Fine banding

[Colin]

I’m getting some fine banding (see attached) on my SP540i. I’ve done a B-Directional settings check, and this "Feed Correction" test which show the banding.


Any ideas? I did a "Normal" cleaning and it didn't help. Should I try a Medium or Powerful cleaning?

 

[Colin]

Oops - here's the pic......

 

[cdiesel]

What'st he standard test print look like?

 

[cdiesel]

I'd also go with the +.2% feed calibration. Keep in mind, Versaworks will override the setting on the printer most of the time (unless you tell it in VW to use the printer settings). You can change this in the "printer controls" tab.

 

[Gino]

What I always did was to do maybe up to three normal cleanings. It's a waste of ink, but it always seemed easier on the machine than a strong cleaning. If that didn't work, then I'd do a power cleaning.

We started noticing this kind of small stuff about a year into having the machine. Since Jeremy has been taking care of everything, we have relatively, no problems. He babies these machines.

 

[Colin]

Standard test print is good.

 

[Colin]

One other thing I noticed is that when I click the "Preserve Primary Colors" on, I don't get the fine banding, but that gives an undesirable pinkish tone to my B&W photo. When I click it "off" to get the proper grayscale, the banding is there.

 

[Colin]

One other thing I noticed is that when I click the "Preserve Primary Colors" on, I don't get the fine banding, but that gives an undesirable pinkish tone to my B&W photo. When I click it "off" to get the proper grayscale, the banding is there.

Oops, I meant to say:

When I click the "Preserve Primary Colors" off, I don't get the fine banding, but that gives an undesirable pinkish tone to my B&W photo. When I click it "on" to get the proper grayscale, the banding is there.

 

[cdiesel]

The primary colors thing shouldn't have anything to do with it.. probably just coincidental. Can you post a pic of the test print and a sample print with the banding?

 

[HulkSmash]

Check your feed, make sure it's optimal. I'm not sure what that is for the roland, but your manual should tell you which way. Also could be that your resolution is low?

 

[Colin]

The primary colors thing shouldn't have anything to do with it.. probably just coincidental. Can you post a pic of the test print and a sample print with the banding?

See below.

The bottom print is with the PPC off, which has no banding, but a crappy pinkish hue. The above print has PPC checked "on" to give the proper gray, but the fine banding always shows up with that checked on.

*The B&W JPG photo was saved as "Grayscale" in Photoshop (Image > Mode > Grayscale).

 

[Colin]

While we're at it, can someone please explain this to me:

In VW, under the Quality tab > Color Management, what's with the "Specify Profile and Ignore Default" option? Why is that there if we select a profile up top?

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

While we're at it, can someone please explain this to me:

In VW, under the Quality tab > Color Management, what's with the "Specify Profile and Ignore Default" option? Why is that there if we select a profile up top?

You're actually selecting a Media up top. if you wanted to use media settings but a different color profile that check box gives you that option.

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

See below.

The bottom print is with the PPC off, which has no banding, but a crappy pinkish hue. The above print has PPC checked "on" to give the proper gray, but the fine banding always shows up with that checked on.

The B&W JPG photo was saved as "Grayscale" in Photoshop (Image > Mode > Grayscale).

Looks like a few black nozzles are very slightly deflected. When it's printing with PPC off its mixing in a little magenta which fills in the missing black areas but also creates a pink hue.

I'd try a head soak then a medium clean and see if that clears it up.

If you can access service mode there's a test pattern you can run that prints very fine lines. That would probably show the issue a little more clearly.

 

[Colin]

Looks like a few black nozzles are very slightly deflected. When it's printing with PPC off its mixing in a little magenta which fills in the missing black areas but also creates a pink hue.

I'd try a head soak then a medium clean and see if that clears it up.

How does one do a "head soak"?

If you can access the service mode there's a test pattern you can run that prints very fine lines. That would probably show the issue a little more clearly.

How do I do this?

 

[Colin]

You're actually selecting a Media up top. if you wanted to use media settings but a different color profile that check box gives you that option.

Wha? I was under the impression that a profile is part & parcel of the Media selection, no?

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

Wha? I was under the impression that a profile is part & parcel of the Media selection, no?

It is. When you setup your media you select a matching profile. It's just an option for that odd moment where it might come in handy.

In the 4-5 years I've had my XC I've never used that option.

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

How does one do a "head soak"?




How do I do this?

I'm not very familiar with your exact printer model so I'm not sure.
However I'm sure it's been discussed here before. Check and see if you get anything from a search n

 

[cdiesel]

Like Jamie said, you're turning off the preserve primary color, which is telling the RIP/printer to "make" greys and blacks using CMYK instead of just black. So the banding issue is still there, it's just being masked by the fact that you're using three other areas of the head that are firing fine. It does look like you have *one* nozzle out on the K head, which usually I wouldn't even think about worrying about.

It looks like you may have a hair too much feed going. In VW, go to the printer settings menu, and on the feed calibration setting, note the default setting. Change it to use custom settings, and reduce it to whatever the default setting was, minus 0.2%. Try printing again. Play with this setting a little to dial it in. Increasing the number will make the printer feed more before printing the next pass, so if you have dark bands, go higher. Decreasing it will make the printer feed less before the next pass. You can have negative numbers here.

 

[Bly]

The feed calibration pattern uses black only.
Unless all nozzles are firing as new you'll get some banding.

That's one reason four colour greys are a good idea.