Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Ideally my aim would be to run a batch file once a week, (via scheduler) to print a test image.
Why?... My printer gets hammered some weeks and not used at all for several thereafter. The weeks it doesn't get used sometimes I get clogged up heads and have to go though loads of clean cycles etc to get it sorted.

So the idea was to automatically print a test print once a week or so to alleviate this problem.

Is it possible to execute qimage via the command line and get it to print a specified image.
It needs to work without any. user input.


Thanks :)

Better than that, Qimage Ultimate has a built in UNCLOGGER routine which can be scheduled for automatic unclog print patterns, or done manually.

See screen snaps, and click the red V in your Qimage screen for the how to: video

Fred

Thanks for the quick reply.
But isn't this the QI "studio" section, what you are suggesting is not an option in studio.

I know you want every one to upgrade to ultimate, cant fault you for that.
I am quite happy with what studio does, I just would like to know if it can be run via command line.

Unfortunately, Studio Version was retired 6 years ago.In dog years and in Computer programming technology years, that's 42 years.

Yes, it would be nice if you would get Ultimate, but for your benefit. Not only does it have six more years of advancement in quality and features such as DFS and Vanish and ODR, but it has just what you are looking for; The UNCLOGGER.
 
Based on your statement above, loads of cleaning cycles to unclog the printer. Just the cost of the ink you wasted  would buy your Qimage Ultimate  Effectively, getting it for you for free.

Hope I gave you some help.

Fred

It makes no real difference to me whether the program is 6 years old or 26 years old its does exactly what I need it to do.
The unclogger you refer to is not really the issue here as what I want to do is prevent the clogging in the first place by simply running a test print once a week.

I can do this with a MS word, but thought it would be better to use qimage and print off a colour managed image instead.

Can you answer the original question ? Without singing the praises and trying to sell me ultimate. :)

Can I use the command line to start qimage, load a job for instance, then print it ?

Thanks

How about a HOT FOLDER where you just drop an image in to the folder and it opens Qimage and sets it in the queue; ready to click Print?
oops! That's also in Qimage Ultimate
Sorry
Fred

Still no good, as that requires user input. But very funny none the less. :D

Ive been messing about with a batch file so far Ive managed to run qimage then loads a job ready for printing.
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Qimage\qimage.exe"  "D:\Fred\QImage\Save\test.job"

Is there a switch to go after qimage.exe to get it just to print without asking

Just to clarify - the so-called unclogger in QU is not really an unclogger - it is a clog preventer; it is there to do exactly what you want - prevent clogging by running a color pattern through the printer at regular intervals. It actually is exactly what you are looking for.  Also, if you do buy QU, you are not required to pay for updates that you don't want, AND, you can still use Studio Edition.  You could - in theory - use QU only as a clog preventive.

But I understand what you are asking - don't know off hand of any way to do that.

Mel W.  Columbia< Md.

Mel and Fred are correct.  There's no way to do that in Qimage, but you can do it in Qimage Ultimate.  Qimage focused on batch printing and processing but Qimage Ultimate goes beyond that and offers printer maintenance, hot folder monitoring, image databasing, and other things that go beyond the focus of the original Qimage product.

It is also correct that the unclogger works best as a clog preventer but it can unclog nozzles when you have minor clogs in just a few nozzles.  In addition, even when you have a more major clog, I've seen the unclog pattern reduce the number of cleaning cycles to one where two would normally be needed.  For example, you run one cleaning cycle and that single cycle cleared all but about a half dozen nozzles.  I find that many times just running one unclog sheet through it at that point will clear those final few clogs, using far less ink than a second cleaning cycle.  Of course, a lot depends on the printer and model as to those scenarios.

Regards,
Mike

I'm not really interested in buying ultimate just to run a print automatically once a week. Maybe purchase it in the future if my needs change.

As above I can open qimage and load a job from command line
So... what you are saying that there is no way to print the job direct from the command line ?

That is correct. Sorry we couoldn't have been more help.
Fred

I see there is the 'Qimage Ultimate Summer Sale Event' at $39.99 (26.80 British Pound)
Must be the best image prog available at this price.  Could you not risk it and upgrade?

Jeff

Thanks for the heads up, Worth a thought at that price.
I can still only see it at $69.99 though... http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/purchase.htm

The sale price was sent out to people who own the old Qimage since the price is only for prior customers.  If you didn't get the message (changed your email address since then) and you need the link, you can just email me at mchaney@ddisoftware.com.  I can't post the link here because it's not a public sale to everyone.

Regards,
Mike

Just a quick question about ultimate.

How many machines is it OK to have it installed on ?
Reason I ask...If I was to use the unclogger part of the program, in order to print at regular intervals it would need to be installed on a machine that is always on.
My server is always on, but my main machine where I would mainly use QI isn't always on.
Does the license of a single purchase allow it to be installed and running on two machines ?

You may install it on multiple machines as long as only one copy/person is using it at one time.
So running the UNCLOGGER on one, and using QU on another is a great idea.
Fred

If this is definitely the case, then its probably going to be worth the upgrade.
May as well do it sooner rather than later, before the pound plummets any further.

Ive just found this
Which is pretty much the same as you said.

I take it that unclogger is part of Ultimate. So if unclogger is running 24/7 on the server then as soon as I start up ultimate on my machine to do some thing then technically I am running 2 copies of ultimate simultaneously which is against the licensing agreement.
Or is unclogger a separate program.

Mike can you clarify this please.

The "spirit" of a single user license is to ensure that only one person is using the software at a given time.  So to expand on the wording in the EULA, you would only be using one copy in that situation.  The one running the unclogger is, for lack of a better phrase, "using itself".  ;)  So you're fine.

Mike

Thats great. Sound like Just the job.

Did you receive my email asking for the link for the offer. ?
I dont know why I stopped receiving the offers its the same address as i purchase qimage pro / studio and also profile prism.
Although safe-mail was down for a few months a while ago, but it is all up and running again and seems ok.

I can resend via my other live account. but what details do you need including ?

I checked and the original sale email was sent to your email.  Unfortunately a lot of spam detectors "eat" messages that have words like "sale" and "40% off", etc.  So I suspect it went to spam or got auto-deleted.  I replied to your message and included the email.  Hopefully you'll get it if it's a reply to your message.

Mike