Using the printer setup feature

[Franklin]

David Rooker Sep 01, 2010; 06:22pm Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More

I called today about a strange looking result I was achieving on a project I was playing around with. Part of the design called for three raster box outlines side-by-side. The laser was inscribing double lines on all the interior vertical lines of the boxes. When I asked about this I was given instructions to run a printer test routine and to use the results to adjust the driver. After doing this all my lines are now singular.

Hooray and thanks for the fix - but at the risk of sounding grumpy (which isn't all that uncommon according to my staff) I have to wonder why this isn't something that is checked as a matter of course. After making this change the machine now prints a much crisper result on bookmarks and key chains. The difference is rather surprising. I've never been happy about the output on metal, but didn't know it could be better! Should there be an FAQ on this topic?

Would it be a good idea for others to run this test print if their output is a bit fuzzy?

I'm tickled pink to see this improvement, and know that it will make our product much more acceptable in the future. Just thought I should mention it in case it applies to others as well.

ERIC Sep 02, 2010; 12:48pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
My results on key chains also is very fuzzy and distorted. Would this fix help me also?

Alexander Troyer Sep 03, 2010; 09:32am Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
It's quite possible this could improve things for you Eric, at at the very least, it couldn't hurt to try.

To answer your question David, the reason we didn't include this as standard practice previously is because we actually just found out about it ourselves one or two weeks ago from gravograph! This does seem to be a very useful tool for some people, so we'll be incorporating this into our "toolkit" from here on out. It will help get rid of certain types of double imaging and blurring, which is more noticeable on metals. Thanks for bringing this to everyones attention!

-Alex

David Rooker Sep 03, 2010; 02:31pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
Well, we are all learning little by little. I was really surprised at the difference in clarity after making this adjustment. I created a multi-jig to print 12 key chains at a time and just ran a small job for a customer last week. The results were not as good as I wanted, a lot of blurry letters and shadows on line drawings, but the customer took them anyway. After making this change I ran four across to see if there was a difference and it was significantly improved!

I'm anxious to see if there are any improvements on the bigger wood items.

Brother John's Feb 02, 2011; 01:37pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
I want to do this because our metal engravings aren't as clear as I'd like them to be. Is this the same as the tickle test?

Franklin Feb 02, 2011; 02:47pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
No, this is not referring to the "tickle file" but it's similar.
Right beside the "Send Tickle File" button is another button labeled "Send Test File"
This will laser a different test pattern, and you will need to enter the best number on the computer and pick "Apply" to save it.

Franklin

Brother John's Feb 02, 2011; 02:57pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
Which qualifies as "best"?

Franklin Feb 02, 2011; 03:06pm Re: Using the printer setup feature. Reply | Threaded | More
The one with the least "double lines"

[Brother John's]

I ran this test before on our old computer, but I can't figure it out on our new one. How do I do this in Windows 7?

[TimG]

Open the " Devices and Printers" window - it should be in the Start menu. Find the "L-Solution" printer and right click it. Select Printing Properties. This should bring up a window with several tabs. Click the last tab. Click the picture of the laser machine. Here you'll see options to send the test or tickle files, and a few other things.

Tim

[ellysgifts]

What type of material should be used for the test file? We have tried an old piece of plywood, but there is no noticeable difference between any of the lines.

Thanks

[TimG]

Any material that is fairly sensitive to the laser. You should be able to use the same thing you do to run the tickle file - heavy paper with a dark surface. The material will need to be at least 8.5 inches wide and 2.5 long.