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Author Topic: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers  (Read 1124 times)

Cincinnati

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Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« on: July 05, 2018, 09:55:55 am »

I want to cut sheets from a roll of Epson Legacy Platine for printing in Epson 3880. I tried this before by using a roll of printing canvas. I attempted to flatten the paper by pulling out a length of rolled canvas and reverse curling the paper, rolling it up inside the canvas roll. I could never seem to get the leading edge to decurl completely.  The result was abrasion at the leading and trailing edge during printing. 

I recently discovered a commercial “D-Roller” to flatten prints from roll printers. It basically employs the same concept as reverse rolling it in a canvas roll. And it is $300 for a tube with a sheet of plastic or cloth attached.

I have tried wiping the non-coated side with a damp paper towel, together the paper fibers to relax.  I am concerned about impacting the integrity of the coating and the archival quality of the paper. I used tap water, so minerals and chemicals are introduced.

If any member is cutting sheets from a roll and flattening them before printing, please share your method of flattening.

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Mark D Segal

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2018, 10:02:32 am »

You could probably find the components to home-make a D-Roller type solution for a few dollars and see whether it works.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Panagiotis

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2018, 10:17:20 am »

I print on a PRO-1000 almost exclusively from rolls because I want to print larger than A2 or square. I use pieces of tablecloth and mailing tubes to reverse roll the paper. Some papers are easy to handle like Canson Premium Lustre 310 others not so much like Canson Baryta Prestige 340 and some are impossible like the Hahnemihle Photo Gloss Baryta 320. In any case the process is easier if you deroll long pieces of paper (2-3 meters or longer) and cut it later in sheets. If you cannot completely flatten the edges remove them. After a lot of practice I do it so easily and fast now than I don't even think about it.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 10:24:36 am by Panagiotis »
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Czornyj

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2018, 10:31:41 am »

I use ironing press, it flattens prints from a roll in a few seconds.
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2018, 11:05:05 am »

I print on a PRO-1000 almost exclusively from rolls because I want to print larger than A2 or square. I use pieces of tablecloth and mailing tubes to reverse roll the paper. Some papers are easy to handle like Canson Premium Lustre 310 others not so much like Canson Baryta Prestige 340 and some are impossible like the Hahnemihle Photo Gloss Baryta 320. In any case the process is easier if you deroll long pieces of paper (2-3 meters or longer) and cut it later in sheets. If you cannot completely flatten the edges remove them. After a lot of practice I do it so easily and fast now than I don't even think about it.
This is somewhat similar to what I do.  I have four inch diameter mailing tubes and I reverse roll the paper onto it using a sheet of acid free archival paper over the coated surface.  I have not had any issues printing 30 inch long sheets on my Epson 3880.
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praja343

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Paul Roark

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2018, 04:30:16 pm »

I used to lightly spray/mist a couple clean darkroom blotter papers with distilled water and then sandwich the curled inkjet paper between them for a while.  You can buy aerosol sprayers where you put the liquid in that you want.  The mist is much better and more even than a manual spritzing bottle.  It's been a while, but I think I had the un-sprayed sides of the blotter paper facing the inkjet paper, and I put the sandwich between two flat pieces of Formica.    I'd kept the formica cut-out from a darkroom sink/counter job when the darkroom was made.   The goal was very high humidity for the paper, not wetting the paper.  It worked, and I could not see that the process affected the dmax or paper ink limit.

FWIW

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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Ferp

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2018, 07:06:11 pm »

If any member is cutting sheets from a roll and flattening them before printing, please share your method of flattening.

There are two aspects of flattening sheets cut from rolls - before printing and after printing.  Most replies seem to relate to after printing, whereas your main concern is before printing.  What I've learnt to do in your situation is to print with 2" leading and trailing margins. This ensures that the paper is held flat by the wheels / rollers at both the entrance to and exit from the print area while the print head is moving.  If you look at printers around this size that take roll paper natively (R3000, P600, P800 - i.e. without a vacuum feed) you'll see that this is what they do.  They advance the paper by around 2" so that the leading edge is under the exit wheels/rollers and thus held flat at the point that the print head starts moving, so you don't get head strikes.  At the end of the print, the paper is still attached to the roll and this is held flat by the entrance wheels / rollers.  You've got to waste enough paper to replicate this in a cut sheet, which is about 2" at either end.  You may be able to reverse roll enough to flatten the sheet, but it it has to be pretty darn flat in order to avoid head strikes at either end, and if you try too hard you risk damaging the paper.  Doesn't take much curl to induce a head strike, and in my experience none of the post-printing flattening techniques deal with this sufficiently well, especially with Platine which tends to edge curl even in cut sheets from a box rather than a roll.
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BobShaw

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Re: Printing from Roll Paper in Non-Roll Printers
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2018, 07:06:19 pm »

I made my own D-roller from an empty paper roll and a cut length of Savage plastic about 2m long taped on and rolled up. I have used it for years with the 3880. I can feed 2m in the rear manual feed using Mirage print. It only needs a couple of minutes in it.

The problem with canvas on the 3880 is that it is too thick for the rear feed (>0.5mm) and too wide (430mm) for the front feed. I am told that you can tape a leader and use the rear feed but that may damage the printer as it is then way too thick.
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