DocuColor 250 print quality

[twitch5253]

Issues with printing screened type and illustration on my 250. Xerox tech doesn't know, i sent him off with a sample and told him to find someone who does...... but i thought i would post this example and see if any one out there has seen this. seems mechanical to me as it changes with the direction i send the image through..... instead of a flat tint the type is 'hollow' and the map image is not even. We tried the image quality settings - is there a decent reference source which tells you what each setting does?

 

[overscan]

Looks to me like the crappy edge enhancement / trapping that we suffered with our DC250 internal rip. If you check the print preferences, under 'image' you should see 'Text/Graphics Edge Enhancement'. Set that to 'Off' and you should be okay.

 

[che.c]

I get the same problem on the 240. You can mitigate it a bit by changing the screen to 200 line (especially for text), I found very little difference with edge enhancement on/off - but then again the bustled RIP does not play nicely with CWS 5 on the Mac and I have a feeling it wasn't actually changing the edge enhancement settings at all.

Got a 260 running alongside though, so is not usually an issue, can just put the job on that instead.

 

[twitch5253]

I have tried all of the image quality settings, and that does not explain the 'directional' look of the weak image.......

 

[X33]

I think you need to play with the SCREENING option in the RIP.

Look in www.xerox.com/support and you'll find the Fiery user guides that explain what each setting does

 

[twitch5253]

we went through all of the options, still not acceptable. The tech and his support guy were there for 5 hours today. we were looking at the map image (posted in opening message ) and i pointed out that the map is light around the edges at the inboard side of the sheet. as you move toward the center of the sheet, it changes so the edge of the image is darker than the middle. Hmm, he says. Plus the image defect is showing up in the internal test files..... so it is Not the RIP.

 

[abdouz]

let me ask is your problem with this dots in your background in all printing and all kind of paper if that u have to change all Dev. Tanks and All Dev. for all color and i think it will be good

 

[twitch5253]

another three hours of working on the thing yesterday. replacing the ROSS and IBT belt and i don't know what else, no change - then a call to an engineer who thinks it is the circuit board that sends the image to the laser. we will see today.

 

[che.c]

Hi Twitch, keep us updated, I'll be interested to see how that develops, the 240 I run has done the same thing for as long as I can remember - never found a workaround.

Had to move a job to the 260 today because of the problem.

Next time the techs are in I'll ask them what their opinion is on it, but I suspect is just bad firmware doing a very heavy-handed edge enhancement. Perhaps there are options in the service mode..

What CWS are you running?

 

[twitch5253]

the new circuit board did not fix the problem..... now i have two more issues. the machine does not recognize tray 6 and we could not launch the Calibration function..
IF they get it running tomorrow, I will probably have to work all weekend to catch up!

CW 4 on a Fiery RIP -



Update - day 10........ still no progress at fixing the initial problem.... have taken 2 steps backward )no tray 6 and no calibration available. Have taken up praying to the Gods of Printing.

Day 14..... tried reloading software, but there is a hardware problem within the Fiery tower... order more parts.......
how long does one wait while they try one thing - order part - try something else. WHY can't they drop in a new
tower and IF that works, we don't have to isolate a problem within the RIP. Right now the Xerox won't print black.
still can't calibrate. no tray 6. color looks like Sh*t. moving runs of 250 to our 4c Komori to keep customers happy.
HMM Xerox - keeping a customer HAPPY ? WTF kind of concept is that? Does anyone from Xerox read these posts?

 

[twitch5253]

Day 14..... tried reloading software, but there is a hardware problem within the Fiery tower... order more parts.......
how long does one wait while they try one thing - order part - try something else. WHY can't they drop in a new
tower and IF that works, we don't have to isolate a problem within the RIP. Right now the Xerox won't print black.
still can't calibrate. no tray 6. color looks like Sh*t. moving runs of 250 to our 4c Komori to keep customers happy.
HMM Xerox - keeping a customer HAPPY ? WTF kind of concept is that? Does anyone from Xerox read these posts?

 

[ShortRunMagazines]

If your with Xerox Direct, I think it's time to mention the Total Satisfaction Guarantee.

If you do a flood fill black sqaure does it print correctly? If it does, I'd guess it is digital and not mechanical. Ask if the demo room has a rip that will work with you unit. If it does, see if the tech can bring it out to try the same print.

I'm currently on week 4 of my Black printing 100% on the back side of the machine and 85% on the operator side. They've pretty much given up on me, so I know what you are going through. Hang in there!

 

[twitch5253]

reloaded software. now i can calibrate and feed out of tray 6. can't impose anything. not sure how we are printing from side to side yet. (in the past, they have adjusted the voltage to get even print from side to side. ShortRun, have you had them do that?) I like they way they fold over a sheet to see if it prints equal - showed one tech how to use the Eye One to actually measure print) i just hope i can get some production done tomorrow.

 

[che.c]

Ah sounds like they're trying to get the printer working properly, which is a good thing. I've seen the techs fold the page over before and I think is fair enough on these type of printers, they just don't have the consistency to make it worth adjusting them to the n-th degree.

At the minute then, everything is working more or less as it was, but you still have your original problem? I guess that's the hardware on the tower ruled out. Give me a shout if you want me to print and scan any test sheets for comparison, I'm running a 240 and 260, both with bustled rips. The 240 displays the same problem as yours, the 260 does not.