Canon Colorado - Media management

The Colorado controller has its own media list, but it cannot be edited directly. Media adjustments must be made using CalderaRIP.

Media synchronization occurs automatically in the background. Therefore, any changes (such as creating, editing, or deleting media) made in CalderaRIP will be transmitted to the printer immediately.

Note that you cannot create new media if the Colorado is not connected or is offline.

List of media

From EasyMedia* you can create a new media, duplicate, delete or edit an existing one. Use the buttons at the bottom of the list.

*EasyMedia is named ProfileExpert in the former TextilePro interface.

When creating a Media, the Media available on printer window is displayed. There you can choose the media category among those available on the printer.

Then, the Media window opens to set it according to the Main Settings, Parameters and Vacuum Power tabs. Here is the list of parameters applied to your media.

Main settings

• Name: name of your media used in the Print module.
• Cost per m²: enter the cost of your media (per square meter). If you ignore it, click the Compute… button.
• Compute…: in the window that appears, first indicate the roll width and choose the unit (M, cm, mm, inches, feet) then type the roll length and choose the corresponding unit followed by the cost.

Parameters

• Horizontal compensation (%): we recommend not to modify this. Any deviation is likely to be mechanical on the printer's side.
• Vertical compensation (%): this can be useful if you detect an increase or decrease in the length due to heating or media tension which is common when printing on vinyl or textiles for example. To calculate the compensation, click Compute and follow the software’s instructions.

• Category: category of media types with the same properties, used as a template when you create a media. For instance “textile” or “thin paper”. This field is automatically filled with the category you have chosen from the Media available on the printer window.
• Automatic advanced correction: you can choose between Off, Normal, or Enhanced. If activated, a yellow ink marker will be printed as a guide to correct for media step inaccuracy.
• Tight winding: start printing on media before it needs to be taped on the output winder. You can select No tension bar, Locked tension bar, or Tension bar.
• Automatic media advance: check the box if you want to protect media laying against marking from engine pinches.
• Carriage elevation: choose Automatic or Highest. Use Automatic if you want the best print quality. Highest should be used if you want to protect your media against touches.
• Support cutter: enable or disable the cutter by checking (or not) the box. It can be helpful to deactivate it for heavy media such as banners.
• Requires manual loading: enable or disable the automatic loading.
• Moist protection: select a number between 0 and 5 to set the timer that retracts media in the drawer to protect it from humidity when not used. 0 disables the function.
• Outer core diameter (mm): by default, the value is set to 79 mm but you can select a number between 76 and 200 mm. Fill this value to have the most accurate remaining length of your media.
• Media thickness (µm): the value must be set between 50 and 800 µm. The printer uses this value if the media thickness is not calculated during calibration. If during calibration, the printer gets a measure, this value will be overridden.
• Extended carriage travel: controls the time between scans by extending the movement of the carriage. The slower the carriage moves, the more time the ink has to cure. Increase the value of this parameter if you have adhesion problems for prints with a small image width. For most media, it is not necessary to have a value higher than 1500 ms.
  • Off: used for more productivity. The scan is done only on the width of the image and not on the width of the plate which is 1,6 m/39,4 inch.
  • min 1100 ms: scans cover 1 m/39,4 inch of the printer platen width.
  • min 1500 ms: full carriage travel over the entire width of the platen in High quality and Specialty modes.
  • min 2250 ms: the carriage stops briefly at the sides, increasing scanning time, decreasing productivity.
  • min 3000 ms: the carriage stops longer on the sides, increasing scanning time, decreasing productivity.
• Saturate ink cut mode: only enable this setting when you have to cut in a Backlit mode and you see chipping across the edges. It doubles the number of passes from 8 to 16 to give the ink more time to adhere to the media.

Vacuum power

• Vacuum Power (5 zones): type a number between 0 and 100 to adjust vacuum power.

Manual synchronization with the Printer

Media should normally be synchronized between EasyMedia and the Colorado controller but if you face trouble, you can use the List of Media configured on the Printer window.

1. From EasyMedia, click the Printer Medias… button. In the window that appears, the list of media in your printer appears (should be the same as your RIP one).

2. Now, you can use one of the three functions available:

• Delete all Printer medias
• Export all Medias from RIP to Printer: can be used if you connect a new printer to CalderaRIP and want to use the same profiles.
• Import all Medias from Printer to RIP: can be used if you connect to CalderaRIP a printer with existing media.