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Author Topic: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology  (Read 4922 times)

davidh202

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QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« on: June 06, 2014, 11:16:40 pm »

 Mike has added a very welcome  new feature to Qimage Ult . but it may have a slight flaw with the PK -MK channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov1yT9Xmgek&feature=youtu.be

 I use Qimage Ult to print on my 9890 and 7900 and love the program for printing, but selecting gloss paper will not work to print with PK ink when MK is in use, for x 900 series or any other printer that requires a physical switch and purge of the residual black ink in the damper and print head, in order to use the opposite black ink. There is 3-5 ml of PK-MK ink that has to be purged first from the black channels.

It will only exercize the black channel with whichever ink is currently selected.

I will have to try to confirm, but most likely the driver will flash an error saying there is a paper -ink mismatch - the wrong black is selected

 
« Last Edit: June 06, 2014, 11:28:58 pm by davidh202 »
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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2014, 03:36:12 am »

It simply uses the driver + media preset to print an image with all ink channels described in that media preset so the channels used will differ per media preset. Not only PK versus MK but also Gloss Enhancer when aboard and at least for the HP Zs several ordinary matte paper media choices do not even use one of the gray inks. It also does not go beyond the ink limits described in the media preset. It avoids the ICC profile though. What it actually does is comparable to printing a profile target through the driver without profiling. For Epson users QTR will do a better job on all channels when the partitioning target is printed. 

That said if one wants to use it then the matte art paper media presets usually have the highest ink load and printing at low resolution should force Epson heads to bigger droplets meaning higher voltage pulses on the nozzles. The last does not apply to HP and Canon heads. OEM Print Utilities that clean the heads will perform better as they bypass all ink limitations, can increase voltages and pulse frequencies, get help from the waste vacuum pump in the maintenance station but do not always give a choice on which channel to clean.


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mchaney

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2014, 04:13:46 pm »

Ernst,

Your observations are mostly correct.  The whole point of the new feature is that many times you can clear clogs without using the excessive amounts of ink used by cleaning cycles or bypassing ink limits.  We've found that the pattern works quite well on our in-house printers and we've been getting a lot of positive results/feedback from end users as well.  It was able to clear clogs in our Epson R1900, Epson R2000, Canon Pro 9000, and HP B8850.  One Epson 9600 was so clogged that the magenta and yellow unclog patterns were completely missing.  That required a cleaning cycle.  So while it's not 100% and stubborn clogs may still need a cleaning cycle, it can save a lot of ink for minor clogs.

As far as it being comparable to printing a profile target, that is certainly not the case!  The unclog pattern is specifically designed to pulse the nozzles for each ink on and off across the page in a regular on/off/on/off pattern.  Even if you print the full pattern and don't target one specific color, complementary colors are interleaved so that the nozzles still fire off and on in a regular pattern many times.  Contrast this to printer profile targets which typically have a regular pattern that changes slowly by hue and doesn't target specific channels, in which case the nozzles are not pulsed but rather used nearly "randomly".

With color management off in the driver, there is a high correlation between the color chosen in the feature and the dots that are placed on the page meaning that color channel isolation is very good in that setup.  In the most recent several versions, the feature takes care of black and all gray inks you might have installed.  Yes, you need to know how to set up your printer (via the driver or physical switch-out) to use the proper color black, but if you ever use the normal Windows printer driver, that's something you'll know how to do anyway as it is required in normal printing.

Regards,
Mike
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jferrari

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2014, 10:29:13 pm »

The linked video has been removed by the owner.
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2014, 03:28:35 am »

The linked video has been removed by the owner.

Mike has been updating the video along with Qimage Ultimate. Try this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcmmyYroPOQ&list=UUQ5LWn_0YkhMsO2o4P0vMrw
The various videos can also be accessed from within the application by clicking the small red V button in dialog boxes.

His YouTube channel has many more useful instuctional videos.

Cheers,
Bart
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mchaney

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2014, 11:06:13 am »

I've been updating the video regularly to address new questions and features, so the link changes.  Use the relative link which never expires and will always take you to the latest version of the video:

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/videolinks/unclog.htm

Regards,
Mike
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Some Guy

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2014, 01:49:11 pm »

I'm guessing this should be done weekly with the Epsons?

Maybe a better bet than just the nozzle check?

SG
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hugowolf

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2014, 07:44:47 pm »

I'm guessing this should be done weekly with the Epsons?

You would be better printing images on a regular basis.

Maybe a better bet than just the nozzle check?

A nozzle check really doesn't use enough ink to prevent clogging, something like a Granger chart would be better. I don't know what Epson printer you are using, but printers like the 3880 produce a log with the ink usage per color to the nearest 0.01 ml - it is pretty easy to develop an image, like the Granger chart, that uses every color to a similar degree.

Brian A
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cybis

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Re: QImage Ultimate v2.30 adds Print Unclog Technology
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2014, 12:10:07 pm »

Or if your printer is supported by QTR, you can directly control each individual channels.
See http://lucbusquin.com/content/purge-all-epson-x900-ink-channels
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