another printing tabs question...

[wonderings]

I recently had some trouble printing tabs on our J75, the machine was leaving lines. Turns out it just needed to be calibrated and adjusted, which service did that very day and now all is good.

I want to do more with the tabs now and I am not sure if there is a way to do it. These manuals that we are printing are over 200 pages, I have the tabs insert where they are supposed to go so there is no hand collating afterwards. All that is left is 3 hole punch, we have a press for that. I would like to get rid of that need as well and do the 3 hole punch right in the xerox for the tabs as well as the paper (8.5 x 11). Obviously the paper is no problem. Where the problem is, is the tabs. When printing they come out with the tab towards the machine, so on the side that would be where the 3 hole punch would be. These tabs were being fed from the bypass tray. I switch to a regular tray and turned the tabs around as you can see in this picture:



It now 3 hole punches fine, except the info for the tabs is way out of place as you can see in this picture:


Now I think the obvious problem is how it is pulling up the tabs, its not a flat, straight consistent edge. It is supposed to be pulling from the non tab side of the sheet. If I flip the tab paper around so the tabs are opposite where they are in the above pictures, it punches holes where the tabs are.

So now the question is, can I accomplish what I want to do? 3 hole punch the tabs as well as the manual pages, and have the tab info in the correct spot? And if so, how?

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I personally think that this level of coordination with the Fiery is not possible yet. It does some funky things because it doesn't "know" what you are looking to print in the end. I would there should be "tab" tab in the Fiery that gives you better control and offers preset way to print tabbed jobs.

Maybe we should start a thread in the Fiery forums and all chime in, as I'd be surprised if anyone has found a work around to a job as complex as what wonderings posted.

 

[arossetti]

I know I told you not to use the bypass but try the bypass now. Bypass and/or a Tray 6/7 pulls paper into the machine without flipping it. You may have better results.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I don't think you can pull the tabs into the machine with the tab on the leading edge. If this can actually be done, I'd love to know.

 

[wonderings]

you can, and I did, but the results are not good. If you look at the second picture in my original post, that is being pulled in from the tab edge. You can see the number "1", that is supposed to be printed on the tab, but it is well below the tab, obviously registration is an issue when pulling from the tab side.

 

[wmwilker]

Can you rotate the file 180 degrees?

 

[ashabanapal]

This would be easily solved with pre-punched paper and tabs. They are nominally more than unpunched and well worth the time-save in runtime and finishing, IMO.

 

[narseman]

If printing on tabs, and punching paper on the fly, I see two options.. Print tabs single side only, or pre-drill the tabs and don't punch them on the fly. ( I assume you can choose to punch paper but not tabs(?))
You need to have sharp drills, and fan the stock, or purchase pre-punched tabs.