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Flexi19 and Graphtec fc9000 barcode?
- Thread starter F80M3
- Start date
Bill DiStasio
New Member
i have the same one and have struggled with barcodes as well. Flexi prints the barcode in the wrong place to start with. I know one thing if the datalink isn't turned at won't do anything. I am interested in the same thing so I'll be watching for the answer too.
I struggled with the Graphtec barcodes in 19 also -- I even was on the phone with an engineer at SAI who agreed it was just pieced together at the last minute when Graphtec released their new lines. I still use 19 for barcode printing because when I upgraded to 21, it didn't work at all -- it couldn't find the file data (not sure if that's fixed now or not).
Anyway, I created a step-by-step to help others since I saw the question pop up quite often. Here you go:
In Flexi, select your image, and then click the Effects tab at the top, and select Contour Cut.
In Design Central, choose the type of contour (contour, rectangle, etc.) and the size (for contour, just enter the offset, for rectangle enter the size of the contour cut box).
Be sure to select the color (bottom left corner of Design Central) and choose CutContour for the kiss, or CutContour1 for the perf cut.
Be sure to click the green arrow or the settings won't take.
I set my contour (kiss) cut first, then repeat the steps to set the perf cut.
If you are using a CE7000 or FC9000, you can use the barcode feature.
Click an empty spot on the page, then go to Effects>Page Contour Cut Mark.
For most jobs, I select Graphtec 4 Points Type 2.
Then click Options in the lower left of Design Central.
You can leave the left half of the options page as it is.
On the right half, click Use Barcode, and select Roll Media as barcode Type.
I usually choose Long for Barcode Length.
Make a mental note (or write down) of the Barcode Link Info code (you'll want to make sure this code shows up in Production Manager later when checking your cut file details).
I usually set the Printer Margins to .5" for left & right (this keeps the barcode marks from making the print too wide for the media), then click OK.
Again, be sure to click the green arrow in Design Central for the settings to take.
You may have to adjust the size of your page and position of your graphics to fit with the barcode and registration marks.
I usually set my page to be about 3" larger than the height of my graphics.
Don't worry if your graphics extend beyond the registration marks side to side -- just be sure the marks clear the graphics (make the page taller if necessary).
Don't print from Flexi -- the registration marks will not scale properly. It's a known bug with Flexi and the barcode implementation.
Instead, export as a PDF, but when you export, make sure Selection Only and Suppress Options are both unchecked, then specify your filename and click Save.
The PDF Options page will open -- make sure all boxes are unchecked and click OK.
In Production Manager, click Add Job and select the PDF -- you should see it show up in the job details side of the page.
You can then open it and adjust your settings (I always make sure that it will print centered, and it will Hold when finished). When happy with the settings, send it.
As for the cut, in Flexi, select Cut Contour from the top toolbar (icon to the right of the Latex printer icon, it looks like a cutter blade sticking out of one of those pink erasers).
Adjust your settings and send it. One of the settings to make is on the Options tab (the tab with the cutter icon).
You'll see your two contour cuts. Make sure CutContour is at the top of the list, and if not hilight it and use the green up and down arrows along the right edge to move it up in the list.
Double click each CutContour and in the Before Job tab, use the dropdown to select #1 Plotter Condition for CutContour, and #3 Plotter Condition for CutContour1.
On my cutter, I have Condition 1 set for the kiss cut and Condition 3 set for the perf cut. But, I assigned Tool 3 (forward position) to Condition 1 also, so both contour and perf use the blade in the forward position. This makes it so I don't have to switch the tool position to go between contour and perf cutting.
Once it's in Production Manager, look at the file details side of the page (highlight the cut job and look at the right side of the screen). You should see the same Barcode Link Data code from when you created the page registration marks & barcode in Flexi).
The last thing you need to do in Production Manager is to enable the Data Link Barcode Server in the Setup menu at the top of the screen (make sure your cutter is selected in the main Production Manager screen -- I don't think the option will show up if a printer is selected).
Anyway, I created a step-by-step to help others since I saw the question pop up quite often. Here you go:
In Flexi, select your image, and then click the Effects tab at the top, and select Contour Cut.
In Design Central, choose the type of contour (contour, rectangle, etc.) and the size (for contour, just enter the offset, for rectangle enter the size of the contour cut box).
Be sure to select the color (bottom left corner of Design Central) and choose CutContour for the kiss, or CutContour1 for the perf cut.
Be sure to click the green arrow or the settings won't take.
I set my contour (kiss) cut first, then repeat the steps to set the perf cut.
If you are using a CE7000 or FC9000, you can use the barcode feature.
Click an empty spot on the page, then go to Effects>Page Contour Cut Mark.
For most jobs, I select Graphtec 4 Points Type 2.
Then click Options in the lower left of Design Central.
You can leave the left half of the options page as it is.
On the right half, click Use Barcode, and select Roll Media as barcode Type.
I usually choose Long for Barcode Length.
Make a mental note (or write down) of the Barcode Link Info code (you'll want to make sure this code shows up in Production Manager later when checking your cut file details).
I usually set the Printer Margins to .5" for left & right (this keeps the barcode marks from making the print too wide for the media), then click OK.
Again, be sure to click the green arrow in Design Central for the settings to take.
You may have to adjust the size of your page and position of your graphics to fit with the barcode and registration marks.
I usually set my page to be about 3" larger than the height of my graphics.
Don't worry if your graphics extend beyond the registration marks side to side -- just be sure the marks clear the graphics (make the page taller if necessary).
Don't print from Flexi -- the registration marks will not scale properly. It's a known bug with Flexi and the barcode implementation.
Instead, export as a PDF, but when you export, make sure Selection Only and Suppress Options are both unchecked, then specify your filename and click Save.
The PDF Options page will open -- make sure all boxes are unchecked and click OK.
In Production Manager, click Add Job and select the PDF -- you should see it show up in the job details side of the page.
You can then open it and adjust your settings (I always make sure that it will print centered, and it will Hold when finished). When happy with the settings, send it.
As for the cut, in Flexi, select Cut Contour from the top toolbar (icon to the right of the Latex printer icon, it looks like a cutter blade sticking out of one of those pink erasers).
Adjust your settings and send it. One of the settings to make is on the Options tab (the tab with the cutter icon).
You'll see your two contour cuts. Make sure CutContour is at the top of the list, and if not hilight it and use the green up and down arrows along the right edge to move it up in the list.
Double click each CutContour and in the Before Job tab, use the dropdown to select #1 Plotter Condition for CutContour, and #3 Plotter Condition for CutContour1.
On my cutter, I have Condition 1 set for the kiss cut and Condition 3 set for the perf cut. But, I assigned Tool 3 (forward position) to Condition 1 also, so both contour and perf use the blade in the forward position. This makes it so I don't have to switch the tool position to go between contour and perf cutting.
Once it's in Production Manager, look at the file details side of the page (highlight the cut job and look at the right side of the screen). You should see the same Barcode Link Data code from when you created the page registration marks & barcode in Flexi).
The last thing you need to do in Production Manager is to enable the Data Link Barcode Server in the Setup menu at the top of the screen (make sure your cutter is selected in the main Production Manager screen -- I don't think the option will show up if a printer is selected).
It seems a bit complicated, but once you go through it once or twice, it will become second nature. Most of that is just details like the barcode options that stay set once you set them, so after going through the list the first time, you'll just need to repeat the process. Some of the steps are about setting the contour & perf cut colors in the design, and you can probably skip that (I wrote it for someone who needs their hand held through the entire process). In 19, the process isn't very clear, and the way it "looks" like it should work, doesn't. This process works perfectly.
Joseph44708
I Drink And I Know Things
I just finished installing my fc9000 and learning to send jobs to it.
Its not that complicated as Steve-P has described.
I'll post when I get back in front of my computer. Only added about two extra minutes to create and send job
Willing to hear everyone’s workflows! Looking forward to it
any luck with a write up on this?
Joseph44708
I Drink And I Know Things
Sorry for the delayed response.
Set job up, position job to the right side 3" from bottom.
In Cut window, select cutter, click on Options in the Registration Mark box, check Use Bar Code, Bar Code Type set to Roll Media, click OK.
Send to print.
Hope this works for you.
Set job up, position job to the right side 3" from bottom.
In Cut window, select cutter, click on Options in the Registration Mark box, check Use Bar Code, Bar Code Type set to Roll Media, click OK.
Send to print.
Hope this works for you.
newparade
New Member
Bought a new printer and it came with the one year of Flexi 19 subscription, by chance?
Joseph44708
I Drink And I Know Things
You Need Flexi 21 for barcode cutting on Graftec 9000
Not quite true. While 21 fully integrates support for Graphtec barcode cutting, it was actually introduced in 19, although it's not quite as polished and the procedure is a bit convoluted and unintuitive. In fact, I found that after upgrading to 21, the barcode server is unable to find the data in my case, so when I have barcode cutting to do, I still do it in 19. Read my long post above for the not so intuitive procedure for 19. There's a lot of detail there as I initially wrote it as a step-by-step, but the general procedure is there too.
bigkahuna_305
New Member
i cant use 21 for some reason it changes the colors on my prints even with the same settings from 19. when i print with barcode in 19 it adds another reg mark in the rip. how do i turn that off?