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Author Topic: HP Z3100  (Read 60448 times)

mjgakatr

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HP Z3100
« on: January 29, 2007, 10:20:19 pm »

I received my printer 2 days ago and will give my initial feedback.  Some of my comments will address questions in other threads on issues and paper types.  It seems after I started writing my notes that it got very long so hopefully this will be helpful for new users.

Hardware/Software:
- Microsoft Windows XP SP2
- Ethernet connection (20 foot run)
- HP z3100 24"
- Software
     - HP Easy Printer Care version 2.0.1.2
     - HP Designjet Z3100 Series Raster Driver version 60.63.42.0
     - Firmware TR12-RO_4.0.0.4 => TR12-RO_4.0.0.6 (I will comment on update)
- Printing Software
     - Qimage v2007.151

Assembly:
- At a high level very good instructions and smooth construction.
- Around 60 minutes to construct.
- I had one other person to assist holding parts and flipping printer over.
- 1 extra screw from frame construction (I assume this is by design).
- 1 smaller screw found in basket bag (not sure where this screw came from).
- There is a desiccant bag taped to bottom of printer that you need to remove (not in instructions).
- The left printer foot that you attach the basket tube to is a bit loose and the weight of the basket pulls it out.  I had to use a screw driver to push down the tab to get it to lock into place.
- The stand and rollers are very nice.  I have the printer setup on carpet and it rolls very easy and makes accessing the back of the printer and loading rolls very easy.
- Ink installation very smooth (take your time to properly shake cartridges).
- I knew the 24" inch model only came with 69ml cartridges but I was expecting half filled 130ml cartridges versus mini 69ml cartridges.  No problems here just an observation.
- Print head installation very smooth (take your time to shake heads and clean the sensors with the included swabs)

Software Installation:
- I used the HP Start Up Kit disk supplied with the printer.
- Although the instructions recommend you start installing the software while the printer is initializing (about 20-30 minutes), I did not have success doing so
- I was running the setup for a networked environment.
- During initial installation you are left guessing if anything is getting installed because there is no window showing you progress or activity.  You just have to wait it out and a window eventually pops up to configure the network.
- Auto configuration automatically found my printer and assigned an IP address.
- Everything appears to install as it should but then you get a "Failed to install" message at the very end.  I tried installation about 3 times while the printer was initializing and got the same message.
- At that point I assumed I had to wait for the printer to finish initializing
- I was right.  Once the printer finished initializing I was able to run the software again and complete successfully.
- Upon reboot the software finalizes installation and asks to check for updates.  I choose yes and it automatically updated from the HP website (software only, not firmware as that is another process).
- At this point the printer was assembled and software was installed and ready to go.

Initial Alignment & Calibration:
- Although I had plenty of other roll paper to use for the initial prints I opted to utilize the included HP Premium Instant Dry Gloss Photo Paper included with printer.
- It is a 24" roll and about 15 feet long.
- One complaint is that HP uses masking tape to hold the roll shut.  This ruins the leading edge of roll and the subsequent paper on the other side of the roll that the tape contacts.  After peeling off the tape it obviously damages the paper and leaves a sticky mark.  The marks are readily evident when the printer puts ink down on those sections.  You should probably just trim back the roll past the tape marks before you start.
- Loading the roll on the spindle was straight forward and there is a nice graphic on the spindle that tells you the proper orientation for the paper.
- The sample paper is on a 2"core and the paper has some extreme contour to it when you open it up.  This contour made it a little difficult to get the paper feed into the printer.  It took several attempts for the printer to grab the paper but it finally worked (this was not an issue on any other rolls I have but they are also larger rolls and 3" cores).
- The LCD panel prompts you for roll or sheet as well as paper type which you need to choose for a list of options.  Since you are using HP paper it shows up in the list as it should.
- Since this is the first print with the new print heads you have to do a head alignment test.
- The test prints a bunch of lines and patterns and it looked pretty bad as it had gaps and missed lines and looked typical of nozzle clogs.  I assume this is normal since it is indeed a print head alignment test.
- I then ran a color calibration test.  You only need an A4 sheet of paper but I was lazy and used the roll paper.  I allowed for the default 2 minutes dry time.
- I observed the print pattern on the printer as it was drying and did not notice any marks or defects.
- I then observed the print pattern post printer scanning and did notice some marks on the test pattern.  Note that these where not present prior to the color scan process so I assumed the marks were from the spectrophotometer.  The marks ran vertical to the roll paper (opposite the head direction) and they just looked like water marks in perfectly parallel rows.   Note I have only seen this mark pattern after a scan procedure on the test charts.
- Once the color calibration process was completed I immediately performed a “Create and Install ICC Profile” procedure.
- While the Color Calibration procedure only required an A4 sheet of paper, the ICC Profile procedure requires at least an A3 sheet of paper.  Once again I just used the 24” roll paper that came with the printer and the test pattern was printed across the entire length of the paper to conserve paper.  I created the chart with GE on.
- I used the default 5 minute dry period.  While the pattern was drying I again observed the printed area to inspect for marks or defects.  Once again I did not see any marks prior to the scan process.
- After the 5 minute dry period the paper was pulled back into the printer and scanned.  After the paper was cut and ejected I observed the same marks on the test pattern as I saw on the color calibration chart after scanning.  Again, this seems to be the result of the scanning process and I have not seen on normal prints.

First Prints:
- Up to this point I have only seen a head alignment pattern that looked bad and a color calibration and profile test chart that had some marks on them from the spectrophotometer.  It was time for a normal print.
- To be conservative I printed out a 24” by 7” panoramic print.  I used the highest quality settings along with GE for whole print.  I printed from Qimage.
- Observing the print I did not notice any marks or issues with the print quality.  I am comparing the print to the same print off my Epson 4800 with ImagePrint v6.  Gloss differential and bronzing where much better on the Z3100 print and also seemed to have more detail in shadows.  The colors matched my calibrated monitor (6500K) so the calibration process appeared to work well.
- I then moved up to a 24” by 20” print to see how it handled larger prints.  I used the same settings as the initial print.  Once again the print came out flawless and looked very good.
- I then decided to move up to a full 24” by 36” print.  I used the same settings as the first two prints.
- About half way through the print the printer paused for about 5 minutes.  After the pause the printer decided to terminate the print and cut the roll paper.  I ended up with half the print.
- Up until now I had been running the default factory firmware 4.0.0.4.  After this first road bump I decided to do the firmware upgrade to see if that would fix this issue.

Firmware Update:
- Using the support tab from within the HP Easy Printer Care center I choose the Firmware upgrade icon.
- They provide a link to the HP website with the latest version of firmware.  They also show you what current version you are running.
- I selected the latest firmware to download (4.0.0.6) and saved the file to my computer.  It is worth noting that for the Windows download you have to add the extension .exe to the end of the file name in order to extract/unzip the file.  Once you have added the extension then all you have to do is unzip the file to a location you will remember.
- Back to the firmware upgrade page, it asked you to point to the file on your computer.  You browse to the proper location and click on the update button.  The file gets uploaded to the printer and once it verifies the file is valid it performs and upgrade.  The process takes about 20 minutes (this file is around 350MB).
- Once the firmware update was completed I decided to run another head alignment, color calibration and ICC profile test on the HP Premium Instant Dry Gloss Photo Paper provide with printer.  As noted in initial calibration prints, I observed the same spectrophotometer marks on the prints.

Second Prints:
- With the new firmware in place and freshly calibrated paper I decided to be agressive and print out the same 24” by 36” print that failed with the older firmware.
- This time the print came off flawless.  No pauses and no marks noted.  Again I printed with GE for whole page.
- I printed out 2 more 24” by 36” prints to ensure consistency and they printed without issue.  That was the end of the provided roll paper that came with the printer.

Other Papers:
- Now that I was confident with the print quality and consistency with the provided paper I decided to test some other papers
- For all papers tested I performed the same color calibration and ICC profile test chart steps.
- For non-HP papers I had to perform “Add Custom Paper” from the HP Color Center software.  This is very straight forward and walks you through the steps.  Depending on the paper category you choose you can choose to create the profile with or without GE.

- Red River UltraPro Gloss (17” roll; 260gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles with and without GE
     - Prints looked very good and the Red River paper is whiter and smoother than the HP gloss.
     - The Red River paper showed some very minimal signs of gloss differential versus the HP Premium gloss but you really have to struggle to find it in the highlights.
     - No roll marks or defects noted on prints.

- Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl Paper (17” roll; 280gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles with and without GE
     - Prints look good and this paper if pretty glossy for a satin paper
     - Fairly deep texture on this paper compared to some other satins but colors looked good
     - Even with GE on this paper there seemed to be some slight bronzing but others that saw the prints did not point it out.
     - No roll marks or defects noted on prints

- Museo Silver Rag (17” roll; 300gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles with and without GE
     - This paper by far is the stiffest I tried yet and I figured if I was going to see any head strikes I would have seen them with this paper
     - I printed some B&W on this paper and they looked great.  Deep blacks and neutral tones.
     - Very smooth surface and not overly glossy.  GE creates more gloss obviously.
     - I did not observe any marks or head strikes and this paper looks great

- Innova F-Type Gloss (17” roll; 300gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles with and without GE
     - I did not get past the color calibration test charts with this paper.  I immediately noticed poor quality on the test chart.
     - It is hard to explain but I noticed some flat colors that progressively got worse across the paper.  It was almost like the paper was absorbing too much of the ink and causing variations in consistency.  It may also be interacting somehow with the coating on the paper.
     - In any case I decided not to waste anymore of this paper.  Reading the forums it looks like others are having similar issues with this paper.
     - It is possible that there is a custom paper configuration to fix this issue but I will need to investigate further.

- HP Professional Satin Photo Paper (24” roll; 300gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles with and without GE
     - This is really nice paper.  It is a very smooth satin with minimal porosity and almost looks like Epson Semi-Matte.
     - Great colors and gamut.  No gloss differential or bronzing noted.
     - You can almost get away with printing without GE with this paper

- HP Professional Matte Canvas (24” roll; 430gsm)
     - Calibrated and created profiles
     - It is worth noting that the cutter does not cut canvas and you have to do it manually.  I manually fed enough slack to use my rototrim to make a straight cut.
     - This is very thick media but is flexible so it lays very flat while printing.
     - I did notice that 2 of the polygon patches on the color calibrate pattern (1 green and 1 orange) showed more texture than the others and stood out as odd.  It was almost like not enough ink was laid down and it did not cover the texture.  This may be normal for the calibration to determine different amount of inks laid on the paper.
     - The ICC Profile chart looked good and I did not see the same phenomenon as I did on the color profile chart.
     - I have not dealt with a lot of canvas media but I did notice that some of the ink flaked off the print when I ran it through my rototrim.  Some of this may have been caused by the spectrophotometer as well.   I will need to be more careful with handling the canvas post print and maybe even have to spray them before displaying.
     - The colors however are very vivid and the media is very nice on normal prints.
     - No head strike marks on print

Epson 4800 Comparison Comments:
- Overall I am very happy with the printer.  It still does not match high gloss like a dye printer but looks much improved over the Epson 4800 with respects to Bronzing and Gloss Differential
- Obvious benefit to not having to switch Photo and Matte blacks
- Roll marks have not been an issue with the Z3100.  By this I mean if you leave a roll of paper in the printer for extended periods of time you do not get indentations on the paper like the Epson 4800.
- Much quieter than the 4800 mostly due to the lack of vacuum.
- I usually only print at the highest quality so the speed is slightly better than the Epson 4800.
- LCD menu very nice and intuitive.  Epson 4800 only has a one line LCD that is difficult to navigate.
- Using the 4800 with ImagePrint produces print quality on par with the Z3100 but I think the additional inks give better gamut and tones (qualitative not quantitative).

Gloss Enhancer Comments:
- In general the GE does its job to add gloss and minimize GE and Bronzing
- On bright papers the GE seems to decrease the brightness ever so slightly.
- If your prints are going under glass then you may not need to use the GE at all but that is a personal preference for you do decide.
- When using GE on whole page you go through the GE ink quicker than the other inks.  While most of the other inks where at 75%, the GE was down to 50%.  Of course I had been using whole page GE on all my prints accept the Canvas.

Other Comments:
- For 3” cores you need to add the adapters to the spindle.  I have noticed that it is pretty difficult to get the roll paper off the 3” adapters as they are pretty snug.
- I have invested in cotton gloves to avoid getting body oils on the media.
- The window on top of the printer scratches very easily so do not get in the habit of laying you prints on top of your printer and dragging them across the window (unless you don’t mind the scratches).
- I have not noticed any scratches due to the catch basket.  I typically try to catch the prints before they fall into basket.
- I have left the printer on continuously as recommended and it will occasionally do a self check but not very often.
- Even with the sturdy stand the printer tends to shake when printing.  Not a big deal but something inside the printer rattles when the printer shakes while printing.
- I have not tried any Hahnemuhle paper yet but may pick up a roll next week as I know folks are saying they have head drag issues with that paper.

That is it for now.
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BernardLanguillier

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HP Z3100
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2007, 10:35:51 pm »

Thanks a lot for this very detailed report. Very interesting stuff.

Cheers,
Bernard

ternst

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« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2007, 11:05:12 pm »

mjgakatr:

Thanks for your notes. WHERE did you get any of the HP Pro Satin paper? I've been trying to find some for a month and HP says it will be another month or two or three before they will have any to sell to the public. Did you purchase this paper or did HP give it to you? I would really love to be able to use this paper. Thanks for any info...

Tim Ernst in Arkansas
http://www.Cloudland.net
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Thomas Krüger

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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2007, 04:13:35 am »

Thanks a lot for your report.

Somebody in a german forum http://forum.fineartprinter.de mentioned, that you can't continue the once started print if one cartridge runs out of ink and you have to change it during the printing process (Z2100).  This is instead no issue with his old HP 9600 printer.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2007, 04:13:58 am by ThomasK »
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Christopher

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« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2007, 05:03:13 am »

Quote
Thanks a lot for your report.

Somebody in a german forum http://forum.fineartprinter.de mentioned, that you can't continue the once started print if one cartridge runs out of ink and you have to change it during the printing process (Z2100).  This is instead no issue with his old HP 9600 printer.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=98260\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Now I think they talk about the Z2100, Ok they are quite similiar. I never tested it. But if it is so HO should be able to change it in the firmware.

I have pretty much the same result. Innova F-Type Semi-Matt is a lot better, but I don't have anything larger than A4, so I can't say something about it with 24 or 36in.
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Christopher Hauser
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2007, 10:28:35 am »

Quote
mjgakatr:

Thanks for your notes. WHERE did you get any of the HP Pro Satin paper? I've been trying to find some for a month and HP says it will be another month or two or three before they will have any to sell to the public. Did you purchase this paper or did HP give it to you? I would really love to be able to use this paper. Thanks for any info...

Tim Ernst in Arkansas
http://www.Cloudland.net
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I purchased the HP Pro Satin at OfficeWorld.  Attached is the link.  I guess I was lucky to stumble upon the website will searching for the sku number.  I just purchased another roll yesterday so they should still have some in stock.

[a href=\"http://www.officeworld.com/-/q8759a]http://www.officeworld.com/-/q8759a[/url]
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2007, 10:32:27 am »

Another observation:

I left my HP Pro Canvas Matte roll paper loaded overnight and when I form feed it I noticed some roll marks on the paper.  I just figured I would mention this since in my initial comments I noted that I did not see any roll marks caused by the printer.

The obvious solution is to just unload the paper when not in use.
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ternst

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« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2007, 09:56:38 pm »

Hey, THANKS for the link - I wonder how come they have the paper when HP has NEVER had it available for sale to the public? I hope they still have a roll or two for my order...
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PetterStahre

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« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2007, 04:43:14 am »

Just wanted to thank the original poster - what a superb posting! Since I'm considering buying this printer this is very informative. Thank you for your time and effort. // Petter
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2007, 07:44:18 am »

Glad to hear some folks are finding this info useful.  Thanks for the kind words.

More Updates:

- I tested a few more papers.

- Epson Enhanced Matte (192gsm)
     - Color calibrated using Matte setting (no GE option for Matte)
     - Colors look great on this paper and is a nice look if you are not into glossy paper
     - Nice smooth surface on this paper with pretty much zero reflection
     - Used all quality settings maxed out and did not notice any issue with marks or defects.

- Pictorico High Gloss White Film (213gsm)
     - Color calibrated using Glossy setting with and without GE
     - This paper/film is the best I have seen if you like ultra glossy prints
     - Great colors and great glossy look.
     - I did not some bronzing without the GE on with this paper as well as some Gloss Differential
     - With GE on whole page this paper looks great.  I tried using it on my Epson 4800 in the past and GD was always a problem for me.  Not the case with the Z3100 with GE on.
     - If this stuff was not so expensive I would use it for all my glossy prints.  This paper is great if not putting behind glass.  If you plan on putting behind glass then you can probably get by with some cheaper paper.

- Epson Premium SemiMatte Photo Paper (250gsm)
     - Color calibrated using Matte setting as well as SemiGloss/Satin with and without GE.
     - Worth noting that when you choose a paper type of Matte that the color calibration chart prints with Matte Black.   Matte Black is not printed with glossy paper type is choosen.  Makes sense and just an observation.
     - If you have used this paper you know that it is more like a SemiGloss.
     - This was my standard on the Epson 4800 since it hid GD and Bronzing very well with the ultrachrome inks and has a decent thickness to it.
     - The SemiGloss setting looked the best and you dont really need the GE on for this paper.  Similar to the Epson 4800, this paper hides GD and bronzing very well on the Z3100.
     - This paper is also very similar to the HP Professional Satin but is much cheaper.  

First Head Cleaning:
- I experienced my first horizontal banding due to a print head.  I noticed the horizontal pattern in the Magenta ink while printing out color calibration charts.
- I have used a whole slew of papers from thick to thin and glossy to canvas so it is possible something got on the print head.
- Since I noticed the horizontal pattern I opted to try the image diagnostic print to troubleshoot the problem (keep in mind I already knew it was the Magenta print head based on the calibration charts but wanted to try the diagnostic feature).
- The diagnostic print does a very good job of assiting you with print head issues.  The test patterns are intuitive and easy to read.
- The diagnostic print concluded that the Magenta and Yellow printhead was the culprit and showed banding on the print.  Note that each print head has 2 colors associated with it so even though I only had issues with the Magenta, Yellow is paired with this printhead.
- I then wanted to clean the printhead so I navigated the LCD panel to select a cleaning.  At this point you have some options, you can clean all printheads or you can specify which printheads you want to clean.
- The most granular you can get is cleaning 2 printheads at a time.  Here are the options:
- Clean All
- Clean E-G and B-GN
- Clean M-Y and MK-R
- Clean LM-LC and PK-LG
- I choose the M-Y and MK-R option since it was M that was giving me problems.
- I also noted ink levels for the 4 colors to monitor how much ink was consumed during a printhead cleaning
- The process takes about 10 minutes and does not require paper.
- Upon completion I noted the ink levels and M used 3ml while Y, MK and R only used 1ml of ink.  Since it was M that was giving me issues I am thinking the printer figured this out during the test and thus did some more cleaning/purging on that head.
- Upon completion I printed out another color calibration chart and found that there was still some slight banding in the M pattern.  I decided to do another cleaning before physically removing head and cleaning with swab.
- This second round of cleaning only consumed 1ml per color.
- This time the cleaning worked and my next few prints showed no banding or signs of printhead issues.
- As mentioned in original post, I keep the printed on continuously so this printhead cleaning was probably the effect of use and multiple papers versus the printer being turned on and off.

Manual Paper Feed:
- I also tested the manual paper feed option to see how easy this is to use.
- The first couple of sheets (8x10) I tried to feed I aligned to far to the right past the marker.  If you go too far right then the printer feeds the paper out the front so you can align it with blue line markers and then feeds it back in.  During this process you need to pull the large blue roll release lever on the left while adjusting the paper and then pulling the lever back down signals the printer to take the sheet back in.
- It is worth noting that there are labels and lines marking paper sizes on the manual feed tray but there is no separate guide like on most smaller printers to align the paper.
- It seems that the manual feed is more forgiving if you feed the paper slightly to the left of the mark as the printer is able to slide it over internally to the proper position as long as it is not skewed.
- After a few tries I go the hang of it and now I rarely have to readjust the position of the sheet.  The key I think is to feed it just left of the marker on the tray and when you feed it into the printer making sure it is not skewed.
- All in all a pretty smooth process that just takes some getting used to.

Ink Usage:
- I am still using the 69ml cartridges that came with the printer.  I realize that ink usage depends on the types of prints and paper you use so treat some of this with a grain of salt.
- GE has taken the biggest hit and I may have to order some more soon
- Gray is the second in line to get replaced
- All other colors are about 20% behind the GE and Gray

Some numbers from the HP accounting log.  I will only show one paper for example purposes as each media will probably have different averages.
HP Premium Instant Dry Photo Gloss

     - Paper Usage - 1.16 ft2     Ink Used - 2.24 ml
     - Paper Usage - 3.26 ft2     Ink Used - 5.93 ml
     - Paper Usage - 3.26 ft2     Ink Used - 4.46 ml
     - Paper Usage - 5.99 ft2     Ink Used - 9.31 ml
     - Paper Usage - 5.99 ft2     Ink Used - 11.93 ml

Average ink usage - 1.72 ml per ft2
Lowest ink usage - 1.36 ml per ft2
Highest ink usage - 1.99 ml per ft2

- You can see that even the same print sizes have variable ranges based on print content.  If I really want to home in on usage I would choose a standard picture and print as different sizes and on different media to keep most variables the same.
- The HP accounting log allows you to export the info to Excel.  Although this function works nicely, they have the units of measure in the same cell as the values thus requiring you to run a macro or manually separate the value and unit of measure into separate cells.  There may be a way around this but I did not give it much thought at this point.

Thats it for today.
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rdonson

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« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2007, 08:08:25 am »

Thank you so much for these reports.  They are very helpful.  I'm hoping to buy the 24" Z3100 in the next two months.
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Regards,
Ron

mjgakatr

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« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2007, 10:27:59 am »

Notes for my ink usage numbers above:

Paper - HP Premium Instant Dry Gloss Photo Paper
Settings
- Quality Best
- Maximum Detail
- More Passes
- GE on Whole Page

The numbers will obviously be higher if using GE.  Below is a quick example of GE on versus GE off for the same print.

GE On Whole Page
Print Usage 1.13 ft2     Ink Usage 2.06 ml

GE off
Print Usage 1.13 ft2     Ink Usage 1.62 ml

This simple quick and dirty test shows a significant increase which would account for my rapid use of GE ink.  Keep in mind this is only one test sample and statistically unsound but it gives you an idea of impact.
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alesniak

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« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2007, 06:02:00 pm »

I just want to concur with what  mjgakatr posted as his experience, I too have just recieved a new Z3100 this past weekend. And my setup/use has been almost identical.

my one observation to add is if your loading single sheets, when I used the very right
alignment mark almost always the paper would fail to load properly, but if you just
use the left mark as a guide, "11x17" ect... I have had 100% success in loading on the
first try.
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2007, 07:27:34 pm »

A few comments about borderless printing:

- The Z3100 does not handle borderless printing on Matte paper.  It will only do borderless on Glossy or Semi-Glossy papers.  I have confirmed this.
- When you print borderless the cutter will cut about 1/8th of an inch into the inked area to ensure borderless (automatic mode) and then it advances the paper 3 inches and makes another cut.  3 inches of wasted paper for borderless prints seems a bit wasteful and HP has confirmed that this is a firmware item and I cannot make any setting adjustments to minimize this second cut.  Hopefully they will incorporate a smaller cut in an updated firmware version.
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2007, 03:02:55 pm »

Below is the link to the HP Extreme Upgrade promotion that just started on Feb 1st.  If you have not bought this printer yet now would be the time to do it if you qualify.  I am a little upset I missed out on this offer as I could of saved $1,300.

http://www.hp.com/united-states/tradein/pr...eme/home_f.html

Another paper:

HP Hahnemühle Smooth Fine Art Paper (265gsm)

- Calibrated color and created ICC profiles
- This paper is not overly bright and adds some warmth to your prints
- Even though they say smooth, this paper has some texture to it
- Prints up to 24 x 36 did not show any head strikes or marks
- Very nice blacks with this paper
- Nice results with this printer.  Only downside is price but you get what you pay for
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tbonanno

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« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2007, 03:15:52 pm »

mjgakatr,

Great  information. Thanks for sharing it.  I'm considering a 24" printer soon.  The HP does intrigue me, especially the Z3100.  Was curious though, if I need to print 20 11x17 of the same image on cut sheets, is there any way of handling that other than feeding the paper one sheet at a time ??

Thanks!

Tony Bonanno
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Tony Bonanno Photography
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #16 on: February 03, 2007, 05:49:33 pm »

Tony-

There is no tray feed on the printer and the only option is 1 sheet at a time.

In my workflow if I wanted to print 20 11 x 17 of the same image I would use roll paper and with Qimage layout 20 of the prints and let it run.  I have a rototrim that I use to cut them once done printing.  The benefit is cheaper cost for roll paper and a downside would be having to trim them once they are done printing.

Hope that helps.
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rdonson

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« Reply #17 on: February 03, 2007, 11:05:32 pm »

Roll paper and Qimage makes a lot of sense.  I'm curious though how you remove the curl.
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Regards,
Ron

tbonanno

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« Reply #18 on: February 04, 2007, 12:40:00 am »

Quote
Tony-

There is no tray feed on the printer and the only option is 1 sheet at a time.

In my workflow if I wanted to print 20 11 x 17 of the same image I would use roll paper and with Qimage layout 20 of the prints and let it run.  I have a rototrim that I use to cut them once done printing.  The benefit is cheaper cost for roll paper and a downside would be having to trim them once they are done printing.

Hope that helps.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=99068\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Thanks for clarifying the "sheet feed" question mjgakatr..
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mjgakatr

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« Reply #19 on: February 04, 2007, 07:54:45 am »

rdonson-

To handle paper curl I usually save the 3" cores from my rolls.  I typically let my prints sit for at least 24 hours and then I reverse roll the prints on the 3" core to get the curl out.  If the curl is really bad I will put a rubber band around the print while it is on the core and let it sit for a period of time.
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