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E-KO RIP Center Install

Documentation › Use

User guide

Sending a job, the queue, printing, cutting, proofs, sheets, colour and media: every feature of the RIP.

The screen has three views, on the left: Jobs, Queue and System. The button on the right of the toolbar switches language (French or English). If the server has accounts, the screen asks you to sign in first (see Security in the server installation guide).

The screen

Work happens in the E-KO RIP Center client. The screen reads like a RIP queue: the toolbar on top (Import, then actions on the selected job: Print, Cut, Edit, Settings, Proof, Retry, Delete; search, theme ◐, language), on the left the views, the catalogue machines with their queued outputs and the saved presets, in the middle the job table, on the right the inspector of the selected job.

Sending a job

  1. Import: drop a file onto the dashed area, or click it to choose one. You can also drop one or more files anywhere on the window: they are all sent with the import settings.
  2. Pick the Mode:
    • Print (and cut): rendered into ink plates, plus cutting when the file has cut paths;
    • Cut only: nothing is printed; only the paths go to the cutter.
  3. Set the Resolution (360, 720 or 1440 dpi), the Paths to cut, the Media and print mode (see Media and print modes), the Cutter (see Cutting) and the Kona registration. The Colour, Quick edit, Automatic queueing, White, Background under marks, Cutting tolerance and Tiling blocks open with a click.
  4. Send to RIP.

Accepted formats: PDF, AI (saved with “Create PDF Compatible File”), SVG (cut only) and TIFF, PNG, JPEG images. An image is placed at its real size, from the resolution saved in the file (none: 72 ppi, and the job says so), in CMYK, RGB or greyscale, 8 or 16 bits, with its ICC profile; transparency lays no ink. Maximum file size: 8 GB (EKO_RIP_MAX_MO). Not supported yet: palette, YCbCr, Lab or planar TIFF, interlaced PNG (refused with a message).

A TIFF's spot colour channels: each becomes its own plate, laid over the colours without erasing them. Its name is the channel's name in Photoshop (no name: Spot1, Spot2…). A channel named White, Blanc, WH or Spot1 (case, spaces and _ ignored) gives the white plate. Photoshop selection channels (masks) are not printed. The job lists the plates taken: look at them before the first print, the value direction (light channel = no ink) has not yet been checked on a file from the workshop.

Alpha channel → white or varnish plate: in the White section of the send panel, the “Alpha channel” setting can also turn a cut-out PNG or TIFF's alpha into a White plate or a Varnish (spot varnish) plate that follows the cut-out exactly: opaque = full ink, soft edge included, no choke. A fully opaque alpha gives a plate over the whole image. If the TIFF already has a spot channel of the same name, that channel wins. An image without an alpha channel (JPEG) gets no such plate. Generated white (underlay, flood) is added on top if also chosen.

Automatic rotation and settings after import

Turn by itself when wider than the roll (ticked by default): if the page, registration included (frame, codes, margins), is wider than the printer's roll width (System > Machines) but fits turned 90°, the RIP turns it and says so with a job alert. No effect with a rotation chosen in quick edit or with tiling (the tiles handle it).

Settings (toolbar) reopens the import panel on the selected job: mode, registration, cutter, tiles, white, media, colour… Apply and render again starts from the original, without sending the file again.

Quick edit

Quick edit block of the send panel, or Edit button on a finished job (rendering is redone from the original file, no need to send it again):

Cutting follows the edit. A job with an output in the queue cannot be edited: cancel or finish the output first. The margin grows by itself to hold the marks, the label and the code.

Printed marks:

With Kona registration, crop marks and crosses are not printed (they would disturb the reading of the marks): a job alert says so.

Bleed on all 4 sides (Sides linked for one value everywhere), up to 100 mm. Fill: a colour (C, M, Y, K in %), the first edge pixel, a mirrored image, or edge duplication. Cut spot colours are not copied into the bleed. Trim white: white added around, beyond the bleed. Marks sit outside the bleed.

Printed label: name, date, W × H, panel, copies, mode and order, at the top or bottom of each panel, at the chosen text size. Copies and order reference print empty (“—”) until the job sheet exists.

QR code in the margin: top or bottom, code size, white around, error correction level (L, M, Q, H) and the tags to put in it (name, page, tile/total, date, job ID, cut ID, machine, order ref.). Optional Cut contour around the code.

Automatic queueing

Automatic queueing block: once rendered, each printable page goes to the Epson queue and each page to cut to the Kona queue (or the cutter chosen at import). Add on hold holds them: import ten files and release the ones you want from the queue. A cut that follows a print is always added on hold (the media must first move to the Kona). The setting is saved with the others: a hot folder can thus print on its own.

Several files can be chosen at once; each is sent with the same settings.

Proof (BAT)

Proof button on a finished job: an A4 landscape PDF to send to the customer, one page per job page: the image soft-proofed with the media profile, the cut line in magenta (not printed), the size in mm, the settings (mode, resolution, profile, white, edit, grommets), the preflight warnings and an “Approved for printing” box (date, name and signature). It comes out in the screen's language. A colour filter is mentioned, but the proof image does not show it.

Proof on another machine: with at least two printers, the page's Proof on… list (next to Print on…) picks the proof machine. Print on then queues two outputs: the "name-BAT" copy on the proof machine, and the requested print, on hold, showing Waiting for the proof with the proof's state. Once the proof is approved, Resume the original; rejected, Cancel it. Proofs are prints only, on a machine other than the requested one (nor of the same pool). The choice stays until changed: back to No proof.

TIFF proof

The TIFF proof toolbar button downloads a TIFF of the page being viewed, made from the rendered plates, that is from what goes to the machine. The page is at its exact size: the proof also serves to check a panel's dimensions before printing it.

Settings, in the TIFF proof section of the send panel (kept in a saved preset):

A proof that fails does not stop the job: it is listed in its alerts.

Visual editor (viewer)

Clicking a thumbnail (composite, plate, cut) in the inspector opens it large.

Viewing. Zoom from 25 to 800 % with the wheel (the point under the cursor stays put), with −, +, the % list, Fit and 100 % (actual size on screen). Hand tool (drag to move) and Magnifier (click: zoom in; Shift+click: zoom out; drag a rectangle: zoom on it). Rulers in mm on two edges; at the bottom, the page size and the cursor position in mm. Keyboard: + − 0 1 and arrows.

Roll width. Roll width box: the width of the media loaded in the Epson (otherwise the machine's roll width) is drawn; what overflows is in red, with the gap in mm.

Pages. A multi-page job shows a strip of thumbnails, one per page, the current one marked. ← → or PgUp PgDn change page; the chosen view (composite, cut, plate) is kept.

Selection. A click on the page selects it (frame and 8 handles); a click outside the page deselects it.

Layers. Right-hand panel: image, cut (in magenta), white and silver, switched on one by one. White and silver are the plates with the names the Epson recognises, tinted on the image. Kona marks are printed in the Black plate: no separate layer. The cut is only overlaid when the cut is placed like the print (no rotation or mirror in cut placement).

Editing the page

The editing tools only open on a rendered PDF without tiling. Each change is prepared on screen; Apply sends it and renders again, Discard changes goes back to the rendered state.

Undo / redo: ↶ and ↷, or Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z), Shift+Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y; 50 states at most. Going back to a state already rendered renders again; a state only typed in comes back into the panel.

Colour filter

Colour button in the viewer: Colour filter block, specific to the job. It acts on the CMYK plates, after the output profile and before automatic white; white, silver and cut are left untouched.

Panels and tiles

On a page wider than the roll, the viewer shows the panels dotted, their overlaps tinted and their numbers. Panels panel:

Split into panels applies. On a job already in panels, Apply keeps the changes and Whole page (no tiling) goes back to a single page.

Following jobs

Production view (top bar; System next to it), in three areas:

On the right, the inspector has four tabs: Job (the detail below), Machine (media, inks, heaters, alerts of the machine shown or of the chosen output), Settings (drop a file on a setting to import it with that setting; a click opens the import with it) and Log (the screen's messages, latest first). Below 1100 px, the inspector moves under the tables; below 1360 px, the bar's tools keep their symbol and their name goes to a tooltip.

Right click: on a row, the output's queue actions then the toolbar's; on a machine, show only it, see its state, re-read the Epson, configure it; on a table header, the columns to show or hide (name, state and thumbnail stay; the choice is kept on this computer). Drag and drop: in To print, a queued or held output takes the place of another one of the same machine.

Click a row to open its job in the inspector:

Warnings (⚠ badge): when a PDF to print is sent, the server flags fonts that are not embedded (another one will be used at rendering: outline the text or embed the font) and images under 100 ppi at their printed size. The cut preflight adds its own (see Cutting). The job still goes through: the operator decides.

Job ticket (inspector, folded under its title, with its summary): Order no., Customer, Company, Quantity due, Due date (tick box, then the date), Operator and Notes; Save the ticket. 200 characters per field, 2000 for the notes, quantity 100,000 at most. The quantity due is the number of copies placed on the nesting sheet and is printed on the label with the order no.; the due date is the nesting priority (nearest first, then jobs without one, then order of arrival). The table has a Due column, and the Sort choice (Arrival or Due date) above it.

Print this page (tick box on each page of the inspector, ticked by default): unticked, the page goes into neither the queue nor a nesting sheet (Not printed badge); an output already queued waits with the reason Page excluded. Ticked again, it comes back. An unticked page cannot be queued by hand either.

The search bar filters by name, order number, customer or company. Retry redoes a failed job; Delete removes a finished job (refused while an output is waiting for it in the queue).

Queue

Each machine's queue reads in the Production view (To print area, filtered by machine). The number of outputs still to run shows on the Production button.

Cut spot colours (CutContour…) never go to the printer. White is recognised as White, Blanc, WH, silver as Metallic, Silver, Argent, MS (Epson recommends White and Metallic). White or silver (White section of the job) puts it under the colour or over it (window film). Queuing is refused, with the reason, for any other spot colour (convert it to CMYK or rename it), or for white and silver on the same page.

Each print still to run shows its estimated time, and the column header the total left; so does the job card. Estimate: printed length × machine roll width ÷ speed. Epson default speed (Epson data sheet): 94 m²/h up to 360 dpi, 17 m²/h at 720 dpi (720 × 1440, 6 passes), 6.6 m²/h above; Speed (m²/h) in the machine editor overrides it (measure it in the workshop, and for the Roland). When an output finishes or fails, the screen says so, and the system too if the client may show notifications.

Each machine runs one output at a time, in its column's order. On an output still to run: To top, Up, Down, Hold / Resume, Cancel. An output on hold does not run; the next ones pass it. History keeps finished outputs: Redo runs the same output again without re-rendering, Remove deletes it from the history. Archive keeps archived cuts (see After cutting): Restore or Remove.

Wait reason. An output that cannot go says so with a red badge (hover for details), and lets the next ones pass (an output held by an operator simply stays On hold):

A print placed on a sheet becomes Nested ("on" the sheet's name): it no longer leaves alone, the sheet prints it. It cannot be Redone until its sheet is printed (that would print it twice); Remove is still possible.

An output cut short by a server shutdown does not restart by itself (a cut cannot resume halfway): it becomes Failed, and Redo runs it again.

Direct Epson driver

With an Epson SC-S80600 on a Network (TCP) connection, the printer's IP address and TCP port 9100 (System > Machines), the RIP sends the print itself: the C, M, Y, K plates of the rendering are split over the machine's 9 inks (light/dark pairs, ink limit), screened with 4 dot sizes and sent band by band. First CMYK flat printed on 25/10, colours right.

Known limits: only the prints of 25/10 have been made; other resolutions and real media are still to be proven in the workshop.

Plates

One plate per ink: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, plus one plate per spot colour in the PDF. For the Epson SC-S80600:

On a plate preview, black is ink and white is no ink.

Cut spot colours (CutContour…) are never printed and never knock out the ink beneath them, even without overprint in the file: at rendering they become the PDF standard's None colorant. So there is no white hairline along the cut.

Automatic white

White block (Print mode): the White plate is generated after rendering.

White already drawn in the file (White spot colour) is kept: the final white is the union of both. The generated plate shows in the previews, counts in the cost and goes to the Epson with the other plates (through a Folder connection for now, see the direct driver). A saved preset keeps the white choice.

Cutting

Paths painted in a cut spot colour are detected. A cut spot colour at 0 % is not cut. With All paths, every path in the file is cut (cut-only files). Paths are clipped to the page, and to the box of a PDF form: the blade never leaves the media.

Cut prefixes

System > Cutting, Cut prefixes (separated by ;): a spot colour is a cut one if its name starts with a prefix. Default: CutContour, Thrucut, Kisscut, InsideCut, Perforation, Creasing, Score, VCut. Case, spaces and dashes ignored: CutContour matches CutContour1 and CutContourKissCut, not 1CutContour. A change applies to the next renderings: restart a job already rendered.

Cut layers

Cut layers panel of the inspector: one layer per spot colour name, with its number of paths.

A job from before layers keeps its former cut setting: it goes to the layer of the same name or to the only layer; otherwise the panel says so, to choose layer by layer.

Within a layer, a contour inside another (the hole of an “O”, a window) is cut before it, so the piece does not move; at equal depth, the blade goes to the nearest contour (see path sorting below).

On the machine, One layer at a time (System > Machines): for a cutter that cannot change tool or setting during a cut, each layer becomes an output, the next one held until Resume.

Preflight

At rendering, the RIP flags (job warnings):

Cutter and cut after print

Cutter (send panel): the machine where the automatic cut goes. While it is not usable (missing, offline, badly connected, or a layer with no setting on it), printing waits: nothing goes out, so no ink or media is wasted. A cut waits until its page is 100 % printed.

Cut placement

Cut placement panel of the inspector. It turns the job for the cutter, not the file, without rendering again:

Save cut placement rebuilds the cut files. The expansion does not replace the printer-cutter calibration (the machine's offset X / Y).

Cutting tolerance

Cutting tolerance block of the send panel, Add bleed near cuts: ink that stops within the proximity threshold of a closed contour is carried up to the contour, then beyond it over the given width (0.1 to 10 mm): the cut leaves no white edge. The composite preview does not show it, the plates do. Use cautious values; it does not replace calibration.

Open paths and sorting

In System > Cutting (on by default):

Cut on arrival and after cutting

Cut on arrival (machine, System > Machines, ticked by default): unticked, each cut arrives on hold in the machine's queue and goes when the operator clicks Resume.

After cutting (System > Cutting): do nothing (history) (default), archive (can be restored), or remove from the queue. An archived cut leaves the queue and goes to its machine's Archive; Restore puts it back in the queue (on hold on a machine without cut on arrival).

Auto contour

Auto contour panel of each printed page of a PDF: the RIP analyses the rendered image, removes the white around it and proposes a cut contour (CutContour). Settings: White threshold (1–255), Remove those smaller than (mm²), Smoothing (0–5), Outward offset (mm), Remove inner contours. Preview first (number of contours and drawing), then Accept: the cut files are rebuilt. Remove the auto contour takes it off. A new rendering erases it. Only on the rendering of a PDF.

Bowing compensation

In Cut placement, Compensate media bowing: once the dryers are hot, the print comes out bowed (middle behind the edges); the cut follows. Set the Media width (mm) (the curve is centred on it), the Start (mm of feed), counted from the top of the page (nothing before), and the Sag (mm). The curve sets in over 50 mm. Measure it on a print.

Machine variants

System > Machines, Duplicate (other set of marks) on a cutter: a variant, the same physical machine, with its own Set of marks (or — the job's —). Connection, model and cut settings are taken from the original machine at every save. A job assigned to the variant gets its marks; its cut goes through the original machine, one output at a time.

Kona registration

In Print mode, Kona registration adds around the image:

Automatic multi-frame: with type 2, a page 1.5 m or longer in the feed direction takes the multi-segment frame (type 3) by itself, and its file the MF suffix. The Kona manual (§ 6.3) advises against a single frame beyond 2 m and against a multi-frame under 1.5 m.

Types 2 and 3 follow the tables of the Kona application guide (ch. 4.4.2); the place of the top code and the type 3 marker spacing are read from its drawings, without dimensions (type 3 still to be proven).

Every frame carries an ▲ arrow in its inner bottom-right corner: it points to the edge that leaves the Epson first, the one fed first into the Kona (from the rear).

Registration warnings: an image under 25 cm per side is flagged (size advised for Kona registration). The “under 5 cm of white” warning between image and marks is suspended: our frames leave 10 mm, the rule is still to be proven on the machine.

Background under marks (send panel block), for dark, clear or reflective media: Print a background under the marks lays a band of ink beyond each mark and barcode (Margin around the marks, 0.5 to 13 mm), or, with Flood the whole marks area (image excluded), their whole area. Ink: white (White spot colour) or CMYK (values in %). The black marks are printed over it with overprint: the background stays under them too.

Sending to the Kona. The RIP sends the cut as Mutoh CutServer does: with a frame it declares two opposite frame corners (line centres), the Kona scans it, reads the code, then cuts. Cut settings (speed in cm/s, force in g, acceleration in G) are declared per machine in System > Machines, like CutServer's "cut layers"; the first is the default. As in CutServer, each can also keep the cutter defaults (nothing sent), force a tool (1 to 4), and follow a cut pattern: up to 10 "down/up" pairs in mm (8/2 8/2 = cut 8 mm, lift 2 mm), with spread (a whole number of patterns per straight line, the cut starting and ending at sharp corners). Each cut layer goes out with its own setting. .plt file with ?machine=kona gives the file as the Kona receives it, to send by hand (serial port 9600, 8N1, RTS/CTS). If the cut comes out turned 180°, tick cut turned on the machine.

The printed page grows accordingly, and the cut file follows the same offset. The Kona must be set to a resolution of 0.010 mm.

Presets and hot folders

Save… keeps the whole panel under a name (letters, digits, spaces, -, _, +). Picking it in Preset fills the panel; Delete removes it.

Each preset has a hot folder: /var/lib/eko-rip/entrees/<preset name>/ on the server. A PDF, AI, SVG, TIFF, PNG or JPEG dropped there becomes a job with that preset once its copy is complete (size stable for 5 s). A rejected file is moved to refuses/, with a .refus.txt file giving the reason.

Automatic folder: /var/lib/eko-rip/entrees-auto/ picks the preset itself, from the Automatic folder rules (administrator, System). They are tried top to bottom (↑ moves a rule up), and the first that matches gives its preset:

Example: BACHE_* → Banner; *.pdf, long side from 2000 to empty → Large format; * → Vinyl. A file no rule takes goes to entrees-auto/refuses/ with its reason. The rules are part of the configuration backup.

Several renders at once: the server renders several jobs at the same time (one per core, 4 at most, set by EKO_RIP_RENDUS), shown in System > Simultaneous renders. Arrivals from hot folders and from the ERP are queued in the order they were dropped, even when a small file finishes rendering before a large one that came earlier. A file sent by hand from the screen goes ahead of the automatic arrivals waiting for rendering, and is queued as soon as it is ready.

Tagged name pattern (same editor, optional): the file name itself carries the preset and more. With {nom}__{machine}__{reglage}__{copies}, Affiche__epson__bache__30.pdf gives the Banner preset, the Epson and 30 copies. Each tag takes the text up to the separator that follows it; the last one runs up to the extension. The double __ separator is advised: a single _ often appears in names. Two tags must be separated, and each is used once. Tag names are the French ones below.

TagEffect
{nom}Free text (name), no effect.
{reglage}Saved preset, ignoring case, accents, spaces, - and _ (bache = "Bâche").
{machine}Catalogue machine, by identifier or name: printer of the automatic queuing, or cutter of the job.
{support}Epson media, by name.
{copies}Job ticket quantity (1 to 100,000).
{repetition}Prints of each page queued straight away (1 to 100).
{laize}Roll width of the preset's tiling, in mm (1600 or 1600mm).
{echelle}Scale in % (200, 12,5%).
{largeur} / {hauteur}Wanted width / height in mm, for a PDF: the scale follows (the smaller one when both are given).

A name that does not follow the pattern, or a value that cannot be read, is not refused: the job goes through the rules and carries a warning ("Name off the tagged pattern", "Name tag not recognised"), also written to the server log. Without a recognised {reglage}, the rules pick the preset; if none takes the file, the refusal reason lists these warnings.

Two boxes of the upload panel, kept in the preset, are mostly for hot folders:

Export, import (administrator, System > Configuration backup): Export presets downloads all saved presets, for another server; Import presets takes in those of an export. If the name exists: rename ("name 2") or overwrite. Everything is checked before writing.

Tiling

Tiling block: tick Split into panels when wider than the roll, set the roll width and the overlap (area printed on both neighbouring panels, for gluing or welding). Panels start with the same width. Each panel becomes a page of the job, with its own cut clipped to its edge. Panel number and joining marks adds a 10 mm band at the foot of each panel: “Lé 2/3” and a vertical mark where the neighbouring panel stops or starts, to line panels up when installing.

The block also sets the Maximum tile height (the page is then split into rows: columns × rows), the Weld (overlap with no ink under the neighbour, at least 12.7 mm) and the Cut line in the middle of each overlap. Unequal panels, tiles not to print, a tile's own overlap and the print order are set in the viewer (see Panels and tiles).

Sheet (nesting)

On each printable page, tick Add to sheet and enter the number of copies. The Sheet panel appears above the list: set the roll width (usable width, 1600 mm by default) and the spacing, then Build the sheet. Before it is built, the panel draws the imposition: the roll at its width, each item in place (hover: name and size), the roll length and the share of area used; it updates on every change. With Rotate 90° when the sheet gets shorter, four orientations are tried (as is, all rotated, all lying, all standing) and the shortest on the roll is kept; an item wider than the roll only fits rotated. The resolution and registration of the New job panel apply. Items are placed tallest first, left to right; the sheet is a new job, with all contours cut.

Outline of the whole sheet (NestTrimBox layer) adds a cut rectangle around the placed items, in its own NestTrimBox layer, cut last and never printed. Top margin (mm) and Bottom margin (mm) (0 to 200) leave blank above and below the items, for the cutting table.

A page that carries cutter marks (Kona registration, frame…) but no cut path at all gets the warning: Cutter marks are printed, but the page has no cut path: ink and media for nothing.

With Nest on the shape of the cut contours, each item takes the room of its cut contour plus the spacing instead of its rectangle: circles staggered, triangles head to tail (with rotation, angles 0, 90, 180 and 270° are tried). An item without a closed contour keeps its rectangle. The imposition then draws the contours. Nesting runs on a grid whose step is 1/800 of the roll width (1 mm at least): a cut never touches its neighbour, but the actual gap may exceed the requested spacing by one step. The share of area used counts the area of the cut contours, in both modes.

Step & repeat pattern repeats one page in a grid: columns × rows, at the chosen spacing. With Half drop, every other column moves down half a height (wallpaper repeat). The ticked number of copies is ignored; the grid must fit the roll width (100 columns, 500 rows and 2000 copies at most). The cut follows every copy.

Manual sheet (API; the screen will come with the native clients)

POST /api/planches and /api/planches/apercu take three more fields (only one of motif, manuel and gabarit):

Nesting in the queue

Instead of leaving one by one, the prints waiting for the same printer can leave together on a sheet: they are placed side by side across the roll width, and the sheet leaves when its trigger is reached, or on Print now.

Setting (System > Machines)

For each printer, under its settings (hover the rows for help):

What nests together

Only jobs with the same media, the same print mode, the same cutter ("none" included: a job to cut on the Kona and a job without a cut make two sheets) and the same mirror share a sheet; and what the sheet has only once: the resolution, the registration, the colour (profiles, intent), the white, the ink layers, the Background under marks, the Paths to cut and the Cutting tolerance; finally the cut settings chosen per layer (two jobs that choose two different settings for the same layer do not nest together). A layer unticked on a job is not cut on the sheet. Only PDFs nest; a page wider than the roll enters no sheet.

Queue > nest in progress

In the Queue view, the column of a printer that nests shows "Nesting: strategy" and, above its outputs, each Nest in progress — n pages:

When the sheet leaves, it becomes a job "Imbrication machine — n page(s)", rendered then queued on the printer (and on the group's cutter if it has one). Its ticket carries the orders placed, the nearest due date and, in the notes, each page with its copies. The placed prints (and the queued cut of those pages) become Nested.

Abandoned sheet: rendering failed, sheet job deleted, or the sheet's print cancelled, failed or removed before being printed. Its jobs go back to the queue by themselves, in their previous state (a held cut comes back held), and into the nest in progress. Nothing comes back from a printed sheet. An abandoned sheet can no longer be redone: Redo on its output, Retry on its job or queuing it again is refused (Abandoned sheet: its jobs went back to the queue…), otherwise its jobs would print twice; Print now on the nest in progress makes a correct new one. A printed sheet, on the other hand, can be Redone (a wanted reprint).

Colour

Colour block (Print mode):

Spot colours that have their own ink (White, Silver…) are never converted. To adjust a job's colours: the viewer's colour filter.

Spot colour table

System > Spot colours (administrator): a spot colour in the file whose name is in the table is printed in CMYK from its Lab colour, not from the fallback colour written in the PDF. The conversion goes through the job's output profile and intent; the preview shows the Lab colour. The job says so ("Spot colours printed in CMYK from the table").

System

System view: server version, job retention (30 days by default, set with EKO_RIP_CONSERVATION_JOURS) and free space on the data disk, in red under 10 %. A missing or damaged state file or folder is flagged there (“Files and folders”). The Cutting block (administrator) holds the cut prefixes, non-printing layers, open paths, path sorting and the After cutting choice (see Cutting).

Machines

System > Machines: the workshop's machine catalogue (one sheet per model: help by machine). For each: an id (lowercase, digits, -), a name, the model (Epson SC-S80600, Mutoh Kona, Graphtec FC7000, Roland VersaCAMM VP), the roll width, the connection (serial or USB-serial, TCP network, device such as /dev/usb/lp0, or folder), the SNMP address to read the loaded media, the cut step (0.01 mm for the Kona, 0.025 mm by default elsewhere) and the cut offset X / Y (−20 to 20 mm): the gap measured on a test cut between cut and print, added to every cut sent to that machine. Also: the Print origin X / Y (Epson, direct driver), the Speed (m²/h), the Pool, and for a cutter its cut settings, Cut turned (180°), One layer at a time, Cut on arrival and Duplicate (other set of marks), and for a printer its Nesting (see Nesting in the queue). Save applies at once: the print and cut buttons, the queue and the sidebar follow. A machine with an output still to run cannot be removed.

Printer pool: the same Pool name on identical machines (same model, same roll width). A Print on pool "…" button appears on each page; the output shows at every member and goes to the first machine ready, which takes it. Refused if the known loaded media of the members differ: load the same media, or duplicate the machine.

Media and print modes

System > Epson media (administrator): the media catalogue. For each: Name, No. in the printer (the media number stored in the Epson, which lets the loaded media be recognised), Roll width (mm), Inks, and its print Modes, written Name = 720 dpi / 8 passes; Other = 360 dpi / 4. An optional third field gives the small, medium and large droplet volume for the estimated ink: Other = 360 dpi / 4 / 5-10-15 pL. Without it, 5-10-15 pL: starting values chosen by us (in proportion to the three dot sizes of the screening), to calibrate. Prices stay in “Ink and media costs”, linked by name. Each media and each mode keeps a stable identifier: renaming does not change it.

Two more optional fields, in any order after the passes, set the mode's light-ink separation (direct Epson driver): Poster = 720 dpi / 8 / sharp / 260 %.

Proposed ink limit. Print patches of increasing total ink (for instance 100 to 400 % in 20 % steps), measure their L*, then send the series to POST /api/linearisation/limite-proposee ({"mesures": [[100, 58.0], [120, 47.2], …]}). The answer proposes the limit: the last step that still darkens by at least 1 L* per extra 10 % of ink, rounded down to 5 %; a step that gets lighter (bronzing, bleeding) stops it. Nothing is saved: read the returned gains, check the patch once dry, then enter the limit in the mode.

Linearisation chart: GET /api/linearisation/mire.cgats?n=21 (option encres=C,Lc,M) gives a CGATS chart with one patch per ink and step, denser in the highlights: 8 patches under 20 % out of 21, against 4 for an even ramp.

Grey calibration (G7-style, API): GET /api/g7/mire.cgats?n=21 gives the chart, a CMY ramp with equal parts and a black ramp, from 0 to 100 %. Once the chart is printed, send its measurements (L*a*b* per patch) to POST /api/g7/iterations: {"nom": "Epson / banner", "mesures": [{"rampe": "cmy", "pct": 50, "l": 58.1, "a": 1.2, "b": -0.4}, …]} (optionally with engraissement, the dot gain at 50 %, 22 % by default, and aplats: the a*b* of the C, M and Y solids). Each ramp needs its paper (0 %), its solid (100 %) and at least three patches in between. The answer gives:

Print the next chart with the curves of the best iteration, and say so with "avec": <its number> when sending the measurements. The new correction is then composed with those curves. A worse iteration does not erase the best one, and the last 50 are kept. Changing engraissement or aplats recomputes every iteration against the new target. The grey target keeps the paper's tint, which fades as the grey darkens. Our own method and values: this is not a G7 certification. The curves will apply to rendering with per-mode linearisation (8.2). Admin only, and included in the backup.

When sending, Media and print mode: the mode sets the rendering resolution; the media links to the price list. — resolution set by hand — keeps the panel's resolution. Changing mode on a received job renders again.

Loaded media (System > Media loaded in the Epson): recognised by its number read from the printer, or chosen by the operator in the list (the choice wins until set back to — read from the printer —). A number unknown to the catalogue is flagged. A print waits until the loaded media is the job's (Other media), then leaves by itself; the loaded roll's width bounds the page (Too wide). Unknown loaded media: nothing is blocked.

Media package: Export (on a media row) gives one file with this media, its modes and the presets that use it, without ICC profile. Import a media package takes it in on another server: identifiers kept, re-import without duplicates; a package made by a newer version is refused (update this server first).

Media loaded in the Epson

System > Media loaded in the Epson: the width of the loaded roll, which the printer measures when loading, is read over the network (SNMP, standard Printer-MIB) and becomes the roll width of the Sheet and Tiling panels (Use as roll width, Read again). Set the Epson's IP address in EKO_RIP_EPSON_SNMP (see the server installation guide). Validated on the SC-S80600: the screen also shows the remaining roll length, the media number, the heaters, the level of each ink, the alerts and the loaded media.

Actual consumption: the server reads the Epson every minute (inks and roll) and keeps each change in releves/epson.jsonl (data folder). The screen shows what was used over 7 days; the API GET /api/machines/epson/consommation?depuis=&jusqua= (Unix seconds) gives it for any period. Only decreases count: a new ink pack or roll is not counted as consumption. The printer reports ink only to the nearest %: the figure is reliable over time, not for a small job.

Ink and cost

Each printed page shows its area, estimated ink and cost: 0.42 m² · ink 3.1 ml · ≈ €1.92 (ink €0.44, media €1.48). Under each plate thumbnail, its ink rate (share of the page covered at 100 %).

The calculation: for each plate, rate × area × ml/m² at 100 % gives the ml, then ml ÷ 1000 × price per litre the cost; media costs area × price per m². Cut spot colours are not counted.

Rates are set in System > Ink and media costs: one row per ink (ml/m² at 100 % and € per litre), an All others row for empty boxes, and the media price per m². The shipped values (10 ml/m², Epson 700 ml cartridge at €123.90 incl. VAT i.e. €177/l, HEXIS V3000WG media at €1.97/m² on 1600 mm × 45 m rolls) are starting values: replace them with the workshop's own (weigh cartridges before and after a known print, invoices). A rate change also applies to jobs already done.

Cartridges: enter a cartridge's size (ml) and price; the price per litre follows. Media (rolls): a catalogue, each medium with its price per m², or its roll width, length and price paid (the price per m² is computed). The medium is chosen on sending (Media (cost price), kept in presets); with a known width, the media counted is the whole roll width over the printed length. The job card shows its cost price (ink + media).

Excl. or incl. VAT: state whether the prices entered include VAT, the VAT rate (20 % by default) and the basis of the cost price shown (excl. VAT by default); the card, each page's estimate and the CSV (base column) follow.

Two reports: Export consumption (CSV) gives the real figures, one row per print in the log (see below); Export estimates (CSV) gives the estimate, one row per page of each rendered job, printed or not: UTC date, job, page, media, area, media area, estimated ml per ink (BK_ml, C_ml, M_ml, Y_ml, WH_ml, MS_ml, spot colours in autres_ml), ink and media costs, total and VAT basis. Same conventions: ; separator, comma decimals, fixed columns, a total row equal to the sum, period through /api/rapports/estimations.csv?depuis=&jusqua= (job creation date, Unix seconds).

Known limit: without a known roll width, the media counted is the page area, not the roll length used across the whole roll width.

System > Print log: each finished print, most recent first (the last 200): Date, Machine, Job (and its page), Media, Mode, Operator (the one on the job ticket), Area, Length, Estimated ink, Real ink, Gap and Ink cost. Hovering the estimated or real ink gives the detail per ink (BK, C, LC…).

Real ink: through the direct driver, the server reads the Epson (SNMP) just before sending and just after the print ends, on top of the reading every minute. What dropped between the two is stored in the output; the queue shows it on the line of the finished output: Measured: ink 14 ml, media 574 mm. The printer only gives ink to the nearest % of a pouch (1 % of 700 ml = 7 ml):

The pouch size is the cartridge entered in “Ink and media costs” (row of the ink, of its plate or All others), 700 ml otherwise. Without an SNMP address, the real ink is not measured.

Length: 369 → 574 mm (waste 204 mm): the page length, the length measured on the roll between start and end, and the difference (lead-in, empty head, margins). 🏭 To be checked at the workshop on a real print (24/10: a 369.8 mm job, 574 mm measured, i.e. 204 mm of waste).

Estimated ink: through the direct driver, the dots laid by the screening are counted ink by ink and size by size; ml = Σ dots × droplet volume of the mode (see “Media and print modes”), times the validated correction factor. A folder output (continuous-tone plates, screened by other software) is not computable: no ink and no ink cost, rather than a false figure. The estimate shown on the job card before printing remains the one from the preview coverage.

CSV reports: CSV report per print (one row per print) and CSV report per day (one row per day and machine), with a last total row equal to the sum of the rows. ; separator, comma decimals, columns always the same and in the same order: identity (UTC date, machine, job, page, number of prints, media, mode, dpi, operator), area, planned and real lengths, waste, estimation method (points or non calculable), estimated and real ink side by side (totals, sous_seuil, gap in %, then an <ink>_estime_ml / <ink>_reel_ml pair for each of the 11 catalogue inks), costs and VAT basis. The address /api/rapports/consommation.csv?depuis=&jusqua= (Unix seconds) limits it to a period.

Retention (days) (administrator): older prints leave the log, 90 days by default; the purge runs every 5 minutes. Purge the log asks how many last days to keep (0: erase all). Jobs and the queue are never touched. The printer readings stay.

Estimated ink correction factors (administrator): one factor per machine, resolution and ink, 1 by default. The server proposes real ink ÷ estimated ink over the last 10 measured prints of each combination; Apply validates it, Reset to 1 removes it. It only applies to the following prints: the log keeps each one's factor. Retention and factors are in the configuration backup.

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Glossary

The words of the screen, with their French equivalent: glossary.

Found a mistake or something missing? Suggest a fix or write to contact@e-ko.rip.