Double Sided on a Z3200?

[William Chitham]

A client has asked me to print a portfolio double sided on Hahnemuhle photorag duo or similar. I have only once attempted double sided printing and it was pretty disasterous so I've avoided it ever since. The problem is that the the first print is ruined by "tramlines" caused by the paper guides as it goes through the machine for the second time. Has anyone solved this, maybe a different brand of paper or protective spray or some radical machine modification?
William.

[sm906]

William,

I used to use Moab Entrada Natural Rag which in fact is a (excellent) double sided paper. And even though its pretty "thick" cotton paper (300g) I had no wheel marks or anything distracting on either side, when I made double sided prints. I did not do that very often, but when I did it worked flawlessly. It should be mentioned that was on my old HP Z2100, but that should not make a difference, since both models are identically constructed. Moab Kayenta is also a double sided paper made by Moab which should work fine, Entrada however delivers the better prints in terms of gamut and Dmax and paper feeling!

Thomas

[Ernst Dinkla]

Matte prints with slightly satinized tramlines showing on heavier parts of an image is what I see too. I print the lighter side (text etc) of a dual print first and the heavier one last. Most of the time that is acceptable in image quality and that lighter side dries faster and it is also better for the sides register to do the heavier side last. Some may go for the extra protection sheet underneath to avoid any marking but there are other issues like bad register, paper jams and loss of time getting it right.



--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
December 2012, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[MonsterBaby]

i use my z3200 pretty frequently for double sided portfolio prints.

1. its easier to use sheets than roll of course. both possible tho.

hahnemühle surface is more sensitive. then moab entrada. i ALWAYS use a second very thin 60g paper the same size as the print underneath the print. even when i print the first side otherwise i have rollermarks later when i print the back side as the rolls have dameged the surface before.

moab rag 190 i used from the roll.. tricky .. but once you get it .. the results are great.. also.. always a paper underneath!

[William Chitham]

Thanks for the replies, I've been experimenting with using a backing sheet and I think that is the solution for me. I'm printing images both sides, not just image and text so I can't rely on having a "light" image on one side. Moab paper isn't readily available in the UK and my client seems set on Hahnemuhle but I think I can make it work well enough using the backing paper technique.

By the way Ernst, thanks for your article on registration which I rediscovered the other day,

William.