Just wondering, sometimes when I print a graphic that is longer than like 6 ft the plotter has a hard time picking up the registration marks and I often get mark scan errors. Sometimes I can tweak it a little by watching where the laser eye moves two and then re sizing the cut file so that it will reach the mark. It works but the cuts are a little off due to the resizing of the contour.
So my question: is there any way to manually tell the plotter where each registration mark is instead of letting it try to find them with the laser?
I am sure there is, just don't know how to do it.
I am cutting on a graphtec fc7000-130.
Thanks Guys...
There are two ways to do manual registration marks.
The first is simply to use the manual bomb sight marks and use the build-in light pen to manually locate the four corners. This is only as accurate as your eyeball. Some people see better than others.
The second way is complicated to explain but easy to do, once you get the hang of it. Basically you print your own registration marks at the corners of a rectangle of known size that completely bounds your image.
Print the image and the registration marks.
Load the print into the plotter and invoke the 'Auto Reg' function. This will locate all four marks. If this should fail you can select 'Manual' mode and move the sensor to each mark manually.
Either way, the plotter will pause after the fourth mark is detected and display what it determined to be the X and Y dimensions of the rectangle described by the registration marks. At this point you correct the plotter's measurements to coincide with the dimensions of the rectangle of known size with which you started.
Now you send just the contour line
and the registration marks** to the plotter. Make sure that your panel margins, weed borders, etc are set to zero. Very important.
**You can avoid cutting the registration marks if you send the bounding rectangle instead.
I do this all of the time and it works just fine. All of this would be unnecessary if Flexi [that's what I'm using] would simply publish the dimensions of the rectangle described by the registration marks that it placed on the print. Then you could try the full automatic method and, if that fails, you could save your print by using the manual method.
