Onyx Layout Tool question

[Letterbox Mike]

So our new flatbed is up and running (CET) so we're now having to use Layout Tool with Onyx to nest jobs on sheets. We're new to this, we never used it before with our roll-to-roll printers, we always just let Rip Queue nest files as it saw fit.

We always print everything with the corner crop marks (the ones Onyx inserts). When we tell Layout Tool to print with crop marks, it automatically spaces each image about 1/4" apart, even though we have it set to have zero space between each piece. This is really a pain when we're trying to print something like 18x24 yard signs 10-up on a 4x8 where we want or need them printed with no space to fill up the entire 48" width of the sheet. Having a space between each piece means in order to fit them 10 up we need to reduce the size of the image slightly, if we keep them at exactly 18x24 it'll only nest 5 on a sheet...

Obviously something is not right but I can't figure it out. I started looking in the Onyx knowledge base but that can be futile, I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone knows what I'm overlooking...

Thanks!

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Bump, anybody got an idea?

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Why couldn't you just send it as a 4x8 and don't use the nesting?

 

[Craig Malmberg]

If you do not use the crop marks, you can print without any spacing. Also, playing with the conserve media and group together will give you different results. There is a layout tool in Onyx and it is not hard to use.

 

[Grizzly]

Do the CET machines not have a nesting program on the machine itself. I just send over one 18x24 to my AGFA 1224 HDC and then nest it at the printer. We also print on 18x24 blanks. I believe the CET machine is a true flatbed right? Can you not do it that way?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Do the CET machines not have a nesting program on the machine itself. I just send over one 18x24 to my AGFA 1224 HDC and then nest it at the printer. We also print on 18x24 blanks. I believe the CET machine is a true flatbed right? Can you not do it that way?

No, you nest in Onyx and send it to the CET as one sheet. Same basic thing that your agfa does, just not at the machine, it's done on the RIP side. I'm trying to do exactly what your screenshot showed though, except it's putting white space between them when you add cut marks.

 

[Grizzly]

No, you nest in Onyx and send it to the CET as one sheet. Same basic thing that your agfa does, just not at the machine, it's done on the RIP side. I'm trying to do exactly what your screenshot showed though, except it's putting white space between them when you add cut marks.

You've probably seen this, but just throwing it out there. Make sure your minimum Spacing between Images is set to zero. Its on the Page Tools Tab- Layout tab. On the left hand side of my screenshot. I'm not familiar with Layout tool but I did find this. Hope it works. I'm glad I don't have to use it.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Yeah it is, that's what's strange. Something is afoot because if I don't have crop marks turned on the images nest with no space, it's only when we turn the marks on that we get the space, even if nothing else has changed...

 

[Nitro]

I would simply just throw together a layout with hand drwan cutlines. I have templates to set this up it takes only a couple of minutes. I like doing it this way because it puts me in control of everything from beed, gutters, where I want our Procut to cut, width of the cut lines etc. Then I simply rip the 4'x8' sheet in onyx and print/cut. It's a system we have used efficiently for a couple years. Layout tool is boggy and did not perform for us so we don't even use it.

 

[JWesthead]

Why did you go away from letting rip que nest it?