Variable Mode Printing

The printer uses these techniques to vary the quality of a print and speed of printing:

◆Direction — for fastest print speed, the printheads fire ink bidirectionally, when the carriage travels in both directions. To reduce certain banding effects, the printheads can be set to fire only when the carriage is moving to the left.

◆High quality (HQ) — when enabled, reduces certain band- ing effects.

◆Color Set — ink sets may contain one each of a different color, two each of a different color, varying densities of cer- tain colors, or combinations. Using two sets of colors speeds printing, while using multidensity inks creates smoother transitions between light tones, and increases the perceived resolution of the print.

◆Jet Replacement — jets on the printhead that are misfiring or not firing at all can be replaced with alternate jets. Ideally, every pixel called for in a print is printed. In reality, some pixels are not printed because the ink jets tend to become partially or completely clogged with ink, which reduces print quality. AutoJet mapping substitutes an otherwise unused jet for a missing or deflected jet.

◆Passes — number of times the printhead passes over a given area of the image. A greater number of passes makes a greater number of substitute jets available, but slows print- ing speed.

Print quality (apparent resolution and smooth gradients) is improved by:

◆Increasing the number of passes (see “Selecting a Print Mode” on page 3-7)

◆Increasing the number of different ink colors (and/or densities); see “Selecting a Print Mode” on page 3-7

◆Printing in HQ mode (see “Selecting a Print Mode” on page 3-7)

◆Printing unidirectionally (left only); see “Selecting a Print Mode” on page 3-7

◆Selecting “Do not print white space” under Configure Printer - Printer Options - Print White Space (see “Printer Options” on page 2-13)

◆Using MediaSaver (ColorSpan Print Server feature) to group jobs together, eliminating the drying delay between jobs

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Variable Mode Printing