Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: John Hollenberg on May 08, 2016, 12:45:18 pm
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I want an easy way to automatically print a small test file daily while I am gone to keep my Canon ipf6300 running smoothly and avoid nozzle clogs/wasted ink from cleaning cycles. I am on Win 7/64. There used to be a program called MIS Autoprint, but I can't find it now and don't know if it runs on Win 7 anyway.
Any suggestions?
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I found a way to do this as follows:
You will need Ifranview. http://www.irfanview.com/
An image to print
The following instructions are for all editions of Windows 7.
Open Windows Task Scheduler:
Click on Start
Click on Accessories folder
Click on Run
Type taskschd.msc
On the right, choose Create Task
Type in a name, e.g., Autoprint
From the Dropdown menu for Configure for, choose Windows 7
Click the Triggers Tab and click New
Make sure Begin Task "On a Schedule" is selected at the top
Choose your Start date and time and recurrence schedule
Click the Action tab and click New
For Program/Script enter "C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\i_view32.exe" (with quotes)
For Arguments enter the path to your image e.g., "C:\AutoPrint.jpg" /print (with quotes)
Save your task
Note: if you have the 64 bit version of Irfanview, substitute "C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view62.exe" (with quotes)
Make sure roll paper is loaded and printer will remain on
Set ipf6300 as the default printer (at least while you are away on vacation) - Start Menu -> Printers and Devices, then right click the ipf6300 and click Set as default
Right click ipf6300 and click on Printing Preferences, make sure you have the correct media type selected for your paper
That's it! Professional autoprint results with built in Windows components.
Edit: I couldn't figure out a way to print smaller than 11 inches in height, which wastes some paper as the image is only about 5.5 inches high. The Printer Properties tab only showed letter size paper as an available choice, and the smaller size I set in Printing Preferences didn't have any effect.
I found the following image on a web site for Canon ipf6400 purge print.
Note that this method will only exercise either the PK or MK ink, depending on media type selected.
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You may want to disable this task until you go on vacation. You can right click the task in the Task Scheduler Library and disable or enable by right clicking on the task as shown below:
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I also found a report of a way to automate nozzle checks, but haven't tried that yet:
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/cool-trick-how-to-do-nozzle-checks-as-a-scheduled-task.3494/
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You can do the same thing using Photoshop and Droplets but it is very fussy. I had it running reliably on my Windows 7 computer but I haven't been able to get it working properly on Windows 10. No idea why. I assume I am making some sort of error in the way I am setting up the Droplet or the setting in Task Scheduler but I could be wrong. I guess I will give your Ifranview method a try.
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I only posted my method (found here but modified slightly: http://www.vinylforum.org/smf/resources/how-to-autoprint-like-a-pro/?PHPSESSID=2544a2affa8f2211b30653ba0a090389) after I got it working on Win 7/64 professional. Pretty straightforward for me.