Using the Large Format Printer at Techshop Menlo Park

This will be a quick instructable on how to set up a basic file to make a great looking picture on the large format printer.

Step 1: Loading the Paper Into the Machine.

Place the head of the spindle on top of your foot. This must be done because once you release the left side bracket the rod will fall to the floor and damage the end piece of the spindle.  Put your desired paper onto the spindle.

Place the left bracket nice and snug to the roll of paper.  Flip the locking lever down to secure the bracket in place.

Place the spindle and paper in the machine gently.  The roll should slide down without any force.  Once that is in place roll the paper out and into the mouth of the printer.

On the control panel to the right select the type of paper you will be printing on.  Once you choose this the paper will begin to feed back and forth.  This is the printer trying to align the paper correctly.  You may have to re feed the paper if the printer finds that it is too far off alignment.  Simply roll the paper back nice and tight and make sure it is flush with the right side bracket.  This will help align the paper when you feed it into the mouth of the printer.

Step 2: Printing Your Picture.

Once you have your picture selected save it to the computer or upload it into a program if you want to do some editing.  I simply saved mine as a pdf and printed that way.

Make sure you select the Canon iPF750(Copy1) printer.  This is the printer at the Menlo Park location.

Select the type of paper you will be using by selecting the appropriate paper from the media type drop down menu.

Under detailed settings, I changed the drying time in between scans to 3sec. I did this to ensure there would be no smudging of the ink.  This is a good idea especially with your larger more detailed prints.

To change the size of your print to the desired size I went to the Page Setup tab and selected custome paper size from the page size drop down menu.  From there I entered the size I wanted my print to be.

Step 3: Your Print!

It's time to print!  Once you press the button the printer does the rest.  Make sure the catch at the bottom is open so your picture isn't just printing onto the floor.  Once your print is done the printer will cut your print off the roll of paper.  Another reason to check that the catch is open.

To eject the spindle and paper, depress the lever on the right hand side of the printer. This will release the spindle from the printer.  Now you can roll the paper back onto the reel by doing the reverse of loading the paper.  Now just repeat the steps from step one in reverse to remove the paper from the spindle.  Now when you request a print job to be done at Techshop Menlo Park, the staff will load and unload the paper for you.  It never hurts to learn the steps in case this changes.  Once your print is done, alert one of the staff members and they will be more then happy to help you.  All pricing and paper info is up front with the friendly front desk staff.  Happy printing!