Help please with paper sizes

[ThePhotoDude]

Hi, I have been hunting around for the answer to this, and up until now I have just been creating custom paper sizes, but it's time to learn.

I have a Z3100, but this probably applies to most printers.

When I go into the print driver and I want to select the paper size, this is the bit I don't get ...

I am printing onto a roll 24" (610mm) or even 44" wide.
But there is nowhere to input this as my DOCUMENT size.
It all comes up with a bunch of options A1 / A0 / margins, no margins, Suber B, Super A3 etc etc etc etc etc etc.

But nothing with saying "I have a 610mm wide roll and I want to print on that and use the cutter at the end of the print"

Even if I use QImage, it asks for this. If I create a custom size, say 610mm x 3m, then QImage will print my photo, then roll the paper forward to the 3m mark and use the cutter.

How do I get it to just understand there is a flipping ROLL in the printer?

I realise this may be a little incoherant, but I am happy to re-explain it if I need to, I just want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks loads!
john

[Doombrain]

Hi, I have been hunting around for the answer to this, and up until now I have just been creating custom paper sizes, but it's time to learn.

I have a Z3100, but this probably applies to most printers.

When I go into the print driver and I want to select the paper size, this is the bit I don't get ...

I am printing onto a roll 24" (610mm) or even 44" wide.
But there is nowhere to input this as my DOCUMENT size.
It all comes up with a bunch of options A1 / A0 / margins, no margins, Suber B, Super A3 etc etc etc etc etc etc.

But nothing with saying "I have a 610mm wide roll and I want to print on that and use the cutter at the end of the print"

Even if I use QImage, it asks for this. If I create a custom size, say 610mm x 3m, then QImage will print my photo, then roll the paper forward to the 3m mark and use the cutter.

How do I get it to just understand there is a flipping ROLL in the printer?

I realise this may be a little incoherant, but I am happy to re-explain it if I need to, I just want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks loads!
john
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sorry but you're going to have get used to standard sizes, i.e. Super A1 = 24" x 36".
there's no "auto" paper setting where it'll just cut the job when it's finished.

search wiki for a sizing sheet.

[rdonson]

John,

Welcome to large format printing.  With the Z3100 you're still going to have to define a document size even though you have a roll of paper in the printer.  You can choose from the predefined document sizes or create your own.

Perhaps this will help.  

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[Tklimek]

Hi there John....

I'm very new to this and am still a bit bewildered by printing.  Um....ok....I fibbed...still a lot bewildered by printing.  I think Michael and Jeff summed it up very well in their video; digital printing is just WAY harder than it should be!  I mentioned to a friend with just a passing interest in photography that I was watching a 7 hour video on how to print and he just looked at me like I was goofy....."Printing?  What's so hard about printing?"....     LOL..  The endless barrages of various settings in different places make it easy to goof something up.

I've made just a few prints off my rolls and have been successfull thus far.

For me though, perhaps it is easier.  I have an Epson 4880 which is a 17" printer.

If I go through the trouble of loading up roll paper, I ALWAYS want to maximize my paper usage; so......

I'm currently using Epson Premium Luster which is a 16" inch wide paper.

So; for me I want to leave a 1 inch border on all sides of my print.

That means my image height on a landscape orientation will be 14"; and on my D300 (assuming no cropping) the width will be 21".  So I set my paper size to "CUSTOM" and choose 16"x23".  This will maximize my print on the paper that I have.  I believe I have to set it in both Qimage (using the trial right now) and in my printer driver.

Now; I *think* that if you use Lightroom and did your printing from there; you could set up your own kind of "presets" for this size print, on this paper, on this printer, etc, etc, etc, and save it.  Next time you load up the image; or ANY image that you wish to use these settings for,  and then load your preset and just click "Print" and you are golden.  Does anyone here know if that is correct?  I think that's what they were trying to do in Lightroom; and if they make the sharpening (input and output) good enough so you don't have to shell out to another program and then include really *sweet* softproofing, this will truly be a great system.  I'm positive that is the directin they are headed; but time will tell.

Have fun!

Todd

Hi, I have been hunting around for the answer to this, and up until now I have just been creating custom paper sizes, but it's time to learn.

I have a Z3100, but this probably applies to most printers.

When I go into the print driver and I want to select the paper size, this is the bit I don't get ...

I am printing onto a roll 24" (610mm) or even 44" wide.
But there is nowhere to input this as my DOCUMENT size.
It all comes up with a bunch of options A1 / A0 / margins, no margins, Suber B, Super A3 etc etc etc etc etc etc.

But nothing with saying "I have a 610mm wide roll and I want to print on that and use the cutter at the end of the print"

Even if I use QImage, it asks for this. If I create a custom size, say 610mm x 3m, then QImage will print my photo, then roll the paper forward to the 3m mark and use the cutter.

How do I get it to just understand there is a flipping ROLL in the printer?

I realise this may be a little incoherant, but I am happy to re-explain it if I need to, I just want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks loads!
john
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[NikoJorj]

But nothing with saying "I have a 610mm wide roll and I want to print on that and use the cutter at the end of the print"
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I really don't know anything about the Z3100, but we got another HP LF printer at work, a designJet500 (36"wide CAD - read a tad crappy, and a bit old also - printer).

There is an option in the driver called "inked surface" (at least "surface encrée" in French, sorry) that makes what you asked for : you select a longer page than your document, and the printer cuts the roll just where it is needed, after the last drop of ink.
Don't know if the same is available with the Z3100 - but it should  .

[neil snape]

Yes you can and should choose remove blank areas or whatever it's called in the driver. When you do so the diagram of the image area on the page set up changes to show where it will cut.
Before it was called save inked areas. You should also have an auto roll setting just select 24" for example. It was in there before. I didn't use it often though as it was a bit flakey. Is it only on the PS model? Not sure any more.

[rdonson]

It's still in the driver, Neil, and is there on the base Z3100.  You still have to start from a defined document size.