Topic: HP Z3100 24" and EFI RIP (Read 10067 times)

felix5616 · « **on:** December 11, 2007, 11:31:58 am »

I am running an HP Z3100 24"(not post script) printer on a MAC platform, OSX(not leopard). I need to print longer than Photoshops 96" length limit. Is anyone familiar with or currently using a software RIP to print longer than 96", perform nesting, etc. HP has an EFI RIP, ergosoft has a RIP and colorbyte also has one. I am looking for advice from anyone with real world experience in this area.

alanmcf · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2007, 08:55:44 pm »

Last time I talked to Designjet support I was told the the old 108" limit on the Z3100 had been removed by the most recent firmware. If this is true then the QImage technique of printing multiple panels should work (without the problem of tiny margins every 108"). Has anyone tried panoramas with the new 6.0.0.8 firmware and QImage? Alan

rdonson · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2007, 10:50:35 pm »

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Last time I talked to Designjet support I was told the the old 108" limit on the Z3100 had been removed by the most recent firmware. If this is true then the QImage technique of printing multiple panels should work (without the problem of tiny margins every 108"). Has anyone tried panoramas with the new 6.0.0.8 firmware and QImage? Alan
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=160254\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ernst Dinkla did a lot of work around the print length limits. I don't remember him saying it was fixed in the most recent firmware/drivers.

felix5616 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2007, 11:40:54 pm »

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Ernst Dinkla did a lot of work around the print length limits. I don't remember him saying it was fixed in the most recent firmware/drivers.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=160275\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Photoshop has a 96" limit, not the printer. I need a RIP that runs on a MAC OS.

Ernst Dinkla · « **Reply #4 on:** December 13, 2007, 03:15:46 am »

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Last time I talked to Designjet support I was told the the old 108" limit on the Z3100 had been removed by the most recent firmware. If this is true then the QImage technique of printing multiple panels should work (without the problem of tiny margins every 108"). Has anyone tried panoramas with the new 6.0.0.8 firmware and QImage? Alan
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You will not need the multiple panels mode if the driver simply would print longer.

As far as I know it hasn't changed. What I see is that above 270 cm, 108 inches, the image becomes cropped in width. Printing with Qimage. So it will print 5 meters but a small portion of it. I have not tested this with Photoshop. As far as I know Photoshop has a pixel number limit these days and not so much a length limit. If you keep the input resolution lower it will print longer. But it could still hit the Z3100 driver limit.

The Qimage poster/tile solution will not work for the Z3100 as the Z3100 driver has no banner mode. In other words there will always be a 10 mm white area between the panels to be stitched. I couldn't find a remedy for that but I would be very happy if someone could solve that. That panel stitching is something you could do with Illustrator and CorelDraw too but it will not work if there's no banner mode in the driver.

This is a real handicap in my opinion, the Canon iPF9000 goes a bit over 3 meter in normal printing so doesn't improve much on the Z3100 but that printer has a banner mode, the wide format Epsons too.

From older messages I understand that the Z3100 PS model has no banner mode either but it will print longer even without the RIP driver just using Qimage in normal mode.

Added: The Wasatch SoftRip 6.2 that I also have will print longer lengths and I will use it for that. The profiling/color control of that RIP for the Z3100 and I guess any 12 ink system is however lousy so I rather use the excellent HP color control.

Ernst Dinkla

try: [a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

namartinnz · « **Reply #5 on:** December 13, 2007, 04:45:05 am »

Strange this issue. I have printed up to 6m with Qimage without any serious hassles. Only problem being I had to drop the ppi count down to 150ppi due to the size of the file. This was a jpg image for a banner display. The Z3100 chugged along, and spat it out without any issues.

Neal

Ernst Dinkla · « **Reply #6 on:** December 13, 2007, 06:22:29 am »

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Strange this issue. I have printed up to 6m with Qimage without any serious hassles. Only problem being I had to drop the ppi count down to 150ppi due to the size of the file. This was a jpg image for a banner display. The Z3100 chugged along, and spat it out without any issues.

Neal
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Neal,

I really like to find out where the differences are. Dropping the input resolution didn't do it for me, I went as low as 35 PPI if I remember it correctly. Had the same issue with both the new firmware and the one before.

You have a plain Z3100 so not the PS version and its different firmware ?

Printing from XP SP2 on Intel hardware system. Pent 4 2.4GHz, 1 GB, only used for printing. Driver and spooler on a raid with >100GB left. Start the print after the page is spooled. Kept spooled data after the job to see size of data. Advanced printing features on. Qimage Studio version. Through a fast, dedicated network connection to the printer.

What are your spooler settings in the advanced window of the printer properties ?
Start>settings>printers>printer icon>properties.

Ernst Dinkla

[a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

Sven W · « **Reply #7 on:** December 13, 2007, 01:19:43 pm »

ImagePrint from ColorByte prints 325 inch.
They are supposed to support Z3100 soon.

/Sven

rdonson · « **Reply #8 on:** December 13, 2007, 02:18:29 pm »

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They are supposed to support Z3100 soon.

/Sven
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=160403\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

They've been saying that for 6 months now. Don't hold your breath.

namartinnz · « **Reply #9 on:** December 13, 2007, 03:31:33 pm »

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Printing from XP SP2 on Intel hardware system. Pent 4 2.4GHz, 1 GB, only used for printing. Driver and spooler on a raid with >100GB left. Start the print after the page is spooled. Kept spooled data after the job to see size of data. Advanced printing features on. Qimage Studio version. Through a fast, dedicated network connection to the printer.

What are your spooler settings in the advanced window of the printer properties ?
Start>settings>printers>printer icon>properties.
Ernst Dinkla

Ernst

Printer settings in windows is Spool print documents so progam finishes, with start printing immediately ticked. And enable advanced printing features is ticked. I'm running an Intel core 2 duo 6600 2Gig Ram on SATA 250Gig Hard drive, XP SP2. Stock Z3100 with previous firmware to latest release. Using Qimage Professional Edition. Hope you can sort out the issue. I'm very happy the way my printer is performing with the big jobs

Neal

Ernst Dinkla · « **Reply #10 on:** December 13, 2007, 03:40:02 pm »

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Ernst

Printer settings in windows is Spool print documents so progam finishes, with start printing immediately ticked. And enable advanced printing features is ticked. I'm running an Intel core 2 duo 6600 2Gig Ram on SATA 250Gig Hard drive, XP SP2. Stock Z3100 with previous firmware to latest release. Using Qimage Professional Edition. Hope you can sort out the issue. I'm very happy the way my printer is performing with the big jobs

Neal
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Neal,

Network connection ?

Ernst Dinkla

Try: [a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

namartinnz · « **Reply #11 on:** December 13, 2007, 06:39:34 pm »

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Neal,

Network connection ?
Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=160444\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Sorry forgot to add - over a standard TCP/IP Port network connection from computer motherboard, thru a router -100Mbit over a Lan cable,SNMP Status Enabled/Bi Directional

Neal

Ernst Dinkla · « **Reply #12 on:** December 14, 2007, 05:11:15 am »

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Sorry forgot to add - over a standard TCP/IP Port network connection from computer motherboard, thru a router -100Mbit over a Lan cable,SNMP Status Enabled/Bi Directional

Neal
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Will try other setups again. There isn't that much difference between our methods.

Ernst Dinkla

try: [a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

Scott Martin · « **Reply #13 on:** December 27, 2007, 12:24:21 pm »

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I am running an HP Z3100 24"(not post script) printer on a MAC platform, OSX(not leopard). I need to print longer than Photoshops 96" length limit.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=159875\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Technically that's a per page limitation which you can get around by using a multipage application like InDesign. Chop up your images into multiple sections, place each on a separate page and print them using paper saving, banner printing options that allow seamless page to page printing. It takes some time and patience but can save you the expense of a complicated RIP if that's all you need a RIP for.

Ernst Dinkla · « **Reply #14 on:** December 27, 2007, 04:05:56 pm »

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Technically that's a per page limitation which you can get around by using a multipage application like InDesign. Chop up your images into multiple sections, place each on a separate page and print them using paper saving, banner printing options that allow seamless page to page printing. It takes some time and patience but can save you the expense of a complicated RIP if that's all you need a RIP for.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I think you should read back the thread why that doesn't work on a Z3100. It doesn't know a banner mode.

Ernst Dinkla

try: [a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

Author Topic: HP Z3100 24" and EFI RIP (Read 10067 times)