Ugh, lines - my biggest woe

[muckyducky]

G'day all,
So I invested in a decent printer. As I expected, the sub dye colours aren't perfect. I'm about to get the printer ICC profiled to solve this, but whenever I print the test sheet there are tiny, tiny lines which IMO might affect the result.

This doesn't really show at all on the test products I've produced. Any ideas how to get rid of them? Quite a few head cleans seems to have helped drastically, but we're now at at point where there are some tiny stubborn lines that don't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry.

Any ideas as to a potential fix?

[bms]

G'day all,
So I invested in a decent printer. As I expected, the sub dye colours aren't perfect. I'm about to get the printer ICC profiled to solve this, but whenever I print the test sheet there are tiny, tiny lines which IMO might affect the result.

This doesn't really show at all on the test products I've produced. Any ideas how to get rid of them? Quite a few head cleans seems to have helped drastically, but we're now at at point where there are some tiny stubborn lines that don't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry.

Any ideas as to a potential fix?

Printing at a higher quality or more heads cleans may help. Depends of course what printer you have and what inks. If the problem persists then contact usurped supplier for warranty support.

[Justin]

You've told us you've now got a 'decent' printer but you've not said which one! Hopefully you've bought it from a decent supplier and have decent backup an warranty

If it's a supported printer then the profile or Powerdriver if it's a Ricoh are already available to you.

[pisquee]

What printer have you got?
What inks are you using?
Are you using sealed carts, refill carts, or a CISS?
Do't bother getting an ICC made until the printer is printing perfectly with no lines, or you'll be wasting your money.

[GoonerGary]

Your print heads may be misaligned. In the maintenance section of your printer software you print out a series of grey squares and adjust according to the instructions.

[muckyducky]

You've told us you've now got a 'decent' printer but you've not said which one! Hopefully you've bought it from a decent supplier and have decent backup an warranty

If it's a supported printer then the profile or Powerdriver if it's a Ricoh are already available to you.

What printer have you got?
What inks are you using?
Are you using sealed carts, refill carts, or a CISS?
Do't bother getting an ICC made until the printer is printing perfectly with no lines, or you'll be wasting your money.

Printing at a higher quality or more heads cleans may help. Depends of course what printer you have and what inks. If the problem persists then contact usurped supplier for warranty support.

You've told us you've now got a 'decent' printer but you've not said which one! Hopefully you've bought it from a decent supplier and have decent backup an warranty

If it's a supported printer then the profile or Powerdriver if it's a Ricoh are already available to you.

Your print heads may be misaligned. In the maintenance section of your printer software you print out a series of grey squares and adjust according to the instructions.

Sorry, I got distracted!
It's an EPSON XP-750 with CISS, new with a bit of use, bought from Argos. This issue seems to be solved now. Nevertheless, I'm trying to make the imagery on my mugs appear crispier, any ideas how? I've managed to get the colours to be darker by leaving it in the press for ~350 seconds, but it appears less crisp than the print out, which is now very accurate.

ICC profile will be on the way tomorrow.

[GoonerGary]

Decrease the pressure on your mug press and press for the minimum time which will give you solid colours. So too much pressure and too much time will blur your mugs etc.

[muckyducky]

Decrease the pressure on your mug press and press for the minimum time which will give you solid colours. So too much pressure and too much time will blur your mugs etc.

So I was completely wrong. :frown:
I've been increasing the pressure and increasing the time each time I got a bad result. Thanks for the tip! :rolleyes:

[pisquee]

So I invested in a decent printer.

It's an EPSON XP-750 with CISS

I'll give you that it's a 6 colour printer as far as being a "decent", but it's still a printer aimed at the home market, rather than a professional level printer aimed at printing for commercial use. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but "decent" is very much dependant on your expectations and what you're comparing it to.
Also, CISS are prone to ink flow problems, like the line problem you had, so you will likely run into this problem again in the future.

[muckyducky]

I'll give you that it's a 6 colour printer as far as being a "decent", but it's still a printer aimed at the home market, rather than a professional level printer aimed at printing for commercial use. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but "decent" is very much dependant on your expectations and what you're comparing it to.
Also, CISS are prone to ink flow problems, like the line problem you had, so you will likely run into this problem again in the future.

Would refillable cartridges be a better solution? The ink cartridges seem to remain full, so it seems to be flowing from the reservoir to the tubes... Or am I on about something else here?