Epson 4900 film not lining up?

[Frog]

For as long as can remember, I have heard of rolls being more problematic on this than sheets.

The printers are being asked to do a job best described as "off label use", and their feed doesn't always seem up to our tasks and needs.

Have any of you tried cutting the film or, as suggested, slightly reducing tension on the roll?

[DSWArtTeam]

Yes. Still happens regardless of the rip. But I kind of figured when I started hearing other people with other rip softwares with the same issue. But we tested it to be sure. Same issue regardless of the rip software of the rotation.

[Doug S]

I just ordered 5 mil film to try it out.  If that doesn't work then I have 5 rolls to cut in sheets.  Until I can swing a DTS.  As far as tension on the roll feeder there are 3 settings on the Epson 7700 "Normal" "Strong" and "Strongest".  Mine is already set at normal

[Homer]

I do have the 4800 service manuals that techs have if you are interested, I'll see if I can e-mail it.

here's what was wrong on mine.

If you are facing the printer, the left side cover comes off with a few screws.  towards the back you will see a round dial attached to the spindle. This dial has various markings on it that rotates through a sensor. clean that off with some alcohol -I used moonshine and a Q-Tip  -- clean off the sensor too, problem solved...now this was just my issue, it may not work, but it might be worth a shot...pun intended..

[jesterapparel]

Just had this happen, towards an end of a roll.  Registration marks on one color don't line up.  printed it three times, all wrong.  Other colors printed right.  It was odd, not sure if it is a printer thing or a rip thing since three times in a row it printed the wrong thing.

[jsheridan]

I printed many a roll from my 4000 over the past couple years and I can only remember on a few occasions where i got some shrink/stretch

I was using dye inks and non waterproof film

[Doug S]

Just had this happen, towards an end of a roll.  Registration marks on one color don't line up.  printed it three times, all wrong.  Other colors printed right.  It was odd, not sure if it is a printer thing or a rip thing since three times in a row it printed the wrong thing.

The 3 that printed wrong of that color have you checked to see if those three line up with each other.  Just wondering if they are off by the same amount each time you print that color.  If they do line up that would tell you that it's more than likely the printer or rip.  If they don't and they are off by different amounts then it's probably the film shrinking, stretching or expanding. 

[abchung]

On a Wasatch RIP for example you can apply crop marks and extend them around the whole image area. That way the Epson printer avoids skipping areas that are empty. Helps a lot. Alternatively you can draw as well the outlines of a square around the whole image area in Illustrator or what ever software you use and use the registration swatch so it prints on each film.

Thanks Matthias, I tried it today with a rectangle outline around the print image, and it worked great. Solved my problem on a T1100

[DSWArtTeam]

Yep regardless of rip software it still does it. Definitely seems like a printer issues. Not sure if the weight of the roll is triggering some sort of offset, or if the printer is feeding slightly faster near the end because of a lack of tension or what but there is an issue for sure. Really hoping someone has found the solution. Or at least is aware of the issue and sorting it out at Epson.

[Doug S]

I've cut 5 pieces of film off of a roll and printing films as sheets that I had difficulties with lining up the other day to see if that solves my problem.  I'll post results

[JBLUE]

It also will happen when too much ink is laid down and there are large areas of ink. I had this happen on a 18 inch tall print of a mushroom. The only film that was off was the base film where the largest deposit of ink was laid down by the printer. That coating contracts a little as it absorbs the ink.

With Wasatch you can compensate for it. I just do not remember how to do it right now. I know you print out a long section of film and measure the crop marks and adjust it in the rip. You might have to do it several times but it will calibrate it. I only ever run into issues where it might be a hair off up in the 20 inch tall print range. Even then it is so minimal it is not noticeable enough to the untrained naked eye.

[Doug S]

Well cutting it in sheets instead of printing off a roll didn't help it here.

[JBLUE]

Can you snap a pic of the image area and where it is off?

[Doug S]

I'll post pics when in a little bit.  After printing the sheet 2 were perfect and the 3rd 4th and 5th the top would line up and the bottom was off by about 1/8 inch.  Then changed the roll feeder tension from normal to high and that seemed to fix my problem with all 5 films lining up.  Which is exactly opposite of what I thought.  I thought the tension was too high already.

[jesterapparel]

Just had this happen, towards an end of a roll.  Registration marks on one color don't line up.  printed it three times, all wrong.  Other colors printed right.  It was odd, not sure if it is a printer thing or a rip thing since three times in a row it printed the wrong thing.

The 3 that printed wrong of that color have you checked to see if those three line up with each other.  Just wondering if they are off by the same amount each time you print that color.  If they do line up that would tell you that it's more than likely the printer or rip.  If they don't and they are off by different amounts then it's probably the film shrinking, stretching or expanding.

It was the distance, about .25 inches.  In corel draw I went from page to page on seps and the marks on that page were correct.  Makes me think it's the rip.  I use accurip