9900-Driver Settings for Canvas

[Garnick]

Hello All,

My last post concerning MK Banding was rather long and perhaps the attached question was lost in the midst.  It seems as though the banding situation has been resolved due to setting the Platen Gap to either Standard or Auto.  I'm using Breathing Color Chromata White and per their instructions had the PG set at "Wider".  The tech ran a test on one of my "black only" documents and it was fine.  I checked all of his settings and the PG was "Standard" and Paper Thickness "3".  He used the Enhanced Matte profile and simply left all other settings in tact.  I didn't want to try that until he was here, since I thought it might cause a head strike and the printer is under extended warranty.  However, it did work and I have since printed 2 canvases without issue.
I would however like to get a sense of what Platen Gap and Paper Thickness settings you folks are using for canvas printing on average.  I have a feeling that since canvas is a textile and more flexible than some Fine Art papers, it may not be as susceptible to head strikes with a lower PG setting.  Just a thought.  I'd appreciate any information you can pass along.

Thanks,
Gary     

[Paul2660]

It depends:  so far, on the 9900

Matte canvas:
Lexjet sunset matte
BC Econo 800
I use auto or wider.  Media WCRW.  Never had any head strikes.

Matte Canvas:
BC Lyve
BC Chromata White
I use wider, Medai WCRW, No head strikes. 
Note, every once and while I will see the banding, mainly on Lyve, however it's
very faint and really won't show after coating. 

Glossy Canvas
BC Crystalline
Epson Exhibition Glossy
I now use wider, tried auto and got some head strikes. Widest also show a banding with PK ink.
Media Proofing Publication (this is key to keep the ink load down)
Ink Density -5
With both, you need to cut off the corners diagonally or the curl in the edges will give you head
strikes.  Both of these will curl at the edge BC Crystalline just a bit worse.

Paul
 

[Ken Doo]

Hi Gary,

I use Breathing Color's Lyve Canvas---similar BC settings/recommendations for Chromata White.  

On my 9900, I set the platen gap at "wider" and media setting for paper thickness at "15."  I have "roll paper" designated, not "roll paper (banner)" as BC suggests when using their canvas---not sure if that would make a difference anyway.  High speed off.  Water color paper radiant white set (matte ink) as recommended by BC.

ken

[Garnick]

It depends:  so far, on the 9900

Matte Canvas:
BC Lyve
BC Chromata White
I use wider, Medai WCRW, No head strikes. 
Note, every once and while I will see the banding, mainly on Lyve, however it's
very faint and really won't show after coating. 

Paul

Thanks Paul,

I was using the "Wider" setting on the 9900 with severe banding in the blacks with the BC ChromWhite.  As you said, it depends on the individual printer I believe.  So far no head strikes with the PG set at Auto, but I'll be watching very carefully.  I use the Enhanced Matte Profile due to the fact that I do all of my testing on Enh Matte paper and then extrapolate that to the canvas.  Sometimes I do the final test on the canvas, but the Enh Matte testing has always worked very well and is obviously less costly.  I've also tried the WCRW profile for canvas and tested it against the Enh Matte profile.  There seems to be NO difference at all with my test images.  If you have been following any of my previous posts you'll realize that my 9900 has had a plethora of issues from day one, which is why I continue extending the warranty.  It doesn't surprise me that this banding issue is something that perhaps a lot of users are not dealing with.  By the way, I have never had the black banding issue appear with PK.

Thanks again for the info Paul.
Gary