Epson SureColor S50600 and S70600 - Multi-layer printing

Multi-layer printing

Bilayer without media rewind

The SureColor S50600 and S70600 have the ability to print in a single pass, two layers one above the other. The two layers can be made of « Colors », silver (only for the S70600) or white ink. The print headers divide themselves into two sections, keeping some space between them for the dry, so the first section prints the first layer while the second section prints the second layer.

This printing mode saves the media rewind process and the under layer is not rolled-up before the next print. However the ink dry time between the two layers is reduced as well as the printing speed, which is divided by two.

Caldera RIP makes this ability to do bilayer printing available only if one of the layers is made of “Colors” inks and the second layer is made of “white”or “metallic silver” (only for the S70600). The available combinations are chosen in the resolution field so the following resolutions represent bilayer printings:

“Colors” represents the mode that has been chosen (CMYK, CMYKcm, CMYKO, etc.).

The order in which white or silver (only for the S70600) and colors are written shows the layer order so if white is written first it will be printed first with a colored layer upon it. With the same principle: 1440*1440-colors+white shows a 1440 by 1440 resolution with two layers: first a colored layer then a top layer of white ink.

Resolutions with only white and silver (only for the S70600) ink print the white layer under the silver one in one passage (no rewind).

Be careful, to use this functionality, you must use Color (and Spot) in the printer settings.

Only for the S70600:

Resolutions containing three components: white + colors+ silver, print the white layer then the second layer containing the silver and color ink mixed (and reversed when it is colors+silver+white).

“silver+colors-mixed” mixes the colored and the silver inks and allows the user to use them in the same layer.

By default, the SureColor S50600 and S70600 allows to mix inks including the white. Caldera RIP has chosen not to implement this function for the following reason:

Be careful, while using this mode you have to use the device white pinch rolls and place them under the marks (black rectangle) at one centimeter from the media’s edge.

Multilayer with automatic media rewind

The SureColor S50600 and S70600 has an automatic media rewind function that allows to print several layers on the same area. Caldera RIP has implemented its print settings so that you can rewind the media four times in a row. The number of rewinds and the inks used are set up in the printer configuration window.

Multilayer is managed in the second part from “Top layer 2” to “Under layer 2”.

Between each layer the printer rewinds automatically the media to be ready for the next layer.

Concretely, the layers names are not important, only their order is decisive: the first one is Under Layer 2 then the others are stacked up. Besides, when a layer is deactivated, the algorithm will take no account of it so that there will be no time loose between two active layers.

Be careful, multilayer will only be taken in consideration if there are two or more active layers. Under that only the settings from the main print configuration window will be used to RIP and print.

Each layer can have one of the following statuses:

• None: the layer is deactivated.
• Colors (and spot): for this print, a bilayer print will be done depending on the chosen resolution.
• Colors (and spot) reversed: for this print, a bilayer print will be done depending on the chosen resolution and with its layers reversed.

For Color (and spot) and Color (and spot) reversed use, see the following subsection.

• Colors only: color layer only.
• White: white layer.
• Metallic: metallic silver layer (only for the S70600).

To use the multilayer with automatic rewind printing option, set up the parameters for each layer then close the settings window before launching the print.

Be careful, the layer calculation is done only once so if two layers have the same status, they will be printed the same way and overlapped perfectly.

Be careful, while using this mode you have to use the device green pinch rolls and place them under the marks (black rectangle) at one centimeter from the media’s edge. They will press the media harder to avoid slides during the rewind process. White pinch rolls must be put away from the black marks.

Colors (and spot) use in multilayer

This section explains the use of Colors (and spot) and Colors (and spot) reversed.

These two statuses allow to do bilayer print.

“And spot” refers to the White or Silver (only for the S70600) ink chosen in the resolution: white+colors or colors+white for example.

The option Colors (and spot) reversed changes the order of the two layers. If the chosen resolution is white+colors, a layer with Colors (and spot) reversed will first print the colored part then the white layer above it.

These statuses use multilayer and bilayer without rewind prints at the same time.

Be careful, if the resolution has not white or silver specified, only colors will be printed.

Mirror mode

For each layer, you can choose to print it in the normal way or mirrored. The mirror mode is an horizontal symmetry of the image.

Be careful, the mirror feature is only available in the head scan direction, so 90- and 270-degree rotated images will have a wrong mirror direction.

By default, all layers are in Normal mode; each layer mode can be independently changed to the Mirrored mode.

The mirror feature is typically used on transparent media where you want to be able to read some text on both sides. (The print will be CMYK-white-CMYK with one CMYK layer been mirrored.)

Examples

Please see below often used examples.

The configuration 2 allows more rewinds. It may give better drying, allowing more ink per layer but due to multiple rewinds, you may have misalignments, so these configurations are generally not advised.