HOW TO SET UP AN ART TEMPLATE FOR THE M&R I-IMAGE CTS MACHINES:
From the ai setup, if you do not have a template file provided or if it's been lost, here is how you can set it up.
Open Illustrator, Create a 18 x 22" page. Doesn't matter if you won't be printing that large. It's the max of the standard Pusher frame image area.
Type (Command R or Control R) and get the Rulers on the edge. Now drag from the rulers down into the page at 2" down from the top. That makes it about 6" down. (M&R standard placement). Then drag from the guide rulers and drag a guide out to the center at 8". Lastly, drag out from the side ruler, a guide to 4" and another to 12". These are you center marks for your left and right chest placements.
Done creating the template.
Why 2" down?
So generally, you might create art and drop it onto the page and center. Let say it's 13" wide x 16" tall. You place the top of the art on the guide. For this next part, when you are ready to save the file to print, you save it as a .eps. The only reason for the EPS is because the eps recognizes where you have the art placed on the page and does not move it and (it can be saved with multiple colors withing one page). This is great, because when you send the one file with 8 colors in it, you only load 1 file, 1 time. Then the colors are nested withing that job folder name. This is good for archiving or keeping track of your separations within a job. You just save that one file.
You can also send PDF as that recognizes page location placement also....but you can only send one page at a time. This is why eps is preferred. For example, if you just saved it as a .ai, the file would be printed at the very top of the PUSHER FRAME in the screen room and you don't want that.
People often confuse this suggested method of eps by M&R by adding limitations to the RIP and file formats that are inaccurate. They will say, you can only load one type of file. That is just miss understood.
The Color print RIP will actually take and print other single color formats .jpg, .png, .pdf, .ai .cdr .psd .tif You can even send single sep psd file, or you can send a MULTI channel psd file....that has nothing else in it but the separations.
The trick here, (other than single color .pdf and multi color .eps) is the placement. By default, the RIP takes everything you put in it and snaps it to TOP and CENTER. For this reason, it's very important for files like "Left chest" prints. So you either need a file format that recognizes the saved placement like eps...or you need to trick it. To trick it, would be to put an insignificant sized pixel or square at the top left and right corners Then block those out on the screen. With something there on the outer edges, you will still always have your art placed 2" down. (very inconvenient process) to add those steps just to avoid using the eps method, but it can be done.
Once you have your art in place. SAVE AS, an .eps and then you will see the options at the bottom. If you have multiple art boards for multiple locations of the same job in the file, you have to identify what page or artboard you want to save.
Save as, eps (Range 1 or 2 or 3, or (all) depending on if you are saving all locations at one time. If you just have the one art location like the back print open, you would use RANGE 1. Ranges are pages like in Corel Draw. In Illustrator, they are called Art boards. But when you are saving as an eps, it's called RANGE.
Now, you take that file and locate the HOT FOLDER that send the file to the RIP folder that it is connected to.
Thanks
DAN
