Primera Technology RX900 manual

User's Manual © 2011 All rights reserved F or the most recent version of this manual please visit http://www .primera.com/manuals.html 021711-511287 RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:25 PM Page i[...]

There are interactive features that will allow you to jump to different locations within the document. Each listing in the T able of Content s is interactive. Place the cursor on either the words or the p age number . A small hand with a pointing finger icon appears. Click on the line with the icon and the document will jump to that p age. If you w[...]

iii T able of Contents Section 1: Getting Started ...............................................................................1 A. Choosing a Good Location ................................................................1 B. Unpacking and Inspection.................................................................2 C. Identifying the P arts .....[...]

iv RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:25 PM Page iv[...]

Getting Started 1 Section 1: Getting Started THANK Y OU… ...for choosing an RX900 Color RFID Printer . The RX900 Printer will print razor -sharp text and barcodes, vibrant colors, and even stunning photo -realistic photographs directly onto RFID label stock and a variety of other approved media. This User's Manual is your complete step-by-st[...]

2 Getting Started B. UNP ACKING AND INSPECTION While unpacking your printer , inspect the carton to ensure that no damage has occurred during shipping. Make sure that all supplied accessories are included with your unit. The following items are included in the supply box: • P ower A dapter • Separate P ower Cord • USB Cable • Software Insta[...]

C. IDENTIFYING THE P ARTS This illustration shows the front of the printer with its control buttons and LED indicator lights. The P ause Button pauses the printer AFTER the printing of the current label has finished to allow for loading of label stock and ink cartridge. The P ower LED indicates that the printer is on and ready to receive print jobs[...]

4 Getting Started This illustration shows the input ports and power switch found on the rear panel of the printer . This illustration shows the interior of the printer . Power Input Port USB Port Auxilary Port Power Switch Sensor Position Adjustment Roll Arm Fixed Throat Guide Roll Guide Movable Throat Guide Roll S top RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:26 PM P[...]

Getting Started 5 D. COMPUTER SPECIFICA TIONS Recommended PC Specifications F or optimal printing speed you must have a PC with the following recommended specifications: • P entium Dual Core P rocessor • 2 GB of RAM • 10 GB of F ree Hard Drive Space RFID Reader/Writer Position Adjustment Slide Bar Actual RFID Reader/Writer Position T ear Bar [...]

6 Label Stock Section 2: Label Stock A. LABEL AND ROLL SPECIFICA TIONS A wide variety of label stock can be used in the Printer . Refer to the specifications and settings in the following sections before ordering custom stock from Primera or any stock from another company . Important! T est all custom made label stock with the intended printer befo[...]

Label Stock 7 Max Min Label width 8.25" (209mm) 0.75" (19mm) Liner/media width 8.375" (212mm) 1.5" (38mm) Label height/length 17" (431mm) 0.75" (19mm) Gap between labels 10" (253mm) 0.10" (2.5mm) W idth of thru-hole 0.5" (12.65mm) 0.25" (6.325mm) opening Distance from edge of 2.25" (57mm) 0.20&[...]

8 Label Stock Roll Specifications Note on Label Orientation: If you are using an applicator to apply your labels, be sure to or der label stock with the correct orientation for your applicator . F or example most applicators will apply the side of the label first, so you will want to print the labels sideways. Label Side Out Core I.D. Core O.D. Rol[...]

Label Stock 9 B. INST ALLING LABEL ST OCK The following steps will guide you through loading label stock in your printer: Make sure power is connected and printer is on. 1. Open the T op Cover . 2. Lower the Roll Guide and pull it outward to make room for your label stock. Lift Here RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:26 PM Page 9 TO C INDEX[...]

10 Label Stock 3. Remove any shipping tape from your label stock roll to ensure that it can unroll freely , making certain that no adhesive portion is exposed. It is important to note that any exposed adhesive surface can attach itself the inner workings of the print mechanism and cause a media jam. 4. Place your roll of label stock on the Roll Arm[...]

Label Stock 11 7. Place the leading edge of the label stock under the "label stock" symbols on the Throat Guides. The label stock should be placed far enough into the throat of the printer to correctly position the Movable Throat Guide but not yet into the printer itself . 8. Slide the Movable Throat Guide inward until it almost touches t[...]

12 Label Stock C. ADJUSTING THE LABEL STOCK T OF (T OP OF FORM) SENSOR If you are using label stock other than standard square / rectangular diecut labels such as circular die-cut labels or through-hole stock use the instructions below to adjust the position of the label stock sensor . The sensor can be adjusted using the slide bar on the inside of[...]

Label Stock 13 The sensor can only be moved a maximum of 2.3 inches from the left side of the printable area. This means that the maximum diameter circular label that can be printed is 4.6 inches. F or circular labels larger than 4.6 inches in diameter , you must have a black mark printed on the back of the label stock. This means that you must cha[...]

14 Label Stock D. SET THE ST OCK SENSOR MODE The stock sensor mode refers to the method the printer will use to detect the print starting position for each label. T o adjust the stock sensor mode, open the PTStatus program. PTStatus automatically installs with your printer driver and can be accessed through the printer driver or as program that is [...]

Label Stock 15 Continuous. (Sensor off) If you have continuous stock with no die-cut, reflective mark or holes, set the sensor type to Continuous. This will turn off the stock sensor . It this mode there is no way to set the print starting position. The printer will simply start printing the first label and print each subse- quent label immediately[...]

16 Label Stock There are two different output modes: Present labels? - Y es (Default). This setting will cause the printer to feed the last label printed forward so that it and the previously printed labels can be torn off using the tear bar . If no other jobs are sent to the printer within one second after the last label has printed, the last prin[...]

Using RFID 17 Section 3: Using RFID A: SETUP RFID Label Stock should have an antenna imbedded between the label adhesive layer and the liner . The antenna should be oriented to the front of the label stock and centered within the label. F ollow these instructions each time you load a new roll of RFID Label Stock. 1. Load your RFID label stock accor[...]

18 Using RFID Note: W rite success is less likely as you move the marker away from the center of the label. Impor tant Note: The remaining steps are optional and only necessary if encoding problems are pr esent. If you are loading a new roll with the exact same specifications as the last roll, none of these steps will be necessary. 3. Open the PTSt[...]

Using RFID 19 If write failures continue even after adjusting the position of the writer , try adjusting the Antenna P ower . F irst select Stop T est. Now increase or decrease the power using the up and down arrows. Click Set to send the setting to the printer . T ry a W riting T est again. After a successful W riting test you may choose to verify[...]

20 Using RFID C. OTHER FUNCTIONS Batch Reading T est . (Optional) After printing and encoding labels you may run a Batch reading test to verify that each label was encoded successfully . Simply load the printed roll, open the status monitor and choose Batch Reading T est on the RFID tab. Move to next tag . Before reading, writing or calibrating, se[...]

Ink Cartridges 21 Section 4: Ink Cartridges (Status Monitor) PTStatus or Status Monitor is used to interact with the printer for gathering ink levels, maintenance, alignment, cost calcula- tion and several other functions. PTStatus automatically installs with your printer driver and can be accessed through the printer driver preferences or as a pro[...]

22 Ink Cartridges A: MONIT ORING INK LEVELS Ink levels can be monitored at any time by using the Status Monitor . Immediately after printing starts the Status Monitor will display the ink levels in the lower right corner of your screen. The print status will also be displayed on the top bar . In the example above the label name "Strawberry .lb[...]

Ink Cartridges 23 B. USING THE COST ESTIMA T OR The cost estimator is found on the last tab of the Status Monitor . The Status Monitor automatically opens as soon as you begin printing. However , you can also access it at any time as long as the printer is turned on and communicating by going to Start - Programs - P rimera T echnology - PTStatus. I[...]

24 Ink Cartridges C. REPLACING INK CARTRIDGES / L OW INK WARNING Y ou can replace cartridges at any time or wait for the Low Ink W arning to prompt you to replace cartridges. Low Ink W arnings occur at the following levels: • 10% - If any cartridge is lower than 10% at the beginning of a job you will be prompted to change that cartridge. A t this[...]

Ink Cartridges 25 2. Remove the cartridge by pressing the corresponding colored tab on the back of the printhead. The cartridge will pop up slightly . 3. Remove the cartridge. 4. Locate a new cartridge and remove it from its packaging. Remove the foil outer package and the clear plastic shrink wrap. Also remove the cartridge cap. Note: If you opene[...]

26 Ink Cartridges 5. Place the new cartridge into its corresponding colored slot. Press down near the back of the cartridge until it clicks into position. Impor tant Note: Make sure the cartridge is secur ely in place. An improperly positioned cartridge will cause no ink of that color to be printed. RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:30 PM Page 26 TO C INDEX[...]

Printing 27 Section 5: P rinting A. USING NICELABEL Y our printer ships with a basic version of Niceware's NiceLabel software. This easy-to-use software is designed to allow you to create full color labels with text and barcodes quickly and sim- ply . The following is a tutorial to guide you through creating and printing a sample label. Launch[...]

28 Printing b. Select your printer . This should be the Color Label Printer 900. Click F inish . 3. Now you will see your label in the Document W indow . Y ou can start to design your label using T ools from the T ool Box. First, we will use the T e xt T ool. a. Click the T ext T ool Icon in your T oolbox, then move the text cursor over the Documen[...]

Printing 29 4. Now , insert a barcode. a. Click the Barcode T ool Icon from the T oolbox. Y ou will now have a Barcode Cursor that can be positioned anywhere within the Document W indow . P osition your cursor in the general area where you wish your barcode to print and click to start entering your barcode information. There is no need to be exact,[...]

30 Printing b. The first screen in the Barcode W izard will allow you to select the type of Barcode you wish to print. Y ou can also enter the data to be used in the barcode. F or this we are doing a simple UPC-A barcode. F or more information on other types of barcodes, please see Section 3B. Creating Bar codes in NiceLabel . c. Click OK , then cl[...]

Printing 31 5. Now insert a Picture. Click on the Picture T ool Icon in the toolbox. Y ou will now see a Graphics Cursor . Drag the cursor to the general area where you wish to place the graphic and click to get an Open dialog box. Y ou will be prompted to browse for graphic files. NiceLabel accepted file for mats : NiceLabel will accept universal [...]

32 Printing b. There are other tools at your disposal to align the object or add shapes. On the right side of the screen you will see alignment tools so you can align the objects on your label in relation to each other . Select objects by clicking on them or clicking and dragging a "lasso" around multiple objects or by holding down the SH[...]

Printing 33 B. CREA TING B ARCODES IN NICELABEL a. Click the Barcode T ool Icon from the T oolbox. b. Y ou will now have a Barcode Cursor that can be positioned anywhere within the Document W indow . P osition your cursor in the general area where you wish your barcode to print and click to start entering your barcode information. Once clicked, you[...]

34 Printing iii. This contains four tabs, General , Check Digit , Human Readable and Details . iv . The General T ab allows you to choose the appropriate barcode type from the A vailable barcodes : menu. Y ou can choose one- or two -dimensional barcodes. Note that different barcode types have different requirements - some of them only allow numbers[...]

Printing 35 When you change the barcode dimension directly from the screen by moving the drag handle, the changed dimension will also appear in this dialog box. Some of the barcode types also allow the definition of Narrow- to -wide bar ratio. It can only be set from the predefined steps in the pull-down menu - 1:2, 1:3 or 2:5. Base element width ([...]

36 Printing C. PRINTING FROM O THER PROGRAMS Since this printer uses a standard W indows printer driver you can print from any application you would like. There are just a few things to remember that will make it much easier . 1. Set the P age/ Label Size in the Driver . NiceLabel auto matically prompts you for the size of the label that you are us[...]

Printing 37 3. Choose the right printing program. There are many different applications that are capable of printing to the RX900. However there are only a few that are ideal printing applications. F or example, A dobe Illustrator is an ex cellent design program but is not always the best printing program. It can be difficult to find the printing p[...]

38 Printing A djust print alignment using the Status Monitor . Go to the Alignment T ab (third tab). Three items can be adjusted here: • T ear off P osition . This value adjusts the position of the last label printed after it has been presented for tear off . This only applies if the output mode is set to "Y es" Present the label. A dd [...]

Printing 39 Y ou may have to make several adjustments to one or more of these values. After each adjust- ment you can click the T est button to print a small test pattern on the label. This will help you find the proper alignment value. E. CREA TING A FULL BLEED PRINT 1. If you are having trouble making the image cover the entire label, first make [...]

40 Printing TOF . Decrease the T op of form by 10. This will cause the printer to start printing before the label and ensure a fully printed label. Note: It is best to over bleed as little as possible to avoid excess ink on the label backing. Also, over bleeding too much will cause the printer to skip labels. This is because the printer stops print[...]

Printing 41 T o find Driver Settings: Click the Start button, choose Printers and F ax es (XP), P rinters (V ista), Devices and P rinters (W indows 7) . Right-click on the Color Label 900 Icon and select Printing P references from the drop-down menu. The preferences screen will appear . NO TE on PC Settings : Most applications allow you to change t[...]

42 Printing Paper Size If you are using NiceLabel, this setting is adjusted during the label setup wizard. If you are using a program other than NiceLabel you will need to set this to the dimensions of your label. K eep in mind that the dimensions are always relative to the width and height of the actual label in the printer . Orientation of an ima[...]

Printing 43 Ink Car tridge Color + Black is best for images that have large areas of black graphics or text. Although you can print these same images with just the color cartridge, often the blacks will look darker with this setting. Color is the default setting and is best for most images. W ith this setting the printer only uses the color cartrid[...]

44 Printing Best for Photos mode is best used for photographic images where accurate color reproduction is very essential. Images printed in this mode will look lighter than those printed in Photo mode. Skin tones especially will look more natural in this mode. NO TE: Exact color matching of the printed labels to the scr een may never be possible s[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 45 Section 6: T r oubleshooting and Maintenance A. SOL VING PRINT ALIGNMENT PR OBLEMS Image is V ertically Offset The RX900 decides where to start printing by detecting the start of die-cut label, detecting a black mark on the back or detecting a thru-hole that cor responds to the start of the label. The following [...]

46 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance backing, try label stock that has a black mark on the back to show where the label begins. Y ou will need to change the Stock Sensor Mode in the Status Monitor . 3. Insufficient Label Gap Distance. See Section 2A for label specifications. 4. P age Size is Bigger than Label Stock Size. If the page size set in the[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 47 P age Size. Often the page size is not large enough for the label. If this is the case you may see white space on the right (printers left) side of the the label and no image over -lap on the opposite side. This indicates that the page size needs to be increased. Increase the page size through the printer prefer[...]

48 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance print quality . Align the printhead by opening the PTStatus Monitor . Click on the Align P rinthead button on the Cartridge Utilities T ab (second tab). F ollow the onscreen prompts to load your paper for alignment. 5. Clean the Maintenance Station. Clean the maintenance sta- tion located on the right side of th[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 49 8. Media. Make sure your label stock is inkjet printable. Many thermal label stocks look the same as inkjet but do not allow the ink to soak into the surface of the media. 9. Source File Image Mode. The image mode of the source file may be set to RGB instead of CMYK. This can cause the color matching to be off .[...]

50 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 2. Resolution . Resolution is measured in dots per inch or dpi . 300 dpi is sufficient to get the best possible quality from most images. A 72 DPI image will look fine on screen but WILL NOT print well. Graphics and logos found on websites are typically 72 DPI. The image below was print- ed from a 72 DPI image. [...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 51 4. Color Mode. Set the color mode in the source graphic application to CMYK. In most cases this will produce the most accurate color reproduction of the image on screen. However , if CMYK is not producing the desired color matching try changing the source image to RGB and then exporting the image again in one of[...]

52 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance D. CREA TE A SUPPORT REPORT If you are encountering any problems with you RX900 tech support may ask you to create a T ech Support Report. Y ou can do this from the Status Monitor by clicking the "i" icon and clicking Create Report… A zip file will be create on your desktop. E. CLEANING THE PRINTER I[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 53 F . CLEANING THE PRINTHEAD It may be necessary to clean the print head nozzles if you notice reduced print quality , or if you suspect a nozzle has become slightly dried out or clogged. If the printer has been switched off for several weeks you may have to perfor m both the automatic and manual method multiple t[...]

54 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance Manual method: 1. Remove the printhead using the instructions in Section 5G. 2. Moisten a lint-free cloth with water . 3. Hold the cloth against the nozzles for three seconds. This will “ wick” some additional ink onto the damp cloth. 4. W ipe in one direction only . 5. Repeat the process until all colors ap[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 55 2. Remove all cartridges. P ress the release tab at the front of the carriage to release the latch. 3. Remove the printhead. Grasp the printhead near the back as shown in the illustration. RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:33 PM Page 55 TO C INDEX[...]

56 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 4. Locate a new printhead and place it in the carriage. 5. Close the latch until you hear a click. RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:33 PM Page 56 TO C INDEX[...]

T r oubleshooting and Maintenance 57 6. P ress the P ause and Load/F eed buttons simultaneously to move the print carriage back to nor mal position. 7. Now align the print head as described in Section 5B. H. INTERPRETING THE PRINTER’S INDICA TOR LIGHTS Most error messages will appear on your computer screen via the Status Monitor application. How[...]

58 T r oubleshooting and Maintenance I. TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you have difficulties in operating your Printer , the proce- dures in this manual and the software User's Guide should, in most cases, solve the problem. If you still have difficulty , con- tact the technical support number using one of the methods listed below . Source Location Prim[...]

T echnical Specifications 59 Section 7: T echnical Specifications Print Method: Thermal inkjet with Primera Imaging P er fection enhancements Print Resolutions: Up to 4800 DPI Print Speeds: Draft Mode: 4.5" per second Normal Mode: 1.8" per second High Quality Mode: 0.8" per second Print Head: Semi-permanent, user-replaceable Ink T an[...]

60 Notices and W ar nings Section 8: Notices and W ar nings Notices : The information in this document is subject to change without notice. NO W ARRANTY OF ANY KIND IS MADE WITH REG ARD TO THIS MA TERI- AL, INCL UDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO , THE IMPLIED W ARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A P AR TICULAR PURPOSE. No lia- bility is assumed [...]

Notices and W ar nings 61 F or Users in Canada : This digital apparatus does not ex ceed the Class B limits for radio noise for digital apparatus set out on the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications. Le present appareil numerique n'emet pas de bruits radioelectriques depassant les limites applicables aux a[...]

62 Index Inde x Align Printhead ...............................................................................47 Alignment T ab ...........................................................................14, 21 Antenna ............................................................................................17 Barcode W izard ....................[...]

Index 63 Print Quality ..............................................................................42, 47 Printer Driver Settings ...................................................................40 Printhead Aligning.....................................................................................47 Cleaning .................................[...]

Printed in the United States of America P/N 511287 RX900.qxd 2/17/2011 1:33 PM Page 64[...]