Canvas front feed border issues with 3880.

[W. Fisher]

I'm trying to print a 11x14 on canvas. Front feed to avoid the damn pizza wheel marks made by the top or rear feed.

Front feed is doing odd border issues. I cut a 17" roll of canvas to 12x17", fed that, and the sides were less than 11" due to borders when I set it up in the print configuration to 12x17 User. Also, the canvas shrinkage entered into it and it was a bit shorter in length than 14" I need.

I cut a larger piece of canvas, 13x17 inches. Now it cuts off the bottom when I enlarged it about 3% for shrinkage. Seems it automatically makes the top border 2" and the bottom 1" so that comes off the 17 length making it 14". BUT, the damn image has now moved slightly to the left right and bottom of the center of the canvas. Cutoff maybe 1/4" on the right, and an inch off the bottom of the image.

I cannot find anything in the manual as to why the front feed is making up its own borders. Maybe a leader is need to stop the auto 2" border at the top? But why the driver is also cropping and shifting the image on the sides is another matter.

Anyone know how to get a 11x14 out of this thing with the front feed? Actually, the PS image is 11.2x14.2 inches to allow for trimming on a mat board which may be part of the 2" top and 1" bottom and why it cannot accommodate the thing- maybe. Maybe set it up as a "User defined" 13.5x19 inch even though the roll is cut to 17" width?

I have Qimage too, but seems between it and the Epson driver for front feed this isn't going well no matter what I try.


Add:

Tried again with 13.5 x17 "User Defined" setting with a cut 13.5" x 17" sheet and added a 2" leader with some heavy stock to move the top border up. No matter what I do, the print comes out as a 10.5 x 13.5 inch even though it is 11.5 x 14.5 in PS. Arrgh!

Front feed just isn't making anything larger than 10.5 x 13.5 inches for whatever reason silly reason. The print image has a one inch black border around it and don't know if that is fooling the scanner on the head as to the canvas size?

Ideas???

Oh. Have to be very careful with the paper coming out of the front feed. Can hit two white nylon guides and curl up and feed back into the printer making a major mess, or with the leader taped to the back of the canvas, the leader may flip down and behind the pop-put front feed tray with bad consequences too. Have to babysit it until both the leader and the canvas comes out beyond that black tab guide on the right side of the front pop-out feed tray, and use some thin metal ruler to guide the paper and leader until it gets to there.

Least no pizza wheels marks or head scuffing of the canvas with the front feed, just wrong sizes now - or same image size no matter the canvas size.

W. Fisher

 

[The Hat]

You are obviously having problems with the forced border issue, try a different paper setting while still using the canvas to print on and the printer won’t insist on using the borders on that paper..

 

[W. Fisher]

Thanks.

I have the canvas selected as a "Semi-Gloss Paper" on the Epson setup menu and not a canvas as I want to use the PK and not a switch to the MK. Just started it that way initially.

I think that 3880 front feed might have some sort of forced border thing happening depending on the size I've setup in the "User Defined" but I'm not sure. It just makes 10.5" wide prints no matter what with my feeding even 13.5" wide canvas into it. I don't get it. The head does the initial scan and check for skew of the 13.5" cut canvas and say "Ready," but then the print is sized down somehow, or worse when it shifted more to one side once by 3/4" but I noticed that in the pop-up "Show print preview" window too. That shift matter seems fixed now.

Epson's manual is very unhelpful as to what goes on with the front feed tray. I did note the second tab on the Epson driver wants to "Resize image to 91%" most of the time. I've clicked all of it off (unchecked) there on the second tab, but these forced borders and fixed size (width) is still continuing. Only good thing is I'm not getting any pizza wheel marks or head smudges using the front feed, just the size isn't cooperating.

I cut 12" wide canvas and set "User Defined" for that, and it puts a 3/4" border on the sides and makes the 11.5" wide image 10.5".

Then I cut 13.5" wide and it widens the border more and image still comes out 10.5" wide.

???

Proper sizing works on the back or top feed, but then I get bad marks using those two feed systems. Can't win.

W.F.