Tektronix Phaser 600

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Tektronix Phaser 600

• Beckman Institute Public Printings
• Wide-Format Color Printer

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Why a wide-format printer?

• Perceived need for wide-format service with...
• the convenience and quick turnaround of
  on-premises printing
• a lower cost than comparable services elsewhere
• Confirmed by feedback from user community
• Ability to enter market with relatively low
  investment of time and money

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Why this particular printer?

• Reputation of and experience with Tektronix
• Consistency of color with other Phaser printers
• Plug and Play works with existing printing
  system with little modification
• Relatively hands off compared to wide-format
  inkjet printers
• Reasonable price

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What are the specs?

• Solid ink technology
• Adobe PostScript Level 2
• 300 dpi x 300 dpi
• Media widths to 36 in., job lengths to 150 ft.
• Standard mode 144 sq in/min (1 sq ft/min)
• Enhanced mode 72 sq in/min (.5 sq ft/min)
• 40 MB RAM
• 50 MHz RISC processor

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Whats good about it?

• Solid ink technology
• dry upon exit from printer
• can add ink at any time, even while printing
• will not wrinkle paper when printing large dark
  areas as many inkjets will
• can print on a variety of media for special
  projects
• low maintenance

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Whats good about it? (part 2)

• True network printer
• does not require a separate UNIX box as a
  controller (as many high-end wide-format printers
  do)
• will work easily with current printing system
  (LPRng)
• Tektronix driver features
• same color correction options as 450, 560
• can do print preview to check colors, image
  orientation and alignment on page

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Whats not so good?

• Solid ink technology
• low melting point means ink will melt in hot
  laminator
• waxy ink can be scraped off by sharp objects or
  flaked off by creasing paper
• Must be kept behind closed doors
• does not supply adequate metrics for hands-off
  job accounting
• has friendly features such as a reprint
  button that can circumvent job accounting
• jobs available for pickup during business hours
  only

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How can I print to it?

• From the same platforms as our other printers
• UNIX, via lpd
• PCs (Win 9x, NT), via SMB mount (need account on
  printhost)
• Macs, via Appleshare (need account on printhost)
• Must be registered for high-quality color
  printing (same as for phaser 450s)

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How much does it cost?

• Charge for paper and ink separately
• 1.20 / linear foot for paper (36 wide)
• 1.80 / square foot for imaged area
• Example 3 by 4 poster
• 4 linear feet of paper 4.80
• 12 square feet of imaged area 21.60
• TOTAL
  26.40

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How much does it cost? (part 2)

• Discounted pricing for BI personnel
• Charge for paper and ink separately
• 1.00 / linear foot for paper (36 wide)
• 1.50 / square foot for imaged area
• Example 3 by 4 poster
• 4 linear feet of paper 4.00
• 12 square feet of imaged area 18.00
• TOTAL
  22.00

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Why so much?

• Materials are fairly expensive
• We opted for quality materials over cheap ones
• Were only doing cost recovery of materials and
  maintenance costs
• Its not really that much

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Its inexpensive compared to

• Local commercial copy shop
• 14.95 / square foot (12.95 for cheap paper)
• 3 by 4 poster would total 179.40
• Not-to-be-named University service
• 10.00 setup fee, plus
• 4.50 / square foot
• 3 by 4 poster would total 64.00

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Tips on Printing to the Phaser600
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Tips on Printing to the Phaser600

• Printer Specific Options
• Color Correction, Image Smoothing, Paper Sizing,
  Orientation
• Application Issues
• QuarkXpress, Canvas, Photoshop, Illustrator,
  PageMaker, Powerpoint
• Lamination Mounting
• Examples

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Printer Specific Options
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Fusing

• Fusing is a method of strengthening the bond of
  the solid ink to the paper
• There are 3 modes of fusing for this printer
  none, hot and cold
• Cold is the default and recommended method

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Image Smoothing

• "Image Smoothing blends adjacent colors in an
  image so that color transitions are less
  noticeable"
• Useful when image resolution lt printer resolution
• Smoother color transitions, less sharp detail
• Longer print times
• Off by default

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Paper Sizing Orientation

• 30 different pre-defined paper sizes are
  available in the printer driver
• Can also define a custom page size within the
  driver (can be difficult)
• Recommend to use the closest pre-defined page
  size
• Can rotate the image via the printer driver
  (helps to efficiently use paper)

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Application Issues
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Photoshop QuarkXpress

• Photoshop
• Well behaved custom-size behavior
• Depending on platform and version, may have to
  adjust coloring information in printer driver
• QuarkXpress
• Well behaved custom-size behavior
• Good for poster making
• No observed color variations

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Canvas, Illustrator, Pagemaker, PP

• These programs proved problematic with custom
  page sizing and orientation
• They work, but you might not be able to use paper
  most efficiently
• Problem may lie within program or in printer
  driver

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Laminating and Mounting

• Posters can be laminated
• Warm temperature with a number of suggested
  settings (available upon request)
• Posters can be dry mounted

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Drivers and Documentation

• Documentation will be available within the next
  two weeks
• Drivers are in the same downloadable file used
  for the Phaser 560