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QTR Newbie, R1900 and micro-banding

QTR Newbie, R1900 and micro-banding

2010-05-28 by gmikol

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

Re: [QuadtoneRIP] QTR Newbie, R1900 and micro-banding

2010-05-28 by Michael King

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]

Re: QTR Newbie, R1900 and micro-banding

2010-05-28 by gmikol

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:
Show quoted textHide quoted text
>
> 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]
>

Re: [QuadtoneRIP] Re: QTR Newbie, R1900 and micro-banding

2010-05-28 by Michael King

Yes the PK ink is probably the one to use.

Mike

On 28 May 2010 20:10, gmikol <gmikol@...> wrote:

>
>
>
> 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 <QuadtoneRIP%40yahoogroups.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]
> >
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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