QTR-Quadtone RIP

Thanks for the tips, Mike. The nozzles checked out completely clean. I'll be sure to shake the cartridges when I need to replace one.

It looks like the cause of my issue is that I had the QTR test pattern as high up on the page as possible, so that i could fit 2 per page (with a little scaling). When I moved the test image into the center of the page, the banding went away completely.

Is this effect (banding near the top/bottom of the page) due to the paper being slightly higher, and so the "aim" of the nozzles is off? Just curious.

Of course, in the midst of this, I also discovered how prone the MK ink is to smudging on Pictorico, so I don't think I'll be using it for my digital negatives anyway.

Thanks for teaching me something about my new printer, though.

--Greg

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, Michael King <drmrking@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Greg,
> 
> If you have inks in all the slots, try running an auto head check on a piece
> of plain paper.
> This is a much better indicator of nozzle status.
> 
> Also the first/last inch of paper/film is prone to banding as the paper is
> held by only one set of rollers rather than 2.
> 
> Also the cartridges may need shaking if the printer has been sitting for
> some time.
> Best to do this when you next need to change one. Take out and shake them
> all.
> They have a little ball bearing inside that you can hear rattle around. -
> though this is nothing to do with your banding issue.
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> On 28 May 2010 02:01, gmikol <gmikol@...> wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > Hi All--
> >
> > I just bought a used R1900 and have started working with QTR, primarily for
> > digital negatives. I've run a cleaning cycle and a head check. Everything
> > looks good.
> >
> > But when I try printing the ink separation test image on Pictorico, there
> > is very visible micro-banding, in Ink 1 (is this MK or PK?) even at the 2880
> > DPI setting. This is especially visible at the 5% and 10% ink levels. All
> > the other inks seem to print OK, even at very low ink levels.
> >
> > Has anyone else seen this same thing? Is it a bug in QTR, or a "feature" of
> > the R1900, or just a function of that particular black ink? Cartridges are
> > 3/4 full, and < 1 year old.
> >
> > Would I be better off using the other black as a "light black" (since it is
> > a little less dense) to keep this from appearing?
> >
> > Ideally, I'd like to use both blacks at full strength to get as much
> > density in the negative as possible, but I'd rather avoid the micro-banding.
> >
> > Any thoughts/help is appreciated.
> >
> > --Greg
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>