1.3 Calibration Test
Calibration includes horizontal calibration and step calibration. When the following occur, calibration is required:1. When the printer is used for the first time, horizontal calibration and step calibration are required.
2. After the media is replaced, if the thickness or surface smoothness of the new media is different from that of the previous one, the horizontal calibration and the step calibration are required.
3. When relevant mechanical parts such as cross beam and motor are adjusted, calibrations are required. Other calibration items, such as printhead deviation check and vertical check, are to evaluate mechanical errors. If any errors are found, hardware calibration is required.
Figure 1.18 Step calibration interface
Meanings of items in the interface are as follows:Printing mode: Select a printing resolution to be calibrated from the list. Generally, different resolutions have different calibration values. Print: print step calibration images.
Effect: Print the step calibration effect images. After correcting the calibration values, observe whether the step is precisely calibrated.
Check: Print the step calibration check image to determine the tuning value.
Calibration value: Enter the step calibration value in pixels. After printing the step calibration images, enter the calibration values on the calibration images into the editing box. If a calibration value has been entered previously, add the new calibration to the original calibration value.
Tuning value: Enter a precise tuned calibration value here in mm. After the calibration value is corrected according to the calibration images, the step direction may slightly deviate. Then you need to adjust the tuning value to eliminate these imprecise factors. Normally, slight changes may occur in this interface after you enter values in the editing box and save the entered value.
Calibration procedure
1. Select the resolution to be calibrated from the printing mode list.
2. Click “Print” in the step test interface. The printer will print the step calibration test images on media (as shown in Figure 1.15).
Figure 1.19 Step calibration test chart
3. Select the calibration value aligned and add the value in the editing box behind the “Calibration value” with this calibration value to obtain the new calibration value. Then enter the new calibration value into the editing box. Values of the aligned parts of different colors in calibration images generally are the same.4. Click “Effect” to print the step calibration effect images. Observe the joint between Zone 1 in the effect image and Zone 2 in the black box. If the width, size and evenness of the gap at the joint is the same as those between other lines, the step is initially calibrated. And precise calibrations should be further performed.
Figure 1.20 Step calibration effect image
Figure 1.21 Step calibration check chart
After the above calibration, the step is preliminarily calibrated. However, the pure color images should be printed to check the final effect. After printing of pure color lumps, manually adjust the printer according to the overlapping and bare areas among passes of printed color lumps. If overlapping occurs between passes, it indicates that the step value is small and should be increased. If bare areas are found, it indicates that the step value is large and should be reduced.Tips: you can open the step calibration interface during printing to adjust the calibration values. The printing will not be disturbed. After you click “Apply”, the new calibration values will be used in the next pass.
