6 - Adjustments
ExpressCard 2000 / ExpressCard 3000| Instant Issuance Card Personalization System | Hardware Service Manual
Page 330 of 356 (
D99875607-91
)
6.4
How to Minimize Image Printer Margins
When issuing cards with edge-to-edge images, the width of the margins on the edges of the card is a
tradeoff between two factors: Customers may desire the thinnest possible margins, but if the print head
prints too close to the edge of a card, the printer ribbon may break. “Safe” margin widths depend on the
ribbon type and the specific images and card stock used by the application; the image printer is pre-
calibrated to minimize the margins without breaking ribbons in a majority of applications.
When possible, MagTek recommends using card layouts that are optimized for instant issuance, rather
than re-using designs intended for pre-lithographed stock and trying to eliminate the margins by printing
too close to the card edges and risking ribbon breakage. Recommended design techniques include:
Including the margins as part of the design, such as fading images to the card stock color at the edges;
Pre-lithographing border areas, including the margins;
Pre-lithographing all areas that are not personalized. Designs of this type should account for printer
variances by planning either overlaps or gaps between pre-lithographed areas and printed images.
Depending on the application, it may be possible to narrow the margins beyond the factory settings by
issuing direct commands to the printer until the ribbon breaks with the application’s most sensitive
(break-prone) card design, then widening the margin adjustment by a few pixels.
The margin sizes are based on four values:
The X (left-right) position of the image relative to the left edge of the card;
The Y (up-down) position of the image relative to the top of the card;
The X size (length) of the image, with additional rows added at the right edge of the card;
The Y size (width) of the image, with additional rows added at the bottom edge of the card.
To minimize the image printer’s unprinted margins, follow these steps:
1)
Navigate to
Menu
>
Settings
>
Printer
>
Advanced
to open the
Printer Utility
page.
2)
Press the
Print Tech Card
button and follow any on-screen instructions to print a card that shows
the current image printer settings, which you will use later in this process. The first two values of the
“X-Y-Smart Offsets” row provide the current
Rx
and
Ry
settings, and the “Printed Lines L/W” line
provides the current
Rnl
and
Rnw
settings.
3)
Press the
Commands…
button to open the
Printer Utility
page.
4)
Select the
Command
text box. Use the on-screen keyboard and the
Send
button to send all the
commands in the following steps to the image printer, and monitor the printer’s responses in the
Response
text box.
Note: Commands are case-sensitive! You must use the shift key to capitalize
the first letter of each command.
5)
Lower the X (left-right) position of the image on the card by following these steps:
a)
Use the
Rx
command to read the current setting for the X position.
b)
Use the
Px;=;number
command, where
number
is 1-4 steps smaller than the X value reported
by
Rx
, to bring the left edge of the image closer to the left edge of the card.
c)
Create a set of test cards that represent the full range of the application’s images.
d)
If test cards are created successfully, repeat the process of lowering the X position.
e)
If the ribbon breaks or the printer produces blank cards, raise the value closer to where it was to
start, and re-try test cards until they are created successfully.
6)
Increase the X size (length) of the image on the card by following these steps: