General ALPS printer Questions??

Looking at Alps printers for doing up waterslide decals. Is an MD-1000 capable of doing that and can it be configured to run in Windows XP? Any limits to this printer for doing up decals? Also, I assume here to print white one would just load the white print cartridge. How do you tell the printer to print in white only? Also, can you print to an Alps directly from say MS Word, Powerpoint, or any PDF file? Thanks.

 

Well, I'll answer the easy part - to tell the printer to use all one color, you choose the "use spot colors" option and then choose the appropriate spot color to use.
Your artwork for each color should be black with a white background.

You can print to an ALPS from any application, like any printer, but Vector graphics
objects will not loose any resolution.

I have an MD-5000 that runs from Windows XP - my only problem is the interface
shows up with oriental characters. I have made notes on which check boxes to use
and which pull-down menus are which!

 

Rasputen - BTW thanks for the C&O decals that you sent me. Couldn't find your info after I received them to thanks you (thanks for responding here).

Can one print a PDF file without losing any quality in either the font type lettering or picture? Do you know of the differences between the MD-1000 and MD-5000?

Rasputen - Since you have an Alps, would you be willing to print 2 sheets of a PDF file for me if I emailed it to you?

 

I'm not a big expert on pdf files, but usually the images are just some imbedded file like a .jpg or similar, so it depends on what resolution the image is stored at. You may have to perform some massaging to get the text to come out right without loosing any resolution too. Post a link to the .pdf you are interested in and I can try and look at it.

 

So is the MD-1000 any good for doing decals?? Are the Alps cartridges pretty standard (for example the MD-1000 fits the MD-5000)?

 

The MD-1000 is great for doing decals! I'm in N Scale and use it for car reporting marks, which are readable under the 'ol magnifying glass.

all decals in these pics were printed on my md1000:




http://www.trainweb.org/diez-mon/eje.html

I never was able to get it to run on XP though. In fact I have an old POS computer with win98 on it just for printing on my alps.

 

Do you have to utilize the "finish" cartridge when printing or is the color one good alone for doing the decals?

 

There is a driver to run the Alps on XP.

You don't need a finish cartridge, but many colors are more than a single pass. Lighter colors need a white undercoat so thet are not transparent.


Jason

 

Got a hold of an Alps MD-1000 and a source in N.C. for cartridges. Any particular cartridges I need besides CYMK and the multicolor that is coming with it (besides white of course). How fast does it eat cartridges (I know it depends on how much you print but just an idea helps). Thanks.

 

You shouldn't need anything else to get started. Keep in mind that the ALPS uses a ribbon so it's life isn't so much based on how much ink you use like a traditional printer. It has more to do with the total area printed. The letter 'o' uses just as much of the ribbin as a solid dot.

There are two yahoo groups that can help you if needed.

Jason

 

as a general rule, I run the 'finish' layer after each subsequent pass. when printing white, or any solid, I do multiple passes. otherwise it ends up looking opaque.

I have the XP driver, never got it to work properly..

 

I have an MD1000 and an MD5000 setting here. The only difference is that the 5000 can hold more cartridges and it recognizes some of the carts that the 1000 will not (Foils and other special colors). Most of the time I am swaping cart. labels around anyhow to get the best results. I typically use the 1000 as my primary printer, saving the 5000 for the unique colors it can see.

Printing with an Alps printer is an art in itself. Every printer is a little different and has it's own qwirks. It takes practice to get the best out of them. It helps to know a vector graphics program like Corel also. The do not print JPG's very well. They create colors in JPG by halftone which results in a lot of pixelation. For best results, draw the object in a vector program, then print in spot colors. You can layer different spot colors to get different shades of colors.

Besides the CYMK that it comes with, you can also print in White, Silver, Gold, Silver Foil, Gold Foil, Metalic CYM and Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange spot colors. The orange supply has dried up though.

If anybody knows where there is any Orange left, please PM me, I would like a backup as my Orange has broken the ribbon a few times when printing.

Since we are showing off Alps output.....(disclaimer, it's HO Brass)

 

I have a spare older computer running Windows XP and downloaded the XP driver from the Yahoo groups page. If the XP driver doesn't work, what driver should be used and will it make the Alps dialogue box pop up on the screen properly? Win XP has an MS driver for the MD-1000? Does it work? The computer I have also has a parallel port on the back so I should be good there. Thanks.

 

Beautiful work on those decals guys.

I've got a MD-1000 that I use with a Mac using OS9. Never had a problem printing any of the metallic tapes or white. I've not used the finishing cartridge, but I have used a clear coat over the decals. I haven't seen the spot colors nor tried them except the white and metallics.

As a graphic designer that has actually done designs for 1:1 vehicles I never use a program that uses halftones for logo art. I use Adobe Illustrator. The place to use Photo editing software is on pictures. If you're designing a poster or a billboard their great, but I would not make decals of them.

As a rule of thumb Microsoft Office programs are only for doing office work, not design. Their core printing software is not designed to work for high resolution. And I used it on both Mac and PC. I used to have both on my desk at my former job.

Just because it looks good on the screen DOES NOT guarantee it will look good when it prints. Go to a local print shop and buy a ream of 40 lb glossy paper (not photo paper) for proofing, it's cheaper but has the same surface as decal. Ordinary paper is too rough to simulate decal paper.

Are their any reliable ribbon sources out there? PM me if you don't want to publicly reveal your source.

That's my two cents, now I raise you a nickel.

 

So software wise are you guys using Adobe Illustartor, Corel Draw, Corel Photoshop, or something else? Any pluses or minuses of each? For printing colors do you have to design a project in layers (white background (1st print pass) then red on top (2nd pass)for example). Does the software allow you to do that and print each layer seperately while keeping the paper indexed in the printer? Sorry about asking all these questions, just learning here.

Any driver ideas for XP? Does the MS one work (see my previous questions above about this). Thanks again.

 

prices411.com also has Alps cartridges