Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: barry685 on November 30, 2010, 05:40:31 pm

Title: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: barry685 on November 30, 2010, 05:40:31 pm
Trying to print a 16x20 canvas centered on a 24" roll with qimage. Print size is coming out 16 1/4 x 20
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: walter.sk on December 01, 2010, 11:32:08 am
Some suggestions:

1) Make sure your canvas size in Photoshop is exactly 16x20.  I stroke it with a 1 pixel black border to help in cutting.
2) Make sure your pixel resolution in Potoshop is the same as it is in Qimage.
3) Make a custom size on the Z3100 to easily fit the canvas (17" or 18"x24")
4) In Qimage, use "Original Size" as the print size.
5) In Qimage, use "Optimal Placement" so that your print will hug the top and left side of the paper, eliminating the need for 2 of the cuts, or use Center placement to center the image.  Adjust the margins in Qimage to read 0.000.

I often print 2 11"x17" pictures on one sheet using this method, and it is very easy to cut them from the 17x24 paper size.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: barry685 on December 01, 2010, 11:39:59 am
Thanks will try. For some reason I only have the problem when printing on canvas.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: RHPS on December 01, 2010, 12:03:48 pm
Sounds like the canvas stretch effect - the canvas stretches as it is being fed through the printer. You need to adjust the paper feed to compensate for this. Unfortunately I don't know how to do this on the z3100.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: barry685 on December 05, 2010, 04:18:09 pm
Hi Walter,
Tried your suggestion. Did not work. I am printing a 16x20 image on a 24" roll of canvas. The size that is actually being printed is 16 3/8 x 20
Also printed a 20 x24 in portrait mode (need margins for stretching) final size was 20x 24 3/8.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on December 05, 2010, 05:30:43 pm
There is a thread on the Qimage list about an odd size difference too. You could try to set RAW in the printer spooler if it isn't already set on RAW.

met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

New: Spectral plots of +175 inkjet papers:
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: barry685 on December 05, 2010, 05:50:25 pm
Ernst,
Where do you set this raw parameter. Im using win xp.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on December 06, 2010, 03:01:33 am
Start>Printers+Faxes>Z3100driver>Properties>Advanced>Printprocessor>Raw


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

New: Spectral plots of +175 inkjet papers:
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: barry685 on December 06, 2010, 01:25:27 pm
Ernst,
That is the way it is set.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on December 06, 2010, 03:41:24 pm
Then it must be something else :-)

met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

New: Spectral plots of +180 inkjet papers:
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ian99 on December 06, 2010, 07:40:13 pm
I have watched this thread hoping to get a solution to my canvas printing “problem”.
Unlike Barry685, instead of the print stretching in the warp direction, mine shrinks!
I use Lexjet Sunset Select matte canvas on a 24” Z3100 printing from Qimage and I routinely see a shrinkage of 1/8” to ¼” in the warp direction, and this is after varnishing.

The “fill”, or “weft” for Britspeak people, shrinks perhaps 1/16” on the 24” span so I am assuming it is something to do with the tension put on the roll in manufacture.

This does not happen with photo paper (Ilford GFS) so I think it is a canvas issue.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on December 07, 2010, 03:26:15 am
I have watched this thread hoping to get a solution to my canvas printing “problem”.
Unlike Barry685, instead of the print stretching in the warp direction, mine shrinks!
I use Lexjet Sunset Select matte canvas on a 24” Z3100 printing from Qimage and I routinely see a shrinkage of 1/8” to ¼” in the warp direction, and this is after varnishing.

The “fill”, or “weft” for Britspeak people, shrinks perhaps 1/16” on the 24” span so I am assuming it is something to do with the tension put on the roll in manufacture.

This does not happen with photo paper (Ilford GFS) so I think it is a canvas issue.


That is a known issue. Depending on canvas quality and roll tension you have to add a suitable percentage of the image print length. In some cases that is already available in the media preset of a printer driver or a RIP. The last step of my canvas wrap actions has a reminder/resample step to get that done.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Dinkla Gallery Canvas Wrap Actions for Photoshop
http://www.pigment-print.com/dinklacanvaswraps/index.html
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ian99 on December 07, 2010, 10:06:36 am
Thanks Ernst, I had started to resize each print manually in Qimage, which is a pain. What was puzzling me was I had the problem even after cutting sheets from a roll of canvas and letting them relax for a day before printing.
The print driver only seems to allow a percentage resize in all directions, and even then only by integer percentages.
Title: Re: z3100 printing wrong size
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on December 08, 2010, 03:56:26 am
Thanks Ernst, I had started to resize each print manually in Qimage, which is a pain. What was puzzling me was I had the problem even after cutting sheets from a roll of canvas and letting them relax for a day before printing.
The print driver only seems to allow a percentage resize in all directions, and even then only by integer percentages.


When I asked Mike to add a canvas wrap feature to Qimage a long time ago the request wasn't honored then. So I made the Canvas Wrap Actions for Photoshop. I'm glad I did as it can change aspect ratios and has more features than what Qimage at last got for wrapping. A RIP  or a driver that compensates the length issue on the fly is nice but should allow adaptions to the canvas one uses.

There have been more discussions on what actually is the reason for canvas print size differences. Maybe it isn't tension on the roll but media transport acting different with fabrics. In the end you create a workflow that is based on one or two canvas qualities, printed from the roll and you cherish an opinion on what the reason could be for the length differences:-) The economy in canvas printing starts with different roll widths, left over sheets are usually just not big enough and for proof sheets a glossy paper works faster. But if you turn your sheets a 90 degr. and still get shorter print lengths then it can only be transport to blame :-)

Barry's experience is different and the percentage of added length quite high so I doubt that a canvas media preset has overdone its job for him. More likely a Z driver quirk like it can happen sometimes. With Qimage I have had strange effects with image crops on proofs but they have been taken out after my bug report.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Dinkla Gallery Canvas Wrap Actions for Photoshop
http://www.pigment-print.com/dinklacanvaswraps/index.html