Roland SP 300V Cutting slightly off.

[ABPGraphics]

Hey guys. I've been noticing lately that our machine has been printing slightly off.... usually this isn't a big deal but when printing small things like stickers or control panels for instance it shows and it's annoying.

Anyone know how to correct this issue? Versaworks has an "offset" option that you can set but exactly what direction is it shifting the blade? Regardless I doubt that is the thing that will fix this problem.

See attachments for example. I printed and cut this control panel and you can see on the bottom right edge there is a gray strip left. It almost looks like a shadow but it is indeed color that I didn't want.

 

[dbenec]

i don't have a printer - but it seems to me you're making it tougher than it needs to be........

easiest solution - don't have ink in the white border area - you're only calling attention to the cutters tolerance by having that sliver or ink there. if there wasn't any ink there my bet is it wouldn't look off - (the cross hairs you printed look centered in the circle cuts).

for the same reason that we add bleed to files (because the cut will be within a certain tolerance but not perfect) - you're eliminating your paper border and expecting a perfect cut - why? when you don't have to.

make it easier on yourself!

 

[chopper]

ABP,
generally when this happens it can be several things,
1, do you do an environmental match on your material before you print?
if not you should do so,
2, do you put a bleed on the print? if not you should do so ( the bleed is a border around what you are printing to allow for a small shift in the cutting process,)
3, I do not know what software you are running but if you have the option for allowing for print stretching turn it off...( this is used for thermal printing)
4, there is an encoder strip that is a smoke color, it looks like a piece of window tint, that runs the length of the machine up towards the top by the belt or cable that runs the carriage back and forth, use a little isopropel alcohol and a clean dust free cloth and wipe it in one direction both sides to clean,
5, if non of this works then adjust your print cut alignment,
I have never needed to adjust the print cut alignment after doing the above, hopefully you wont need to either,
I think you will need to go into the service mode to adjust the print cut alignment, it is explained in the service manual..

//chopper

 

[veloxgraphics]

+1 for bleed. Your cutting looks pretty dialed in compared to mine!

 

[animenick65]

What you show is pretty normal. Thats the kind of tolerance we experience on small graphics with a brand new machine. Whats that color coming from anyway? Did you have around that area in the shape of the Contour Cut line? If that border needs to be white, keep colors away from that cut line and no one will know. BTW, is that banding I see in the prints, or is that from your digital camera?

 

[ABPGraphics]

What you show is pretty normal. Thats the kind of tolerance we experience on small graphics with a brand new machine. Whats that color coming from anyway? Did you have around that area in the shape of the Contour Cut line? If that border needs to be white, keep colors away from that cut line and no one will know. BTW, is that banding I see in the prints, or is that from your digital camera?

Alrighty, Thanks for the response guys. I guess I'll just have to tolerate it. The thing is, if I'm printing on white vinyl with a thin black border the white will show up. Does this just have to be tolerated as well?


Oh, And about the banding, I've never noticed that before. I figured it was the camera but I went and checked the original and it has small bands in it. How do I fix this? Good eye BTW

 

[animenick65]

What quality did you print on? We SOMETIMES get banding like that when we print on the fastest setting VIA VW, or a little bit of banding on banner material on standard speed depending on graphic.

 

[ABPGraphics]

What quality did you print on? We SOMETIMES get banding like that when we print on the fastest setting VIA VW, or a little bit of banding on banner material on standard speed depending on graphic.

We ALWAYS use the highest quality setting on versaworks. The but I printed some vehicle graphics today using dark blues and blacks and there was no banding. Maybe it's just that specific color of gray that it bands on?

 

[dbenec]

but what is the sliver of ink line there for? excuse my lack of knowledge about contour cut lines - like i said i don't have a printer - but from what i understand the contour cut line doesn't print. if it does and you have to register a contour cut to a hairline contour cut line that you printed that's dumb. (not you - the printer / cutter design).

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

In your Owners manual there is the instructions for Print Cut Adjustment, also do the Crop Adjustment while you're doing the adjustments. Also, there is a specific tension for the cable that moves your cutter and print heads... this may need adjusting, if it becomes too loose you will start getting error messages of carriage disconnect.