PrintPlanet.com - Digital Printing Discussion http://printplanet.com/forums/ A forum to discuss digital printing issues including digital press technology, data-driven print strategy, and other related topics. en Tue, 21 May 2013 15:32:16 GMT vBulletin 1 http://printplanet.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png PrintPlanet.com - Digital Printing Discussion http://printplanet.com/forums/ Is an Imagerunner 5000 worth fixing? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31244-imagerunner-5000-worth-fixing Tue, 21 May 2013 12:47:22 GMT The Church I go to has an Imagerunner 5000 that still works. They do not have a service contract and the last time it was serviced they said it needs developer and a new drum. Being that that would cost over $1000 to repair, we are considering replacing it. Is it worth fixing? Worked pretty good up till this. Any advice would be great. The Church I go to has an Imagerunner 5000 that still works. They do not have a service contract and the last time it was serviced they said it needs developer and a new drum. Being that that would cost over $1000 to repair, we are considering replacing it. Is it worth fixing? Worked pretty good up till this.

Any advice would be great. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion bblakley http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31244-imagerunner-5000-worth-fixing New magnetic Laser-compatible stock - Digital Magnecote http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31241-new-magnetic-laser-compatible-stock-digital-magnecote Mon, 20 May 2013 17:25:43 GMT There is a new "Pre-Magnetized" laser-compatible stock available.. curious if anyone else has experiences with it?

Nekoosa Coated Products- Digital MagneCote

I can give my little experience running it... it is an interesting twist on printing media to say the least. It comes *Pre-Magnetized*, which makes it very interesting that even runs at all. The material we received was their 13pt 12x18. I had a small run to print on our brand new Xerox J75s. I determined the following necessary for operation:

Stock doesn't come with a GSM rating on the packaging, researching Nekoosa's website, 13pt is 688gsm! Well out of spec for most digital machines, out of spite I ran it anyways!

Must be fed out of a air-assist tray
required a custom paper designation:
-Coated
-300gsm
-Air assist set to "miss-feed table"
-Image Transfer set to MAXIMUM

Expect a miss-feed on the last sheet (due to it being magnetically held in the tray), pray your machine does not "stop" the other sheets mid printing.
Expect transfer issues on the first .33-.5" from the lead edge, in the case of a 11x17 full bleed you would need to shift the image to the limits of the page edge and cross your fingers.

Jam in your Fuser? Your Fuser is probably TOAST, the magnetic material melts off in quick order and adheres to the fuser roller(s)
-Keep spare fusers

Have short runs where it would not be cost effective to oursource? Worth Trying
Would I run this stuff all day long? NO
Would I ever tell my vendor that I run 600+ gsm? Or place a service call about feeding/IQ/Etc? NEVER

Stock quality:
Holds an image very well, besides the transfer issue on the lead edge
Magnet seems "weak", but would suffice to hold a sheet on a fridge or car body pannel

Cutting:
Cutting this on a Polar cutter is interesting
-Place a sheet of cover stock under the stack to keep them from magnetically adhering to the machine
-Cuts just like cover stock (no observable blade damage/chipping)
-Magnetic poles will cause shifting/de-jogging of your stock, so hold it in place with a block or pre-clamp it. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion EdwardB http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31241-new-magnetic-laser-compatible-stock-digital-magnecote anyone with registration problems with thier Konica 7000? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31237-anyone-registration-problems-thier-konica-7000-a Mon, 20 May 2013 13:07:43 GMT we have a 5500 and a new 7000 and we cant seem to get as good registration, both front and back and single side, as we did on our 5500. please let me know. thanks we have a 5500 and a new 7000 and we cant seem to get as good registration, both front and back and single side, as we did on our 5500. please let me know.

thanks ]]> Digital Printing Discussion Hounds2 http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31237-anyone-registration-problems-thier-konica-7000-a Xerox dc260 network scanning issues 027-741 printer doesnt print http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31232-xerox-dc260-network-scanning-issues-027-741-printer-doesnt-print Sun, 19 May 2013 10:15:42 GMT I have a dc260 with a efi fiery rip. It has been working well for a long time till suddenly the documents failed to print. When turning on the machine, in all services the network scanning button is not highlighted. Normally it is highlighted. Kindly help in this matter. My machine is down for 2 days, need assistance please. I have a dc260 with a efi fiery rip.
It has been working well for a long time till suddenly the documents failed to print.
When turning on the machine, in all services the network scanning button is not highlighted.
Normally it is highlighted.
Kindly help in this matter.
My machine is down for 2 days, need assistance please. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion Graphix http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31232-xerox-dc260-network-scanning-issues-027-741-printer-doesnt-print Need to Print in Silver Metallic or White on Envelopes http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31229-need-print-silver-metallic-white-envelopes Sun, 19 May 2013 01:09:33 GMT So, as the title says, I'm looking for a printer that will print addresses, postage, and USPS barcodes onto A9 (5.75"x8.75") envelopes in either silver or white color. The envelopes are made from a special metallic blue paper (So…Silk FSC | Gruppo Cordenons Inc.), thus dark ink won't contrast enough to meet the postal service requirements. We'd like to avoid using labels, as we want the envelopes to look as clean and professional as possible... Especially considering that we'd need 4 separate labels (to address, return address, intelligent barcode, and postage).

I was considering purchasing an Alps printer on eBay (MD-5000, or MD-5500), but I've heard that the ink is a wax based fragile material that would likely rub off or be damaged when the USPS handles it. I'm aware that there's other similar printers from Citizen, OKI, Kodak, Roland, Powis Parker, Kimoto, but I have no idea if these would work for us or not. I'm also aware of the few recent large format offerings from companies like Roland, but that seems a bit like killing a fly with a sledgehammer with respect to the cost.

I'm open to the idea of using inkjet technology, but I'm not sure which printers currently offer this.

Another concern is the thickness of these envelopes and that feeding may be an issue. The envelopes we've chosen are made from 0.010" thick paper, but when folded, there's sections that stack up to 4 times that thickness (0.040")... I've noticed that some of the Alps MD manuals say that .010" is the max... However, in my experience with other printers, I've been able to successfully run much thicker than the manufacturer recommends. It's also worth noting that the envelopes will be embossed prior to printing as shown in the attached image.

I wish I could say cost is not a factor, but we also don't have many thousands of $ to spend... However, if it comes down to it we could spend a couple thousand on a used printer to make this happen.

Here's my question: If you had to choose a printer for printing silver or white on envelopes, which one do you think is the best for our situation?

(Our situation: 0.010"x4 envelope material thickness, needs to print close to edge (for barcode, return address, and postage), ink needs to be durable, lower printer cost is better.)


Thanks in advance for the help!

-Scott
Attached Images
]]> Digital Printing Discussion pwscottiv http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31229-need-print-silver-metallic-white-envelopes Recent experience with Vendor proposals... http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31226-recent-experience-vendor-proposals Fri, 17 May 2013 18:15:12 GMT So our school district recently went through a couple of months of sorting through vendor proposals and finally demoing certain models that fit our criteria... exact details (i.e. dollar amounts, etc) can't really be "detailed" as the proposals all had confidentiality agreements attached. This was the first time I was directly involved with the proceedings, from the making of our machine requirements through contract "requirements"... the responses we got from our local vendors were quite "eye opening".

Old machines:
Pair of Konica Minolta "Ikon" 650 (KM6500)
In 4+ years of service we put 5.2mil and 4.8mil on the machines
Fiery controllers
basic staple/stackers

"Criteria"
two machines, must meet/exceed the volume we put on the KMs
must be capable of duplexing 100#/300gsm
3 or 5 year lease, MUST guarantee working machines though out entire lease duration (this one makes me giggle... explained later)
a polithera of capabilities (finisher offerings, paper sizes/types, the typical...)
one machine with a high-capacity stacker

Vendor offerings came from from 6 different companies: Canon Business Solutions, Xerox, Konica-Minolta, Ricoh (formerly the IKON office), MiscVendor1, MiscVendor2 (I say "Miscellaneous" vendor because they are a VAR). I'm not really going to get specific about which vendor actually said/did what... but some may be able to guess :rolleyes: We had several offerings that were just insanely over-priced for their offerings, like they put in a bid just to put in a bid? Oddly, we had two offerings of machines identical in every way, one from a VAR and one from the actual manufacturer, the manufacturer was damn near double the cost of the VAR.

We had one manufacturer come back on the "requirement" that if we leased a machine for X years, that they must guarantee it to work the entire duration of the lease... their response: "90 Days" :confused:

Offerings included:
Canon C7000VPs
*I used to operate a VP, while not "bad" machines not desirable either, also out of price range
Canon ImageRunner C7065s (this got the "are you F'n kidding me"?)
*met none of the requirements we set forth
KM7000s
*barely met requirements
KM8000s
*met requirements and priced very well
Xerox 770s (later turned into J75s)
*met requirements and priced very well
Xerox 800s
*exceeded requirements/expectations, but sadly, excessively out of our price range
Ricoh C751s
*met requirements, way out of price range

The actual demoing:
We demo'd a Xerox 770 and a KM8000 using identical paper, files, layouts, finishing, etc...
*Xerox had the newest Fiery 10, the KM had Fiery 9
*Both machines came with inline booklet makers, the Xerox with a 10(?) sheet and the KM had 20(?) sheet capacity.. I forget the exact number of pages. We acutally have an offline collater/bookletmaker with a 20 sheet capacity, as well as a Squareback/Watkis with a 50 sheet capacity we can hand feed through.

Both were very impressive machines and we would have been happy with either machine, but the Xerox 770 totally blew the KM out of the water with just about every test we threw at it...

RGB Gray (not processed as true K)
RGB gray images on the Xerox were dead on the most accurate B&W (using CMYK blending) I have ever seen, the KM came out with the common muddy tinted/colorized B&W

Spot color Reflex Blue C: 100%, 50%, 25%, 10% screening
Xerox blew us away with it's color accuracy, it was Deep BLUE, even the screening was the correct shade of BLUE... the KM, like any other machine I have used/seen, printed everything Reflex as a shade of purple.

Running lightweight stock 20/50
Both machines did very well feeding 20/50, the KM exhibited the usual random multi-feeding/jamming associated with light weight paper (say 2-3 jams in 2000 sheets on the KM, none on the Xerox).

Running super heavy weight stocks
Both machines fed and printed well on 300gsm, full duplex, gloss and uncoated. Registration seemed a bit off on the KM.
I will note that the Xerox 770 did make more "noise" like the sheets were hitting on the inside of the paper guides (more on this)

Image "stretch/shrink"
printed a series of 1" squares on a 12x18 to check overall accuracy of the image dimensions... ever print a full bleed 11x17 and the crop marks come out 11x16.8?? Tis one reason I hated our KM650s
Xerox came out at an amazing 16" 63/64s, the KM was only around 16" 15/16. The KM was also "wide" across the page, at about 11" 1/16.

Construction
Yeah, the Xeroxs have a lot of plastic body panels, but they are all metal underneath. The tray construction on the Xeroxs could use more metal though

Paper feed and edge registration
Sadly neither machine used common edge registration or vacuum feed.
The Xerox has a very accurate system of registration, also has a utility to generate full-sheet patches and with the use of the scanner to auto-calibrate the IQ and registration.... KM used a menu system identical to the KM650, each tray has it's own values and if you load a paper in a tray it can override the registration values. The KM also used a weird multi-roller system to "twist" the paper into alignment (can we say over-engineered to have extra parts to wear out??).

Interface "Software" and Firmware operation
The interface on printers can be the most infuriating problems I have with most copiers/printers!
The KM650 had what I called the "please wait all day for the light to turn green to press start each and every time you load paper, ink, or clear a paper jam". Nothing like staring at a button for 5 minutes waiting for the machine to warm up...
Xerox: Automatically starts without any kind of user intervention
KM: "Please wait..."
Paper Catalogs
Both have paper catalogs... the Xerox is the most intuitive and easiest to setup/use. The KM will overwrite tray settings (i.e. tray alignment) each and every time you load a paper
Loading Paper
Xerox will let you load paper (assuming it is not printing out of that tray at the same time) at any time... even off. The Xerox has a "bug" affecting your ability to change tray settings like GSM, but we have a feature enhancement request in to Xerox to have this changed. The KM locks the trays if the machine is turned off... also, locks the paper settings while the machine is printing.

Paper Jams
This was done on purpose. The most common occurrence is you have a single 8.5x11 in the middle of your stack of 11x or 12x
The Xerox handled this better than any color machine I have worked with, ever. It sucked the 8.5x11 2" out of the tray, finished all the prints prior to that sheet, then reported a jam on that single sheet of paper. The KM pulled the sheet, printed on it with a 12x18 image, and wadded the sheet up in the duplexer... it was like an explosion of 12x18 paper inside the machine, every print before and sheet after was ruined.
J75 note: We were told by every vendor that a jam in the finisher would still require pulling every sheet out of the machine, they do not eject pages. Not totally true... if you experience a jam in the booklet maker or stacker exit, the machine will eject all the remaining printed sheets to the top-trays of your bookletmaker/high-capacity stacker. I personally love this.

Printing on "mixed" media, 80# Cov and 28# Text
Both machines have typical "slow downs" with printing mixed stock. The Xerox seemed a tiny bit slower, but the KM exhibited jamming about 33% of every paper switch.

Overall image quality
The Xerox was NOTABLY sharper, photos had significantly better detail and better skin tone accuracy.

Inline Booklet maker
here is where the KM totally shined. In total number of sheets, and how it operated... the KM actually pre-folded each sheet as it was printing to make a very sharp fold in the finished booklet. the KM also ejected the booklet out of the "front" of the machine, which was weird LOL The Xerox still made nice booklets though...

Fiery Controller
Xerox has a new Fiery 10, KM still uses 9.
Hands down, if you can get Fiery 10, GET IT
Fiery 10 now has an ability to process PDF transparency correctly. Also has the "Fiery Ticker", a car dashboard, showing the status of your printer/jobs that is easily viewed from 20-30 feet away... Also, the 10 RIP is way faster

Calibration
Xerox uses an inline desitometer, the KM still uses a ES1000/2000. The Xerox J75 still came with an ES2000 for color matching purposes.

Closing
After everything we threw at the machines, hands down the Xerox beat the KM... When we started the contract negotiations with Xerox, they released the J75 and updated the proposal offering.
We have had our Xerox J75s for about 5 weeks and other than a bunch of bugs I have submitted to Xerox, we couldnt' be happier.

Operational review of the J75s will be posted later. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion EdwardB http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31226-recent-experience-vendor-proposals Printing onto transparent - dpi issue? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31211-printing-onto-transparent-dpi-issue Thu, 16 May 2013 15:24:55 GMT Firtsly please excuse a newbie posting a thread straight away, but searching for some help with a current project.

I'm looking to replicate some coloured images printed on transparent paper, which are then used via an LED to project an image. The images themselves are only 13mm and although I seem to be getting a fair amount of clarity there appears to be what I can only pressume to be tiny pin hole gaps in the print, which is allowing light to pass through printed areas eg black/blue giving a speckled effect. I can only assume its a dpi problem (we've tried upto 1200dpi thus far). Samples of images that came with the projector lights do not suffer the same issue. Does this sound a dpi, media or print method (laser/inkjet) issue?

Help appreciated. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion radlin http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31211-printing-onto-transparent-dpi-issue Digital Print Packaging Advice http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31205-digital-print-packaging-advice Wed, 15 May 2013 18:02:02 GMT Hello all, this is new for me and i need your advice. I have been asked to look into finding what would be the best option for us to print small jobs on 18pt stock 12 X 18 size. A system with color management is a must. Any input would be appreciated. Hello all, this is new for me and i need your advice. I have been asked to look into finding what would be the best option for us to print small jobs on 18pt stock 12 X 18 size. A system with color management is a must. Any input would be appreciated. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion Seagull http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31205-digital-print-packaging-advice Digital Press Reference Guide http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31202-digital-press-reference-guide Wed, 15 May 2013 14:37:50 GMT MyPrintResource.com published a guide to digital presses in 2009 and 2010. I am looking for a compilation of all presses like the one in this link: 2010 Digital Press Reference Guide - MyPRINTResource.com (http://www.myprintresource.com/article/10222018/2010-digital-press-reference-guide) Does anyone know of an up to date guide? MyPrintResource.com published a guide to digital presses in 2009 and 2010. I am looking for a compilation of all presses like the one in this link:
2010 Digital Press Reference Guide - MyPRINTResource.com

Does anyone know of an up to date guide? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion dgraves http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31202-digital-press-reference-guide C8000 Stopping mid-printing of a job http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31196-c8000-stopping-mid-printing-job Tue, 14 May 2013 18:40:33 GMT I'm printing a fairly large booklet imposed. So the flat file is 38 double-sided 12x18 sheet. Every 15 or so the machine stops printing like it has a jam or is out of paper, none of which is the case, but it stops for 30 seconds and then starts printing again for another 15 or so sheets.

I've got no idea why it's doing this. Could it be a memory problem on the Fiery rip side or on the C8000 side?

Anyone have any clues? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion InvisSoul http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31196-c8000-stopping-mid-printing-job Ricoh 901s Default paper sizes 13 x 19 option http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31195-ricoh-901s-default-paper-sizes-13-x-19-option Tue, 14 May 2013 17:08:44 GMT I am looking to see if the 13 x 19 paper size is on anyones Ricoh 901 as a selectable paper size without using the custom paper size option. We just had this machine installed and the 13 x 19 size is not available as one of the default sizes even though it will run it. I put the size in as a custom size and tried to print and found that it had a smaller out-feed bracket and would not eject the 13 x 19 even after it printed it. The tech replaced the bracket with a larger size so we are now able to print 13 x 19 but that had me thinking maybe there was some software setting somewhere that has disabled the 13 x 19 option. We also have a Ricoh C751 which has the 13x19 as a selectable option available.

The machine we have was a demo model from one of ricoh's facilities and our service tech and specialists have found many crazy settings (from their testing I guess) in the machine that have caused a few quality issues. We still can get a good solid image on any type of lightly textured paper like vellum bristol for example. It is like it's not putting enough toner on the sheet and any solid of picture looks EXTREMELY muddled and blotchy.

Long story short, should the 901s have any option for selecting 13 x 19 as one of the default paper size options or is it always required to be set as a custom size?

Quentin ]]> Digital Printing Discussion bossman696 http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31195-ricoh-901s-default-paper-sizes-13-x-19-option Looking for new digital press http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31175-looking-new-digital-press Sat, 11 May 2013 12:46:39 GMT We are looking to add another digital press and are have several options to chose from. We need something that will do up to 80 page booklets on 12x18 80# gloss text with 80# cover. Estimated monthly volume is 30-50 thousand clicks. Option #1 New Xerox C75 with Bustled Fiery, Light Production Finisher, and Oversized High Cap. $36,000 Option #2 New Xerox C75 with Bustled Fiery, Stacker tray only, and Oversized High Cap $23,000 All finishing would be done offline. We would need to purchase offline equipment Option #2 Used Xerox 700 with Fiery, Light Production finisher, Oversized High Cap. 650 K on meter. $18,000 Anybody have any experience with any of these machines? We are looking to add another digital press and are have several options to chose from. We need something that will do up to 80 page booklets on 12x18 80# gloss text with 80# cover.
Estimated monthly volume is 30-50 thousand clicks.

Option #1
New Xerox C75 with Bustled Fiery, Light Production Finisher, and Oversized High Cap. $36,000

Option #2
New Xerox C75 with Bustled Fiery, Stacker tray only, and Oversized High Cap $23,000
All finishing would be done offline. We would need to purchase offline equipment

Option #2
Used Xerox 700 with Fiery, Light Production finisher, Oversized High Cap. 650 K on meter. $18,000


Anybody have any experience with any of these machines? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion buckeyewta http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31175-looking-new-digital-press How do I connect a mac directly to fiery? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31159-how-do-i-connect-mac-directly-fiery Wed, 08 May 2013 16:38:33 GMT Our fiery print server for our canon IR 9075 has been having problems since we hit 1,000,000 imprints. mainly, we're down to a communication error. the light at the ethernet from fiery to printer is red. Tech support solution was to remove the fiery as a workstation. now that we do not have a direct printing connection to the printer and data has to go through hundreds of feet of cat5 cable, we no longer have capabilities to print larger files such as catalogs. get offending errors and it just wont handle the files needed. it will print single page black white files up to about 300 prints, then gets the communication error again and i have to clear cods in the printer to get it back working.
I had an idea to connect my Macpro directly to the fiery, and possibly be able to print a larger catalog file.
I tried several different methods without success. one most close to working was to install a new printer through advanced settings using the Canon CUPS PS then authenticating with the IP address. got the happy beep, but could not connect to the fiery workcenter.
I'm not an IT person, but neither is anyone else involved with the service of the machines. Have months of backlog printing and am getting desperate to get this thing working.

Mac pro 10.5, using the fiery GMX300 drivers Canon iR-ADV C9000s US with graphic arts package, or an old PC. printer is IR adv-9075. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion ZeeBees http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31159-how-do-i-connect-mac-directly-fiery Ricoh c900 Warranty http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31156-ricoh-c900-warranty Tue, 07 May 2013 19:42:17 GMT Does anyone have a copy of, or can point me to an online reference for the equipment warranty on a Ricoh Pro c900? Thanks, Mark H Does anyone have a copy of, or can point me to an online reference for the equipment warranty on a Ricoh Pro c900?

Thanks,

Mark H ]]> Digital Printing Discussion Mark H http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31156-ricoh-c900-warranty Morgana Digifold vs Duplo vs ? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31152-morgana-digifold-vs-duplo-vs Tue, 07 May 2013 14:22:55 GMT I am new to the Digital arena and are looking into a machine for creasing/golding. Would like to know what experiences people have had with Morgana digifold/creaser vs the Duplo creasers or others I should consider. Any suggestions and opinions always appreciated. Thanks I am new to the Digital arena and are looking into a machine for creasing/golding.

Would like to know what experiences people have had with Morgana digifold/creaser vs the Duplo creasers or others I should consider. Any suggestions and opinions always appreciated.

Thanks ]]> Digital Printing Discussion gtmo http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31152-morgana-digifold-vs-duplo-vs Selling VUTEK Press VU 320/400 Spare Parts http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31150-selling-vutek-press-vu-320-400-spare-parts Mon, 06 May 2013 22:44:35 GMT Good Day! He have a Vutek Press VU 320/400 here at Venezuela and we are thinking about selling it in spare parts. Anyone interested in some of them ? Good Day!

He have a Vutek Press VU 320/400 here at Venezuela and we are thinking about selling it in spare parts.

Anyone interested in some of them ? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion cdemarchena http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31150-selling-vutek-press-vu-320-400-spare-parts Registration/solids on Xerox 800 and 1000 http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31145-registration-solids-xerox-800-1000-a Mon, 06 May 2013 04:30:55 GMT Hi there. I'm looking at upgrading my old DC 5000 to an Xerox 800 or 1000 machine.

Apart from the obvious is there any real differences between the 800 and 1000?

Am I going to see a noticeable improvement in fit? ( for example double sided 21up bcards), and lack of banding in large solid and tints.
Unless there is at least a 25% improvement in these two areas I'll consider another brand. ( I'd rather stick with Xerox, better the devil you know).

For what it is worth the 5000 is a great machine, better than the newer Xerox 700 I have in most areas.

Please don't put your 2cents worth in if you sell Xerox. (or any other brand for that matter) I need unbiased advice.

Any thoughts much appreciated. Simon ]]> Digital Printing Discussion BigSi http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31145-registration-solids-xerox-800-1000-a Xerox J75 - First Impressions and Review-ette http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31141-xerox-j75-first-impressions-review-ette Fri, 03 May 2013 18:39:35 GMT Hi folks, it's been a long long time since I've posted on here. I'm not one for loitering on the digital print forums any more however we just got this new machine installed at our place and the it's performance has moved me to share!

Our old set up was a 700 and a DC260. We rolled the 260 out back and did the kind thing, then got a new J75 in to replace it.

Wow.

What a machine. Xerox has really pulled it out of the bag here. You're talking a machine with the same footprint as a 700 and I think vaguely similar running costs. This is not iGen territory, this isn't even Colour 1000 territory. We're talking equivalent to a KM C6000/7000 price wise.

The install was brilliantly executed by the engineers from Xerox (we recently switched from Danwood) and the machine was ready to rock by the end of the day. The machine is supplied with a Fiery EX, ES-2000 Spectrophotometer and Fiery Colour Profiler Suite. Ours also includes an inline spectro (integrated into the FIM, which is actually now the, erherm, inline cooling unit).

To set the scene this is a busy print shop so work was still going through the 700 while this was happening. I'm the sole operator and am very experienced with the 700, have made it jump through many hoops-a-flaming and am also well acquainted with the service rep screens. This is how J75 and I got along. I spent a wee while reading through some docs and setting up Quick-Access on CWS, set it to our colour workflow up and chose a screen option that could be the same across both machines (I also made sure I wasn't sacrificing quality - there's a lot of choices for the J75).

From here I ran up a profile for Coated board stock, took a few runs at it (they've changed how CPS [Colour Profiler Suite] works) with good results and minimal effort. The ES-2000 is hugely upgraded. The scanning table has an improved ruler which measures the movement speed of the spectro, giving much more consistent results. The ES-2000 itself also now has an RGB LED on top and this tells you of status, successful and failed readings and so on, brilliant feature as those of you who have tried scanning loadsa patches without looking at the screen might realise...

Anyone who has operated a 700 will know that they can have trouble fusing heavy coverage on coated stock... I expected the same behaviour from the J75. Nevertheless, I thought I would chance my arm and set it to Productivity Mode (aka All-Weights - max speed for all stocks) to see what happened. It perfectly fused heavy coverage on a 350gsm Coated board, at the same quality as our 700 does. Only in this case it only took four seconds to duplex.

Four seconds. That's four seconds per full-colour, double sided SRA3 sheet of 350gsm Coated stock. DAMN. Remember the price point of this machine.

If you've run a 700 you will be familiar with the output, the J75 and it are so similar that I was able to run a job proofed weeks ago on our 700 on this machine instead. Since then I've run various jobs and various stocks and it's been quite the performer on all of them, amazing speed and quality on everything, lovely flat uncurled output and no jams.

The philosophy behind this machine is production, there are a lot of points that reflect that and features I've wanted for are included in droves. From the small things like the fuser having tickboxes for the different sizes of paper (use your SRA3 fuser for that, A3 fuser for the other, A4 and so on) that will help you prevent marks to the large hope of SIQA. It seems you can scan your page with crop marks and it automagically generates alignment profiles. You can also correct inboard/outboard density automatically. This promises a lot, I don't have it installed yet as we are waiting on the engineer from England but we'll see...

To be fair the machine is not perfect, I feel that they f*cked the pooch with the UI. For some reason it was redesigned so that you're usually only using a tiny strip in the middle of the screen... much more scrolling. It's by no means intolerable, but it is certainly a shame. Composite overprint also produces some very unusual results. It's early days yet, I've only had the machine running a couple of days and it's still in the honeymoon period, so we'll see.

What I can say is that this machine is strong out of the gate and very impressive. I am inspired enough by its performance to come on here and post for the first time in a long time.

In my print shop we joke about the "big photocopiers" even though they say Digital Press on the front. This machine really is almost worthy of being called a printing press, it spits out the work at a great quality (ready to be immediately worked with, litho guys) and quite the speed. Now if they can only finagle it so that I can adjust registration on the fly... ]]> Digital Printing Discussion che.c http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31141-xerox-j75-first-impressions-review-ette Gray Balance http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31138-gray-balance Fri, 03 May 2013 16:40:53 GMT We are using a KM C5501 Biz Hub Pro running the Fiery Command Workstation 5 software. I can not get a good gray balance even after reading the color strips. I have tried to move any gray printing to a spot color and creating a special spot color mix to color match and I still get streaked printing in the solids and the streaks tend to be red. The drums have been replaced recently. Any ideas or is this just the nature of the beast? We are using a KM C5501 Biz Hub Pro running the Fiery Command Workstation 5 software.

I can not get a good gray balance even after reading the color strips. I have tried to move any gray printing to a spot color and creating a special spot color mix to color match and I still get streaked printing in the solids and the streaks tend to be red. The drums have been replaced recently.

Any ideas or is this just the nature of the beast? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion pmkprog http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31138-gray-balance Another Recommendation Question http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31123-another-recommendation-question Wed, 01 May 2013 19:03:59 GMT I have read many post about the recommendation on equipment. We are working towards a final decision within a couple weeks. We currently have a Xerox 700 press that we are averaging about 65K clicks per month - approx 15K are 12x18 full color gloss 240 GSM. We have stuggled with supplies and service likely 14 months :mad:of the 48.

KM is recommending Bizhub C7000. We have looked at a C8000 in KM offices. The colors were not great, the machine did operate very well. We liked the Fiery Server and we were very happy with the print drivers for around the office.

Xerox started by recommending the 700i or the 770. Just earlier this we they have recommended the J75. We are waiting for pricing and demo of the equipment. We bought the 700 thinking they were a great company to work with and would be there for us if we needed them; over the 4 years the only thing that drives them is money and they have had very little respect for us the users (obviously my side). The pricing of the 770 was about 25% more then the C7000, maybe the J75 will be better priced but we are not expecting that.

At looking at a few things on the J75, I like the fact that the machine is hooked up to their portal for supplies and problems with the machine. When the color was good with the 700 it was right on but that has been a rare event. We have been told that we need a different fuser for the different sizes of paper, something that "doesn't impress us much" and I see on the J75 that is life. The one video I saw said that it was a money saver - obviously for Xerox.

One thing that concerns me is that the 770 was only on the market for a year. Any idea what happened? I suspect the End of Life is likely planned for 3 - 5 years not 1. What happened to the 700i? Although we were not happy with the 700 and now it is hard to get it to print anything except bond paper.

I read that if we consider KM we need to have some additional software and likely a day a year with their color expert. The reading in PP is that otherwise it seems to be pretty dependable - is that true? Any other concerns?

What has been your experiences with the J or C75 or the 770? Have you had any troubles with service? Supplies? I would really like Xerox to committ to the information transfer as one user said it - most of the troubles are with the untrained users. We agree but they seem to not have a way to move their amazing knowledge from their company to the users. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion PrairieDog http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31123-another-recommendation-question Konica Minolta Bizhub C552 Banding in Greyscale http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31095-konica-minolta-bizhub-c552-banding-greyscale Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:57:59 GMT Hi

We've just aquired a KM C552. I know it's classed as an office machine with no rip, but it's main use for us will be as a backup machine and for walk in copying so our Xerox's can be left to run. Problem we are having is banding on greyscale, about every 4mm. Engineer has no idea on how to fix it. Any suggestions? ]]> Digital Printing Discussion easiprint http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31095-konica-minolta-bizhub-c552-banding-greyscale EROOR CODE 042-326 in DOCU COLOR 5065 - HELP PLEASE !!! http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31087-eroor-code-042-326-docu-color-5065-help-please Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:51:26 GMT Hi friends, I am a new in this thread, need some help from you. I am facing problem with docucolor 5065, every now and then it comes with EROOR CODE 042-326 and it said turn off and on machine, after i do that it works for a while and error come up again. I am new with this machine and i dont know anything about it, much appreciate if some one help me step by step to remove this error. Many thanks raj Hi friends,

I am a new in this thread, need some help from you.

I am facing problem with docucolor 5065, every now and then it comes with EROOR CODE 042-326 and it said turn off and on machine, after i do that it works for a while and error come up again.

I am new with this machine and i dont know anything about it, much appreciate if some one help me step by step to remove this error.

Many thanks

raj ]]> Digital Printing Discussion RAJ http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31087-eroor-code-042-326-docu-color-5065-help-please transparency issues with placed PSD files -workarounds? http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31085-transparency-issues-placed-psd-files-workarounds Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:01:52 GMT I'm trying to print an InDesign file that has placed PSD files that have transparency on a gradation of 10% black. When the files RIP, I'm getting a box around the transparent images, rather than an overprinted transparent file. The PDF looks fine after creation, but after RIP you can see the outline of the image box.

I've tried a number of workarounds (setting transparency to multiply/darken, creating a silo on top of the shadowed file, flattening the pdf during export and after creation in Acrobat) but i still get the box or a circle area between the shadow.

The only solution so far is to open the PDF in Photoshop and flatten it, then save as a Tif file. It works, but i was wondering if there are any other workarounds out there.

Using a Fiery RIP 5.0.1.12 with a Konica 6501, printing from Mac 10.6.8 or PC Windows 7 Vista, makes no difference where I print from. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion Touchsigna http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31085-transparency-issues-placed-psd-files-workarounds Registration Tolerance Front to Back http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31081-registration-tolerance-front-back Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:33:21 GMT I would like to know when any of you are purchasing a Digital Printer, either color or Black & White, what tolerances would you allow for front to back registration.

We're looking into purchasing a machine but during the demostration phase before exceptance I'm curious what tolerance would be approved by you or your company.

Any input is appreciated. ]]> Digital Printing Discussion mbibica http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31081-registration-tolerance-front-back self adhesive vinyl on Konica C8000 http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31061-self-adhesive-vinyl-konica-c8000 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:22:21 GMT Hey groupe,

I just moved from a Xerox 700 to a Konica C8000 and can't seem to find a self adhesive vinyl that will work on this machine.
Can any one suggest a specific product that worked on their equipment ?

kindest regards.

Matt ]]> Digital Printing Discussion M@CK http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/31061-self-adhesive-vinyl-konica-c8000