Canon CLC 3220 enabling printing options / ports

[Guest]

A client of mine has a Canon iR CLC 3220 print system, which used to have a dedicated Firey computer, but now has been put onto the "corporate network" (after they were swallowed up by a larger office now not a printing company) for terms of efficiency. Except the corporate bods no nothing about the printing system, nor anything about printing, having lost the manuals, and all they have is a basic print driver (Windows in this case), which is only allowing poor colour / low res printing, via their corporate print server.

The original stand alone driver hand 100s of colour options etc. They have this great device now performing like a desktop laser printer. The output looks very poor from PDFs, which they output a lot. The printer is networked via Ethernet to the "big network".

Printing out the set-up pages shows Parallel port and AppleTalk are disabled, but there appears no way on the printer to enable them (parallel would be fine), searched for the manuals at Canon and nothing turns up.

At the very least if they could hook up a laptop (Win XP or possibly older OS 9 Mac needed AppleTalk) with a full authorised driver they could get the most out of it sending and printing PDFs direct. Their desktops are locked down so they can't install uptodate Canon drivers there, and they want a quick solution, until meetings get to the bottom of this (it's a big company, so this isn't going to be quick).

Is there any other solution to setting up a laptop with a port to enable it to print directly to Ethernet when required, without having to enable any other options (if that isn't possible)?

Edited to add - if it's not possible to enable parallel/appletalk - would it print from a standalone Mac running OS X (using TCP/IP rather than AppleTalk) or a standalone Windows XP system with the driver added via a TCP/IP printer port - either connected to the printer with a cross-over ethernet cable ? (TCP/IP protocols are active on the printer network setup according to the config print sheet).

[SCREWTAPE]

If there was a fiery attached previously, that fiery is going to be needed in order to print.
If you wanted to use the machine as a printer, you would need to add a printer kit.
Without either a fiery or kit , the machine is just a standalone copier for now.

As for the output. There are some things that can cause such issues with your copy quality.
Drums,
Calibration,Try doing a auto gradation.
Maintenance.

Do you still a have a printer tab showing on the control panel?

[teckat]

A client of mine has a Canon iR CLC 3220 print system, which used to have a dedicated Firey computer, but now has been put onto the "corporate network" (after they were swallowed up by a larger office now not a printing company) for terms of efficiency. Except the corporate bods no nothing about the printing system, nor anything about printing, having lost the manuals, and all they have is a basic print driver (Windows in this case), which is only allowing poor colour / low res printing, via their corporate print server.

The original stand alone driver hand 100s of colour options etc. They have this great device now performing like a desktop laser printer. The output looks very poor from PDFs, which they output a lot. The printer is networked via Ethernet to the "big network".

Printing out the set-up pages shows Parallel port and AppleTalk are disabled, but there appears no way on the printer to enable them (parallel would be fine), searched for the manuals at Canon and nothing turns up.

At the very least if they could hook up a laptop (Win XP or possibly older OS 9 Mac needed AppleTalk) with a full authorised driver they could get the most out of it sending and printing PDFs direct. Their desktops are locked down so they can't install uptodate Canon drivers there, and they want a quick solution, until meetings get to the bottom of this (it's a big company, so this isn't going to be quick).

Is there any other solution to setting up a laptop with a port to enable it to print directly to Ethernet when required, without having to enable any other options (if that isn't possible)?

Edited to add - if it's not possible to enable parallel/appletalk - would it print from a standalone Mac running OS X (using TCP/IP rather than AppleTalk) or a standalone Windows XP system with the driver added via a TCP/IP printer port - either connected to the printer with a cross-over ethernet cable ? (TCP/IP protocols are active on the printer network setup according to the config print sheet).

is there a metal box pictured below attached on back of the 3220 ???
images..jpg
or a Z3000

Z3000_front_angle&#.jpg

[converse]

Screwtape - it is already hooked up to a network, so can print via PCs, via a corporate network, but the quality is poor, looks like about 300dpi - is not quality issues with drums or that type of quality, it's more the resolution, shading, colours etc aren't anything as good as they were before. They certainly can't use it to proof colour jobs before sending to press. Hence want to try and connect direct via another interface.

Photocopies are perfect though. Printing a file to another proofing device and photocopying that page gives almost perfect colour matching quality and resolution to the original. But printing it direct via the corporate network to the device and small text starts to almost break up and colours are way off kilter. Hence must be the driver / network setup (which they have no direct access) rather than the device itself.

The Printing tab is available on the touch-screen.

teckat - Yes definitely, the first one with the small metal box (there is an Ethernet and Parallel connection from that box.) There are lots of other leads around the back, I assume for the finishing unit and other extra inputs.

[teckat]

below shows what type of half toning method is internally applied to each object type.
Halftone selections in the imageRUNNER
Method - - Text - - Graphics --Image -- Usage

Standard --Error Diffusion - - Resolution --Gradation -- " General Setting"

Resolution - - Resolution - - Resolution - -Resolution -"-Resolution" applied to all objects

Gradation - -Gradation - -Gradation - -Gradation "--Gradation" applied to all objects

Pattern 1 --Error Diffusion - - Error Diffusion - - Resolution - - "For printing text & graphics. Suitable for
documents, CAD.

Pattern 2 - -Error Diffusion --Error Diffusion --Gradation - - " For printing thin lines. Suitable for CAD,
photos, DTP

Pattern 3 --Error Diffusion - -Resolution - -Resolution - - " For printing text. Suitable for documents,
tables & graphics

Pattern 4 --Error Diffusion --Gradation --Gradation -- "For printing text and images and images.
Suitable for DTP, photos, web pages.

Pattern 5 - -Resolution - -Resolution --Gradation - -"Suitable for screen processing

Pattern 6 --Resolution --Gradation --Gradation --"For printing other graphics objects than
images and thin lines.
Suitable for photos and graphics



Specify Standard to express halftone screening optimized for text, graphics and images respectively. Specify Resolution to express resolution-optimized halftone screening. Specify Gradation to express gradation-optimized halftone screening. Specify Error Diffusion to express halftone screening optimized for text and thin lines. Patterns 1 through Pattern 6 provide six variations of halftone screening combining Resolution, Gradation, and Error Diffusion with text , graphics and images in six patterns.
The Halftone setting is located in different areas for each driver. For example, the Halftone setting is located under Image Quality on the Fiery Printing tab of the imagePASS C1 PS driver
kb..jpg
In the PCL5c driver, you must hit the Details button on the Quality tab to locate the Halftone setting.

2kb..jpg

[converse]

techtak, thanks for the info. I'm not sure the drivers are the same as shown above - but I'll check and try them out and get back to you. I suspect they have either the PCL or even a more basic generic driver as I've never seen any of the Postscript options (in the PS driver). Most of their work in PS based (either illustrator or EPS/PDF) so this could be an issue.

[teckat]

imagePASS C1
1. Print out a Configuration Page to verify. On the 2nd Page, under PS Setup, make sure the Toner Saver option is set to OFF. If it set to ON, please Run Setup and set Toner Saver Mode to OFF.

The way a PDF will print is often determined when the PDF is created. For example, a PDF file can be created by printing using the Adobe PDF Writer driver. Before creating a PDF in this manner, be sure to enter the Adobe PDF Writer driver's properties to check its settings.
When creating a PDF, there are many options to choose from for the Adobe PDF Conversion Settings. Please make sure to choose the option that best suits your needs. Standard is the default setting, which may not provide the best colors for printing. Standard, as explained below, is for viewing and printing business documents and not for higher end graphics files.

Standard - Use these settings to create PDF documents suitable for reliable viewing and printing of business documents. The PDF documents can be opened with Acrobat and Reader 5.0 and later.
High Quality - Use these settings to create PDF documents with higher image resolution for improved printing quality. The PDF documents can be opened with Acrobat and Reader 5.0 and later.
Press Quality - Use these settings to create PDF documents with higher image resolution for high quality pre-press printing. The PDF documents can be opened with Acrobat and Reader 5.0 and later. These settings require font embedding.

For best results on Fiery products, choose Fiery Optimized or FieryOptimized2

Some fonts cannot be downloaded to a printer, either because the font is a bitmap or because embedding of the font is restricted in that document. In these cases, a substitute font is used for printing, and the printed output may not match the screen display exactly. Ask the creator of the PDF document to send you a version of the PDF document with appropriately embedded fonts.

[converse]

Thanks again teckat, just had a test run!

The network driver is the PCL one, and regardless of what combination of settings we tried this afternoon, colours are muddy, detail lacking and text looks at 300dpi.

However I've managed to get a laptop connected with the downloaded PS driver (on a TCP port on XP), via a cross-over ethernet cable, the Fiery tab is available, and the printing difference is incredible.

The test PDF (which was properly produced to high and press quality settings, all directly from the Adobe CS suite, rather than via a PDF printer driver), printed absolutely perfectly on just the default PS driver settings, (colours matched the press-proof device they also print to), it's totally different to the PCL driver, which is obviously converting the PS/PDF file to PCL before printing.

This has proved the PCL driver on the corporate network to be the issue, and they can at least now lobby for the PS driver.

However, bizarrely just at the end of the test session the colours seem to be mis-registering on printouts (pure black fine, anything with colours shows a slight mis-alignment/registration issue, leading to the look of coloured items being out of focus), I assume this can be easily resolved by running a calibration from the touch-screen?

[teckat]

Thanks again teckat, just had a test run!

The network driver is the PCL one, and regardless of what combination of settings we tried this afternoon, colours are muddy, detail lacking and text looks at 300dpi.

However I've managed to get a laptop connected with the downloaded PS driver (on a TCP port on XP), via a cross-over ethernet cable, the Fiery tab is available, and the printing difference is incredible.

The test PDF (which was properly produced to high and press quality settings, all directly from the Adobe CS suite, rather than via a PDF printer driver), printed absolutely perfectly on just the default PS driver settings, (colours matched the press-proof device they also print to), it's totally different to the PCL driver, which is obviously converting the PS/PDF file to PCL before printing.

This has proved the PCL driver on the corporate network to be the issue, and they can at least now lobby for the PS driver.

However, bizarrely just at the end of the test session the colours seem to be mis-registering on printouts (pure black fine, anything with colours shows a slight mis-alignment/registration issue, leading to the look of coloured items being out of focus), I assume this can be easily resolved by running a calibration from the touch-screen?

great solution !!!!

I would have a tech check out the ITB belt unit/ black drive rollers inside belt may need to be cleaned/ or belt needs to be replaced / it drifts side to side or slips in paper feed direction when dirty or worn. U can try a DCon clear for a temp fix/ but u need to print out the P-PRINT SETTINGS/ & re load them back in service mode settings/ if u are not a tech or have no experience on the procedure, call for service

[mrfixit51]

Most larger business do their printing through a print server, just have the correct PS driver for the imagePASS loaded on the server, and point the people who need to print to it to that server. This seems to be a no brainer to me, even for "corporate wisdom" people. ;-)

[converse]

Totally agree, mrfixit51, however this particular corporate has little or no interest, to support (nor help) anything other than generic HP laser printers, and refused to approve any Postscript drivers so far. They want to get these offices to outsource printing to an "approved supplier", and to remove in-house work. They are a complete shower, and a huge step back for my client, before they were a small private outfit.

The actual office are currently investigating the alignment/registration issue...

[mrfixit51]

I have run into "HP Types" in the past, always looking down their nose at any other brand. Questions like, "why do they do it that way,with HP, blah, blah, blah...we do it this way"? good luck with them!