Summa S2 160 T-Series, OPOS space between prints full on roll jobs

[ebrake]

I just upgraded from a Graphtech FC8600 to a Summa S2 160 T series. Unfortunately I picked a bad dealer to purchase from, they have no summa techs or staff to assist me with the basics. I do very repetitive work, 10,000+ of the same long stickers day after day. I print rolls on my HP Latex machine and then run the entire roll thru the plotter, rinse repeat every day.

Currently I set my files up on a mac, and use the Summa plugin to put the marks on the page for the plotter to read. I use Onyx to print the job, then I use Summa Winplot to drive the plotter.

I have everything dialed in and working like a charm except for the space between prints. It seems to be inconsistent from job to job on what the Summa will read without me babysitting the plotter. Currently I have a 0.75" space between each print on the roll.

Yesterday I printed a huge job, I would move the roll to the summa, tell Winplot to cut this job 36 times and I would walk away while it ran thru the whole batch without a single issue. Roll after roll everything worked perfect with me only showing it where the very first square was on the OPOS marks.

Today I print a nearly identical job with all of the exact same settings. On this job it will only cut the first sheet, then spend a few minutes looking around for the next crop mark before giving up and asking me to put the tool over the mark. I put the tool over the mark, it runs it cuts the sheet, and then cant find the next mark. The sheets have the same 0.75" space between them that I used all day yesterday without this issue.

Anyone have any clue what the ideal spacing is between sheets or suggestions to help me troubleshoot this issue?

 

[Bly]

Have you tried using the barcode server?
That might be a better solution.

 

[ebrake]

Have you tried using the barcode server?
That might be a better solution.

I have not, when I first got the machine I tried to use Onyx for print/cut workflow but it seemed to be a real pain in the ass for what I do. I tend to keep my HP Latex printer rolling 24/7 and every time Onyx would choke on a summa cut file it would bring the whole thing down. A cutting issue would not just stop the cutter it would stop the printers in the middle of a job, make me lose count on the number of prints and generally just derailed the whole operation for 30 minutes to an hour while I sorted everything out again. I need to keep my Onyx isolated and running the printers since they are the cornerstones of the whole operation, trying to make it do more than one thing at a time just didn't work. I need to have a setup that can drive the Summa while the printers are still going without a problem on one side taking down the other. I only stop to load paper and put more ink in the printer, I cant stop the printers while the Summa sloggs its way thru 100ft of cutting. The current setup I have been using is flawless when it has that magic gap between prints that allows the summa to find its mark, I just cant seem to nail down how to keep that gap consistent, or at least find a setting in the plotter to adjust on a job when it doesn't like the spacing.

I have been digging around in WinPlot and it does not seem to support barcode functions, MacSign Cut in Illustrator is just bad software so I abandoned it pretty early on in the process of learning the ways of the Summa.

Do you have any suggestions for another software package that can utilize the barcode server? Perhaps any tips on configuring the barcode server in Onyx so it can run the cutter while rip'ing and printing on other machines?

 

[SignTeam.us]

ebrake,

We print rolls on our Latex machines and then run the entire roll thru the plotter (Summa) with Caldera all day long with the barcode.

 

[ebrake]

I will give Caldera a shot and see if that works out better. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Bly]

We send the cut files from Onyx Cute Server to another PC with Summa Cutter Control running on it.
Cutter Control has barcode server so nothing that happens on that pc will affect your Onyx RIP rig.
The cutter will go on to cut whole rolls if they have barcodes.

 

[jerry369]

I have been digging around in WinPlot and it does not seem to support barcode functions, MacSign Cut in Illustrator is just bad software so I abandoned it pretty early on in the process of learning the ways of the Summa.

MacSign Cut is a free software for Summa users. If you want to use barcode, flexcut, add OPOS marks in a personalized way in Illustrator o CoreDRAW (also with barcode) and many other features, you have to upgrade to the Full version.

About your problem with the distance beetwen copies of the same job, simply set "Current Position" in the OPOS origin parameter and OPOS XY as alignment method and you will forget any distance problem at all.

PS: The distance between the multiple copies should be at least 30mm (1.8") ...as reported in Summa manual ("3.4.2 Cutting multiple copies of a graphic on the same roll")
PS2: Barcode feaure is useful for cutting different jobs on the same roll, if you need to cut multiple copies of the same job you don't need barcode.

 

[ebrake]

MacSign Cut is a free software for Summa users. If you want to use barcode, flexcut, add OPOS marks in a personalized way in Illustrator o CoreDRAW (also with barcode) and many other features, you have to upgrade to the Full version.

About your problem with the distance beetwen copies of the same job, simply set "Current Position" in the OPOS origin parameter and OPOS XY as alignment method and you will forget any distance problem at all.

PS: The distance between the multiple copies should be at least 30mm (1.8") ...as reported in Summa manual ("3.4.2 Cutting multiple copies of a graphic on the same roll")
PS2: Barcode feaure is useful for cutting different jobs on the same roll, if you need to cut multiple copies of the same job you don't need barcode.

Thank you for the reply.

I do just cut multiple copies of the same job all day long, sometimes 3-4 days straight before it will change over to the next job. That is one of the reasons I did not follow thru with learning the barcode server after I had initial issues with Onyx.

On the distance of 1.8" that is what I read in the manual and how I originally set up my very first print job I did on the summa. After it cut the first set it only moved about 1" up and just started scanning around in a square pattern for about a minute before giving up and asking me to put the tool over the mark. It never even came close to the next mark. I reduced the spacing to 1" on the job after that, same issue. I reduced it to 0.5" on the next job and it went right past it. Finally I had success at 0.75" of space between the prints, it went thru 8 rolls in a row with 36 prints on each roll without a single issue. It was the best plotter experience I have ever had. I thought I had finally found the magic spacing that I needed.

Now its hit or miss on the 0.75" spacing. Some days no issues, other days like today I spent the whole day babysitting the machine helping it find its mark every 10 minutes. Tomorrow I will play around with the "Current Position" origin and the XY alignment method and see if that might help me out.

 

[jerry369]

On the distance of 1.8" that is what I read in the manual and how I originally set up my very first print job I did on the summa. After it cut the first set it only moved about 1" up and just started scanning around in a square pattern for about a minute before giving up and asking me to put the tool over the mark. It never even came close to the next mark. I reduced the spacing to 1" on the job after that, same issue. I reduced it to 0.5" on the next job and it went right past it. Finally I had success at 0.75" of space between the prints, it went thru 8 rolls in a row with 36 prints on each roll without a single issue. It was the best plotter experience I have ever had. I thought I had finally found the magic spacing that I needed.

With OPOS Origin set to "Current", please verify the value of the Recut Offset parameter in the plotter, it must be equal to the distance between the last marker on the first graphic and the first marker on the next graphic:

this distance must be the same for all graphics on the roll.

 

[jerry369]

Tomorrow I will play around with the "Current Position" origin and the XY alignment method and see if that might help me out.

Remember to set the origin of the plotter under the OPOS XY line, immediately after the media has been loaded and before sending data to the plotter

 

[ebrake]

With OPOS Origin set to "Current", please verify the value of the Recut Offset parameter in the plotter, it must be equal to the distance between the last marker on the first graphic and the first marker on the next graphic:


View attachment 132449

this distance must be the same for all graphics on the roll.

I cant thank you enough for this. Really you are a life saver, with the new settings and corrected re-cut offset all my problems were solved. As I type this my Summa is happily chewing away on a monster size job without issue. If you ever find yourself in Texas USA for any reason let me know, I feel like I owe you a nice steak dinner for the help.

 

[jerry369]

I'm happy you have solved your problem.

however in my previous answer I made a mistake, this is the right one: "With OPOS Origin set to "Mark", please verify the value of the Recut Offset".

With OPOS XY and OPOS origin set to "Current Position" the recut offset parameter is ignored.

 

[nomadme]

I'm just trying out FlexiSign & Print for my latex and S2T, everything you are mentioning here is covered. I feel the Flexi is the best of the best.