General
Although this info is first written concerning the LEC 330, the described info is also very usefull information for other LEC, LEJ and LEF printers.
Available ink sets
The Roland LEC 330 is available with one of the following ink sets.
- CMYK + White + Varnish
- CMYK + 2xWhite
- CMYK + 2xVarnish
Inks that can be made available by the driver
- Cyan
- Magenta
- Yellow
- blacK
- Primer – varnish ink is used ( cannot be used when your LEC has a CMYK + 2xWhite Ink set )
- White ( cannot be used when your LEC has a CMYK + 2xVarnish Ink set )
- Emboss – varnish is used ( cannot be used when your LEC has a CMYK + 2xWhite Ink set )
- Varnish ( cannot be used when your LEC has a CMYK + 2xWhite Ink set )
All inks except CMYK can be switched OFF or used in different variations.
To clarify what the variations mean let’s first explain some words:
- Run = a print is build in one or more runs. Example run1: print primer – feed back to origin – run2: CMYK – feed back to origin – run3 print glossy varnish. Print ready
- (inline) = the inline ink is printed in the same Run as CMYK
- High Opacity = The ink set contains 2*white. The white layer is printed twice. With every ink cartridge once.
Primer
Primer is an layer varnish ink that can be printed as a coating on any media. If used this layer is always printed in the first Run.
White
White is that can be printed before, in between or after.
- Before: White is printed before the CMYK is printed so CMYK on top.
- In between: White is printed in between two cmyk layers. This is two times the same CMYK print. If printed on transparent media on both sides the same image is shown.
- After: White is printed after the CMYK is printed so White on top. Used on transparent media.
Emboss
- Gloss emboss. To print Glossy Emboss two runs are needed. First run the thickness of emboss is done as a Matte Emboss run. The second run is the same image in 1 layer thickness in a Glossy run ( one UV light on )
- Matte emboss. One run to get the emboss thickness, both UV lights are on.
- On top: Emboss printed on top of the CMYK.
- Under white: white is printed below the white run. For example emboss, white and then CMYK or for transparent CMYK, white and then Emboss. If there is white in between the sequence will be CMYK – White – Emboss – White – CMYK
- Under CMYK – emboss will be placed in between CMYK and White run
Varnish
- Varnish is always placed as last run in Gloss ( one UV-light on ) or in Matte ( two UV-lights on )
- Inline varnish should always be Matte because the CMYK that is printed needs the two UV-lights on
Creating and using the different colors
For creating a file containing the different colors the Editor is an important and easy to use tool.
The Editor contains the White generation tool, positioned in the toolbar Below ( button containing a page rectangle with the capital W partially in it ). Pressing this tool the white generation dialog is displayed. On the left side the possibility to choose the method to generate the “White” object. The white object is not limited to white but Varnish, primer and Emboss is also possible.
The white color popup is filled with the colors of that are used in the current Printer, media, mode (PMM) combination.
So if you have a created a PMM for a LEC 330, containing Primer, emboss, varnish and white those colors can be found in the White Color Popup.
For example make a selection of a vector file, open the White generation tool, select Fill all selected, White Color: select emboss and press ok. A white layer is added to the design containing one or more objects in the emboss color.
You can also do this for the other colors, white, varnish and primer and you will be able to add or alter objects in those color. To explain more of this functionality is outside the focus of the LEC subject.
Printing empty layers
By selecting a printer media mode the initial number of runs is defined.
For instance:
Sample: the PMM can define a Primer, white(before) cmyk, varnish(matte) set of runs.
The first run is always printed, even if it’s empty,
For instance:
When sending a “white, CMYK” job to the previously defined PMM ( Primer, White, CMYK, Varnish ) an empty layer Primer is printed first. No ink but all the head movements on the printer.
During the printing of the first layer, the job is analyzed and other empty layers will be skipped.
For instance:
In the previous sample this results in printing the empty primer layer and then printing the white and cmyk layer. The varnish is layer is skipped.
Reason for this strategy
A certain PMM is generated for certain printing jobs, so the printer may expect all defined runs, preflighting every job would result in a delay for every job that is printed. When you do not want to print Primer, use a PMM not defining primer. Because after printing the first run this info about empty layers is available, as an extra service we remove those runs ( saving time ). For an incidental print that has an empty first run, the first run takes a lot of time but the print can be made. If the situation is not incidental add the correct PMM and use that.
How to create a print containing a different design on front and backside
It’s not possible to send one job that contains two different designs that is printed on front and back. But you can send two jobs and print it on the same original position. If the Job is send by the production dialog the first job has to be send with as feed to “Begin”. The feed setting can be found in the second tab on the bottom. Send the second job with feed to Feed will put a new original point after this print.
Do not use Roland Marks option
If you want to use the LEC 330 to print and to cut the Roland Marks option should not be used.
To do so use the option “Crop Marks” in the driver settings. To do so: Check the box for “Use custom settings” and check the box for “Crop Marks”. Sending a print job the Printer will add the Crop Marks automatically. Sending a Cutting job with the driver setting “Crop Marks” checked the printer will search for the markers before cutting.