# Epson 4880 Print Head Movement - Expected Behavior



## Justin Walker (Dec 6, 2006)

There was quite a bit of discussion recently about how the Epson PRO series printers operate (4880, etc), in comparison to the small-format printers (r1900, etc).

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/neoflex/t145459-5.html#post878536

Based on limited video footage that was available at the time, some people began to figure that the PRO series print head had to travel the entire page width for EACH PASS, while printing. I had maintained at the time that this was not true; the print head only needs to return to the capping station, before extending to the last printed pixel on each pass. After much back and forth, I finally figured out where the confusion was coming from.........

We did some controlled testing at a recent trade show, and discovered that the RIP was indeed ordering the print head to travel the full width of the print area (the edge of the actual image file, which often extended further than the last printed pixel) - this bothered me a great deal, because I have extensive history with Epson 4880 systems and I was almost positive that they did not operate in this manner. Well, someone came up with a good idea and we sent the same file from the default Epson driver - BAM! The print head operated as expected, and the print times were GREATLY reduced. Once we tracked down this shortfall, the NeoRIP PRO guys got to work correcting the issue - this is why it has taken me a while to post this information; I promised I would give them a little time to correct it in their RIP, before making the information publicly available.

Anyways, here is a video of a test file being printed through the adjusted RIP (which I am told should be available for Neoflex users within a week or so - John is still testing the sh*t out of it):

[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hB4Zw8Y-tA[/MEDIA]

This is going to greatly reduce print times on many images (not all images, of course, but MOST will see an improvement of some sort). I would love to see how long it takes to print that flaming guitar image in high production mode, with the corrected print head behavior......


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## 102557 (Mar 6, 2010)

this is very interesting!!!

Justin, will this same concept still apply with the way the neo prints the shirts sideways on the platen?


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## Justin Walker (Dec 6, 2006)

Platen layout and positioning is completely up to the end user, so it would be a simple task to layout images in a manner that is most efficient; for instance, rotating the platen layout so that left chest prints are closest to the capping station, etc.... A little bit of forethought goes a long way!


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## Don-ColDesi (Oct 18, 2006)

Good point Justin. We have always told folks to orient their garment so that the image is as close to the capping station (home position) as possible as the 4880 always go "home" to spit a little after each full pass. Little tricks like this can save precious seconds on each print. Even if you save 10 seconds per shirt, it can translate into 20 minutes on a 120 shirt run.


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## RokoBaroko (May 7, 2010)

We've seen the Neoflex in action at 2011 Fespa in Hamburg and we've been impressed with everything, but not with the speed. We made the same conclusions as german13 did. However if the RIP is improved now as Justin Walker is saying, this would definitely make the printing faster. So my question is if this RIP is now already oficialy improved? I'm asking this because at the presentation of the machine at our local dealer's place last week the printhead was still moving all the way from right to left and not the way that Justin Walker is showing in his last video. Thanks for the answers.


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