Print Speed / Quality

[arossetti]

What settings are people using and what print speed are you getting?

I have a Roland XC-540 and we are currently printing at a whopping 1.75 linear ft/min. I feel like that is extremely slow so I'm looking for a good balance of print speed and quality.

We print 720x720 Bi-Directional.

[Correct Color]

The variables you can possibly control that would affect print speed inside a given resolution other than uni/bi-directional are head speed, number of passes, and whether the headbox stops at the end of the image or the end of the rail.

Where to find them and whether or not you can alter them vary from machine to machine and from RIP to RIP. But it sounds to me from that speed like you're probably running that machine at 4 pass, and honestly, a foot and three-quarters a minute on a machine that size isn't all that slow.

If you're printing an image 3 feet wide and that speed you're running at 315 square feet an hour, and that's moving right along.


Mike Adams
Correct Color

[arossetti]

Mike - I'm sorry I said 1.75 ft/min I meant to say 1.75 INCHES / min - Or roughly .60 sqft/min on a 50" roll.

[Correct Color]

That sounds like maybe 32 pass, which I didn't think was an option for that machine at that resolution.

What RIP are you using?

[arossetti]

Versa Works 4.1

[Correct Color]

And is that on all media or just one?

[arossetti]

We are using the pre-programmed media settings from Stihl and Oracal and its about the same for all profiles.

[Correct Color]

Well, one of the problems with stock profiles--among many--is that you can only use the resolutions built into the profile--which may or may not be right for your application.

Also Versa tends to be a little limited in letting you adjust such things as number of passes compared to some other RIPs.

What you need is some custom profiles for that machine in your environment tailored to exactly what it is you're hoping to achieve.