I haven't tried it but I know accurip has a feed calibration feature. The demo might be enough to test out for any problems.
I haven't tried it but I know accurip has a feed calibration feature. The demo might be enough to test out for any problems.
You need to make sure whatever the thickness of the film is (3 mil, 5 mil) is what the plotter thinks it's printing. We've run into this where we were printing 5mil film when the plotter thought it was 3ml, and the feed increased (3-5%) over the run, making our films stretch slightly.
If you don't have a film setting that is the same, find a photo paper that the manufacturer says is the same thickness.
I don't believe it's the film thickness, I always use the same film and the same printer profile. I believe is something related to the roll that's finishing, I must unroll a bit of film before printing it (thanks for the suggestion Idontrememberwho!). Very probabily the inner film of the roll adheres on itself..
UPDATE: The films still don't line up. I thought unrolling a bit the roll before loading into the Epson Stylus Pro 7880 was the solution to fix this isse.
I've printed a 2 films, say film A1 and B1 that don't line up each other, then a week later I've reprinted the same file, and the A2 and B2 film don't line up too but the A1 and A2, B1 and B2 films align PERFECTLY. This made me think the issue isn't mechanical but software. Everything started when I changed my pc switching from Windows XP SP3+Illustrator CS2 to Windows 7 32bit+Illustrator CS6. Anyone can confirm this?
Thanks!
Fabio
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeroInferno
try having it print a super thin line around the very outside of your art area. sometimes when the printer doesn't have anything to print in the middle of the image area it will advance faster and not feed correctly. having that outside line slows things down a bit in these areas.
Are you telling me to draw a very thin perimeter around every "empty" layer/color on the film?Quote:
Originally Posted by andydiesel
Thanks!
Fabio
I have this problem too. I find that sometimes how the film loads in is the issue...how it grabs. Alignments are usually off top to bottom, not left to right. Sometimes it's just one side that's off, like an 1/8" with the other side spot on. That seems mechanical rather than software to me. Just print it again and hope it's better.
Hello Kent,Quote:
Originally Posted by KENTDESIGNS
thanks for the reply. But if the error is mechanical and the file was printed 2 times in two different days (considering I remove the roll from the Epson and reload it each time), the registration marks SHOULDN'T line up between the 2 films..
ps. I hope everything is okay for the earthquake.
Is it possible to print them all at once (on a roll) and then cut down? I would think this would keep it from becoming inconsistent.
I used to use a shitty HP 3-in-1 to print films. The feeding mechanism was messed up, so the first few inches of every film was squat together.
Try this: for both of your files ('A' and 'B' mentioned above), add ruler ticks along two edges, top to bottom and left to right. Place 'em 1cm apart (or 1/8", choose your favourite unit). When they're printed, compare the ticks to the ticks on an actual ruler.
Process of elimination.