Films not lining up on the T3270

[1964GN]

We have had a lot of issues with films not lining up (4800 and 4880). We recently started using 5 mil film with a 3" core instead of a 2" core and the problem has "almost" gone away completely. I'm not saying it's your issue but it has made a massive difference for us.

[Jamisun]

Thank you, Steve!

[bimmridder]

I have to admit, we haven't used film in about 12 years. But what would happen if you used sheets instead of roll? (I think I'm about to be educated)

[Jamisun]

We have the settings for our AccuRip as similar- our droplet weight is at 12- but that's what works well with our film. I am more interested in what others have used for the settings on this machine to tell the printer what the film is- like the adjustments for Paper feed, Platen's Gap and Paper type- as you designate in Paper Custom Settings on the actual printer itself. I actually have an Epson Technician coming to help us today- and we will actually hopefully have the issues resolved- will post findings. Thank you all for your help.

[Sbrem]

I wish I could help you on that one Jamisun, we pretty much assembled it and set it up, and started printing films. The only thing was using film for pigment based ink. We may yet move to dye base, but I'm still wanting to keep the warranty intact (I'll probably get over that though). If you call Epson for support, I understand that they are quite helpful. I haven't tested that yet, but that's what the tech guy at Garston told me.

Steve

[1964GN]

I have to admit, we haven't used film in about 12 years. But what would happen if you used sheets instead of roll? (I think I'm about to be educated)

Us film guy's are already in the 20th Century. I would hate to go back even further

[Sbrem]

I have to admit, we haven't used film in about 12 years. But what would happen if you used sheets instead of roll? (I think I'm about to be educated)

Us film guy's are already in the 20th Century. I would hate to go back even further

I started with tray developing films in a darkroom, I wouldn't want to go back to that...

Steve

[bimmridder]

I understand not wanting go go backwards, but I thought if you used sheets you didn't have to worry about the drag  changing on a roll. Like I said, educate me?

[Frog]

I have to admit, we haven't used film in about 12 years. But what would happen if you used sheets instead of roll? (I think I'm about to be educated)

Us film guy's are already in the 20th Century. I would hate to go back even further

I started with tray developing films in a darkroom, I wouldn't want to go back to that...

Steve

Trays?  Let's at least move you up to this beauty.

[mimosatexas]

I havent had this issue on either of my film printers (4800 and 9800), both printing on rolls.  One thing I did notice early on is if the roll is tight up against one of the roll holders it will cause issues, but if you keep it just barely from touching either roller the film doesnt seem to drag or catch.  I know some other shops who have to unroll the film before printing on their machines.  Might try that as a sort of quick fix.

[Sbrem]

I have to admit, we haven't used film in about 12 years. But what would happen if you used sheets instead of roll? (I think I'm about to be educated)

Us film guy's are already in the 20th Century. I would hate to go back even further

I started with tray developing films in a darkroom, I wouldn't want to go back to that...

Steve

Trays?  Let's at least move you up to this beauty.

the company I worked for did go to PMT, (that's Photo Mechanical Transfer for you young'uns) what a miracle (at the time), and we kept that up until we started using inkjet, a much greater miracle. Will go to DTS eventually...

Steve

[abchung]

I understand not wanting go go backwards, but I thought if you used sheets you didn't have to worry about the drag  changing on a roll. Like I said, educate me?

I use a 1100.... i need to make sure all my sheets are of the same size, or else the weight of the sheet affects my films by a few millimetres for a large image.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Jamisun]

Well I wanted to post my current findings. I have had two Epson Technicians come out to help us with our Problem- and one of them came back a second time and replaced all the parts in our epson concerning the feed. The first technician showed us something nice- but did not eliminate the problem but since I couldn't reproduce the problem again that day we thought it was fixed. He showed us that there is a Print adjust setting that you can make in the custom paper setting to set the length of feed adjust- it's the 500 millimeter test. That was a nice tool but it doesn't solve our problem. After he was here- I figured out exactly what the problem was and now I can reproduce the problem and I have made a work around to address the problem as well. If our design that we are outputing to film has a channel or color in which the printer prints a little and then has to feed for a certain amount before printing the crosshair- the area where it feed is off- every time. As long as the printer prints something (anything- even just a line - all the way down the page- which is now our work around) it will print consistently the same size for all pieces of film in a job. So the problem film is always the one with empty space, where the printer stops printing and the paper feeds.
So I had them send another technician. (both technicians were great by the way- but both did not admit to ever seeing this problem before.) So he performed another test- on that only a technician can perform- and that also seemed to help. But guess what- the problem persisted. So he returned and replaced all motorized parts relating to feeding on the machine. With all new parts- minus the bar which may have something to do with slowing the feed- and I am considering may still be the problem... we still have the issue. Now- alas- I have a workaround- and as long as I am printing from the same roll of film- if I print a thin line down the side of my film so that our printer prints consistently down the roll then I have film that lines up. Epson has not wanted to admit that I have a lemon. Our technician has submitted our film for inspection and as of Friday I received the answer from Epson that our film will not line up no matter what printer we use- it will not line up on any printer as the problem will persist in all Epson printers- even if they replace ours. Which sounds like BS to me. Essentially- Epson is marketing a printer film RIP combination to Screen printers that does not work for screen printers. In our profession, it is absolutely of the greatest importance that our separations line up on film. This printer then is not accurate at all, and what they have said about it being perfect for screen printers is a complete lie. Or I have a lemon of a printer. For anyone who is having a problem with film lining up- print a line down the side of all of your films and they should line up- I am saying this assuming that we EPSON told me is true (which I don't think it is) and this is happening on all Epson printers.

[blue moon]

Well I wanted to post my current findings. I have had two Epson Technicians come out to help us with our Problem- and one of them came back a second time and replaced all the parts in our epson concerning the feed. The first technician showed us something nice- but did not eliminate the problem but since I couldn't reproduce the problem again that day we thought it was fixed. He showed us that there is a Print adjust setting that you can make in the custom paper setting to set the length of feed adjust- it's the 500 millimeter test. That was a nice tool but it doesn't solve our problem. After he was here- I figured out exactly what the problem was and now I can reproduce the problem and I have made a work around to address the problem as well. If our design that we are outputing to film has a channel or color in which the printer prints a little and then has to feed for a certain amount before printing the crosshair- the area where it feed is off- every time. As long as the printer prints something (anything- even just a line - all the way down the page- which is now our work around) it will print consistently the same size for all pieces of film in a job. So the problem film is always the one with empty space, where the printer stops printing and the paper feeds.
So I had them send another technician. (both technicians were great by the way- but both did not admit to ever seeing this problem before.) So he performed another test- on that only a technician can perform- and that also seemed to help. But guess what- the problem persisted. So he returned and replaced all motorized parts relating to feeding on the machine. With all new parts- minus the bar which may have something to do with slowing the feed- and I am considering may still be the problem... we still have the issue. Now- alas- I have a workaround- and as long as I am printing from the same roll of film- if I print a thin line down the side of my film so that our printer prints consistently down the roll then I have film that lines up. Epson has not wanted to admit that I have a lemon. Our technician has submitted our film for inspection and as of Friday I received the answer from Epson that our film will not line up no matter what printer we use- it will not line up on any printer as the problem will persist in all Epson printers- even if they replace ours. Which sounds like BS to me. Essentially- Epson is marketing a printer film RIP combination to Screen printers that does not work for screen printers. In our profession, it is absolutely of the greatest importance that our separations line up on film. This printer then is not accurate at all, and what they have said about it being perfect for screen printers is a complete lie. Or I have a lemon of a printer. For anyone who is having a problem with film lining up- print a line down the side of all of your films and they should line up- I am saying this assuming that we EPSON told me is true (which I don't think it is) and this is happening on all Epson printers.

my guess here is that the film is advanced by the driver and AR uses (or at least used to) the regular windows driver. Download a copy of the FilmMaker and try it. They use their own driver rather than the Microsoft version, it might make a difference.
'not sure if they support that printer, but if they do, this might be the answer. It does not hurt that it is a better RIP than the AR.

pierre

[cbjamel]

FilmMaker XL works I have it with t3270, just print all films same direction. Minimizes problems.
Shane