Universal Laser Systems PLS4.75 User Manual Download

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The Printer Driver Interface

The printer driver is a piece of software that allows you to create jobs for the laser system using the Windows print
system. The printer driver has a preferences dialog with two tabs which allow you to set various parameters for a
print job. One tab offers a materials-based approach to setting job parameters and the other offers a more
detailed manual approach to setting job parameters.

Materials Database Printer Driver Tab (beginner and casual user)

This tab of the printer driver is for beginners and
casual   user   and   automatically   calculates   the
appropriate   laser   job   settings   based   on   the
material selected and the maximum output power
of   the   laser   installed.   For   the   PLS6MW   Multi-
Wave Laser Platform, the database only displays
materials  that  are  compatible  with  the  currently
installed laser. Please note that when this tab is
used   to   set   up  a   job,   all  raster   data   is  printed
using one set of job settings, all vector cut data
using   another   set   and   all   vector   marking   data
using a third set. There are only three sets of job
settings available, one for each type of graphic
element in your print job:  raster objects, vector
cut objects and vector mark objects. All elements
of the graphic interpreted as raster objects will be
converted   to   grayscale   and   printed   using   the
raster job settings with a grayscale dither pattern
applied. A dither pattern is a method of mimicking shades of gray using patterns of dots with varying spacing. Dots
further apart will appear lighter gray and dots closer together will appear darker gray. This is how the laser system
is able to print shaded images and photographs. If you desire a solid background removal for certain elements of
your graphic instead of a dither pattern, you must make those elements solid black in color. Objects to be vector
cut must be in red and must have a thickness of .001” (.0254 mm) or less. Objects to be vector marked must be
in blue and must have a thickness of .001” (.0254 mm) or less. Any vector elements in your graphic that are not
blue or red in color will be converted to grayscale and printed as raster objects. Order of execution when using the
materials database tab proceeds with raster objects first, then vector marking objects and finally vector cutting
objects.

The various controls in the materials database printer driver tab are explained below:

Materials Tree

Materials settings in the database are arranged in a multi-leveled tree structure. Click the plus symbol next to
a material category to expand the category, and then select a material type. Double clicking on a material
allows you to read the material record for standard materials and to read and edit custom or cloned materials
using the materials editor explained laser in this section. Right clicking on a material or category opens a
menu with the following options.

New Category (category only)

Create a new category in the materials tree

New Material (Category only)

Create a new custom material. You can then edit the settings using the material editor described later in
this section. Please note that new materials will not be compatible with the VLS air filtration unit.

Clone (material only)

Make a custom copy of the selected material. This copy can then be edited to make a new material
record. Please note that cloned materials will not be compatible with the VLS air filtration unit.