Z3100ps 24": Total confusion. Help!

[walter.sk]

I have semi-upgraded my 1-week old Z3100ps.  The new firmware 6.0.0.7 is functional in the printer.  I am struggling with which driver(s) to install.  I'm running XPPro, SP2 on a PC.  I have several questions, but first, here is what I have done.

Using the Printers & Faxes> Properties> Advanced> New Driver dialogue I managed to download into 3 separate folders and unzip to those folders the following drivers: Postscript driver, HP-GL2 driver, HP-Raster driver.  All are v61.71.841.0.  I managed to get them all "installed" to where, when I click on New Driver and HP, they all show up in the list.  Here are the driver questions:

1)Should they all be where I put them?

2)  If I pick the new ones, or the HPZ3100ps 24 PS3 as the default, I get problems.  I selected plain old HPZ3100ps24, and that seems to work, to a degree.  Which should I pick as a default?  Should I delete the others from the driver list?

3)  One reason I bought the PS GP version of the printer was to access the "embedded" RIP.  How do I go about this?  Mainly, I want it so I can arrange multiple images on a page, the way I used to with Qimage and my 13" Epson desktop printer.

4)  My goals are to save paper by: a) printing 2 11x17's as portraits, side by side on a 24" roll, and to print 2 8.5x11's as a pair of landscapes, end to end, to use a 24x10" piece of the 24" roll.  I have tremendous confusion, with the multiple tabs of the interface, as to how to set paper size, portrait vs landscape, rotate 90 degrees, auto-rotate, etc.  In addition, I now get a message that the printer will not let me choose a width (24") that is greater than the height, and it switches the dimensions.

5)  Related to this is "nesting," which I  can't seem to get the printer to do.

6)  I don't want to have to combine my images onto one canvas in CS3 as a workaround.  And even then, I found that either the image printed vertically on one side of the roll, wasting much space, or it printed horizontally with less than half of the image being printed.

7)  How would I set up Qimage to print, say, to a 24" wide x 18" high page so that I can drag 2 or more images onto the page at their original embedded sizes?

Finally, for today:  My working space is ProPhoto RGB, and I work with 16bit color.  Do I need to change that when sending the files to the printer?  I have profiled and calibrated my papers, and have Qimage or CS3 manage the color, with my own profile.  Of course I have the printer set to let the application manage the color.

9)  Really finally for today:  I got pretty good results with Epson Enhanced Matte using the HP Matte Litho as a starting point.  What paper type should I use to calibrate/profile Epson Premium Luster, as I have a 24" roll of it sitting in my room.  I saw in the z3100 Users Guide that the spectro will not calibrate or profile a glossy textured paper.  Is the Premium Luster glossy?  And if I can profile it, should it use the GE?

I would appreciate any  help here, as I have to have some prints ready for Friday, 11/16.  I don't want to go back to my desktop, dye ink printer.

[neil snape]

I have semi-upgraded my 1-week old Z3100ps.  The new firmware 6.0.0.7 is functional in the printer.  I am struggling with which driver(s) to install.  I'm running XPPro, SP2 on a PC.  I have several questions, but first, here is what I have done.

Using the Printers & Faxes> Properties> Advanced> New Driver dialogue I managed to download into 3 separate folders and unzip to those folders the following drivers: Postscript driver, HP-GL2 driver, HP-Raster driver.  All are v61.71.841.0.  I managed to get them all "installed" to where, when I click on New Driver and HP, they all show up in the list.  Here are the driver questions:

1)Should they all be where I put them?

2)  If I pick the new ones, or the HPZ3100ps 24 PS3 as the default, I get problems.  I selected plain old HPZ3100ps24, and that seems to work, to a degree.  Which should I pick as a default?  Should I delete the others from the driver list?

3)  One reason I bought the PS GP version of the printer was to access the "embedded" RIP.  How do I go about this?  Mainly, I want it so I can arrange multiple images on a page, the way I used to with Qimage and my 13" Epson desktop printer.

4)  My goals are to save paper by: a) printing 2 11x17's as portraits, side by side on a 24" roll, and to print 2 8.5x11's as a pair of landscapes, end to end, to use a 24x10" piece of the 24" roll.  I have tremendous confusion, with the multiple tabs of the interface, as to how to set paper size, portrait vs landscape, rotate 90 degrees, auto-rotate, etc.  In addition, I now get a message that the printer will not let me choose a width (24") that is greater than the height, and it switches the dimensions.

5)  Related to this is "nesting," which I  can't seem to get the printer to do.

6)  I don't want to have to combine my images onto one canvas in CS3 as a workaround.  And even then, I found that either the image printed vertically on one side of the roll, wasting much space, or it printed horizontally with less than half of the image being printed.

7)  How would I set up Qimage to print, say, to a 24" wide x 18" high page so that I can drag 2 or more images onto the page at their original embedded sizes?

Finally, for today:  My working space is ProPhoto RGB, and I work with 16bit color.  Do I need to change that when sending the files to the printer?  I have profiled and calibrated my papers, and have Qimage or CS3 manage the color, with my own profile.  Of course I have the printer set to let the application manage the color.

9)  Really finally for today:  I got pretty good results with Epson Enhanced Matte using the HP Matte Litho as a starting point.  What paper type should I use to calibrate/profile Epson Premium Luster, as I have a 24" roll of it sitting in my room.  I saw in the z3100 Users Guide that the spectro will not calibrate or profile a glossy textured paper.  Is the Premium Luster glossy?  And if I can profile it, should it use the GE?

I would appreciate any  help here, as I have to have some prints ready for Friday, 11/16.  I don't want to go back to my desktop, dye ink printer.
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A lot of questions for one post.

I suggest you use the raster driver to print to. Then place your images or package in Q-image as you always have.
The Embedded rip has a preferences page in the driver or utility. There you'll find the nesting settings. The controls are not anywhere near what you need though. ImagePrint is the best rip for this, or Q-image as a front end to the raster driver .

The colour space chosen will be whatever you choose towards the printer output.
This can be done in Q-image or in the RIP and or driver set to application colour. You can also send the images with their embedded profiles towards the driver/rip for Colorsync or ICM conversion. This should work. It will not be as clear though.


The Z can profile any paper, just not fabric or other truly speciality paper. I would set Prem Luster to the same paper type as Professional Satin.

The Z drivers/rip doesn't care if you send 16 bit or not. And yes you can send in a large space , if it is has the embedded profile in it. The rip is a full Adobe RIP and recognizes all colour spaces correctly.

To set the printer to cut, you set the images to the top edge (placement), then ask the printer driver or rip to remove blank space at the beginning and end of the media set up size. So you should set up a page to 24" X 19 or just try 24" roll automatic. I was not however successful with the PS and any Roll width X automatic at the time.

Hope this gets you printing faster....

[walter.sk]

Do I have to set the Raster driver as the default in the Printers/Scanners Properties?

I managed to use Qimage and got a good print thanks to you, so I'm on the right track.  I used Epson Enhanced Matte, and the Z3100-generated profile was excellent.  

I still can't load the Raster driver, and I found a new problem!  I tried to remove the Enhanced Matte roll from the spindle, but the 3" adaptors are stuck in the cardboard roll and I can't budge them.  I'm  afraid to try to pry them out with a screwdriver, as I don't want to damage the roll.

How do people deal with this?

[dct123]

install all the drivers and go to:(http://192.168.1.104/hp/device/webAccess/index.htm?content=accounting&__locale=en_us)

Then, in setup under "Printer Settings/Printer Preferences/Graphics Language" choose "Automatic".

You can also set your local time/date in Setup and other things while your at the web site.  

Use Qimage for nesting and most of your ?s are answered in help.
When nesting in Qimage you may need to choose "Rotate" in the printer setup dialogue box in addition to "Portrait" or "Landscape" in order to position the images correctly on the paper.

I use gloss enhancer on all photo papers except for matte.

[jpmulligan]

I tried to remove the Enhanced Matte roll from the spindle, but the 3" adaptors are stuck in the cardboard roll and I can't budge them.  I'm  afraid to try to pry them out with a screwdriver, as I don't want to damage the roll.

How do people deal with this?
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This is indeed annoying. I pretty much stand the roll on its end and vigorously pull to get the first side off, flip it upside down, grab the remaining side with my toes (prehensile, i think) then pull the rod out and use it to (gently) pound out the other side. I remember seeing a thread on here from 3 or 4 months ago where someone removed one of the springs that exert the tension and that apparently helped to make it more manageable. However, I never tried it myself.

[thierryd]

someone removed one of the springs that exert the tension and that apparently helped to make it more manageable. However, I never tried it myself.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....showtopic=17581
I have done it too, it works very well.

[Geoff Wittig]

I profiled Epson premium luster paper on my Z3100 using the generic semigloss/satin paper preset, with excellent results. Colors are right on target, at least to my eye, and black & white prints look dead neutral, allowing for the rather cool/blue paper color. I don't find this paper's surface stipple all that annoying, so I'm actually using it as my standard "photo" paper. Can't beat the price for a 100' roll.

[neil snape]

Do I have to set the Raster driver as the default in the Printers/Scanners Properties?

I managed to use Qimage and got a good print thanks to you, so I'm on the right track.  I used Epson Enhanced Matte, and the Z3100-generated profile was excellent. 

I still can't load the Raster driver, and I found a new problem!  I tried to remove the Enhanced Matte roll from the spindle, but the 3" adaptors are stuck in the cardboard roll and I can't budge them.  I'm  afraid to try to pry them out with a screwdriver, as I don't want to damage the roll.

How do people deal with this?
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I hate the HP roll adapters both 2" and 3". Very poor engineering skills by the person who drew that one up!

One thing; make sure you turn off all Anti-virus software before installing anything HP. I do believe you can set it up to install in that case. Unfortunately sometimes old software installs prevent both updating and or even installing drivers. HP do have an uninstall list, even a wipe out HP stuff script but it is not clear why they don't just simply make this an easy uninstall script in the driver installs.

Good luck and happy printing.

[walter.sk]

Got the adaptors out of the tube with some judicious application of a broomstick.  Maybe HP should sell broomsticks as an accessory.

I was able to successfully profile the Epson Enhanced Matte and the Premium Luster 260, which I think is a bit too textured for my taste.  However, the accuracy of color, particularly the neutrality of the grays, is very gratifying.  I think I'm going to like this printer.

I hate the HP roll adapters both 2" and 3". Very poor engineering skills by the person who drew that one up!

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