Chapter 5— Optimizing Printer Performance
3400, 3440, and 3600 Bar Code Label Printer User’s Manual 53
at which the printer processes the images of your labels. This rate in turn
affects the throughput of the entire printing process.
The printer begins imaging the label as soon as it receives the command to
select a format. Since the printer starts imaging the label so early, the
chance that the imaging process will be unable to keep up with the print
speed decreases and throughput improves. However, if the number of
image bands is too low, the imaging process is unable to keep up with the
print speed. In this case, the printer stops printing and starts again at the
lowest print speed with the maximum number of image bands. If the
image band command is set too high, the printer spends more time than
necessary imaging and slows down label production.
What Is an Image Band?
Image bands are a section of memory where a picture of a label format is
drawn. This drawing process is known as imaging. Once the picture is
imaged, the printer loads the picture from the image bands to the
printhead for printing. Each image band is equal to 1 inch of length of the
label format. The number of image bands you use may be less than the
length of the label being printed. The number of image bands (in inches)
does not have to equal the length of the label since the printer recycles the
image bands. Once the contents of an image band have been printed, it
may be reused to image the next section of the label.
Keep in mind that the more complex the label, the longer it will take to
image each section, thus requiring a slower print speed. To use a higher
print speed, use more image bands to allow more of the imaging process to
complete before printing begins.
How Does the Image Bands Command Work?
The image bands command controls the amount of memory allotted to
the imaging process. When you increase the image band adjustment to a
higher number, you are adding more buffers to the imaging memory. By
doing this, more of the label format is imaged before printing begins.
The minimum number of required image bands is dependent upon the
print speed and the complexity of the label. Labels that contain numerous
fields with different rotations, graphics, or combinations of any number of
these formatting options may require a higher number of image bands.
To set the number of image bands, use PrintSet or the IPL command. For
help, see the PrintSet online help or the IPL Programming Reference
Manual.
Optimizing Print Speed and Image Band Setting
The minimum number of image bands available is two. The maximum
number of image bands varies from printer model. Use PrintSet to check
for the maximum number of image bands available.
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