FAQ
Media FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
A distinction is mainly made between calendered and cast films. A monomeric or polymeric plasticiser is added to calendered films, accounting for approximately 20 to 25 per cent of the total.
- Monomer-calendered films are intended for short-term use. The monomer plasticiser evaporates quite quickly, particularly when exposed to heat. This leads to material shrinkage, which may result in cracks forming in the film itself. Calendered films are cost-effective; however, depending on the manufacturer, their service life is limited to up to three years.
- Calendered polymer films are designed for medium-term use. The plasticiser evaporates to a much lesser extent and the film remains supple for longer. The service life is up to seven years.
As calendered films have a sort of ‘memory effect’ and return to their original shape, they are mainly suitable for use on smooth, flat surfaces.
- Cast films are designed for long-term use of up to ten years. They exhibit virtually no measurable shrinkage, are suitable for 3D bonding and do not exhibit any ‘memory effect’.
Quelle “wikipedia.org“
To wrap a car from top to bottom, I generally need a cast film, a hot-air gun, a Mini-Temp (temperature gauge), a craft knife and plenty of practice.
It is absolutely essential to have this ‘craft’ taught to you by a specialist. We would be happy to assist you with this or arrange training courses.
A laminate must always be compatible with the base material. For a monomeric printing film, for example, you must therefore also use a monomeric laminate.
We have included a wide range of media profiles in the profile directory. We are unable to provide a profile for every combination of RIP, printer, media and resolution.
We can create a media profile for you on-site, tailored to your configuration and requirements.
In principle, all banner materials can be glued. For heat-sealing, the material must have a certain basis weight to ensure a durable seal. Please refer to the data sheet for the relevant material to check whether it is suitable for heat-sealing.
Software FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
This varies slightly depending on the printer or RIP. Generally speaking, you start by configuring the print settings – such as heating temperatures, unidirectional or bidirectional printing, and drop sizes – then carry out a linearisation, set the ink limit, and finally create the ICC profile.
An ICC profile forms part of the media profile.
A colour cast usually indicates that the media profile being used is incorrect. The only solution is to use a correct media profile that is tailored to the system in question.
Proofing refers to the process of simulating the final print output.
Hardware FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
There are two different principles of blade guidance in cutting plotters: firstly, the trailing blade, which rotates freely within the blade holder and is pulled in the cutting direction by a pulling force; and secondly, the tangential blade, which is rotated in the cutting direction by a motor. In roll-fed cutting plotters, the trailing blade principle is standard; Summa is the only manufacturer to offer roll-fed plotters that operate with tangential blade guidance. With flatbed plotters, on the other hand, tangential blades are standard. The differences between the blades are as follows:
To ensure that the trailing blade also rotates in the cutting direction whilst being ‘dragged’, the cutting edge must not be exactly aligned with the blade’s central axis. With the motor-driven tangential blade, the cutting edge must be aligned with the blade’s central axis. The distance between the cutting edge and the blade’s central axis in a trailing blade means that the cutting edge does not move exactly in line with the movement of the blade head. Consequently, when cutting around corners, the cutting edge may ‘cut short’. To cut precise corners with a drag-knife plotter, the plotter must know the distance between the blade’s centreline and the cutting edge and guide the head in such a way as to compensate for this offset.
To cut a rectangle and a ‘T’ shape with precise corners using a drag-knife plotter, the blade must be guided as follows: The problem here is that the plotter must know the exact blade offset so that the blade guidance can be adjusted. Deviations, e.g. due to wear, result in rounded corners. Tolerances are also visible on small objects. Most ‘genuine’ cutting plotters internally adjust the plot files to compensate for the blade offset. Most cutting plotters also have a function to detect and correct deviations (by adjusting the blade offset). Some very low-cost cutting plotters or modified pen plotters do not have the internal capability to compensate for the blade offset and therefore require a plot file prepared accordingly. Various software programmes can compensate for the blade offset directly at the driver level.
The tangential blade has no blade offset, as shown in the sketch above. This means that the blade cuts exactly as the cutting head is guided: the blade is rotated motorised in the cutting direction, lifted at corners, re-aligned and re-engaged. Summa plotters also allow the cutting line to be extended slightly beyond the intersection point to facilitate lifting. This is also possible with various drag-knife plotters, but it actually goes against the ‘nature’ of the drag knife. The disadvantage of the tangential knife is that, due to the complex technology involved, plotters with a tangentially controlled cutting knife are significantly more expensive than drag-knife plotters. However, this has not hindered the widespread adoption of Summa tangential plotters, particularly in the professional sector.
With a trailing blade, the tip of the cutting edge is not centred on the axis. When plotting the desired contours, the blade is dragged along behind, or the blade head is lowered and the film is moved. To ensure a clean cut, the plotter’s control system must take the offset of the blade tip into account when calculating the plotting path.
The offset of the blade tip depends on the selected blade and its angle.
Example:
The Summa Standard blade (34°) has a blade offset of 0.42–0.45 mm. The Summa Flock blade (60°) has a blade offset of 0.9–0.93 mm.
An OPOS (Optical Positioning System) is a sensor used in cutting plotters to read registration marks from a printout. This is required for contour cutting. The optical sensor compensates for any misalignment of the printout and automatically sets the zero point.
Every cutting plotter has what is known as a ‘test plot’ for checking the cutting depth. When the settings are optimal, the test plot can be easily weeded and the cuts are just about visible on the backing material. If there are visible marks on the back of the backing material, the pressure is too high.
The cutting list must be replaced if there are any cuts in it. You can check this very easily with your fingernail.
