Wednesday, May 17, 2017

A Long Overdue Update; Roll Printing Failure

In July, 2016, I posted here about a problem I had printing multiple images across the width of a roll. My computer (Macintosh) and OS (10.11.6, "El Capitan") have not changed, although I have installed several security and other updates from Apple. Epson's OS X driver and the 7900's firmware have received no updates, but both are the current versions. However, the problem occurred with Photoshop CC 2015.5. I've got the now-current version 2017.1.0, and I can report success printing 2-up across a 24-inch roll.

Yesterday I wrapped up a job making 48 prints, each 10 inches by 15 inches (25.4 x 38.1 cm). I printed these 2-across, with the printer cutting the paper after each pair of images. This resulted in a sheet 24 inches wide by a little over 17 inches high. I then cut each into 11 x 17 inch sheets with the picture centered (I use a Dahle 444 cutter, which I'd describe as "the right tool for the job").

When setting up to print, I sized and optimized each image file, and then pasted a pair into a new Photoshop document 24 inches wide by 17 inches high. I put guides in the appropriate places, pasted each of the two images into a new layer, cropped to the edges of the image pair, and then printed on a custom paper size (17 inches on 24-inch roll, centered, with standard margins).
The 7900 printing a client photo 2-across on 24-inch roll paper
This worked exactly as I expected. No errors, no truncated prints. Whatever was happening back in July seems to be resolved. I can't know with certainty since I never did further testing with the older version of Photoshop, but it seems a fix was made in some version after 2015.5.

In any case, I'm happy, and the client's happy.

  --Jay

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jay,

    I have a 7900 but the firmware is way to old (2010).
    Do you know the procedure to upgrade for the new firmware (HN124G5).
    I'm using the Epson Printer Utility 4 but the section of the firmware update is greyed out.

    Thanks in advance,
    Bests,
    Tiago

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    Replies
    1. Tiago,

      The instructions Epson provides on their download page (below is from the US site) have always worked for me:

      1. Download the file.
      2. Double-click the downloaded file to create a disk image on your desktop.
      3. Open the disk image.
      4. Use the Remote Panel Utility to update this firmware.

      One thing to keep in mind: the printer must be on, and awake, and "ready" (with paper in place). If the printer is in standby the button in the Printer Utility will be disabled.

      I hope that helps.

      --Jay

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