆ Operating Requirements (page 1-2)

◆ Unpacking and Assembly (page 1-7)

◆ Workflow Overview (page 1-8)

◆ Parts Overview (page 1-10)

◆ Special Features (page 1-15)

Getting Started 1-1

Operating Requirements

Choose a location for the printer before you unpack it. Keep the
following requirements in mind:

Electrical ◆ Use the supplied power cord. Plug it directly into a grounded

electrical outlet. Do not lengthen the power cord with an
extension cord; the resulting voltage drop could damage the
printer.

◆ Make sure the line voltage meets the requirements: 220 VAC
±10%, single phase, 20 Amps, with NEMA L6-20R locking
wall receptacle (North America and Japan), or 16 Amps with
IEC 60309 wall receptacle (Europe). Install a voltage regula­tor or similar device if the power source is not stable within
these specifications. See Appendix A, Technical Specifica-

tions, for details.

◆ To maintain vacuum to the printheads during printer power­down, use the auxiliary 24 volt power supply (included in
the accessory kit with universal power adapters). Connect
the 24 VDC jack on the vacuum/pressure assembly to either
of two options:

◆ 1. UPS — customer-supplied uninterruptable power sup-

ply, output 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, minimum of 15 watts
of power, provides battery backup to the vacuum sys­tem in the event of a power failure.

◆ 2. Wall outlet — 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, provides tem-

porary power to the vacuum system when it is neces­sary to power down the printer for service.See Appendix
A, Technical Specifications, for details.

◆ Connect the print server or RIP to a separate electrical circuit
from the printer.

Environmental ◆ Make sure the room is well ventilated, with a temperature

and relative humidity within specifications (see “Specifica­tions” on page A-2). Optimal printing and drying occurs
within these ranges. The newly-received printer, ink, and
media should be allowed to stabilize for several hours in its
operating environment prior to unpacking, installation, and
assembly, especially during seasons of hot or cold weather.
Failure to do so could result in printing problems.

◆ The printer uses solvent-based inks. The printer does not
include an integrated exhaust hood or shielding for collect­ing the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the
inks and cleaning solvent. The owner is responsible for venti­lation and VOC recovery as required by local regulations.

1-2 Operating Requirements

Connection kits are available from MacDermid ColorSpan to
vent VOC emissions to the customer’s exhaust system or
VOC recovery equipment. Consult your MacDermid
ColorSpan reseller for details.

◆ Store media and ink in an area with similar temperature and
humidity conditions as the printer.

◆ Locate the printer close enough to the print server (RIP) so
that they can be connected with the required cable.

◆ Locate the printer on a flat, level floor.

◆ Locate the printer where its normal operating noise will not

disturb quiet work areas.

◆ DO NOT install the printer near humidifiers, refrigerators,
fans, water faucets, heaters or similar equipment.

◆ DO NOT install the printer in areas where the temperature
changes abruptly, such as near air conditioners or in the path
of direct sunlight.

◆ DO NOT expose the printer to flames or dust.

Important Operating

Notes

◆ DO NOT POWER DOWN THE PRINTER. Constant vacuum at
the printheads is required to prevent ink from flowing from
the printheads when not printing, even when the printheads
are capped. If the printer must be powered down for ship­ping, empty and cap the printheads (See “Extended Power
Down and Restart” on page 5-21) or apply auxiliary 24 volt
power.

◆ If the printer has been idle for more than several minutes,
press the Prime Bars button on the printer control panel to
check for missing inkjets. To recover missing inkjets, see
“Checking Jet Health” on page 3-7.

◆ If the printer will be idle for more than one hour, cap the
printheads to conserve ink. When the printheads are
uncapped and the printer is not printing, the printheads
periodically expel a small amount of ink into the excess ink
reservoir to keep them working. (“Capping the Printheads”
on page 3-13 for instructions.)

◆ To wipe the printheads, use only ColorSpan cleaning solvent
applied with a 100% polyester Class 100 cleanroom wipe.
(See “Cleaning Clogged Ink Jets” on page 5-9 for instruc­tions.) DO NOT USE ISOPROYPL ALCOHOL.

Operating Requirements 1-3

◆ To cap the printheads, use only SolaChrome Printhead Cap­ping Film. Damage to printheads resulting from the use of
poorly performing plastic films is not covered by the printer
warranty.

◆ The maximum diameter allowed on the takeup spool is 7.5
inches (190.5 mm) on a 3-inch core. When the takeup spool
has a diameter of 6.5-7.5 inches (165.0-190.5 mm), the con­trol panel displays a warning about possible print quality
issues.

◆ The media supply may be wound either printed-side-out or
printed-side-in, but the takeup, if used, must be loaded
printed-side-in.

◆ The printer includes three gauges: a “minimum” gauge
(0.085 inches above the media), a “maximum” gauge (0.115
inches above the media), and a camera height gauge. Set­ting the height above the maximum may result in excessive
overspray. Setting the height below the minimum may result
in the carriage striking the media. See “Set the Printhead and
Camera Height” on page 5-12 for instructions.

◆ The Media Wizard stores a set of operational parameters for
predefined and user-defined media types. When you load a
new media type, select an existing Media Wizard set, or cre­ate a custom set. Media Wizard parameter sets can be
selected at any time from the control panel. (See “Media
Wizard” on page 3-44 for details.)

◆ After calibrating the media feed (advance), record the Media
Feed Number (MFN) from the control panel in a notebook.
The next time you load the same media, you can recall the
media feed settings by entering the MFN, instead of per­forming the calibration again.

◆ Enable AutoTune during long periods of unattended print­ing. AutoTune runs AutoJet at user-defined intervals to
ensure that all jets are either working or substituted with
working jets. (See “AutoTune” on page 4-4 for instructions.)

◆ Wear cotton gloves when loading media to prevent finger­prints that could show after printing.

◆ DO NOT rest or store a media roll on end, or you could
cause edge creases that could strike the printheads during
printing.

◆ DO NOT clean the printhead surfaces with a dry cloth or
paper towel.

◆ DO NOT reprint over any output that has not completely
dried. The rubber pinch rollers could be damaged by wet

1-4 Operating Requirements

Safety Warnings

ink. If ink does get onto the pinch rollers, clean them with
SolaChrome-HR Cleaning Solvent and dry them thoroughly
before printing.

◆ DO NOT set heavy objects on the power cord or printer
cable; do not bend the cables or force them into contorted
positions.

◆ DO NOT place heavy objects anywhere on the printer.

◆ DO NOT lean on or place objects on the optional auxiliary

dryer, if installed.

WAR NIN G WITH THE POWER SWITCH IN THE OFF POSITION, POWER

MAY STILL BE SUPPLIED TO THE PRINTER COMPONENTS.
To completely cut power from the printer, you must unplug
the power cords from the power outlets.

WARNUNG WENN DER NETZSCHALTER IN OFF POSITION STEHT,

WIRD DEN KOMPONENTEN TROTZDEM STROM
ZUGEFÜHRT. Um den Drucker komplett stromfrei zu
machen, müssen Sie den Netzstecker ziehen.

WAR NIN G The printer is too heavy to be lifted safely by one person.

At least five persons are required to lift the printer.

WARNUNG Der Drucker ist zu schwer für eine Person. Mindestens 5

Personen sind erforderlich um den Drucker anzuheben.

Operating Requirements 1-5

WAR NING THE PRINTER ELECTRONICS ASSEMBLY CONTAINS A LITH-

IUM BATTERY DEVICE. THERE IS A DANGER OF EXPLOSION
IF THE BATTERY IS INCORRECTLY REPLACED. The batter y
must be replaced only by ColorSpan authorized personnel,
and must be replaced only with the same or equivalent
type. Dispose of this lithium battery device in accordance
with local, state (or province), and Federal (or country)
solid waste requirements.

WARNUNG DIE ELEKTRONIK DES DRUCKERS ENTHÄLT EINE LITHIUM

WARN ING

WARN UNG

WARN ING

WARN UNG

BATTERIE. ES BESTEHT EXPLOSIONSGEFAHR WENN DIESE
UNSACHGEMÄSS AUSGEWECHSELT WIRD. Die Batterie
darf nur durch einen ColorSpan authorisierten Technicker
ausgewechselt werden und muss mit dem gleichen oder
einem gleichwertigen Typ Batterie ersetzt werden. Bitte
entsorgen Sie die Lithium Batterie gemäss Ihren Landes­oder Bundesgesetzen.

Hot surfaces. Do not touch.

Heiß, nicht berühren.

Moving parts. Keep fingers away from media path.

Bewegliche Teile, Verletzungsgefahr.

1-6 Operating Requirements

Unpacking and Assembly

This printer must be unpacked and installed only by a
MacDermid ColorSpan Authorized Service Provider (ASP). If you
need to relocate, ship, or store an installed printer, contact your
reseller or MacDermid ColorSpan Technical Services for assis­tance.

Caution

To avoid damaging the carriage bearings when mov­ing the printer, move the carriage away from the rail
by reinstalling the shipping blocks. This is recom­mended even if moving the printer down the hall or
between rooms. To ship or relocate the printer a
longer distance, contact MacDermid ColorSpan
Technical Services for instructions.

Unpacking and Assembly 1-7

Workflow Overview

Power Up the Printer 1. Turn on the power switch to observe the typical power-up

sequence.

2. The control panel backlight illuminates. Move the contrast
lever (located to the right of the control panel screen) up and
down until the control panel graphics and messages are eas­ily visible.

3. The printer runs a series of self-tests, and reports any errors it
finds.

4. The printhead carriage moves to the service station.

5. The control panel prompts you to load media.

6. You may load media or skip loading media for now. See
“Loading Roll-Fed Media” on page 3-16 for instructions.

7. The control panel displays the status screen.

Daily Startup 1. Uncap the printheads (for instructions, see “Uncap the Print-

heads” on page 3-14).

This procedure includes, while the carriage is still at the cap­ping station, wiping the printheads with SolaChrome-HR
Cleaning Solvent, using a 100% polyester Class 100 clean­room wipe. DO NOT USE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL ON THE

PRINTHEADS.

n

p

1-8 Workflow Overview

o

2. Ensure the functioning or substitution of all inkjets (for
instructions, see “Checking Jet Health” on page 3-7):

◆ Print Prime Bars

◆ Run Purge-n-Wipe

◆ Repeat once or twice to recover missing inkjets

3. Map out missing jets (see “AutoJet” on page 4-3 or “Manual
Jet Mapping” on page 4-13).

Under normal circumstances, these procedures should ade­quately prepare the printer to print. For instructions on recover­ing stubbornly clogged printheads, see “Cleaning Clogged Ink
Jets” on page 5-9.

Printing When the printer is connected to a ColorMark Pro print server,

here is how a typical print job progresses from the client work­station to the printer. If you are using a non-ColorSpan RIP, refer
to the documentation that accompanies it for details.

1. The operator sends a file to be printed from a client
workstation.

2. The print job is received by the print server.

Once it reaches the print server, the print job may be reprior­itized, combined with other jobs, re-routed, or otherwise
manipulated. Refer to the print server online help or manual
for instructions.

3. The print server RIPs the job.

The raster image processing (RIP) process translates the
PostScript language data that comprises the print job into
the data required by the printer.

4. The server sends the image to the printer for printing.

Printing can be paused and resumed at the control panel,
enabling you to purge the printheads to recover jets or make
other adjustments. During the pause, the carriage goes to the
service station and idle spits.

600x300 Printing

The default printing resolution is 600x600 dpi. To print a docu­ment at 600x300 dpi, configure the third-party RIP or Color­Span print server to rasterize print jobs at this resolution. Refer
to the Print Ser ver & Driver Setup Guide or third-party RIP docu­mentation for instructions.

Daily Shutdown 1. Cap the printheads (for instructions, see “Capping the Print-

heads” on page 3-13).

2. DO NOT POWER DOWN THE PRINTER.

If the printheads will be capped longer than overnight, follow
the instructions under “Daily Startup” twice a week to prevent
excessive ink clogging, then recap the printheads. If this is not
possible or impractical, or if the printer must be shipped, see
“Extended Power Down and Restart” on page 5-21 for instruc-
tions.

For further idle maintenance tips, see “Idle Jet Maintenance” on
page 3-3.

Workflow Overview 1-9

Parts Overview

15

14

16

2

1 2 3

4

5

12

6

5

7

8

13

9

11

17 & 18

10

17 & 18

Fig. 1-1. Front view

1

9

1

12

2

0

2

9

0

3

2

2

2

7

6

2

2

3

5

2

2

4

2

8

3

1

Fig. 1-2. Rear view

1-10 Parts Overview

Index Description

1Encoder strip — allows precise positioning of the print-

head carriage across the length of the platen.

2 Main carriage drive belt — moves the carriage across

the length of the platen.
Transport chain (not shown) — supports the ink sup-

ply tubes that carry ink from the ink supplies to the
printheads, power, and electrical signal cables.

3Platen — supports the media under the printheads

during printing, warms the media in the print zone,
includes vacuum to hold the media against the platen.

4 Printhead carriage — carries the printheads, digital

imaging sensor, and photodiode across the length of
the platen.

Digital image sensor (on carriage, not shown) —

detects the location of printed pixels for precise align­ment of the printheads, enables the automatic replace­ment of poorly-printing ink jets with substitute jets.

Photodiode (on carriage, not shown) — enables the
creation of color transforms without an external spec­trophotometer (requires print server support), and the
linearization of existing transforms.

5 Spittoons — located at both ends of the platen,

receives ink “spits” that keep the printheads at their
optimal performance.

6AutoClean

TM

Service station — catches purged ink
from the printheads, wipes the printheads with clean­ing solvent. Wipers are automatically cleaned and
cleaning solvent applied before wiping. Ink is periodi­cally spit when idle to keep the inkjets working.

7 Ready-for-Refill LEDs — an LED illuminates when its

corresponding profiler indicates that the ink box
should be replaced with a full one.

8 Control panel — displays messages and allows control

of certain printer operations. Includes a contrast adjust­ment lever and audio feedback.

9Electronics module — contains the printer’s power

supply and control electronics.

10 Post he at e r — helps to dry the output prior to the

takeup. Incorporates turnbuckles that can be adjusted
to straighten the media path.

Parts Overview 1-11

Index Description

11 Pinch rollers — grip the media during loading and

printing.

12 Pinch roller adjustment lever — allows you to adjust

the force or release the pinch rollers to feed rigid cut­sheet media.

13 Rigid media sensor — detects whether rigid media is

loaded.

14 Capping station — protects the printheads from drying

out while idle (not printing) for extended periods.

15 H a nd l e — for pulling the printer on its casters and lift-

ing the end of the printer.

16 S t a nd — supports the printer.
17 Casters (four places) — enables easy relocation of the

printer, can be locked in place.

18 Leveling pads (four places) — allows the printer to be

stabilized and leveled for consistent media feeding.

19 Docking station — holds the profilers, one for each ink

box, that track ink and cleaning solvent usage, and
identify ink characteristics for the RIP.

20 Of f-Head System (OHS) — ink boxes, electronics, vac-

uum (to maintain negative head pressure), and pres­sure (for purging the printheads) that provide ink and
cleaning solvent for cleaning the printheads.

21 Ink filt ers — user replaceable, one for each ink supply;

filters out impurities from the ink or cleaning solvent
prior to being sent to the printheads.

22 Ink boxes — each box holds 3 liters of ink or solvent

cleaning solution.

23 Power conn ection — inlet connects the printer to elec-

trical power. Power outlet provides power to the
optional auxiliary dryer.

24 Standby power switch — places printer in standby

mode (to disconnect from power, remove the power
cord).

25 VideoNet port — connects printer to print server.
26 Vacuum/Pressure (VP) assembly — provides vacuum

and pressure to the OHS and printheads.

1-12 Parts Overview

Index Description

27 Auxiliar y 24 volt power jack to vacuum system —

accepts the supplied 24 volt DC power supply to the
vacuum system, which can be connected to a user-sup­plied UPS for temporary battery backup power in the
event of a power failure, or to a wall outlet for tempo­rary power during maintenance that requires the rest of
the printer to be powered down. See Appendix A, Tech­nical Specifications, for details.

28 Media supply and takeup system — drives and pro-

vides tension to the media supply and takeup spools.

29 Media advance switch — enables user to advance

media forward or backward during loading.

30 Preheater — warms the media for optimal printing.
31 Excess ink containers — collects ink from the spittoons

and service station. The stopcock valve on the drain
tube enables the removal of the container for ink dis­posal while preventing ink from draining from the
tube.

Caution

Open the valve after replacing the con­tainer, or waste ink will eventually over­flow into the printer.

Parts Overview 1-13

Auxiliary Dryer The available auxiliary dryer option is an array of fans mounted

on a swivel for use during rigid sheet-fed and roll-fed printing. It
provides enhanced drying performance for heavy coverage and
high-speed printing. It receives power from a power outlet on
the printer’s electronics box, and is switched on and off auto­matically by the printer’s software.

Refer to the Auxiliary Dryer Installation and Operation Instruc-
tions (part number 0700051) for installation and usage instruc­tions.

Rigid sheet-fed

Roll-fed to takeup

Fig. 1-3. Dryer fan positions

1-14 Parts Overview

Special Features The printer has many advanced features to help you produce the

best printed output with the least effort.

Printheads ◆ Micro-Quad

TM

printheads — sixteen 600 dpi, 25 picoliter

piezoelectric printheads (four per color).

◆ AutoClean

TM

service station — a motorized service station
that wipes the printheads with cleaning solvent automati­cally to keep all jets firing properly.

◆ Purge-n-Wipe

TM

— combines an air pressure purge with a
cleaning solvent wipe of the printheads to recover clogged
jets.

◆ AutoRecover — performs a Purge-n-Wipe at the start of a
print job (before printing) if a Purge-n-Wipe has not been
performed for a specified amount of time.

◆ Automated printhead maintenance — to keep individual
inkjets from drying out, the printer periodically “spits” a
small amount of ink and performs a Purge-n-Wipe cycle.

◆ Capping station — manually-operated capping station pre­vents drying out of printheads when idle. The printer senses
the position of the capping pad to prevent carriage move­ment while capped, or to prevent the carriage from moving
to the capping station if the pad is raised.

Ink System ◆ Off-Head System (OHS) — 3 liter bulk ink boxes with profil-

ers supply the printheads. The printer displays an alert when
an ink box should be replaced.

◆ Onboard vacuum/pressure (VP) system — provides vac­uum to maintain negative printhead pressure, and air pres­sure to purge the printheads or ink tubes without removing
them from the printer.

Calibration ◆ AutoSet

TM

calibration — uses a high-resolution digital imag-

ing sensor to automatically align printheads bidirectionally
for precise positioning of ink jet pixels, and runs AutoJet.

◆ AutoJet

TM

calibration— compensates for lost or misfiring jets
by locating them and using substitute jets without slowing
printing speed.

◆ AutoTune

TM

scheduling — runs Purge-n-Wipe and/or Auto­Jet at user-defined intervals, for highest quality during unat­tended printing. Optionally, if unsubstituted non-working
jets are found, printing stops until the problem is corrected.

Special Features 1-15

◆ Automatic color calibration — uses an onboard photodiode
to linearize output over the entire density range (with print
ser ver or RIP support).

◆ Color profiling — with print server or RIP support, the
onboard photodiode can be used to create custom
ColorMark

®

and ICC color profiles for third-party media.

Media Handling ◆ Tensioned roll-to-roll media handler — supply and takeup

spools are tensioned to manage vinyl medias on heated sur­faces. Tensioning is automatically maintained consistently on
the supply and takeup as the roll diameters change during
printing. Optionally, the supply or takeup motors can be
idled during printing. In roll-fed mode, the supply must be
loaded, but the media can optionally be left off the takeup.

◆ Releasable pinch rollers — ease the loading of roll-fed media
and enable the loading of rigid cut-sheet media. The pinch
roller force is adjustable to feed the media without marking
or damaging it.

◆ Steel media spools — the takeup supports up to 7.5 inch
(190.5 mm) diameter rolls of vinyl media on 3-inch cores.
The supply can also accept 2-inch cores with the supplied
2-inch collets. On the 98-inch model, spool supports and a
reinforcement sleeve support the weight of longer rolls of
media less than 72 inches wide.

◆ Rigid cut-sheet printing — supports printing on rigid cut­sheet media up to 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.

◆ Media width sensing — automatically detects the width and
position of the media loaded, for precise image placement.

◆ AutoEdge — automatically aids the loading of rigid sheets by
detecting right, left and leading edges, and warns the user if
the sheet is skewed.

◆ Integrated contact heaters — preheater and platen heater
maintain uniform surface temperature across the printing
area to control dot gain on various media. Heated drying
surface allows prints to dry before being rolled onto the
take-up spool (results may vary based on media and color
profile characteristics).

◆ Optional auxiliar y dryer — the available auxiliary dryer pro-
vides extra drying power to both roll-fed and sheet-fed out­put.

1-16 Special Features

Performance and

Ease-of-Use

◆ Media Wizard — stores and recalls a set of operating param­eters by media type and print mode, for optimal printing
performance. Includes a set of predefined settings for stan­dard media; user may add settings for other media.

◆ Speed/quality print modes — multiple print modes and res­olutions provided to meet job and customer requirements
for speed and quality.

◆ Simplified control panel interface — Front Page screen pre­sents frequently-used functions, with recommended preset
configurations. A menu provides access to less-frequently
used functions and troubleshooting help.

◆ User assistance — control panel features online help, interac-
tive procedures, and diagnostics to assist the user “on-the­fly,” reducing training and troubleshooting time.

◆ Integrated Warning/Action system — the ATTN (Atten-
tion) key blinks on the control panel when the printer

detects an error condition, potential error condition, or when
you make a change that suggests recalibration or other
action to ensure best print quality. There are two types of
AT TN messages:

◆ Actions — the printer has detected an error condition

that stopped printing or will prevent printing from start­ing. You must correct the error before the printer will be
ready to print. When the printer senses that the error
condition has been addressed, the Action will be deleted
the next time the ATTN key is pressed.

◆ Warnings — the printer has detected a condition that, if

left unaddressed, could result in substandard prints or a
condition that will require an action before printing can
continue. Any action on your part is optional; printing is
not interrupted for a Warning message.

Special Features 1-17

1-18 Special Features

CHAPTER 2

Using the Control Panel

This chapter describes the functions of the control panel.

◆ Overview (page 2-2)

◆ Front Page (page 2-4)

◆ Navigation Keys (page 2-8)

◆ Menu (page 2-9)

◆ Menu Tree (page 2-17)

Using the Control Panel 2-1

Overview The touch-screen control panel shows you the printer’s current

status, and enables you to interact with the printer when chang­ing media and ink, respond to an error condition, or configure
options. There are three main control panel screens:

◆ Ready (Status) Screen

◆ Front Page

◆ Menu

Ready Screen When you press the Online/Offline button from the Front Page

screen, the printer goes online and the Ready screen appears.
The Ready screen displays the current status of the printer and
any currently printing job. It displays when the printer is online
(communicating with the print server) and either ready to print
or printing.

Fig. 2-1 Ready screen

Front Page When you press the Online/Off line button from the Ready

Screen, the printer goes offline and the Front Page screen
appears. This screen is the top level of the printer’s menu sys­tem. It provides access to the most frequently-used offline func­tions. For details, see “Front Page” on page 2-4.

Menu When you press the Menu key on the Front Page screen, the

Menu appears. The Menu provides access to advanced configura­tion options. For details, see “Menu” on page 2-9.

2-2 Overview

User Assistance The control panel provides various forms of online user

assistance:

The ? button provides an explanation of the current function,
with some guidance for what to do next.

The ATTN (Attention) key blinks on the control panel when the
printer detects an error condition, potential error condition, or
when you make a change that suggests recalibration or other
action to ensure best print quality. There are two types of ATTN
messages:

◆ Actions — the printer has detected an error condition that
stopped printing or will prevent printing from starting. You
must correct the error before the printer will be ready to
print. When the printer senses that the error condition has
been addressed, the Action will be deleted the next time the
ATTN key is pressed.

◆ Warnings — the printer has detected a condition that, if left
unaddressed, could result in substandard prints or a condi­tion that will require an action before printing can continue.
Any action on your part is optional, printing is not inter­rupted for a Warning message.

When the printer issues one of these messages, the ATTN key
will blink, and an alert beep will sound (unless disabled, see
page 2-13). Press the ATTN key to display a list of message titles,
and select a title to display a detailed cause-and-recovery screen.

If you choose to not correct a Warning condition and resume
printing, the ATTN key will remain displayed, but will not blink
until the printer issues a new Warning or Action message. The
messages can be dismissed by correcting the condition, or by
pressing the applicable key on the detail screen.

Tip

Overview 2-3

See page 2-13 for instructions for choosing an Expert
or Novice mode for displaying these messages
(Expert mode routes most messages to the Actions &
Warnings menu), and for disabling or enabling the
audible alarm. See the table beginning on page B-8
for a list of errors and recovery procedures.

Front Page The Front Page provides access to the most frequently-used

printing and maintenance f unctions. For advanced configura­tion options, press the Menu key (see “Menu” on page 2-9 for
instructions).

Fig. 2-2. Front Page

◆ Printer Name — displays the name of the printer as defined
on the print server.

◆ Online/Offline — returns the printer to the Ready screen,
when it is online and ready to receive print jobs.

2-4 Front Page

◆ Media & Ink — displays a listing of the media and ink cur-

rently installed in the printer. Press the ) and , keys to
highlight “Media” or one of the inks, then press ! (Pro-
ceed) to display information about the selection. From this
screen, you can press the  and  keys to scroll between
screens. Press ! (Proceed) to return to the list, then 
(Menu Out) to display the Front Page screen.

Fig. 2-3. Media Info, Ink Info screens

Front Page 2-5

◆ Status — displays system parameters and the status of all
user-configurable options. Press the  and  keys to scroll
between pages. To change an option, go to the Printer Con­figuration section of the menu.

Fig. 2-4. Status page 1

◆ Print Mode — sets print quality mode. See “Selecting a Print
Mode” on page 3-4 for instructions.

◆ Advance Media — press the ) key to advance the media for­ward. When you press and hold the ) key, the media moves
faster. Press the , key to reverse the media back onto the
supply spool. When you press and hold the , key, the media
moves faster. You can also press the Media Advance rocker
switch, mounted on the OHS near the postheater, to move
the media in either direction.

◆ Menu — displays the complete printer menu for access to
advanced configuration options (see “Menu” on page 2-9
for instructions).

◆ AutoJet — detects deflected and non-firing jets, and substi-
tutes working jets for them (in Production and Quality
modes).

◆ Prime Bars — fires all jets by drawing a set of lines called
prime bars. This is a good way to inspect and prepare the
jets for printing after they have been idle (see “Print Prime
Bars” on page 3-8). You can also print a similar pattern
called Print Jet-Out Lines, which shows which jets have been
detected and replaced by AutoJet (see page 2-14 for details).

2-6 Front Page

◆ Purge — performs a Purge-n-Wipe, which purges the print-
heads then wipes them in the service station, to help recover
missing jets. Print a prime bars pattern to verify jet recovery.
See “Checking Jet Health” on page 3-7 for instructions.

◆ Sleep (visible when heads are not capped) — verifies that the
capping pad is disengaged (in the lower position), the
printer turns off the heaters, detensions the media, and dis­ables the OHS. When you manually engage the capping
levers, the capping pad sensor is detected and the control
panel disables most functions except for Wake. See “Cap the
Printheads” on page 3-13 for instructions.

◆ Wake (visible when the printheads are capped) — the opera-
tor lowers the capping pad, then selects this option to restore
the printer from standby mode, enable the OHS, and move
the printhead carriage back to the service station (at the far
right end of the printer). When the printheads are uncapped,
the control panel is fully functional. See “Uncap the Print­heads” on page 3-14 for instructions.

◆ Access Heads — moves the printhead carriage out from the
service station to the capping station. This is the same func­tionality as the Access Printheads option on the Mainte­nance menu.

◆ Media Wizard — provides direct access to the printing
parameters stored for the currently loaded media (see
“Media Wizard” on page 3-44 for details).

◆ Load (visible when the supply and takeup are unloaded) —
enables you to load media on the supply and/or takeup, and
properly tensions the system. See “Loading Roll-Fed Media”
on page 3-16 for instructions.

◆ Unload (visible when the supply and takeup are loaded) —
detensions and enables you to unload the supply and takeup
system. See “Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media” on
page 3-25 for instructions.

◆ Reload — (visible when printer was loaded with media)
enables you to load another roll or sheet of the previously
printed media with the same settings, without stepping
through the media load process.

◆ AT TN (Attention)— blinks on the control panel when the
printer detects an error condition, potential error condition,
or when you make a change that requires recalibration or
other action to ensure best print quality. See “User Assis­tance” on page 2-3 for further details.

Front Page 2-7

Navigation Keys The following table shows you how to move through the menu

system and perform printer control functions.

Key Description



,)

+*



 Menu In — selects the highlighted menu option.



!





(

"(





'



Display Menu — displays the printer menu.

Menu Up/Down — moves the menu highlight up and

down the menu.
Menu Top/Bottom — moves the menu highlight to the

top or bottom for the menu.
Menu Out — moves to the next higher menu in the

hierarchy.

Back/Forward — moves between pages or screens, or
selects between other options.

Proceed — initiates the selected function.

Help — displays a summary description of the high-

lighted menu options.
Pause/Resume — pauses or resumes printing during a

calibration.

Cancel — cancels the current menu function or choice.

Yes/No — indicates a Yes or No.

Continue (error screen) — proceeds to the next step in

a troubleshooting dialog.
Ignore (error screen) — specifies “ignore” in a trouble-

shooting dialog.
Retry (error screen) — specifies “retry” in a trouble-

shooting dialog.
Reboot Printer (error screen) — specifies “restart

printer” in a troubleshooting dialog.
Information (error screen) — displays further informa-

tion about the error.

2-8 Navigation Keys

Menu The menu has these main sections:

◆ Calibrate Printer (see below)

◆ Printer Settings (page 2-10)

◆ Maintenance (page 2-14)

◆ Service Printer (page 2-15)

◆ User Diagnostics (page 2-15)

◆ Warnings & Actions (page 2-16), shown in Expert Messages

Mode only

This section explains each of the functions on the printer menu.
See “Men u Tree” on page 2-17 for a listing of all menu options.

Calibrate Printer For details on these options, see Chapter 4, Calibrating the

Printer.

◆ Media Feed — eliminates banding between print swaths
(“stitch banding”) by calibrating media advance. See
“Media Feed” on page 4-6 for instructions.

◆ Manual Calibrations — allows you to calibrate the printer
visually, without the printer’s digital imaging sensor. Inaccu­rate judgments by the operator during these tests could
result in substandard output. See “Manual Calibrations” on
page 4-8 for instructions.

◆ Manual Bidi Registration

◆ Manual X Head Registration

◆ Manual Jet Mapping — the manual version of AutoJet

◆ Jet Status Lines — prints the Manual Jet Mapping pat-

tern without running the calibration

◆ Default Registration Data

◆ Auto Calibrations — see “Auto Calibrations” on page 4-20

for instructions.

◆ Auto Bidi Calibration — ensures that every working jet

fires a pixel at precisely the same location, in both direc­tions of travel

◆ Auto H2H Calibration — aligns the printheads relative to

each other

◆ AutoJet Calibration — locates and substitutes missing jets

for working jets

◆ Full AutoSet — runs AutoJet and AutoBiDi in sequence

Menu 2-9

◆ AutoTune — schedules jet maintenance to run automatically
after a certain number of prints have printed. See “Auto­Tune” on page 4-4 for instructions.

◆ AutoRecover — performs a Purge-n-Wipe at the start of a
print job (before printing) if a Purge-n-Wipe has not been
performed for a specified amount of time.

◆ Calibration Summary — prints summary information with
the AutoSet calibration test patterns, or transmits registra­tion or jet data to a log file on the print server. “Auto Cali­brations” on page 4-20 for details.

◆ Configure for Profile Creation (cut sheet printing only) —
causes all calibration prints to print on the same cut sheet,
rather than ejecting the sheet after each calibration print.
Automatically disabled after all calibration prints are fin­ished, when a print job is received from the RIP, or when roll­fed media is loaded. Also allows you to configure a dry time
before calibration readings are taken.

Printer Settings Printer Settings enables you to set many options that control

how the printer operates. Settings saved by the Media Wizard are
indicated by

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Takeup Tension — adjusts the media takeup tension, which

is required for proper media feeding. Insufficient takeup ten­sion could result in inaccurate media feed and media buck­ling.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Supply Out Detection — for roll-fed media, the printer usu-

ally monitors the supply spool to detect when it runs out of
media. You can use this menu option to disable media out
detection when you keep the takeup spool pin release tool
(part number 0504334, see “Takeup Spool Pin Release” on
page 3-26 for instructions) installed for printing rather than
to freely pull media from the supply.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Heater Temp Settings — selects one of several pre-defined

temperatures, plus one custom, user-defined setting. Exces­sively high heat could cause the media to deform or stick to
the platen, while not enough heat could result in partially
dried prints. For instructions, see “Setting Heater Tempera­tures” on page 3-47.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Platen Vacuum Control — turns on the vacuum fans, then

allows you to raise or lower the fan speed. Raise the speed if
the media is rising off the platen, lower the speed if the

MEDIA WIZARD in the margin.

2-10 Menu

media is buckling or wrinkling. Turn off the vacuum for light­weight media such as paper or fabrics.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Drying Delay — a drying delay slows throughput (media

advance speed) to allow prints to dry more thoroughly.
Select the shortest delay that permits complete drying.

◆ Dryer Fans — specifies whether the optional auxiliary dryer
fans will run during printing.

◆ Excess Ink Sensor — enables you to disable the excess ink
sensor if it is malfunctioning, or enable it after it has been
replaced. When the sensor in the excess ink reservoir under
the OHS indicates that the reservoir is full, it generates an
Action message on the control panel, and printing cannot
proceed. Do not disable the sensor unless a malfunction
erroneously prevents printing.

◆ Capping Station Sensor — allows you to disable the cap-
ping station sensor if it is malfunctioning, or enable it after it
has been replaced.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Media Out Sensor — allows you to disable the input table’s

media out sensor if it is malfunctioning, or enable it after it
has been replaced. Use care when printing with this sensor
disabled, to avoid printing on the platen or striking the car­riage against the media.

◆ Gutter Settings — determines the appearance of the top and
side gutters:

◆ Top Gutters — allows you to turn On or Off the gutter

pattern at the top edge of the print, which shows data
about the print such as date and time printed and print
mode, plus write-in blanks for other data.

Fig. 2-5. Top gutter data

◆ Side Gutters — sets the side gutter pattern to Narrow,

Medium, or Wide sizes, or turns them Off. Side gutter

patterns help keep the ink jets open by firing ink
through them in a pattern outside the printed image
area. You can print gutters on the left side only of the
media (closest to the capping station), or both sides.

Menu 2-11

Printing on the left side only reduces ink usage, while
printing on both sides can keep the inkjets clearer. Using
this feature decreases the width available for printing the
job.

◆ Left Platen Gutter — determines when the jets will fire in
the left spittoon to keep all jets firing correctly. Turning
off this function may speed throughput with narrower
media, since it allows the carriage to turn around before
reaching the end of the platen, but it may also necessi­tate more frequent Purge-n-Wipe operations to clear
clogged jets. Always On fires the jets in the spittoon
with all media widths. Off for Media <40 In. Wide fires
the jets in the spittoon only if the media is less than 40
inches wide. Off for Media <71 In. Wide fires the jets
only if the media is less than 71 inches wide.

◆ Platen Gutter Spits — sets the amount of ink used by the
maintenance spits to High, Medium, and Low. To con­serve ink, use the lowest setting that keeps the jets open.
The default High.

◆ Margin Settings

◆ Space Between Prints (roll-fed) — sets the blank space

between print jobs, between 0 and 10 inches (25 cm).

◆ Right and Left Margin — sets the amount of blank space
for the right and left margins, between 0 and 5 inches
(13 cm). Optionally, on rigid media only, you can print
up to or past the right and left edges (see “Edge-to-Edge
Printing” on page 3-38).

◆ Leading Margin (cut-sheet) — sets the amount of blank
space at the leading edge of cut-sheet media.

◆ Trailing Margin (cut-sheet) — sets the amount of blank
space at the trailing edge of cut-sheet media.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Media Measure Type — for cut-sheet media, you can choose

one of three levels of precision for finding the left, right, and
front edges of the media.

◆ Minimal — measures the width of the media once, and
finds the front right edge

◆ Standard — measures the width of the media once, and
finds the right and left front edges to estimate skew

◆ Maximal — measures the width of the media in two
places, and finds the right and left front edges to esti­mate skew

Choose Minimal for fastest throughput with media in per­fect condition, Maximal for greatest precision and skew
detection when printing edge-to-edge.

2-12 Menu

◆ Quality Check — determines how AutoTune errors are han-
dled (see “Auto Calibrations” on page 4-20 for information
about AutoTune).

◆ Print Position — when the printed image does not span the
entire width of the media, positions the printed image flush
right (nearest the control panel), flush left (nearest the cap­ping station), or centered on the media.

MEDIA WIZARD ◆ Stif f Roll-Fed Media Handling — when enabled, detensions

then retensions the takeup system before every print job, for
more accurate feeding of adhesive-backed and other stiffer
roll-fed media types.

◆ Standby Wait — sets the period of time to wait for a print job
before going into standby mode, which turns off the heat­ers and detensions the supply and takeup system.

◆ Expert/Novice Messages — Novice mode presents Warn-
ings (alerts that do not prohibit printing) and Actions (con­ditions that require user intervention before printing can
proceed). Expert mode presents Actions only, presents fewer
“press Proceed” prompts af ter an Action has been addressed.
The default is Novice mode.

When in Expert mode, active Warnings and Actions can be
displayed by selecting Warnings & Actions from the menu,
since Warnings will not cause the ATTN icon will appear in
Expert mode. See “User Assistance” on page 2-3 for further
information about Actions and Warnings. See “Warnings &
Actions” on page 2-16 for further information about this
menu option.

◆ Audible Alarm — enables and disables the audible alarm
beep that sounds with Warning and Action messages.

◆ Localization — allows you to select units of measure (metric
or English), time format (12-hour or 24-hour), and date for­mat (YYYY-MM-DD, MM-DD-YYYY, and DD-MM-YYYY).

◆ Head Height — moves the printhead carriage over the platen
so you can adjust the head height. See “Set the Printhead
and Camera Height” on page 5-12 for instructions.

◆ Service Station — allows you to set the alignment and height
of the service station wipers. For instructions, see “Calibrate
the Service Station” on page 5-17.

◆ Automatic Eject (cut sheet printing only) — when enabled,
the sheet is automatically ejected at the end of the print job.
When disabled, the next job(s) will print on the same sheet
until there is no more room to print.

Menu 2-13

◆ Idle Spits — when the printer is idle, it automatically spits a
small amount of ink into the service station to keep the ink­jets open and working. To reduce the amount of ink con­sumed during idle spitting, you can set the operation to
Medium or Low. To ensure that the printheads are always at
maximum readiness, use the High setting.

◆ Low Ink Warning — defines the amount of ink remaining in
the ink box supply at which the printer will display a “low
ink” message on the control panel.

◆ Printer Name — displays a keypad to change the printer
name displayed on the control panel and RIP or ColorSpan
Print Server. Alternatively, the printer name can be changed
from the ColorSpan Print Server.

◆ Restore All Defaults — restores all Printer Configuration set­tings to their factory default values, and zeroes all registra­tion data. After running this option, all calibration values
must be reestablished by running AutoSet or manual calibra­tions.

Maintenance ◆ Access Printheads — moves the printhead carriage out from

the service station to the capping station. This is the same
functionality as the Access Heads button on the Front Page.

◆ Purge A Color — purges the four printheads of a single color,
rather than all sixteen printheads. This is helpful when recov­ering stubborn jet-outs.

◆ Print Jet-Out Lines — prints a version of the prime bars (see
page 2-6), in which missing jets that are replaced are
marked with a black square.

◆ Fill Service Station — fills the service station reservoir with
cleaning solvent.

◆ Reset Reservoir Filters — after you replace the ink reservoir
filters, select this option to reset the ink counts to zero. See
“Replace Ink Filters” on page 5-19 for instructions.

◆ Respool Media — this option enables you to respool media
from the supply directly to the takeup (in either direction)
without passing over the heaters or platen.

◆ Clean Grit Rollers — advances the grit rollers continuously so
they can be cleaned (with no media loaded).

◆ Capping Purge — enables you to disable or enable the purge
that is automatically performed prior to capping.

2-14 Menu

◆ Printheads Procedures — see “Printhead Maintenance” on
page 5-8, for instructions on using the following options:

◆ Cleaning Solvent Soak — empties the printheads of all

ink, fills all heads with cleaning solvent, and prompts
you to cap the printheads.

◆ Prep for Storage/Shipping — empties the printheads of all

ink, fills all heads with cleaning solvent, then empties the
printheads, in preparation for long-term storage or ship­ping.

◆ Load Ink in All Heads — runs the following three opera-

tions in sequence.

◆ Fill Heads with Solvent — fills the printheads with clean-

ing solvent.

◆ Fill Heads with Ink — fills the printheads with ink.

◆ Empty Heads (Fill With Air) — fills the printheads with

air.

Service Printer These tests are for factory, service, and technical support use.

User Diagnostics User Diagnostics presents an interactive troubleshooting pro-

gram to diagnose problems before calling MacDermid Color­Span Technical Services. It walks you through a series of tests
and checks for certain printer functions. The printer asks you to
make observations or run simple tests to help it diagnose prob­lems and suggest corrective actions. It has the following sec­tions:

◆ Printhead Jet Statistics

◆ VideoNet Status

◆ VideoNet Connection

◆ Carriage Motion

◆ Calibration

◆ Vacuum Pressure

◆ Warnings and Actions List — table of all actions and warn-

ings with cause and recovery. This is an abbreviated version
of the table “Actions and Warnings” on page B-8.

◆ Error History

◆ Log Error History

Menu 2-15

Warnings & Actions When in Expert mode, active Warnings, Changes, and Actions

can be displayed by selecting Warnings & Actions from the
menu, since Warnings will not cause the ATTN icon will appear
in Expert mode. This option does not appear in Novice mode.

See “User Assistance” on page 2-3 for further information about
Actions and Warnings, and the table beginning on page B-8 for a
list of recovery procedures. See page 2-13 for a description of the
Expert/Novice Messages mode.

Print Menu Tree This option prints all of the menu options in a hierarchical tree

format.

2-16 Menu

Menu Tree

Front Page

Online/Offline

Show
Menu

AutoJet

Sleep/Wake

Media & Ink

Status

Access Heads

Printer

Status

Media

Wizard

Select

Print Mode

Load/

Unload/

Reload

Advance

Media

Print

Prime Bars

Purge

Printheads

Attention

Menu Tree 2-17

Menu This menu tree reflects version 3.11 of the embedded printer software.

Refer to the Release Notes for more recent versions.

Calibrate Printer

Media Feed
Manual Calibrations

Manual Bidi Registration
Manual X Head Registration
Manual Jet Mapping
Jet Status Lines
Default Registration Data

Auto Calibrations

Auto Bidi Calibration
Auto H2H Calibration
AutoJet Calibration
Full AutoSet

AutoTune
AutoRecover
Calibration Summar y

AutoSet Summary
Log Head Registration Data
Log Jet Data

Configure for Profile Creation

Printer Settings

Takeup Tension
Supply Out Detection
Heater Temp Settings
Platen Vacuum Control
Drying Delay

Dryer Fans

Excess Ink Sensor
Capping Station Sensor
Media Out Sensor
Gutter Settings

Top Gut ters
Side Gutters
Left Platen Gutter
Platen Gutter Spits

Margin Settings

Space Between Prints (roll-fed media)
Right and Left Margin
Leading Margin

Trailing Margin
Measure Media Type
Quality Check
Print Position
Stiff Roll-Fed Media Handling
Standby Wait
Expert/Novice Messages
Audible Alarm
Localization
Head Height
Service Station
Automatic Eject
Idle Spits
Low Ink Warning
Printer Name
Restore All Defaults

Maintenance

Access Printheads
Purge A Color
Print Jet-Out Lines
Print Media Skew Lines
Fill Service Station
Reset Reser voir Filters
Respool Media
Clean Grit Rollers
Capping Purge
Printheads Procedures

Cleaning Solvent Soak
Prep for Storage/Shipping
Load Ink In All Heads
Fill Heads with Solvent
Fill Heads with Ink
Empty Heads (Fill With Air)

Service Printer

Device Tests
Print Tests
Ink System Tests
Home Head
Home Service Wipers
Measure Media Width
Tension Supply & Takeup
Measure Platen Width
Zero Platen Width
Printhead Y Calibration
Image Sensor Calibration
Replace Printhead
Fill Replaced Printhead

Turn On/Off Heaters

Enhanced Drying
Print Info Pages

User Diagnostics

Printhead Jet Statistics
VideoNet Status
VideoNet Connection
Carriage Motion
Calibration
Vacuum Pressure
Warnings and Actions List
Error History
Log Error History

Warnings & Actions

(Expert mode only)

Print Menu Tree

2-18 Menu Tree

CHAPTER 3

Ink and Media

This chapter describes how to use ink and media with the printer:

◆ Ink

◆ Ink System Overview (page 3-2)

◆ Idle Jet Maintenance (page 3-3)

◆ Selecting a Print Mode (page 3-4)

◆ General Printing Tips (page 3-6)

◆ Checking Jet Health (page 3-7)

◆ Loading Ink (page 3-10)

◆ Capping the Printheads (page 3-13)

◆ Media

◆ Loading Roll-Fed Media (page 3-16)

◆ Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media (page 3-25)

◆ Respooling Media (page 3-27)

◆ Loading Rigid Media (page 3-29)

◆ Reloading Rigid Media (page 3-36)

◆ Edge-to-Edge Printing (page 3-38)

◆ Media Wizard (page 3-44)

◆ Setting Heater Temperatures (page 3-47)

Ink and Media 3-1

Ink System Overview The printer’s ink system consists of the following components:

◆ Ink boxes — four 3-liter boxes of SolaChrome-HR solvent pig-
mented ink (CMYK) plus SolaChrome cleaning solvent.

◆ Ink tubes — carry ink and cleaning solvent to the print-
heads, and cleaning solvent to the service station.

◆ Printheads — permanent piezo-based printheads.

◆ Vacuum/Pressure (VP) System — provides vacuum to main-

tain negative pressure at the printheads, and pressure to
purge the ink tubes and printheads.

◆ Profilers — provided with each ink box, they contain infor-
mation about the ink and must be installed together with
their corresponding box. Profiler data are used to track ink
levels, and to help ensure optimal output quality and com­patibility with printer components.

◆ LEDs — the LED next to each profiler illuminates when the
box is almost empty, to alert the operator to exchange the
box for a full one.

Caution

Use only genuine ColorSpan inks and cleaning sol­vent in the printer. Use of any other inks or cleaning
fluids COULD DAMAGE THE PRINTER AND WILL
VOID THE WARRANTY.

3-2 Ink System Overview

Idle Jet Maintenance Due to the evaporation of the solvents in solvent-based inks, the

ink jets in solvent printers are susceptible to clogging. To mini­mize jet-outs, keep the printer printing and clean, and use the
printer’s jet maintenance feat ures.

The following table shows the recommended maintenance
schedule while the printer is idle. See Chapter 5, Maintaining the
Printer, for a complete listing of recommended maintenance to
keep the printer operating well and covered by the manufac­turer’s warranty.

Time Period Recommended Maintenance

1 hour When not printing while the printheads are uncapped, a small amount of

ink is expelled (spit) periodically into the spittoons, which drain into the
excess ink containers.

See “Checking Jet Health” on page 3-7 for instructions on using Purge-n­Wipe and AutoJet. See “AutoTune” on page 4-4 for instructions on schedul­ing Purge-n-Wipe and AutoJet to run automatically.

Momentary Power Down If the power must be removed for a brief period of time, leave the carriage

over the service station (not the capping station) to allow the ink, which will
no longer be held inside the printheads by the vacuum/pressure system, to
drain into the excess ink reservoir. Power up the printer as soon as possible
and cap the printheads if the printer will be idle for 4 hours or more.

2 hours to 4 days Cap the printheads to prevent drying and conserve ink (idle spit is sus-

pended during capping). See “Capping the Printheads” on page 3-13 for
instructions.
This capping period can successfully extended if every four days the print­heads are uncapped, purged to recover missing jets, prime bars or other
print is made, and recapped.

For best results, do not allow the printer to remain capped for more than 4 days; oth­erwise, extensive cleaning of the printheads may be required. If the printer must
remain capped longer than four days (such as during a long holiday weekend, for
shipping, or storage), follow the applicable procedure below:

4 - 14 days Cap the printheads as described in “Capping the Printheads” on page 3-13.

14 - 30 d ay s Fill the printheads with cleaning solvent and cap the printheads with a sol-

vent-soaked pad. See Cleaning Solvent Soak on page 5-8 for instructions.

30 days or more Flush the printheads with cleaning solvent, empty the printheads, and cap.

See “Extended Power Down and Restart” on page 5-21 for instructions.

Idle Jet Maintenance 3-3

Selecting a Print Mode ◆ The bidirectional print modes (printing occurs in both direc-

tions) enable you to select the combination of print speed
and quality required.
mode selected, and by other factors such as the width of the
image.

◆ The unidirectional modes are available for rigid cut-sheet
printing only. Unidirectional printing eliminates the bidirec­tional misalignment that occurs when printing on media that
is not perfectly flat.

◆ The printer automatically accepts and prints jobs from the
RIP at either 600x600 or 600x300 dpi.

◆ Jet replacement refers to the printer’s ability to locate and
replace ink jets that are clogged or misfiring. High Quality
mode has the best jet replacement, Billboard Quality mode
has the highest speed.

◆ The software will turn on the optional auxiliary dryer fans
automatically during printing, and increase media advance
speeds accordingly, if the fans are installed and enabled
(Menu > Printer Settings > Dryer Fans)

1. On the Front Page screen of the control panel, press the Print
Mode key.

The print mode menu appears, with these options:

Speed or throughput depends on the

Mode Jet Replacement
Billboard None
Production Standard
High Quality Maximum

When configured for rigid printing, these unidirectional
print modes are also available:

Mode Jet Replacement
Billboard Unidirectional None
Production Unidirectional Standard
High Quality Unidirectional Maximum

Fine Text mode is also available in Production and High
Quality modes. Fine Text prints at half the normal head
speed to improve the output quality of fine text and line art.

3-4 Selecting a Print Mode

2. Press the , and ) and keys to highlight a print mode.

3. Press the

" (Set) key to select the print mode.

Selecting a Print Mode 3-5

General Printing Tips ◆ See “Important Operating Notes” on page 1-3 for impor-

tant information on operating the printer.

◆ Before printing on vinyl media that has been loaded on an
idle printer overnight or longer, advance the portion of the

media that has been resting on the preheater (prior to the
platen) past the print zone. In this situation, the vinyl tends
to retain the shape of the preheater, making it more likely
that the printheads or carriage will strike the media.

◆ To pause printing, press the Pause button on the control
panel. While printing is paused, you can change the Heat­ers, Vacuum, and Dry Delay settings. Changed settings will
remain in effect until media is loaded, when the settings
saved in the Media Wizard will be restored. While printing is
paused you can also “pause-swap” ink (see “Pause-Swap­ping Ink” on page 3-12 for instructions).

3-6 General Printing T ips

Checking Jet Health The printer’s automatic jet maintenance features (gutter print-

ing, spits, service station wipes) are designed to keep the inkjets
from clogging. In addition, when AutoJet detects a missing jet, it
attempts to replace it with a working jet on the same or another
printhead (in Production and High Quality modes). In this way,
printing occurs with all jets for maximum quality.

When you notice a decrease in print quality, one or more inkjets
may be clogged. To recover clogged jets:

1. Print a Prime Bars pattern to determine whether there are
any missing jets (see page 3-8).

2. If there are any missing jets, Purge-n-Wipe the printheads
(see page 3-8) or Print Jet-Out Lines (page 3-8).

3. Run AutoJet (page 4-3) or Manual Jet Mapping (page 4-13).

4. Repeat this process until all jets are working or substituted for
another jet. This process is summarized in Fig. 3-1, below.

Fig. 3-1. Checking jet health and recovering jets

Checking Jet Health 3-7

Print Prime Bars 1. From the control panel Front Page screen, press the Prime

Bars key.

The control panel displays a prompt asking you to enter the
total width of the prime bar pattern you wish to print.

2. Enter a width for the prime bar pattern by pressing the )
and , keys.

3. Press the ! (Proceed) key to continue.

The printer prints the prime bar pattern. The prime bars will
show correctly working jets with a solid line, and missing
jets with no line.

Purge-n-Wipe Printheads When prime bars indicate missing or deflected jets, automatic

jet maintenance should be supplemented by a Purge-n-Wipe
operation: air pressure forces ink through the inkjets, then the
service station dips the wipers in cleaning solvent and wipes the
inkjet orifice plate.

You can purge all sixteen printheads at once or purge a single
color (four printheads).

To purge-n-wipe all sixteen printheads:

1. From the control panel Front Page screen, press the Purge
key.

The control panel prompts you to press the ! (Proceed) key
to continue.

2. Press the ! (Proceed) key to continue.

The printer purges the printheads with air pressure, then
wipes them with the service station wipers. Approximately 1
milliliter of ink per color is expelled by this purge.

3-8 Checking Jet Health

To purge-n-wipe a color (four printheads):

1. From the control panel Front Page screen, press the
(Menu) key.

2. Press the

3. Press the  (Menu In) key.

4. Press

5. Press the  (Menu In) key.

6. Press the ! (Proceed) key to continue.

The control panel displays a list of ink colors.

7. Press

8. Press ! (Proceed) to continue.

The printer purges the printheads with air pressure, then
wipes them with the service station wipers. Approximately

1.7 milliliters of ink per color are expelled by this purge
(and the purges triggered by AutoTune and AutoRecover).

Note

) key to highlight Maintenance.

)to highlight Purge a Color.

)repeatedly to select an ink color to purge.

Purging a single color is more effective because more
pressure is applied to each printhead, but a possible
side effect of repeated single-color purges is clogged
jets in other colors. Repeated single-color purges
should be followed by a purge of all printheads.



Print Jet-Out Lines

1. From the control panel Front Page screen, press the 
(Menu) key.

2. Press the

3. Press the  (Menu In) key.

4. Press

5. Press the  (Menu In) key.

The Jet-Out Lines pattern prints. Substituted jets are marked
with a black square.

) key to highlight Maintenance.

)to highlight Print Jet-Out Lines.

Map Out Missing Jets If the Jet-Out Lines (above) reveal an blank or wavy lines, the

corresponding jets should be mapped out. For instructions, see
“AutoJet” on page 4-3 or “Manual Jet Mapping” on page 4-13.
When all missing jets have been substit uted, printed output will
appear as if all jets are working.

Checking Jet Health 3-9

Loading Ink

When to Load Ink The amount of ink in the ink box is tracked by the printer soft-

ware and recorded on its corresponding profiler. When the ink
box is almost empty, the LED above the corresponding profiler
will blink. You should replace the ink box with a full ink box of
the same color ink as soon as possible. The status of each ink
box and profiler is indicated by the LEDs as follows:

◆ Off — OK

◆ Slow Blink — profiler is being verified after insertion

◆ Fast Blink — low ink warning (300 ml remaining)

◆ On — ink system action (ink empty, ink pump failure, pro-

filer error, or other), see control panel

Unloading an Empty Ink

Box

1. Remove the profiler.

2. Lift the box out of its holder and turn the box upside down so
the ink tube is pointing up.

3. Lift the retaining clip on the ink tube connector and disen­gage the tube from the ink box.

4. Remove and dispose of the ink box (refer to the MSDS for
proper disposal procedures).

Loading a Full Ink Box 1. Open the new ink box and locate the supply connector.

Fig. 3-2. Ink box with supply connector

3-10 Loading Ink

2. Connect the ink supply tube to the ink box.

Grasp and squeeze the ink t ube connector as shown, engage
the connector to the ink box, and release the connector.
Ensure that the connectors are firmly engaged before pro­ceeding.

Fig. 3-3. Connecting the ink tube to the ink box

3. Invert and install the ink box into position in the holder.

The position for each ink color is shown on a label below
the ink box holder (on the pump cover) and on the profiler
docking station.

4. Install the profiler in the corresponding docking station slot.

Loading Ink 3-11

Pause-Swapping Ink You can replace one or more ink boxes during a print by pausing

the printer:

1. On the printer control panel, press the

2. Remove the old profiler.

This signals to the printer that the ink box is being replaced.

3. Disconnect and remove the old ink box.

4. Install and connect the new ink box.

5. Install the profiler that was included with the new ink box.

The LED above the profiler blinks slowly while the printer
reads and verifies the profiler. The LED goes out after the
profiler has been verified as a valid profiler with ink remain­ing.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for any other ink boxes you want to
replace.

7. On the printer control panel, press the

 (Pause) key.

 (Resume) key.

3-12 Loading Ink

Capping the Printheads

Cap the Printheads 1. Prepare the capping station by placing a sheet of SolaChrome

Capping the printheads prevents the ink from drying out and
clogging the ink jets. Since the ink jets are automatically exer­cised (a small amount of ink is expelled) when idle, capping is
only necessary if the printer will be idle for a long period (over­night or longer).

Capping the printheads is one component of Sleep Mode:

◆ The printer enters standby mode, which also occurs after the
printer has been idle: the heaters are switched off, and the
supply & takeup system is detensioned.

◆ The OHS is disabled, which turns of f power to the pumps.

◆ When you manually engage the capping levers, the capping

station sensor is detected and the control panel disables
most functions except for Wake.

Printhead Capping Film over the capping station pad.

Fold the capping film underneath the capping pad, to allow
any ink that escapes the printheads to flow into the drip
tray.

Caution

2. Press the Sleep key on the Front Page screen.

The control panel asks you to confirm that you want to cap
the printheads.

3. Press the Proceed key to cap the printheads.

The printhead carriage moves quickly to the left end of the
printer, over the capping station.

4. Engage the capping station by pulling forward on both levers
simultaneously, until the capping pad touches the printheads
and the carriage just begins to move up.

Do not raise the capping pad beyond this point.

5. Press Proceed.

The control panel displays the Front Page screen. Note that
all but a few functions are disabled until you uncap the
printheads.

Capping the Printheads 3-13

To cap the printheads, use only SolaChrome Print­head Capping Film. Damage to printheads resulting
from the use of poorly performing plastic films is not
covered by the printer warranty.

Uncap the Printheads Uncapping the printheads is one component of the Wake func-

tion, which reverses the Sleep function:

◆ The printer leaves standby mode: the heaters are switched
on, and the supply & takeup system is tensioned (loaded).

◆ The OHS is enabled, which turns on power to the pumps.

◆ When you manually disengage the capping levers, the cap-

ping pad sensor is detected and the control panel enables all
functions and displays the Sleep key.

Tip

1. Press the Wake key on the Front Page screen on the control
panel.

The control panel asks you to confirm that you want to
uncap the printheads.

2. Press the

The control panel prompts you to disengage the capping sta­tion pad.

3. Disengage the capping station.

Have a paper towel ready to blot any cleaning fluid that has
escaped from the printheads during capping. If the capping
film was applied as directed, most of the fluid should run
off the capping film into the drip tray.

Grasp the two capping pad levers, and simultaneously push
them toward the back of the printer to lower the capping sta­tion.

4. Remove and discard the capping film.

Carefully remove the wrap to avoid spilling ink on the floor
or yourself.

Since some ink may spill from the film-wrapped cap­ping station, wear latex gloves to prevent staining
your hands during this procedure.

! (Proceed) key to uncap the printheads.

5. To access the heads for cleaning, remove the capping station
assembly by pulling it forward and out of the printer.

3-14 Capping the Printheads

6. Wipe the printheads with SolaChrome-HR Cleaning Solvent,
using a 100% polyester Class 100 cleanroom wipe. DO NOT

USE ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL ON THE PRINTHEADS.

Remove ink buildup on the printheads and lower surfaces of
the carriage.

7. Replace the capping station assembly by aligning it with and
pushing it into its tracks in the printer.

The capping station assembly is “keyed” so that it can be
inserted all the way in the correct orientation. If you cannot
push the capping station all the way into place, turn it
around and try installing it again.

8. Press the

The printhead carriage moves quickly to the right end of the
printer, to the service station.

9. Press the

The control panel displays the Front Page screen.

10. Print the prime bars.

See “Print Prime Bars” on page 3-8 for instructions. After the
printheads have been capped, the prime bars will reveal sev­eral missing jets.

11. Purge the printheads.

See “Purge-n-Wipe Printheads” on page 3-8 for instructions.

12. Repeat steps 10 through 13 until no unreplaced missing jets
are revealed by the prime bars.

13. Run AutoJet or Manual Jet Mapping.

See page 3-9 for instructions.

! (Proceed) key.

! (Proceed) key.

Capping the Printheads 3-15

Loading Roll-Fed Media

The printer includes a tensioned supply and takeup system
designed to handle vinyl and other heavier media on three-inch
cores. The media handling system automatically detects the size
of the supply and takeup rolls and provides consistent tension as
the rolls change size during printing.

With the corresponding collets, media on 2-inch cores can be
loaded onto the supply, but only 3-inch collets can be used on
the takeup.

Tip

3-inch moveable collet

Wear cotton gloves when loading media, or handle
the media only by its very outside edges. This will
prevent skin oils from being deposited on the media,
which could be visible on printed output.

Locking pin (allen head)

3-inch fixed collet

Locking pin (allen head)

2-inch moveable collet

(supply only)

Fig. 3-4. 3-inch and 2-inch collets

3-16 Loading Roll-Fed Media

2-inch fixed collet

(supply only)

Support for Large Narrow

Media Rolls

For printing with large rolls of narrow media (less than 72
inches wide), the printer includes spool support accessories to
prevent the spools from bowing under the weight:

◆ Spool support — attaches to the stand crossbar, supports the
supply and takekup spools.

Fig. 3-5. Spool support

◆ Spool sleeve — slides over the spool with locking collets.

Fig. 3-6. Spool sleeve

Loading Roll-Fed Media 3-17

1. Ensure that the fixed collet is properly located with the screw
tightened into the inner hole on the supply spool (using the
outer hole would prevent the spool from being installed).

The side of the spool with the fixed collet is the “home”
side, closest to the printer’s electronics box.

2. Remove the moveable collet from the spool.

Note

3. Optionally, if using large rolls of narrower media, install the
spool support and/or sleeve (see Fig. 3-5 and Fig. 3-6).

4. Load the media roll onto the spool.

5. Load and secure the moveable collet against the end of the
media roll.

The moveable collet does not have a metal pin. Push the col­let into the media core, and (on 3-inch collets) turn the
locking ring counterclockwise to secure it in place.

6. From the rear of the printer, load the media and spool into
the printer’s supply spool holder.

Press the home side of the supply spool into the home side
holder (on the left from the rear of the printer), then swing
the far side of the supply spool into the far side holder (on
the right).

You can load the supply spool so that the media either
unspools from the bottom or the top of the roll (see Fig. 3-7

The 3-inch collets have left-handed threads that self­tighten during printing. Turn the locking ring clock­wise to loosen, and counterclockwise to tighten.

3-18 Loading Roll-Fed Media

below). This enables you to print on either side of the
media.

Supply

Takeup

Fig. 3-7. Media path from supply to takeup

7. Ensure that the media is rolled onto the supply spool evenly,
without “telescoping” to one side.

8. Release the pinch rollers so that media can be fed through
them freely.

9. Feed the media through the pinch rollers and onto the
platen.

10. From the front of the printer, pull the media web taut so that
the media feeds in a straight line from the supply, with no
wrinkles.

This is easier with two persons. If loading with one person,
first lower the pinch rollers, walk around to the front of the
printer, release the pinch rollers, then straighten the media.

11. Lower the pinch rollers onto the media.

12. On the Front Page screen of the control panel, press the Load
Media key.

The control panel presents a list of media types. You can
select a ColorSpan media from the list, or select Custom (at
the end of the list) to specify a new media. The printer’s
Media Wizard feature stores a set of parameters for each
media type, which can be recalled and applied whenever
you change media types. (See “Media Wizard” on page 3-44
for details.)

Loading Roll-Fed Media 3-19

13. Select the media type that most closely matches the media
you are loading, or create a new media type.

The control panel displays the current settings for the media
ty pe you chose.

Fig. 3-8. Media settings

3-20 Loading Roll-Fed Media

Fig. 3-9. Media settings (roll-fed)

14. Press one of the change keys to change any of the settings,

print mode, or media type, press the  key to see page 2, or
press the ! key to continue.

◆ If you do not have the optional auxiliary dryer enabled,
page 2 will only show the “Dryers Off” column.

◆ If you press one of the change keys, a screen appears to
allow you to change any of the settings. Then press the

Loading Roll-Fed Media 3-21

! key to continue. See “Media Wizard” on page 3-44
for information about these settings.

◆ If you press !, the control panel displays the prompt:

Advance media to takeup?

15. To advance the media, press
(No) and go to the next step.

◆ If you press

spool. You can press Stop if necessary to stop the media
advance at any time.

◆ If you press

16. Grasp the middle of the media web, pull straight back, route
the media underneath the takeup core, and tape it to the
takeup core as shown in Fig. 3-7 on page 3-19.

If necessary, you can use the arrow keys on the control panel
screen to move the media forward or backward.

Note

17. Press the

The printer tensions the supply and takeup system, turns on
the platen vacuum fans, and measures the width of the
media by locating the right and left edges with the digital
image sensor (camera) on the printhead carriage.

With the fixed collets securely pinned to the supply
and takeup spools (see Fig. 3-4), position the media
on the takeup core in the same relative position as it
is wound on the supply core. For example, if the
media is positioned 0.125 inches from the left end of
the supply core, it should be positioned the same dis­tance from the left end of the takeup core. If neces­sary, the 3-inch collets on the takeup spool can be
loosened so that the core can be moved to the right
or left.

! key to continue.

"(Yes), the media advances to the takeup

( (No), go to step 18.

"(Yes), otherwise press (

3-22 Loading Roll-Fed Media

The control panel displays a numeric keypad.

Fig. 3-10. Numeric entry screen

18. Enter the length of the media roll (if it is a new roll) or the
length remaining (if it is a partially used roll), and press the
Enter key to continue.

To skip this step, press Esc or Enter without entering a value.
The printer will use a value of “undefined,” and will not
track media usage.

The control panel displays the Media Feed Number.

19. Accept the displayed Media Feed Number, enter a new num­ber, or perform a Media Feed Calibration to generate a new
Media Feed Number (see “Media Feed” on page 4-6 for
instructions).

You are now ready to begin printing.

Loading Roll-Fed Media 3-23

Loading Wide Media A roll of 72-inch and wider media is impossible to load it by

grasping its left and right edges at the same time. Follow this
procedure to more easily load wider media.

Tip

1. With one hand, grasp the media at the center of its leading
edge, and pull it forward into the center grit rollers.

2. While continuing to hold the center of the leading edge of
the media in place, grasp the left edge of the media with
your left hand.

3. Pull the left edge of the media into the leftmost grit rollers.

4. Hold the media in place with your left hand.

5. Grasp the right edge of the media with your right hand, and
pull it into the rightmost grit rollers.

6. With both hands, feed the media web evenly into all grit
rollers.

7. With your right hand, hold the media spool at the collet to
prevent the spool from moving.

8. With your left hand, press the Media Advance button for 2-3
seconds. The grit rollers will spin beneath the stationary
media, thus equalizing the tension on the roll.

9. Press the Media Advance button to finish loading the media.

10. Verify that the media web is even and unwrinkled across its
width.

11. When loading the media onto the takeup spool, ensure that
the media is tightly wound onto the spool across its width.

12. Return to step 12 on page 3-19 to finish loading the media.

Wear cotton gloves when loading media, or handle
the media only by its very outside edges. This will
prevent skin oils from being deposited on the media,
which could be visible on printed output.

3-24 Loading Roll-Fed Media

Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media

1. Press the ) key on the Front Page screen to advance the

printed portion of the media past the postheater.

2. On the Front Page screen of the control panel, press the
Unload key.

3. The control panel prompts you to press ! to unload media,
or ( to cancel.

4. Press ! to continue.

This detensions the supply and takeup spools.

5. Cut through the media with a utility knife along the cutting
channel in the platen or below the postheater.

As you cut the media from the printer, hold it to prevent it
from falling to the floor and possibly damaging it.

Note

6. Take the single print or the entire takeup spool with printed
output to your finishing area, and re-load the takeup system.

◆ To re-load the takeup, from the menu, press the Load

If you scratch the platen while cutting media, be sure
to buff them out with a fine grade of sandpaper.
Scratches in the platen can cause media feed incon­sistencies, which can lead to head strikes and arti­facts in printed output.

key on the control panel.

Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media 3-25

Takeup Spool Pin Release To quickly unspool a large amount of media from the takeup

without damaging the takeup tension spring, you must first dis­engage the spool from the takeup system.

The spool is normally engaged to the takeup motor with a tab at
the end of the spool. To disengage this tab, press the Unload key
to detension the supply & takeup system, then insert the takeup
spool pin release tool (supplied, part number 0504334) between
the spool and the bracket that holds the spool. This allows the
spool to spin independently from the takeup as you pull media
from it. When you are ready to begin printing, remove the pin
release tool and press the Load key on the control panel.

Fig. 3-11. Takeup spool pin release tool

Tip

Tip

3-26 Unloading and Cutting Roll-Fed Media

Alternatively, you can disengage the takeup spool
pin by installing the spool “backwards,” with the pin
pointing away from the takeup motor.

You can reduce the back tension of the media supply
motor by installing the takeup spool pin release tool
and disabling the supply-out detection feature
(Menu > Printer Settings > Supply Out Detection).
You may want to do this if back tension is causing the
media to buckle or causing other media feed prob­lems.

Respooling Media The printer can respool media from one cardboard core to

another. You may want to do this if:

◆ The media was not taped to its core by the media vendor,
which makes tensioning impossible.

◆ You want to change the direction that the media unwinds
from the core (printed side out vs. printed side in).

Supply

Takeup

Fig. 3-12. Respooling load options

1. Load media on the supply.

2. Load an empty cardboard core on the takeup.

3. Slowly pull media from the supply spool to the takeup.

Do not pull the media faster than the supply motor releases
it. Route the media directly to the takeup. Do not route it
over the platen and heaters.

Ensure that the right and left edges of the media web are
perpendicular to the sides of the printer, that the tension
appears uniform across the media web, and that the media is
not unrolling unevenly (“telescoping”) from the supply
spool.

4. Tape the end of the media to the takeup core.

5. Press the  (Menu) key from the Front Page screen on the
control panel to display the menus.

6. From the control panel menu, press the ) key to highlight

Maintenance.

7. Press the  (Menu In) key.

8. From the Maintenance menu, press the ) key to highlight

Respool Media.

9. Press the  (Menu In) key.

Respooling Media 3-27

10. Press the ! (Proceed) key to respool the media.

The media is pulled from the supply spool onto the takeup
spool. When the printer detects the end of the media, the
respool function stops automatically.

3-28 Respooling Media

Loading Rigid Media The printer has two media load states:

◆ Unloaded — the printer is ready to accept either roll-fed or
rigid cut-sheet media

◆ Loaded — the Media Wizard has stored parameters for the
currently-loaded cut-sheet media, allowing you to reload
multiple cut sheets without reentering the Media Wizard

Tip

For optimal results when printing on rigid cut-sheet media:

◆ Ensure that the printer has been correctly assembled and lev­eled, and operates on a flat, stable floor.

◆ Ensure that the media input and output tables have been
correctly assembled, are level left-to-right, and are at the
same height as the printer platen.

◆ Use only flat, unwarped or damaged sheets, with parallel
opposite edges and 90

1. On the Front Page screen of the control panel, press the Load
Media key.

The control panel presents a list of media types. You can
select a ColorSpan media from the list, or select Custom (at
the end of the list) to specify a new media. The printer’s
Media Wizard feature stores a set of parameters for each
media type, which can be recalled and applied whenever
you change media types. (See “Media Wizard” on page 3-44
for details.)

If you are printing multiple copies of the same image
on rigid cut-sheet media, you can skip much of the
load process by using the Reload Media function for
the second and subsequent prints. See “Reloading
Rigid Media” on page 3-36 for details.

° corners.

2. Select the media type that most closely matches the media
you are loading, or create a new media type.

The control panel displays the current settings for the media
type you choose.

Loading Rigid Media 3-29

Fig. 3-13. Media settings

3-30 Loading Rigid Media

Fig. 3-14. Media settings (cut-sheet rigid)

3. Press one of the change keys to change any of the settings,
print mode, or media type, press the  key to see page 2, or
press the ! key to continue.

◆ If you do not have the optional auxiliary dryers enabled,

page 2 will only show the “Dryers Off” column.

◆ If you press one of the change keys, a screen appears to

allow you to change any of the settings. Then press the
! key to continue. See “Media Wizard” on page 3-44
for information about these settings.

If you press !, the control panel displays a numeric keypad
so you can enter the length of the media.

Loading Rigid Media 3-31

4. Enter the length of the media.

The printer will use the value you enter here for subsequent
calculations, so be as accurate as possible.

5. Press the ! key.

The control panel displays the prompt:

Load a sheet of media onto the printer

6. Unload any roll-fed media from the printer.

7. Insert the pins of the media alignment tool into two platen
vacuum holes (in the same row).

Fig. 3-15. Media alignment tool

8. Release the pinch rollers.

9. Slide a sheet of media onto the platen and center it on the
pinch rollers.

It is not necessary to align the media to the left or right edge
of the platen. If possible, avoid positioning the left or right
edge of the media under a pinch roller. If this is unavoid­able, see “Releasing a Pinch Roller,” on the next page.

3-32 Loading Rigid Media

Releasing a Pinch Roller Follow these steps to raise a single pinch roller if the edge of the

media must be located under the roller, or if the roller is
unusable:

◆ Raise the pinch rollers using the release lever.

◆ Install the release block from the front of the printer into

the desired pinch roller assembly.

◆ One of the block’s two indents should rest on the pivot.
Push the block back to the second indent to engage the
back of the rail as shown below.

◆ Lower the rollers to the desired tension.

◆ The block can be stored in the disengaged position by

raising the pinch rollers, then pulling the block forward
so that its first indent rests in the pivot.

Engaged Disengaged/Stored

Fig. 3-16. Using the pinch roller release block

Loading Rigid Media 3-33

10. Push the media up against the media alignment tool.

Make sure that the media is centered under the pinch rollers.
Avoid positioning either the left or right edge of the media
under a pinch roller. The printer will automatically locate
the left and right edges.

Note

11. Set the pinch rollers as specified in the Media Wizard.

12. Remove the media alignment tool from the platen.

13. Press the ! key to continue.

The control panel asks whether you want to adjust the head
height. If the thickness of the media you are loading is sig­nificantly different from the previously loaded media, then
adjust the head height for optimal print quality and to pre­vent the carriage from striking the media.

◆ If you press Yes, the control panel enters the head

◆ If you press No, the media load procedure continues.

The printhead carriage moves out of the service station and
uses the onboard digital imaging sensor (“camera”) to locate
the right, front, and left edges of the media, and to deter­mine whether the sheet was loaded squarely into the printer.

If the media is not square (opposite edges parallel
with 90 degree corners), you can align it with the
fence on the input (rear) table. First, ensure that the
fence is exactly perpendicular with (at 90 degrees to)
the platen with a large framing (carpenter’s) square
and the media alignment tool.

height, service station height, and bidi calibration proce­dures. (See Chapters 4 and 5 for instructions.)

14. If the media is skewed, the control panel asks whether you
want to adjust it.

◆ If you press Yes, you can release the pinch rollers, adjust

the media, lower the pinch rollers, and press the Pro­ceed key to continue.

◆ If you press No, the media load procedure continues.

The control panel briefly displays the measured width of the
media.

3-34 Loading Rigid Media

15. Press the ! key to continue.

The control panel displays a screen that shows the following
information:

◆ Media size

◆ Print area

◆ Right & left margins — if you enter 0 (zero), you can also

specify an amount of overprint (printing past the edge
of the media). This enables you to achieve an edge-to­edge printing effect without an unprinted border, espe­cially if the media is skewed or not a perfect rectangle.
Protect the platen with tape or a strip of media to catch
the overprinted ink.

◆ Leading margin

◆ Trailing margin — 6.50 inches (165 mm) minimum to

allow the pinch rollers to feed the media. If you set the
Trailing Margin to 0 and want to print to the trailing
edge, you must attach a trailer of the same media to the
trailing edge so the pinch rollers can feed the media all
the way past the print zone.

Tip

16. To change the margin settings, press the Margin Settings
key; otherwise, press Proceed.

The printer moves the media to the proper position for
printing.

17. Press the Online key to receive a print job from the print
server or RIP.

After a print job has finished printing, the media is automat­ically advanced (ejected) from the pinch rollers.

Note

For tips on printing edge-to-edge, see “Edge-to-Edge
Printing” on page 3-38.

Before a print job is received, you can unload the
media at any time by pressing the Unload key on the
Front Page screen of the control panel.

Loading Rigid Media 3-35

Reloading Rigid Media After printing the first copy of a multiple copy job onto a sheet

of rigid media, the Front Page screen displays a special Load/
Reload key.

Fig. 3-17. Load/Reload key

◆ Load New Media — press this key to re-enter the Media Wiz-
ard and select a new media to load (either roll-fed or rigid
cut-sheet). See “Loading Roll-Fed Media” on page 3-16 or
“Loading Rigid Media” on page 3-29 for instructions.

◆ Reload Media — press this key to re-load the same media
type, for example to print multiple copies of an image on the
same media.

3-36 Reloading Rigid Media

When you press the Reload Media key, the control panel displays
this screen:

Fig. 3-18. Reload media

See “Loading Rigid Media” on page 3-29 for instructions. Then
press one of the following keys:

◆ Reload & Print — the printer locates the edges of the media
as specified in Measure Media Type (see “Printer Settings”
on page 2-10), then switches online and receives the next
print job.

◆ Reload Sheet — the printer locates the edges of the media as
specified in Measure Media Type (see “Printer Settings” on
page 2-10), then displays the Front Page screen so you can
print Prime Bars or make adjustments. When you are ready to
print, press the Online Offline key to switch the printer
online.

Reloading Rigid Media 3-37

Edge-to-Edge Printing The printer can print up to or past the edges of rigid media. This

provides the look of a “full-bleed” print without trimming the
media. For best results, follow these guidelines.

Document, Application,

and RIP Settings

Tip

◆ To ensure that the printer will print past the edges of the
media, design or enlarge the job slightly larger than the
media. For example, if the media is 32 inches wide, set an
Overprint distance of 0.125 inches (see Menu > Printer Set-
tings > Margin Settings) and size the document to 32.25
inches wide.

◆ For images with a special detail at the edge of the page,
such as a border, make the border line thicker than usual to
extend past the edges of the page.

MacDermid ColorSpan has developed an extensive
set of tips and techniques for printing on rigid
media, including edge-to-edge and double-sided
printing. See the MacDermid ColorSpan web site, or
Contact Technical Ser vices at [phone] or
[phone], and ask for Tech Note #2730,
“Straight-Through Paper Path: A Handbook for
Users.”

Media edge

Fig. 3-19. Laying out a full-bleed document

(shown with bleeds off three sides)

3-38 Edge-to-Edge Printing

Media Properties ◆ Follow the guidelines in this chapter for printing on rigid

media.

◆ The media should have parallel opposite edges with 90­degree corners. Media that is not exactly square with itself
can be used, but will require extra attention when loading
(see “Loading and Squaring the Media,” below).

◆ To print to the trailing edge, attach a 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) or
longer trailer of the same media to the trailing edge, so the
pinch rollers can feed the media all the way past the print
zone.

Direction of media feed

Fig. 3-20. Attaching a trailer

Printer Setup ◆ Tape the platen under the left and right edges of the media

to catch any oversprayed ink. Use a colored tape to allow the
printer to find the media edges. A piece of media printed
with a solid color also works for this purpose. Do not use
white tape or media; the printer uses the contrast between
the media and the platen to find the media edges.

◆ Use the supplied head height gauge to set the printhead
height over the media.

◆ From Menu > Printer Settings > Margin Settings, set the
Right and Left Margin, and Leading Margin to 0 as desired.
Set the Trailing Margin to 6.5 inches (which is the mini­mum).

◆ Optionally, you can set an Overprint distance between 0 and

0.5 inches to print past the left and right edges (0.125 inches
to 0.25 inches is usually sufficient if the media is reasonably
square and unskewed).

◆ From Menu > Printer Settings > Print Position, center the
image on the media.

◆ When loading the media, report the length as the total
length of the media plus trailer.

Edge-to-Edge Printing 3-39

◆ Under Menu > Printer Settings > Media Measure Type,
choose Maximal for greatest precision and skew detection
when printing edge-to-edge. It measures the width of the
media in two places, and finds the front edge in two places
to estimate skew and detect non-rectangular sheets. The
printer will report if the media appears to be skewed and
therefore will not feed straight through the print zone. If the
media is not actually skewed, one or more of its edges may
not be parallel to each other.

Loading and Squaring the

Media

◆ Load the media as described in “Loading Rigid Media,”
earlier in this chapter.

◆ If the printer discovers that the media is skewed, you can
reposition most media without releasing the pinch rollers by
nudging the trailing edge right or left to correct the skew.

Fig. 3-21. Skewed (left) and non-square (right) sheets

3-40 Edge-to-Edge Printing

◆ If the printer reports that the media is skewed, but you can­not correct the skew, the sheet may not be perfectly square
(90-degree corners with parallel sides). In this case, ensure
that the right edge of the media (closest to the control
panel) is parallel to the direction of media feed. (You can use
the fence on the input (rear) table as a guide after squaring
it to the platen.) Then use the procedures described previ­ously to ensure enough overprinting to account for the
shape of the sheet. If insufficient overprinting occurs, the
sheet may need to be trimmed for a bleed effect.

Fig. 3-22. Feeding a non-square sheet

Example Document Design

◆ Media size: 48x96 inches (4x8 feet)

◆ Bleeds: Full bleed

◆ Document size in application software: 48.5 inches x 96.0

inches, to include an overprint of 0.25 inches on the left and
right edges (the printer will not overprint the leading edge,
to avoid feeding the media over wet ink on the platen)

Media Properties

◆ The operator selects a flat sheet of 4x8-foot media with
opposite sides parallel and all four corners at 90 degree
angles.

◆ The operator attaches a trailer that is 6.5 inches (16.5 cm)
long and 48 inches wide to the trailing edge of the media,
applying the adhesive tape to the back side.

Edge-to-Edge Printing 3-41

Trailing edge

Trailer

Printer Setup

◆ The operator applies colored masking tape to the platen
where the right and left edges of the media will feed, to pre­vent overprinting onto the platen.

◆ The operator sets the head height over the media.

◆ The operator configures the following options on the printer

control panel:

◆ Menu > Printer Settings > Margin Settings > Lef t &

Right Margin: 0 inches, Overprint Distance: 0.25 inches

◆ Menu > Printer Settings > Margin Settings > Leading

Margin: 0 inches

◆ Menu > Printer Settings > Margin Settings > Trailing

Margin: 6.5 inches

◆ Menu > Printer Settings > Print Position: Center

◆ Menu > Printer Settings > Media Measure Type:

Maximal

◆ Media length (entered during Load Media): 102.5

inches = 96.0 inch media length + 6.5 inch trailer

Nominal print area

Left overprint

Media feed direction

Leading edge

Fig. 3-23. Edge-to-edge printing terminology

3-42 Edge-to-Edge Printing

Right overprint

◆ During Load Media, the printer locates two points on
each of the leading, left, and right edges of the media.
The printer uses these data points, and assumes 90­degree corners and parallel sides, to determine the skew
of the media. If the media is skewed enough that an
unprinted left or right edge may result, even with a mar­gin of 0 and the amount of overprinting specified, the
control panel displays a message with the skew amount:

Fig. 3-24. Skew message

Correct the skew by nudging the trailing edge of the
media by the distance left or right as reported by the
control panel, without releasing the pinch rollers. Allow
the printer to measure the media again. Repeat until the
skew is within tolerance.

Note

Tip

Edge-to-Edge Printing 3-43

LEFT and RIGHT are defined as if facing the front of
the printer: RIGHT is toward the control panel, LEFT
is toward the opposite end.

If you set the overprint distance to a smaller number,
there will be less skew tolerance before the printer
reports too much skew. If you set a larger overprint
distance, the printer will permit a greater amount of
media skew before displaying the error message.

Media Wizard The Media Wizard software feature stores a set of printing

parameters by media type, enabling you to instantly optimize
the printer whenever you change media. The Media Wizard
includes standard sets of parameters for popular media types,
and allows you to define new settings for media types you
define.

The Media Wizard can store a different set of settings for each of
the print modes (Billboard, Production, High), or use the same
settings for all three modes.

The Media Wizard is accessible during the media load process
(see “Loading Roll-Fed Media” on page 3-16) and from the Front
Page screen (as follows).

Tip

1. From the Front Page screen, press the Media Wizard key.

The Media Wizard menu appears. It contains the following
options:

◆ Media Settings — displays the settings currently stored

◆ Create Media Type — creates a new media type using

◆ Delete Media Type — deletes a user-created media type

◆ View Media Types — allows you to view each of the

◆ Set Sort Method — allows you to sort the list of media

To use the Media Wizard most efficiently, start by
using one of the standard media types. If you are not
using a standard media type, select the standard
media type that most closely matches the media you
are using. Then only if necessary, create a new media
type using the standard type you selected as a start­ing point, and adjust it as needed.

in the Media Wizard

settings you specify

media types stored in the Media Wizard

names Alphabetically, by Most Used, Recently Used,
Sheet-fed First, Roll-fed First, or None (preserves the cur­rent order).

2. When you select Media Settings, the control panel displays
the current settings.

◆ To change the current settings, press the Media Settings

key.

3-44 Media Wizard

◆ To return to the Media Wizard menu, press the
(Proceed) key.

For each media ty pe, the Media Wizard stores the following
settings. The settings stored vary depending on whether the
media is roll-fed or cut-sheet.

◆ Name — for user-defined media, use the alphabetic key-
board displayed on the control panel to enter the media
name. (Standard media names cannot be changed.)

◆ Thickness — for user-defined media, use the numeric
keyboard displayed on the control panel to enter the
media thickness (caliper). (Standard media thickness
cannot be changed.) Thickness is used for reference only,
so this can be left blank for custom media.

◆ Media Feed Method — Roll or Cut Sheet.

◆ Stif f Media Handling (roll-fed) — when enabled, deten-

sions then retensions the takeup system before every
print job, for more accurate feeding of adhesive-backed
and other stiffer roll-fed media types.

◆ Pinch Rollers (cut sheet) — adjustable pinch roller set-
ting, from 1 (lowest force) to 8 (highest force). Select
the lowest pressure that results in good media advance
without leaving pinch roller marks on the media.

◆ Media Out Sensor (cut sheet) — detects when rigid cut
sheet media is out. Normally enabled; disable only if the
sensor is malfunctioning.

◆ Measure Media Width — select whether to have the
printer measure the media width automatically (works
for most media) or manually by the operator (only nec­essary for clear media that cannot be detected with the
printer’s image sensor). In the latter case, the control
panel prompts the user through the process.

◆ Takeup Tension (roll fed) — select a tension setting from
1 (low) to 5 (high), or select 0 for idle (no tension).

Takeup tension is used to ensure that the media web
feeds straight from supply and takeup, and lies flat on
the platen. Use the lowest tension settings that allow cor­rect media feed.

When the takeup tension is set to idle, printed output is
not automatically wound onto the takeup spool. In this
mode, however, a key appears on the control panel that
enables you to wind the takeup spool manually. If the
end of the media is taped to the takeup core, you can

!

Media Wizard 3-45

use this key to control how tightly the media is wound
onto the core.

◆ Supply Out Detection (roll fed) — for roll-fed media,
the printer usually monitors the supply spool to detect
when it runs out of media. You can use this menu option
to disable media out detection when you install the
takeup spool pin release tool (part number 0504334, see
“Takeup Spool Pin Release” on page 3-26 for instruc­tions) for printing rather than to freely pull media from
the supply.

◆ Heater Temp Settings (roll fed) — select a postheater
setting from 0 to 10, or Custom to specify custom set­tings. Setting 0 sets all heaters to 85° F (30° C).

The preheater and platen heater maintain uniform sur­face temperature across the printing area to control dot
gain on various media. The postheater dries prints before
being rolled onto the take-up spool. If prints are not dry­ing, increase the postheater temperature; if media is
deforming or sticking to the postheater, lower or turn off
the postheater.

◆ Platen Vacuum Control — this option turns on the vac-
uum fans, and displays , and ) keys on the control
panel. Press , and ) to raise or lower the fan speed,
and observe the media as the fan speed changes. If the
media is lifting off the platen, increase the fan speed. If
the media is sticking to the platen, decrease the fan
speed.

◆ Drying Delay — press the , and ) keys on the control
panel to increase or decrease the drying delay (seconds
per print swath). To increase throughput, decrease the
drying delay. If prints are not drying, increase the dry­ing delay.

3. When you select Create Media Type, the Media Wizard dis-
plays a series of screens that enable you to enter each of the
Media Wizard settings.

The current settings as shown on the Media Settings screen
are used as default values. Change the defaults to suit the
new media for each print mode.

4. When you select Delete Media Type, the Media Wizard
shows a list of currently defined media. You can delete any
user-defined media type.

5. When you select View Media Types, the Media Wizard
allows you to browse through the settings for each of the
media types and print modes.

3-46 Media Wizard

Setting Heater Temperatures

The are three heaters: a preheater, a platen heater, and post­heater. The postheater’s top and bottom zones can be set to dif­ferent temperat ures. Optionally, the postheater can be turned
off.

The heater temperatures can be set during the media load pro­cess (see “Loading Roll-Fed Media” on page 3-16), from the
Media Wizard (see “Media Wizard” on page 3-44), or from the
menu (see the following procedure).

1. From the control panel Front Page screen, press the
(Menu) key.

2. Press the

3. Press the  (Menu In) key.

4. Press the
Setting.

5. Press the  (Menu In) key.

The control panel displays a list of heater settings, num­bered from 0 to 10 and “Custom.”

6. Press the

As you scroll through the settings, the temperature settings
for each zone are shown at the bottom of the screen.

7. Press

◆ If you selected Custom, a list of heaters appears so you

◆ If you selected any other setting, go to step 9.

8. Select a heater zone and set a new temperature.

If a Media Wizard type is currently loaded, the control panel
asks whether to save the new setting in the Media Wizard for
the currently loaded media.

) key repeatedly to highlight Printer Settings.

) key repeatedly to highlight Heater Temps

, or ) keys repeatedly to select a setting.

! to select a setting, or  to cancel.

can change the settings for each of the heater zones.



Setting Heater Temperatures 3-47

9. Press " to save the new settings in the Media Wizard, or (

to not save them.

Settings can be saved only for user-defined media, not for
factory-defined media. The settings will be applied whether
or not you save them in the Media Wizard. If you do not
save them, they will be lost when you load a different media
type or restart the printer.

The control panel advises you that it may take several min­utes for heaters to reach the new temperature settings.

3-48 Setting Heater Temperatures

CHAPTER 4

Calibrating the Printer

This chapter explains how to calibrate the printer for the best possible
output:

◆ When to Calibrate (page 4-2)

◆ AutoJet (page 4-3)

◆ AutoTune (page 4-4)

◆ Media Feed (page 4-6)

◆ Manual Calibrations (page 4-8) — Manual BiDi Registration, Manual

X Head Registration, Manual Jet Mapping, Jet Status Lines, Default
Registration Data

◆ Auto Calibrations (page 4-20) — AutoBiDi Calibration, AutoH2H
(Head-to-Head) Calibration, AutoJet Calibration, Full AutoSet

◆ Auto Calibrations (page 4-20)

◆ Straightening the Media Path (page 4-22)

◆ Image Sensor Calibration (page 4-23)

◆ Linearization (page 4-24)

Calibrating the Printer 4-1

When to Calibrate The printer features several types of calibrations. Some should

be run routinely, others only when necessary:

When to run Calibration Function

When Purge-n-Wipe does not
recover all missing jets

When printing a large group of print
jobs

When loading a new media (but not
when loading a new roll of the same
media); after changing the head
height

When loading a new media (but not
when loading a new roll of the same
media)

AutoJet (page 4-3)
or Manual Jet Mapping (page 4-13)

AutoTune (page 4-4) Automatic jet maintenance during

Media Feed or media feed adjust-

ment during printing (page 4-6)

Auto Bidirectional (page 4-20) or
Manual Bidirectional (page 4-11)

Color calibration (page 4-24 or

third-party RIP manual)

To identify and map out non­working jets.

extended printing periods
Media advance accuracy

Head calibration, run Manual when
calibrating transparent or other
media that the onboard digital
image sensor cannot calibrate

Linearization of colors

4-2 When to Calibrate

AutoJet AutoJet detects individual ink jets that are misfiring or not firing

at all. During subsequent printing, the printer compensates for
these jets by using other jets in their place, ensuring maximum
print quality without reducing print speed.

You can also identify and map missing jets manually from the
Manual Calibrations menu (see “Manual Jet Mapping” on page
4-13). You may want to manually map weak or misdirected jets
that AutoJet does not detect and substit ute.

To run AutoJet:

◆ Press the AutoJet button on the control panel Front Page
screen (see page 2-4), or

◆ Select AutoJet Calibration from the Auto Calibrations menu
(see “Auto Calibrations” on page 4-20), or

◆ Run AutoJet automatically with the AutoTune scheduler (see
“Auto Calibrations” on page 4-20)

Note

1. Press the AutoJet button from the Front Page screen or select
AutoJet from the Auto Calibrations menu.

The printer asks whether you want the service station to per­form a Purge-n-Wipe operation. By recovering clogged
printheads, you reduce the number of jet substitutions
required.

◆ Press

◆ Press

2. The printer prints the AutoJet test pattern.

3. The printer reads the AutoJet test pattern and maps any miss­ing jets to available working jets.

The control panel shows the progress of this operation as
the percentage completed.

4. The printer prints an AutoJet report.

AutoJet does not work with transparent media, nor
with many translucent media. In this case, run Man­ual Jet Mapping.

! to initiate a Purge-n-Wipe. The printheads are

purged, then wiped.

( to skip the Purge-n-Wipe.

AutoJet 4-3

AutoTune AutoTune runs jet maintenance automatically at intervals you

specify. You can use the Quality Check Mode feature to handle
AutoJet errors, with or without user intervention.

1. On the Front Page screen, press the  (Menu) key to enter

the menu system.

2. Press the  (Menu In) key display the Calibrate Printer

menu.

3. Press the ) key to highlight AutoTune.

4. Press the  (Menu In) key.

The control panel displays the AutoTune status (off or cur­rent interval).

5. Press , or ) to set the AutoTune interval.

6. Press ! (Proceed).

The control panel displays a list of services for AutoTune to
run.

◆ Purge/Wipe

◆ Purge/Wipe & AutoJet

◆ AutoJet

Tip

7. Select an AutoTune option to run.

8. Press the

The control panel displays a confirmation message:

Setting completed.

9. Press the  (Menu Out) key repeatedly until the Front Page

screen is displayed. Press the Online/Offline button to return
the printer to the Ready state.

Note

4-4 AutoTune

Purge/Wipe takes the least amount of time, Purge/
Wipe & AutoJet takes the greatest amount of time.

Select Purge/Wipe & AutoSet only if Purge/Wipe
does not produce satisfactory results.

" key, then the  (Menu Out) key.

When AutoTune is enabled, the selected operations
will be executed as scheduled regardless of whether
you initiate them manually from the control panel.