This is a long post, but I know how frustrated I was at the beginning and it took a while to figure all this out. I have to say that when using my Z3100, ALL these issues go away. Not enough reason alone to buy one, but HP did do their homework and make things much better as their line evolved...
All that follows assumes you own a vanilla DJ 130, not the 130nr. --- In [email protected], "johnval27" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Q1. If I feed a 24" roll of paper through and print a 24x36 print, how do I > advance the > paper say 1cm at a time so I can get scissors in to cut it off when its > finished? Is there a > button press combination I have missed? First, if you are using roll feed (which I strongly recommend for reduced paper cost), buy the roll cutter assembly from HP and install it. About $50, easy installation. Second, when you are using roll paper from the rear, you must tell the printer you are using a roll. Sounds dumb, but it took me a while to see where you do that. I use a Mac with OS X, so my description will be as such. I'm sure there is an equivalent in Windows. After you leave Photoshop during the printing process, the Mac OS print dialog appears prior to sending data to the printer. At the top there are 3 pull down menus; top is printer (choose the correct printer by name), under that is presets (you can use this to name and save all the settings that you make in the various print dialog box menus to avoid manually doing what I am describing every time), then unlabled beneath is a third pull down menu that comes up with a default choice of "Copies / Pages". That is why you see the options below where you can say "5 copies" of "pages 2-4". BUT, when you pull down this menu, you see about 8 choices; choose paper type / quality. The dialog box expands considerably to show many more options. You should choose all the correct items in each pull down menu available. First is paper type; choose the exact paper stock profile you're using. Second is Quality; make an informed choice. Third is color; this SHOULD ALWAYS BE SET TO "Application managed color" to allow Photoshop instructions to be honored instead of the OS X print driver thinking it is supposed to send color instructions to the printer ( a common source of bad color out is set wrong because then color management is done twice, PS vs computer print driver conflict). NOW, notice the last pull down; SOURCE. There are several choices; automatic front feed, roll, etc. CHOOSE ROLL here. Once you do this, if you have the paper cutter installed, it will automatically advance paper and cut it after the print is finished being made. You can also check the "Disable roll cutter" here if you are using canvas which may not cut with the cutter mechanism. The you would advance the paper manually to use your cutter of choice, scissors, exacto, etc. > Q2. Having hacked the 1st print off the front of the roll, can I leave the > rest in situ and > continue printing a 2nd, 3rd etc, without reloading the roll? Absolutely. However, be aware that when a roll is loaded and you don't print for say, overnight or longer, there are rollers holding the paper that leave undersirable dents in the leading edge of the paper, about 3-4 inches from the edge. You will only see them in the first print, because from then on the new paper hasn't been pinched long enough to dent. Wait overnight, and you'll see them on the next first print. > Q3. Will a paper cutter solve this "Leave in situ" problem? The paper cutter per se has nothing to do with being able to leave a roll mounted in the printer. But, having the paper cutter installed does allow a simple solution to the dents described above. When you first turn the printer on, let it go thru all the start up til its ready. Then press the OVAL button on the right of the control panel. It has a paper page symbol with an arrow pointing up (a paradox choice since it actually advances the paper out of the printer; I think a down arrow orientation here would be more intuitive re paper direction). HP calls this the OK button (page 38 in your manual). It does several things depending on context, BUT at the initialization stage of the printer in the beginning, it will advance the paper and then the cutter mechanism will trim away a perfect narrow strip of paper 3/8" wide, a seemingly odd result. BUT, if you repeat this and press the OK button 6-8 times, trimming that strip each time, you will cut away the first several inches of paper containing the dent. An alternative would be to remember to change the size of your document adding 4 dead space inches at the leading edge, but that's too complicated for me. I'd rather just click the OK button and advance / cut manually to solve this. > Q4. Could I leave them all joined end to end and cut them later when I have > done, say 4 or 5 24x36" prints? You could create a huge canvas in Photoshop and then add multiple images, the same or duplicates, to achieve this result, but if you load a roll, choose roll as the source, and have the cutter installed, and choose 5 copies in the dialog box, it will print and cut individual prints, spitting them out continuously. > Q5. If i DO have to extract the paper and re load the whole roll every time I > do a print, how do I release the paper from the feed rollers (ie reverse the feed) to extract the paper out the back end? You only have to remove the roll to change paper type. When you do want to eject, press the cancel (round red with "X") and OK (oval gray paper with up arrow) at the same time. See page 10 in the printer manual. As long as we're discussing rolls and I'm writing a novel... I had lots of trouble loading rolls at first. Two things made a BIG difference. 1. You must achieve perfect alignment when feeding paper from the rear. If your homemade roll stand is just sitting separate, it can be difficult to have the length of the roll truly parallel to the printer, so feed is straight and follows the small paper path guide line on the left side of the printer feed slot. My solution, besides always rolling the paper tight on the roll to remove slack, was to make my roll holder with roughly triangular side supports, so everything was square and I could push the front edge of the support structure right against the back base of the printer, exactly parallel. Then by sliding the roll itself as far to the left as it can on the holder, and sliding the entire holder/paper assembly right or left, you can precisely align the left paper edge squarely to the guideline for entry. 2. Equally important is "how" you feed in the paper. DO NOT ease it in slowly waiting for the rolls to sense and grab it. Doing so will almost always result in skewed paper alignment which will be rejected as the printer checks alignment (by taking in paper and detecting paper alignment. You know its wrong when the prints spits it back out. DO push the paper in firmly and rapidly, as far as it will go, pushing equally with both hands holding left and right paper edges. When you quickly force the paper all the way in the feed mechanism it will be taken up correctly aligned. My apologies for the length of this post... Mark Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPDesignJet_Printers Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPDesignJet_Printers/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPDesignJet_Printers/join (Yahoo! 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