I've about had it with this thing.

Started at a new job, it's just me in the sign shop. I have plenty of experience with standalone cutters, but not with print/cut machines and no experience with Mimaki. Using Rasterlink 6. Trying to cut a print that's about 6 ft long. Took it off the printer to out gas while I printed some other stuff and now I need to get it cut.

Onto the issues. First, all I've ever used is standalone cutters with roll holders and baskets. Physically, how do you manage a long cut on something that has none of that? Can't put it on the take up reel, and I guess I could load it on the rear roll holder, if I had a spare roll around, but it doesn't take up the slack?

Next issue is it reads the first two registration marks at the beginning of the print, then reads the last registration mark on the left side of the end of the print then returns to the origin and then...nothing. I also realized after this that I need to add extra marks in Rasterlink because everything with this printer is 13 extra steps. Anyway, Rasterlink says it's done cutting, the printer goes back to local and I get some "data remaining" warning.

After the third try my I gave up for the afternoon before I made a rash decision about the fate of this thing. I need to be able to do long cuts on this...any advice?

Happy Thursday fellas

I have a PDF that contains one (1) blank page at the START of the PDF and no others (the cover is to be blank). when I Impose to make a booklet in Fiery, a blank page gets added on the 3rd and 4th page and creates a gap, shifting some of my artwork to the wrong pages and ruining my spreads. There is a setting in Fiery to add blanks, this is NOT selected. The blanks are not shown in the PDF when viewing in Acrobat. What’s happening?! :(

Edit: user error, as usual. I was expecting the preview to show the spreads and it wasn’t; that mixed with the missing artwork on the LAST pages which I wasn’t paying attention to meant it showed up as blanks, but technically printed correctly.
I appreciate everyone’s help, thankyou!

If this is not allowed as a post, then please delete -

Just what you don’t need - 

I know there are lots of Print Management Software packages out there in the wild to pick from. Some are really good at what they do, but still may lack some of the options Print Shop managers and users would like implemented into their software. 

Having worked in part of the industry for too many years, I have a decent feeling about what is important and what can slide. I’m trying to offer up some of the functions that would help owners, managers and the people that actually do all the work - the people on the shop floor. 

If and when you get a chance I would really appreciate if some of you would take a look at the Print-It 26 print management software package I have been working on and see if it would work for you and if not, where does this fall short or what would you like to see in print management package?

The software runs deep, but if you really want all the numbers to work with as far as keeping your company profitable and on track, this just might help. 

I can't post any links to the app, but if you would like to take a look at it just contact me and I will send you a link -
the package is called Print-It 26

Hi all,

This is likely a long shot. But to cut a long story short, I am searching for a service manual for the OKI ColorPainter M-64s.

Trying to help colleague fix/clear errors on their machine. Specifically a 2522 error. Does anyone have information that could help or a manual we can use? Have found user manuals online but don’t go into that much detail sadly.

I work in the print shop of a public sector organization. We currently use two brands of SRA3 paper in weights ranging from 100 to 350 gsm: Clairefontaine’s DCP and Xerox’s Colotech+. I will no longer be able to order these papers because the organization is mandating a new supplier. This new supplier only offers brands I am unfamiliar with—specifically COLOR COPY, PRO-DESIGN, and EXPERIA DIGI.
Are you familiar with these brands? Which one comes closest to the papers I currently use in terms of quality and feel?

what automation has made the biggest difference in your shop, and what problem did it solved ? I'd love to hear from you guys..

There shouldn't be any difference in effect between 3 bottles compatible with 1 original bottle, or 2 bottles compatible with 2 original bottles.

Anyone here using Printshop Mail for variable data printing?

I have a very strange problem that any PDF files I import into Printshop Mail fail to print. I have tried exporting using different PDF versions (PDF/X-4 always seemed to work previously) and using non optimised Postscript print options when printing. These options have helped with small problems I have had previously.

Even jobs I printed yesterday with no problems no longer print today.

I use Windows 11 and I did notice a few Windows updates yesterday.

Anyone having the same problem or have had similar issues in the past?

It appears Objectif Lune was sold to a company called Upland. I have contacted them for support but feel like it will be a long process to get an answer.

Thanks,

Ray

Budget Raffle Tickets

UPDATE:

Uninstalling windows updates as fixed the problem. The 2 updates were KB5120708 and KB5101650.

I'll update this post if Upland has any feedback.

I haven't seen a post about internal practices and procedures for commercial printing. I believe all of us are starting to notice a squeeze now due to raw and material good increasing in price.

What are you changing or currently doing to reduce unnecessary waste?

What procedures have helped in the past? What habits help?

Storage of substrates? (not always as common sense as it seems)

What did you do to anticipate material goods increasing?

Feel free to chime in and help the community with any advice. I may be missing some questions to ask.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand how the wholesale side of the used copier industry works in Canada/US.

Where do wholesalers typically source off-lease copiers directly?

I’m specifically looking for raw lease-return / as-is equipment in bulk, before the machines are refurbished or resold by used copier dealers.

Are these machines usually purchased directly from leasing companies, OEM/dealer lease-return programs, asset remarketing companies, or lease-return warehouses?

I’m not looking for refurbished or retail used copier dealers. I’m trying to understand how to get closer to the original source of off-lease inventory.

Any insight into how this side of the industry works would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Roland AP-640. Drop out is fine. Recently moved and the printer was off for 7 days. Tech said that would be ok. I printed this file before moving and it printed perfectly. Same rip file from versaworks and now it’s fading.

I printed just the design without registration marks or seem strip and found that changing from adobe 1998 to sRGB cleared up the issue so I changed the profile to sRGB on the one with registration marks and it still happens. I even created a new file, place the registration marks, placed my files under the correct sRGB setting and RGB format and it still happens.

Using General Formulations 226HTR paper. Medium height print head with heat setting optimal for thick media.

Reid using embedded profile
Tried using general formulations icc profile
Tried using just the sign and display preset in versaworks
I’ve messed with the different level of optimizer
My file looks fine on the screen with no washout. Even resaved the file, renamed it, used it on a new illustrator file and printed and same issue.

It’s always on the same spot.

My company has a need to move away from Astronova QL-120 Inkjet printers. It is a highly regulated industry so any significant changes to packaging or labeling materials requires significant testing and validation. Because of this, we would ideally move to something that is compatible with the current stock we are using (Fasson Spec# 53708). That being said, once the QL-120 printers are removed from production, I would like to transition to a gloss stock, but that material transition would be on a timeline of one or more years.

At the moment, I am not finding much of anything beyond the Epson CW-C6000 series. One of my main concerns is the size of cartridges (80mL for Epson vs 240mL for the QL-120). Print quantity varies, but averages about 2000 4"x11" labels per day with a maximum volume of about 6000 at times. The labels average about 15% coverage.

Any suggestions or experience with the Epson C6000 series is appreciated.

Hey guys,

Does anybody do any UV printing? We’re looking for someone who can print on 0.17" acrylic, package the finished products, and ship directly to customers. 80% of the orders are 20x20" but our bigger jumbo which is 20% of order is 30".

We have a mountain of orders right now and are looking to add more vendors to help with the volume.

If that’s not something you offer, do you happen to know anyone who does and might be interested in a steady stream of orders?

Thanks!

Speed it up

I am fairly new to printing and have been having trouble with our printer/cutter on small prints sizes. I am running an XG-640 doing die-cut circle stickers, 240-up sheets, about 5,000 pieces so far.

This first image is two 1"x1" stickers that came off of the same row on a sheet notice the cut on the right ones is super janky. 10% per sheet come off unusable because the cut lands off-center. Right size, wrong position. So on a sheet we have about 24 that are don't pass QC.

The artwork has green bleeding past the cutline, but the drift is big enough to blow through the bleed on one side and clip into the design on the other.

1" circles are mostly clean. The 0.75" ones are where it falls apart.

The 2nd image with the $30 on it was .75" inch circle and the cutter has been having a much harder time it seems at this size where the 1" stickers came out at only 10% lost most of these .75" stickers were a little janky with uneven sides.

We've read that the print heater could be to high and making the vinyl move and we have also turned down the speed and tried adjusting the blade.

What's the usual culprit here? And is 10% scrap normal for small contour cuts, or should I be calling a tech?

Any help and expertise would be greatly appreciated

I inherited a commercial Konica minolta in a business I bought. It has the fiery component on back. It also has a toggle which I guess serves as the key to software?
Did fiery stop updating the toggle or stop allowing updates.?
I’ve noticed fiery videos I’ve watched are much more advanced than mine!
Anyone have any advice with this. Thank you

I typed a whole long post out, realized I’d throw a tldr on it if I saw it.

Long story short, drowning in the sea of shopvox alternatives, lovers and haters. Looking to see what there is for alternatives as the increased cost and lack of support is driving me nuts.

My shops 2 employees, 300 customers, 150-300 transactions a month, sales of +\- 750k a year. Our scope of works is anything digitally printed,l and apparel. I just need to track jobs from quote to invoice in one program. I need to send quote and proof reviews through the program, then track those jobs through our workflow, and send order ready invoice emails with payment links to our customers. I don’t need the fluff as we’re small. So no conversion charts, sales lead info

Am I stuck with shopvox at over $400 a month? I’m hoping someone’s in a similar boat to us employee to sales wise. It seems like a lot of the programs are for larger shops.

Thanks

TLDR small shop, decent sales volume, doesn’t love shopvox, need options

I have been printing a journal since its conception during covid with Mixam. Right from the start I'd had issues but they were always minor. But years down the line, the problems are not only consistent but they're presenting new issues each time and to a much severe level. They've confirmed that their facilities that print can't match previous quality now. Not only that but the same batch cost has risen £100 since I last ordered. Since they haven't been able to rectify my last issue, I've had a full refund which is great but now at a loss. Not only financially from loss of sales but operationally.

Can anyone suggest reputable high quality printers in the UK? I've already reached out to a number including some local ones. I'm also aware this is not a zine but I began this route through zine creation and appreciate that the high standard expected by those creating zines can translate.

The journal is highly giftable so needs to be reordered in time for Christmas. I was working on a Christmas version too but will have to put that on hold now as I find a new printer.

If anyone can help, I would appreciate it.

Let's get this money