Repeats Issues

The following are special issues to bear in mind when using Repeats.

Making Seamless Repeats

The specialized halftoning and resampling in Wasatch SoftRIP can produce flawlessly seamless patterns, but only if there are no "edge problems" with the file that is being repeated. An inconspicuous single row of pixels that are faintly off-color at the edge of a Tiff file can become a very visible seam when that file is turned into a pattern of repeats.

Additional uncertainty arises when printing from PostScript files, due to the unpredictable behavior of "resolution independent" graphics when rendered at the edge of the page. With PostScript (or PDF or EPS) input, it is important to print test swatches and to make adjustments to cropping where needed.

The cropping tools and the viewing of the low-resolution previews in Wasatch SoftRIP are not sufficient by themselves to ensure seamless repeats. Test swatches are important, particularly when printing directly from PostScript files.

Issues with Continuous Mode

Most textile printing looks fine with "High Speed Mode", but when the halftone function must be continuous across all "seams", "Continuous Mode" is needed

Continuous mode involves some special processing techniques. Unlike other types of jobs produced with Wasatch SoftRIP, repeat jobs are not screened during initial rasterization. Screening is performed "late", on a continuous basis as the repeat pattern is physically output to the printer.

This makes the screening itself "perfectly seamless" across repeat boundaries. It enables "endless" output to be generated from a reasonably small file, one that contains a single repeat. It also introduces some special considerations and limitations for these jobs:

• Print jobs created with the Repeats option cannot be rotated/sized/scaled on the layout and must be modified before being added. If a pre-RIP'd Repeats job is added to the Layout tab, it will appear with a blue solid border indicating that it cannot be changed. Repeats jobs cannot be mixed with non-repeats generated jobs unless the output device is contone.
• Repeat jobs should be printed with 'Precision Stochastic' halftoning. Other choices may produce various problems.
• Repeat jobs cannot be printed using 'Immediate Print' mode
• In "Continuous Mode", because "computationally expensive" screening is performed simultaneously with output of data to the printer, it is especially important to use a fast computer.