Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

QU v2014.135 produces some random rectangular darker areas on prints.

Only on Z3200, I test on two different printers and don’t do on Z3100.

Printing using, Lightroom, Photoshop or Qimage v2014.129 everything is perfect.

All Z3200 use last firmware and driver, I reinstall software and don’t solve problem.

My Qimage presets are:
No Filters.
No interpolation.
Sharpen default.
Color Management by Qimage.

Alberto dy

Alberto,
Sorry that you are having trouble.
The only help I can offer is to assure you that Qimage has not changed anything with regard to printing in a long while.
See the link below, and you can see what has been added in the last 5 updates; from 129 to 135.

Are you using a Printer profile?   I think those high end printers can make their own profiles for printing.
Can you test the problem by using the 3100 profile when printing on the 3200 and use the 3200 profile on the 3100.
Maybe we will get lucky and Ernst will see your post.

http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/downloads.htm

Fred

Fred asked me to reply but I can not confirm that issue yet with Qimage v2104.135 as it is not loaded on my system. I will do that today and see what I have to print. V2104.134 did not show similar problems. Today it did something odd with a QTR B&W profile that got into the Print to File pipeline while PtoF was set on Monitor/Web mode and should not pick up the printer profile. With CM off that disappeared. But this has nothing to do with your problem I would say.

Is this problem happening with several files or with one only?  Tiff, 8 bit, no layers and exported from Photoshop is usually the safest format to load in Qimage. Which Windows are you printing from? Check the network connection to the printer too and you could use USB to compare against. If it is a printer hardware issue then the ribbon cables to the head carriage and the connections in the head carriage up to the heads could be a cause. A Z3100 and a Z3200 here.

One thing to add: if you have a large image file that will be downsampled much in the Qimage pipeline for a small low resolution print and the anti-aliasing slider on Qimage is Off then you might see the Z's driver do downsampling and deliver aliasing which can be bad with certain images.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

Fred and Ernst

I do all my color profile, but the problem are on two Z3200, one in my house (special tuned z3200) and other z3200 HP original in studio, both has the same problem using different profiles, different paper, different sizes, different connection and different archive but not on every archive.

Don´t do the problem on all archive, I test same different problematic image in Jpeg and tiff, 8 and 16 bits, 150, 200 or 400 ppis. and the problem are the same.

All time I print same image, JPG or Tiff dark rectangles are in the same position, if I rotate image or change margins square go to different position and images with same dimension do different dark rectangular position.

Every time I use output resolution on Qimage off, let driver handles, all images are 200ppis or 300ppis

Today I print 30 images 40cmX61cm Rag paper at Z3200 and 4 prints 112cmX165cm on Rag Baryta on Z3100 at same time using 129 and all perfect, at finish reinstall 135 to test z3200 and odd problem do on first print beginning.

I use Win7 – 64
Z3200 and Z3100 are Photo not PS

Thank you

Alberto dy

With v2014-135 installed on Vista 64 bit and the settings like you mentioned I do not see anything odd. Two trials with print quality settings asking for 300 or 600PPI input, different images.  A Z3200PS (A model) but through the PCL3 driver. Not the latest firmware and driver though.  I could install Qimage Ultimate on a W7 system here but I have only one license and it may corrupt the Vista installation which I prefer to use right now.

Is there anything odd visible in the Z3200 driver print preview?

To nail the problem down, if I send you v2014.134 to try, would that be a good idea?

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

New information: I print today using version 133, no problem.
Alberto dy

I really don’t know what’s happens, today I install 136 version print many different images, color, BW, large, small,  some images with dark rectangle on 135 and no problem, everything perfect.

Anyone have any idea what happened in the 135 and that is fixed in 136?

Thanks
Alberto dy