Technical Bulletin #6
Date: March 9, 1999
Subject: JOB SET UP - BLANK SIZE IN color byte™
The Millennium driver for the 575X model automatically puts a .055" margin on all sides of the print job regardless of size. The only exception to this is if you select "Print Edge to Edge". While this is available for full bleeds on a CR80 card, it is not something that we recommend for the pre-cut blanks. For best results on full color bleed badges, you should always use a process that allows for printing a bleed on a larger blank and cutting down after printing.
As a result, since we continue to recommend the use of printing in "Sign Blank" mode from color byte to maintain positioning, etc., you will have to reduce the dimensions of your "blank size" under the layout drop down menu by .110" on both the height and width values that you use when creating your job. For example, if you wanted to print on a 1.5" x 3" badge, you would input in landscape mode a blank size that would be 1.39" on the height and 2.89" on the width. However, in the "custom size" portion of the card size in the driver, you would input 150 units for the width and 300 units for the length. For printing on a 2" x 8" plate, you would input in landscape mode a blank size that would be 1.89" on the height and 7.89" on the width. Likewise, you would input in the custom size in the driver, 200 units for the width and 800 units for the length.
Using the above-described approach will eliminate the error message; "Your print area is too large. Do you wish to tile?" This will be necessary to do multiple badge jobs with the "badges" function. Otherwise, you will need to click on "OK" for each and every name, thereby removing the advantage of using color byte on a variable name list!
Note: Do not use the "fit to printer" option. We have found that in the current release of the driver, using the "fit to printer" option when printing on the 2" x 8" plates in monochrome, we have a drop in energy when printing on the last 1-2 inches of the print, resulting in poor print quality.
If you need further assistance in upgrading your printer, please contact DCS technical s
