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Author Topic: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900  (Read 2666 times)

kenoli

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Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« on: May 24, 2013, 04:31:26 pm »

I have hunted around in posts related to printing length and haven't found exactly what I am looking for.

I'm trying to print a 30 ft. x 2 ft. image onto paper on a 24 inch wide roll on an Epson 9900.  It's not a particularly large file as it only contains text and line art.

I usually print from PS CS6 from a Mac running Mountain Lion (10.8.3).  Is there any way to do this without printing it on smaller sheets and piecing it?

Epson says I have to use RIP software, though I have found that their advice is not always accurate.  RIP software seems to be quite expensive.  Would this even work?  Is there any other way to do this?

Thanks,

--Kenoli

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jrsforums

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2013, 04:49:49 pm »

Suggest looking at Qimage Ultimate.  It is Win only, but I understand will work under Parallels.
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digitaldog

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2013, 05:34:06 pm »

Epson says I have to use RIP software, though I have found that their advice is not always accurate.  RIP software seems to be quite expensive.  Would this even work? 

Yes! There's a limit for the Epson driver and many RIP's exceed that. I have one client that bought ImagePrint just to over come the limitation. Windows can print longer print than Mac but it too has limitations. That said, you could examine what the limit is based on the specific OS and print that way, OR pony up for something like ImagePrint.
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Garnick

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2013, 05:58:37 pm »

If you have access to Illustrator you can make all of your printing corrections in PS and then open in Illustrator.  Then you tile the image and print from Illustrator.  It is actually printing a number of separate images of course, but they will line up exactly and create a smooth transition.  I have used this method with a 7600 printer to print 12' lengths without any problems, but access to Illustrator is the one thing you will need to perform this task.  This is probably a less costly alternative than Image Print, but not sure about that.  Hope this helps.

Gary 
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Gary N.
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Ken Doo

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2013, 06:39:38 pm »

Qimage Ultimate is the easiest way to print large.  $89.95 is a lot cheaper than ImagePrint!  It is Windows based, but you can find a workaround. It'd be worth it to even use a Windows based laptop just to print from....

kenoli

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2013, 09:27:10 pm »

Thanks for the quick replies.  Very helpful.  I have illustrator and will try that.  I also have parallels and may try Qimage.

Thanks,

--Kenoli
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kenoli

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2013, 09:41:41 pm »

If you have access to Illustrator you can make all of your printing corrections in PS and then open in Illustrator.  Then you tile the image and print from Illustrator.  It is actually printing a number of separate images of course, but they will line up exactly and create a smooth transition.  I have used this method with a 7600 printer to print 12' lengths without any problems, but access to Illustrator is the one thing you will need to perform this task.  This is probably a less costly alternative than Image Print, but not sure about that.  Hope this helps.

Gary 

I realized that I can't figure out how to open the image in illustrator.  Can you easily tell me how to do this? 

Thanks,

--Kenoli
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kenoli

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2013, 10:52:00 pm »

I realized that I can't figure out how to open the image in illustrator.  Can you easily tell me how to do this? 

Thanks,

--Kenoli

I think the problem I was having is that the image was in PSB, large image format.  I was able to import a pdf of the file.  I'm still trying to figure how to tile it and print it continuously on the 9900.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I created it at 1/4 size in Indesign and transferred it to Photoshop at that size as neither program will handle a file as large as I wanted.  Turns out with the PSB format I can actually work with it at full size, but it creates a humongous file.  My plan was to enlarge it by 400% at printing, which, if I stay with the smaller resolution, I will have to juggle with the tiling.

Thanks,

--Kenoli
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Garnick

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Re: Printing very long images on an Epson 9900
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2013, 03:53:05 pm »

I've attached a PDF with the info for tiling in Illustrator in either Mac or Windows.  Unfortunately it's been quite along time since I used Illustrator for this purpose and it's not an app that I normally use, so I'm not sure the info in the PDF is still current.  However, if you check in the program's help section I'm sure you will find some pointers on tiling.  I do know that it works very well and there was never any indication of a demarcation point between tiles.  I hope this will be of some help.

Gary
« Last Edit: May 25, 2013, 03:54:36 pm by Garnick »
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Gary N.
"My memory isn't what it used to be. As a matter of fact it never was." (gan)
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