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CostProof is an optional Caldera module that requires the purchase of a specific license. Contact our sales team for more information.
To view the CostProof information, you must access the corresponding tab in the Spooler. In addition, the Print Action must be enabled in the Print Module of your printer. You may be interested in reading:
CostProof will display the ink and media usage for a printed job in the Spooler, on the CostProof tab, when selecting it:
Continue reading this article or watch the quick overview video:
Configuring CostProof
In order to measure the amount of ink used, CostProof needs to know the drop size of each of the printers in your production.
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If your license doesn't include the CostProof option, it will be indicated on the CostProof tab and this will only show media usage.
Also, please note that drop size values are only used for CostProof calculation purposes and don't affect physically the print head drop size.
Most Caldera drivers are already preconfigured with the drop sizes of the printheads used in the printer. However, if your printer driver is not pre-configured or if you need to adjust the original settings, follow the instructions below.
Via the "Configure" button
For some printer drivers/models, you can access the drop sizes from the CostProof tab by pressing the Configure button:
Good to know
A picoliter is one trillionth of a liter – so small the human eye can’t see it (represented numerically as 0.000000000001/liter). As a whole, printers will benefit from smaller droplet sizes as they are better for reproducing continuous tones and smooth color graduations (NGS Printing, 2017).
Consult your printer manufacturer's documentation to find out if the printer drops are fixed or variable, as well as the correct sizes.
- For printers with fixed drops: Only the first drop size field should be used.
- For printers with variable drops: The first field is for the small drop, the second for the medium drop, and the third for the large drop.
Via the ServerAdmin module
If after clicking the Configure button of CostProof you see that the drop size fields are "Not editable":
Then, you must add or change the drop sizes in the ServerAdmin module. To find out how, read on or see the dedicated article: ServerAdmin: How to add resolutions (and drop sizes) to a printer driver?
- Go to the Settings tab on CalderaRIP
- Click on the ServerAdmin module
- Select your printer
- Click on the Configure button
- Depending on your RIP version, click on the Resolutions or Pages tab (see details below)
- Depending on whether the resolutions exist or not, click on the New or Edit buttons. After label and resolutions, you will see the drop sizes fields:
- For printers with fixed drops: Only the first drop size field should be used.
- For printers with variable drops: The first field is for the small drop, the second for the medium drop, and the third for the large drop.
Starting from CalderaRIP V11, there is a dedicated Resolutions tab in the ServerAdmin module:
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Newer printer drivers might no longer store the drop sizes in the ServerAdmin module but in a separate configuration file that you can manually edit. The location is: /opt/caldera/lib/DRIVERS/MISC/name_of_print_server.res.xml