--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@...> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:18:37 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@...> wrote:
>
> > Why not just mix the yellow and magenta, and fill every cartridge in
> > an inkjet printer with it for PCBs? That way it doesn't matter that
> > the driver will use a mix of colors for black and for the edges where
> > it mixes multiple colors to get shades of grey.
> >
> > Connect them all up to the same bulk ink bottle.
> >
>
> This would also work if one cartridge alone is not enough of a layer
> thickness.
You are also dealing with the complication of the printer driver. To
get smooth-edged transitions between black and white, it mixes colors
to get grey tones in order to anti-alias edges without stark black
dots. Printer RIPs are a whole wide area of knowledge...
> Also maybe, just maybe, it could still work with one or two nozzles
gone.
Why? It's easy enough to fix that. I print pigmented inks all the
time, it's easy enough to do a nozzle check and a test print onto paper.
> I would also be curious to use the inkjet to print a component
legend, so
> i guess i would need one black cartridge if i don't want it
yellow/magenta.
That gets printed after etching, of course.
> Or maybe just a little black added to the mix would do the trick
without
> harming the resist function.
That would be good! A tiny bit of black carries a long, long way... I
make my cleaning cartridges by injecting my solution into old
cartridges, usually the old empty dry ones that I got with the
printer. This way I can see progress in the nozzle checks. Even
seemingly empty cartridges when mixed with the solution will yeild
perfectly useable prints. Not photo prints, for sure, but more than
enough for printing receipts and websites.
So maybe mostly yellow with a small amount of black in the black, and
the correct colors in the rest. If the black is a little yellow-grey
on the component legend, that won't really matter.
Steve Greenfield