MR0.5 firmware release brings the possibility of using negative margins, which enables full-bleed printing on rigid substrates so that any undesired white space or border around the job will be avoided.
Image size and substrate size
Negative margins are not applied to the job but to the sheet, so that “printable area” is increased (negative margins) or reduced (positive margins).
This technique allows an image to be printed larger than the substrate size. Once printed, the image will cover the whole print area of the substrate. In other words, to print full-bleed applications, the job must be slightly bigger than the sheet. The Internal Print Server does not scale the image.
When enabling the full-bleed option in the Internal Print Server, the system will set a margin of −8 mm on all edges of the substrate by default. However, margins can be set manually to any value you require.
IMPORTANT: In this firmware release, jobs are not centered automatically when enabling the full-bleed option. So, jobs must be centered manually by aligning them vertically and horizontally. This option is in the Internal Print Server's Job properties window.
In order to print full-bleed applications successfully, the job must be prepared in the RIP software so that it is larger than the substrate’s width and height (bleed area). When choosing the dimensions of the image, add 16 mm to the width and height (allowing for 8 mm on all sides). For example, a job of 50 × 35 cm should be set to 51.6 × 36.6 cm in size.
NOTE: Bleed area can be obtained by adding other values different from 8 mm on the edges. For instance, if you want a 50 × 35 cm job to have a bleed area, then you would want to set the substrate size to 50.8 × 35.8 cm (allowing for 4 mm on all sides), or 50.4 × 35.4 cm (allowing for 2 mm on all sides), and so on.
The Internal Print Server will display the job with a red border, marking it as unprintable (1), until you tap the Full bleed option so that it becomes printable (2).
