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Read about what you need to convert a printer to one of my systems
Here is the brief run down on what you need to convert your printer over to Piezography...
You must provide your own printer. Generally speaking, your printer needs to be in top condition to get top results. You do not want to take a printer out of mothballs, and dedicate to our systems. With that said, it is possible to take an older printer and have it refurbished or freshened. We recommend testing your printer for the following qualities. A nozzle check should reveal all of the nozzles are firing and producing clean test patterns which step down. None of the patterns can be missing, or printing in a location above or below its intended place, or printing with a haphazard patterns of dots. Secondly, you must be able to successfully align your printer. And finally, the paper transport system must be accurate so that an image prints at its expected size. It is always wise to flush your printer to remove any inks and residues before switching to a new formula/brand of ink. Flushing cartridges can be ordered. It is simple to install flushing cartridges. You print through them just as you would any ink cartridge. You simply need to print a full color image on sheet of paper to move the flushing fluid through the print heads. The exception to this is Piezography Neutral K7 which does not require flushing on the desktop. Large format printers should always be flushed following our instructions.
Desktop Printers 13" and smaller
Choose between the iQuads, PiezographyBW ICC, or the Piezography Neutral K7 products.
You need to decide whether you want to start with pre-filled cartridges on your desktop printer, or to use a CIS system which feeds ink to the print heads from bottles. You can change your mind if you start on one system. However, the initial starting costs are higher if you want a CIS system which is far more economical to use than the pre-filled cartridge system. Some people decide on using pre-filled cartridges to try one or more of our PiezoTone colors before setting up the CIS bulk system. Others prefer the ease of using pre-filled cartridges in case they need to convert their printer back to color. In general, we do not recommend changing a printer back and forth between color and monochrome inks. This can and often does, introduce air into the print head. So it is not as convenient as it sounds. The exception to this is if you are using Piezography Neutral K7 inks, in which case it is as simple as removing the K7s and reinserting the color inks. Going back and forth is a feature of K7!
You will need to provide a level surface for a CIS system if you choose to go this route. You do not want to place the CIS above or below the same surface on which your printer sits. So make certain you have room for a 4 x 6 inch CIS box! These systems are easy to charge by simply drawing a vacuum in each cartridge, clamping it off, and then connecting the ink line to the appropriate bottle. When the clamp is removed, the ink flows from the bottle into the cartridge. Because it is a closed system, as you print the cartridge depletes its contents which are automatically fed fresh ink from the bottles through the ink lines. And if your printer uses intelichipped cartridges, our CIS systems always read full!
Wide Format printers 17" and larger
There are several choices here. Piezography K7 supports the EPSON 4000, 4800, 7600, 7800, 9600 and 9800 printers. PiezographyBW ICC and iQuads support the EPSON 7000 and 9000, and iQuads supports additionally the 7500 and 9500 printers. StudioPrint supports all of these wide format printers. You will need to choose a color of PiezoTone inks in all these systems with the exception of StudioPrint in which two ink colors are chosen.While PiezographyBW ICC, iQuads and Piezography Neutral K7 are compatible with Macs and PCs, StudioPrint requires a dedicated PC to act as a print server. If you're a Mac user considering the StudioPrint RIP, we recommend a simple Ethernet switch to connect the PC into a network. Mac OSX automates networking with PCs.
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