help troubleshooting digital shrinkage

[Visualaid]

hello
i am using indesigncs6. everything we send to the copiers is shrinking 1/16 of an inch.
i tested my same template by shooting an offset plate and measured and its perfect.
i tested my same template coming off the DI press and it also measures perfectly.

i send that same template to 3 different Konica copiers and they all shrink the template by 1/16 of an inch.

i am confused and not sure what to do. I've tried sending the same template with different distiller settings and that is not the issue.
could cs6 and konica drivers not be playing nice together or something like that?

i have to figure this out and fix it or else.
please offer suggestions/help.

 

[Greg_Firestone]

Can you provide screenshots of your output settings as well as the defined page size in the printer driver?

Greg

 

[arossetti]

Are you sure it is not the paper shrinking? This is a common issue with printing with heat, especially on coated stock. Measure the paper before and after you run it.

 

[Visualaid]

Are you sure it is not the paper shrinking? This is a common issue with printing with heat, especially on coated stock. Measure the paper before and after you run it.

ok, found out the problem. the paper is simply shrinking when its run thru the copier.

thanks for your input

 

[PrepressDan]

I usually blame shrinkage on cold water

 

[heidythompson]

I have experience something like this before and it took me a week before I found out that the reason behind is the paper shrinking.

 

[Visualaid]

i'm still having problems. when i shoot plates, it all measures perfectly; when i send to fiery/creo rips for copiers it reduces 1/16".
I forgot i had posted this already and I've made a new post and uploaded my template. Is there anything weird with fiery and pdf compatibility settings anyone noticed?

 

[Visualaid]

Can you provide screenshots of your output settings as well as the defined page size in the printer driver?

Greg

sorry i was trying to upload the screen shots and this site is being a little beach about it...

 

[arossetti]

If sending as a PDF the page scaling in the print drivers is set for "None" correct? Sometimes it will reduce the image even if the artwork is set for the exact size of the paper.

 

[Visualaid]

If sending as a PDF the page scaling in the print drivers is set for "None" correct? Sometimes it will reduce the image even if the artwork is set for the exact size of the paper.

im exporting as pdf so i dont think the scaling option shows when you export; but yeah, everything is scaled 100%

 

[arossetti]

If it is happening on both a CREO and a Fiery rip I would think it is happening upstream. Try using a hotfolder to submit the job. Or put it on a USB and upload it at the server. Something is not correct between your PC and server IMO.

 

[pdan]

I see you've opened a second thread -
Different stock weights track at slightly different speed through the copier. The print engine - throughput speed - is calibrated for text weight stock. Possibly you're running a 210gsm which is tracking just a bit slower through the machine. (Wildly inaccurrate explanation here, but true to theory - The machine expects 18 inches of paper to pass through the fuser in 1.78 seconds. The cover stock is taking 1.79 seconds to travel, hence, your running lenght is innaccurate.)
You may or may not see this on all stocks. The correction is either by each tray - alignment, or globally for the whole machine, change the verticle zoom.

 

[Visualaid]

I see you've opened a second thread -
Different stock weights track at slightly different speed through the copier. The print engine - throughput speed - is calibrated for text weight stock. Possibly you're running a 210gsm which is tracking just a bit slower through the machine. (Wildly inaccurrate explanation here, but true to theory - The machine expects 18 inches of paper to pass through the fuser in 1.78 seconds. The cover stock is taking 1.79 seconds to travel, hence, your running lenght is innaccurate.)
You may or may not see this on all stocks. The correction is either by each tray - alignment, or globally for the whole machine, change the verticle zoom.

yeah sorry about the 2nd thread (i never claimed to be a forum god, oh, and social media makes me want to throw up-just wanted to throw that in there)-if you read in the threads i had already pointed out that im stupid and forgot i had already made a post about this.

anyway,
ok, these are great suggestions, and thank you very much for them. now that you say that, i remember our copier operator showing me his funky copier settings, which didn't make sense to me at the time but once again im the new guy and didnt say anything. (he is running a funky gsm that doesn't match the paper among some other weird settings, -and our cutter is off by an 1/8"- and i've measured different paper stocks we have and none of them are exactly 18 inches. We've even got a G7 expert on this and he is saying shrinking, but what you say makes more sense. Just curious, how do you know about the 1.79 seconds?; i think that is awesome you know that stuff.
When i get back into work monday i will tell them about this strange thing you call "vertical zoom".

Thank you again very much you guys.
happy new year

 

[Visualaid]

If it is happening on both a CREO and a Fiery rip I would think it is happening upstream. Try using a hotfolder to submit the job. Or put it on a USB and upload it at the server. Something is not correct between your PC and server IMO.

i was thinking about the hot folder option as well; good idea, thank you

 

[pdan]

I prefaced my expanation with "Wildly innacurrate" - 1.78 and 1.79 seconds are guesses/theory only.
The print engine creates the image and expects the paper to pass through the fuser and drums at a specific speed. If the paper travels slower than the anticipated speed, the image length will be off. Verticle zoom is a function available to the operator to correct for variences of paper travel.