Digital BW, The Print

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004, Steven Karafyllakis wrote:

> 
> I seem to have a pronounced dither banding problem on the 7600, not 
> only with QTR but anyway I try it-except in unidirectional mode. 
> Seems there's a bi-direction problem of some kind that isn't being 
> fixed by simple head alignment. So, a question for Roy, and a 
> general question to anyone who can help: 
> 
> How do you write in the command for unidirectional printing?
> 
> Where can I get the tech/service manual PDFS for that printer?
> 

Not sure this is what you're looking for, but you can download the programming guide from www.epsondevelopers.com.  The uni/bi-directional printing command is a code that is sent at the start of the print job telling the printer what mode to print in.

It appears you can change that in QTR, although I've not tested it.  These instructions are for the 2200, so you'll have to translate into 7600-speak.

1. Open the .bat file you drag your images on to print (e.g. Print-2200.bat) in a text editor like notepad and look for a line that says something like 'set RES=1440x720hq2'.  Make a note of this setting.

2. Go to C:\Program Files\QuadToneRIP\ppd and open the file Quad2200.ppd in a text editor like notepad.

2. Scroll down until you see lines that start with *Resolution.  These lines define what resolution settings QTR supports for the given printer.  You should be able to find a line with the setting you noted in step 1.

Note to Stephen Billard:  I believe on the Mac side of things, this .ppd file is read when the print dialog appears in order to populate the drop-down boxes with the available settings for that printer.  That said, I don't know if Roy's Windows port of QTR supports all these settings yet.

3. You should be able to find a comparable setting that is unidirectional. E.g. 1440x720swuni/1440 x 720 DPI Unidirectional...

4. Go back to your Print-2200.bat file and change the resolution line to 'set RES=1440x720swuni'

5. Try printing and see if it works.  Like I said, I haven't tested this yet, and I suspect that QTR for Windows doesn't support all of these settings yet, but it may be worth a shot.

--Tom

In reference to a banding problem with 7600, Tom Wrote:
> It appears you can change that in QTR, although I've not tested 
it.  These instructions are for the 2200, so you'll have to 
translate into 7600-speak.
> 
> 1. Open the .bat file you drag your images on to print (e.g. Print-
2200.bat) in a text editor like notepad and look for a line that 
says something like 'set RES=1440x720hq2'.  Make a note of this 
setting. 
> 2. Go to C:\Program Files\QuadToneRIP\ppd and open the file 
Quad2200.ppd in a text editor like notepad.
> 2. Scroll down until you see lines that start with *Resolution.  
These lines define what resolution settings QTR supports for the 
given printer.  You should be able to find a line with the setting 
you noted in step 1.
> 3. You should be able to find a comparable setting that is 
unidirectional. E.g. 1440x720swuni/1440 x 720 DPI Unidirectional...
> 4. Go back to your Print-2200.bat file and change the resolution 
line to 'set RES=1440x720swuni'
> 5. Try printing and see if it works.  Like I said, I haven't 
tested this yet, and I suspect that QTR for Windows doesn't support 
all of these settings yet, but it may be worth a shot.
> --Tom
End snip...

I had the exact same problem with my 9600 causing banding with 
bidirectional printing.  I tried this edit in the print-9600.bat 
file in QTR and it completely solved my banding problem.
Original line "set RES=1440x720fourp"
New line "set RES=1440x720fourpuni"

Thanks for the info.
Greg Philpott