The Mimaki UJF-3042 Mk II is a feature packed machine. We’re going to be looking at the Jig Print feature in Rasterlink 6 which is handy when printing batches of the same product.
The Mimaki 3042 MKII printer is a bit of a favourite here at YPS HQ. The versatility to print on a whole range of items never gets old and I’m sure those that own a small flatbed printer can back me up on this!
If you regularly print batches of the same product then you most likely own a jig specially made for the job. But what if you take on work that requires a jig but you do not wish to commission a jig to be made? Or if you have purchased a jig without an accompanying template file? Of course, the artwork can be set up in Illustrator or another design program but why not take advantage of the Jig Print feature in Rasterlink 6?
Today we will be setting up a jig for PVC business cards.
How to get started with Jig Print
First things first, we need to open the artwork in Rasterlink 6 as normal. We need to select the quality and settings that we want to print our cards at.
Once this has been set, we can now select the Jig Print button, defined by the printer with a 6 piece block behind it. Rasterlink 6 comes with some jig templates preset. We need to create a new jig layout. We do this by typing in a name for the layout then clicking the green plus symbol.
We can then begin to edit the layout for the jig. The default sizes automatically put the table size as A3 but this can be adjusted if you’re using a jig that is larger than the print area.
We can now put in the size of the item we will be printing on. Our business card is 86mm x 55mm and we can fit 18 comfortably on to the print bed. Using ‘Intervals’ we can adjust the space between the cases to make the most of the print area. There are several adjustments that can be made as we work through the settings.
‘First Position’ allows us to alter the edge measurements of the jig layout. ‘Layout’ allows us to make adjustments to the alignment of the image. For the business cards, we will choose to have the artwork centrally aligned so when printed it is central on the card. The ‘Adjustment’ option allows changes to be made to the position of an individual position if needed.
Once the jig is set up, select ‘read only. We can now print a copy of the jig on to a piece of paper on the print bed. A print job is created in Rasterlink separately and if no changes are necessary, this can be used for any future print orders without setting up a new jig. Once the jig is printed on the paper, we can place our cards on the bed and proceed with printing our cards. Select the number of cards required using the copies option in the Jig layout and then rip and print as normal.
Multiple artwork pdf files can also be uploaded and arranged quickly using the jig as a preset.
So there you have it, the jig print feature is a neat little tool that once set up can make batch printing easier without the need to create layouts in illustrator
The Mimaki UJF-3042 MkII LED UV printer is available now. For more information, contact the team on 0191 256 6889.