Roland VersaStudio BR-20 Use and care manual

MASTER GUIDE

This product is using GNU General Public License (GPL) / GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) software. You
have the right to acquire, modify, and distribute the source code for this GPL/LGPL software. You can obtain the
GPL/LGPL source code used in this product by downloading it from the following website.
URL: http://www.rolanddg.com/gpl/
RolandDG Corp. has licensed the MMP technology from the TPL Group.
Thank you very much for purchasing this product.
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through this manual completely and store it in a safe location.
Unauthorized copying or transferral, in whole or in part, of this manual is prohibited.
The contents of this document and the specications of this product are subject to change without notice.
The documentation and the product have been prepared and tested as much as possible. If you nd any misprint
or error, please inform us.
Roland DG Corp. assumes no responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage which may occur through use
of this product, regardless of any failure to perform on the part of this product.
Roland DG Corp. assumes no responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage which may occur with respect
to any article made using this product.

1
Contents
Contents........................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 The Basics .........................................................................................3
Introduction ...................................................................................................4
Part Names.......................................................................................................................................... 4
Roland BN-20 System Conguration......................................................................................... 5
How to Open the BN-20 Driver's Printing Preferences Screen......................................... 7
How to Open the Utility Window / Exit the Utility................................................................ 8
How to Start the R-Works .............................................................................................................. 9
How to Open the BN-20 Driver/R-Works Help....................................................................... 9
Usable Media ...................................................................................................................................11
Four Dierent Output Methods ................................................................................................12
Important Points During Use .....................................................................................................12
Switching Power On and Off ......................................................................13
Switching the Power On ..............................................................................................................13
Switching the Power O (Sub-power O) ............................................................................14
Printing ........................................................................................................15
STEP 1: Loading Media .................................................................................................................15
STEP 2: Bidirectional Adjustment .............................................................................................20
STEP 3: Printing Tests and Normal Cleaning ........................................................................22
STEP 4: Calibrate Sheet Feeding Amount ..............................................................................23
STEP 5: Starting Print Output .....................................................................................................24
Stopping Print Output..................................................................................................................25
Chapter 2 Fully Utilizing the Machine .............................................................27
Cutting / Printing & Cutting..........................................................................28
Adjusting cutting............................................................................................................................28
Accurately Adjusting the Cutting-in Amount ......................................................................30
Adjusting printing & cutting ......................................................................................................31
Creating Data for Cutting / Printing & Cutting.....................................................................32
Cautionary note on making output with cutting ..............................................................34
Performing Printing and Cutting Separately................................................35
To Perform Printing and Cutting Separately.........................................................................35
Printing with Crop Marks.............................................................................................................35
Aligning Automatically and Cutting........................................................................................37
Crop Cut Adjustment ....................................................................................................................39
Using Metallic Silver Ink ..............................................................................40
Characteristics of Metallic Silver Ink and Important Notes .............................................40
Creation of Print Data Using Metallic Color (R-Works) ......................................................41
Creation of Print Data Using Metallic Color (General Application for Drawing)......43
Blend Print and Layered Print ....................................................................................................45
Blend Print (Metallic Silver + CMYK)........................................................................................45
Layered Print (Metallic Silver CMYK).................................................................................50
Layered Print (CMYK Metallic Silver) ..................................................................................55
Printing a Metallic Color Chart (R-Works) ..............................................................................60
Utility : Other Function.................................................................................62
Performing Various Adjustments Through a Sequence of Operations.......................62
Setting of Dry Time........................................................................................................................63
Resetting All Adjustments to Factory Default Values........................................................66

Contents
2
http://www.rolanddg.com/
Company names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Copyright © 2011-2012 Roland DG Corporation
Chapter 3 Maintenance ....................................................................................67
Introduction: About Maintenance.................................................................68
Automatic Maintenance Function: Points to Note.............................................................68
Maintenance Schedule.................................................................................................................68
Checking Ink Levels and Replacing ...........................................................69
Checking Ink Levels .......................................................................................................................69
How to Replace Ink Cartridges ..................................................................................................70
Daily Maintenance.......................................................................................71
Maintenance of Ink Cartridges ..................................................................................................71
Cleaning.............................................................................................................................................71
Replacing the Waste Cartridge..................................................................................................72
Care and Maintenance of the Print Heads.............................................................................73
Periodical Cleaning Maintenance................................................................74
About Periodical Cleaning Menus............................................................................................74
Medium and Powerful Cleaning ...............................................................................................74
Manual Head Cleaning.................................................................................................................76
Replacing Consumable Parts......................................................................78
Replacing the Wiper ......................................................................................................................78
Replacing the Felt Wiper..............................................................................................................79
Replacing the Cutter Blade.........................................................................................................80
When Moving the Unit.................................................................................82
Procedures from Preparing to Move Through Reinstalling.............................................82
Chapter 4 Appendix ..........................................................................................85
Read this section whenever you face a problem ........................................86
The Machine Doesn’t Run............................................................................................................86
Attractive Printing or Cutting is Impossible..........................................................................87
Media Jam Occurs!.........................................................................................................................89
Media Feed is Not Smooth..........................................................................................................89
Print Head Stops Moving.............................................................................................................90
Installation is impossible .............................................................................................................91
When uninstalling the driver, perform following operation. .........................................93
Important Notes When Performing Output from General Application .........95
Important Notes When Performing Output from Adobe Illustrator............................95
Important Notes When Performing Output from CorelDRAW.......................................95
Handling Messages and Error Messages ...................................................96
A Message Appears .......................................................................................................................96
An Error Message Appears..........................................................................................................97
Main Specications ...................................................................................100
Maximum Area............................................................................................................................. 100
Maximum Area When Using Crop Marks............................................................................ 100
About the Blade........................................................................................................................... 101
Locations of the Power Rating and Serial Number Labels............................................ 101
Dimensional Drawing ................................................................................................................ 102
Specications................................................................................................................................ 103
System Requirements for USB Connection........................................................................ 105

3
Chapter 1
The Basics
Introduction ....................................................................................4
Part Names..................................................................................4
Roland BN-20 System Conguration...........................................5
How to Open the BN-20 Driver's Printing Preferences Screen ...7
How to Open the Utility Window / Exit the Utility .........................8
How to Start the R-Works............................................................9
How to Open the BN-20 Driver/R-Works Help ............................9
Usable Media.............................................................................11
Four Different Output Methods..................................................12
Important Points During Use .....................................................12
Switching Power On and Off .......................................................13
Switching the Power On ............................................................13
Switching the Power Off (Sub-power Off)..................................14
Printing.........................................................................................15
STEP 1: Loading Media.............................................................15
STEP 2: Bidirectional Adjustment..............................................20
STEP 3: Printing Tests and Normal Cleaning ...........................22
STEP 4: Calibrate Sheet Feeding Amount ................................23
STEP 5: Starting Print Output....................................................24
Stopping Print Output ................................................................25

4
Chapter 1 The BasicsChapter 1 The Basics
Introduction
Part Names
Discharged uid cartridge
Pinch roller
When you move the loading
lever to the front of the ma-
chine, the media is pinched.
The right pinch roller is xed
in place.
Platen
This is the path over which
the media passes. A print
heater that helps x the ink
are built in.
Media clamps
These keep the media from
coming loose and prevent
fuzz on the cut edge of the
media from touching the
print head.
Maintenance cover
Remove when performing man-
ual head cleaning.
P. 76, “Manual Head Cleaning”
Print-head carriage
The print heads and blade
are inside this section.
Front cover
Open the cover to
load media; in gen-
eral use, always
keep the cover
closed.
POWER key Cartridge slots
Location to install ink
cartridges
Grit rollers
These rollers feed out
media toward the
front of the machine.
Blade protector
This protects the tip
of the blade during
cutting.
Right media guide
Use this guide when loading media.
The guide is on the "Right" when view-
ing the printer from the front.
Left media guide
Use this guide when load-
ing media. This guide is on
the "Left" when viewing
the printer from the front.
Loading lever
You operate this when
you load media.
Main power
switch
USB connector
Power-cord connector

Introduction
5
Chapter 1 The BasicsChapter 1 The Basics
Roland BN-20 System Conguration
CMYK Ink Model / Silver Ink Model
Utility
This is the necessary software to operate this
machine. The major functions are shown
below:
Display of messages and error messages
Adjustment function
Management of ink remaining amount
Maintenance function
P. 8, "How to Open the Utility Window / Exit
the Utility"
Output is available in the following combinations.
R-Works + BN-20 driver
Commercial application software + BN-20 driver
Commercial application software + Roland VersaWorks + BN-20 driver*
*When you use Roland VersaWorks, the BN-20 driver's Printing Preferences become invalid.
BN-20 driver
Driver software that is needed to
output printing data from a com-
puter to the machine. It is also used
to set the printing preferences in
the case that you use R-Works.
P.7, "How to Open the BN-
20 Driver's Printing Preferences
Screen," P.9, "How to Open the BN-
20 Driver/R-Works Help"
R-Works
Software that allows you to draw illustrations or gures to be
output by the machine.
P. 9, "How to Start the R-Works," P.9, "How to Open the BN-20
Driver/R-Works Help"
Roland VersaWorks
This is a software RIP (Raster Image Processor).
For more information, see "Roland VersaWorks Quick Start
Guide" and "BN-20 Roland VersaWorks SPECIAL COLOR
INK GUIDE (Metallic Silver & White)".
Commercially available application
software
Necessary software to operate this machine
Necessary software for output

Introduction
6
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
BN-20 driver
Driver software that is needed to output
printing data from a computer to the ma-
chine. You cannot set the printing prefer-
ences on a white ink model.
Utility
This is the necessary software to operate this machine.
The major functions are shown below:
Display of messages and error messages
Adjustment function
Management of ink remaining amount
Maintenance function
P.8, "How to Open the UtilityWindow / Exit the Utility"
Roland VersaWorks
This is a software RIP (Raster Image Processor).
For more information, see "Roland VersaWorks
Quick Start Guide" and "BN-20 Roland Versa-
Works SPECIAL COLOR INK GUIDE (Metallic Silver
& White)".
Necessary software for output
Necessary software to operate this machine
White ink model
Commercially available application
software

Introduction
7
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
How to Open the BN-20 Driver's Printing Preferences Screen
* You cannot set the BN-20 driver's printing preferences on a white ink model.
Procedure

Click [Devices and Printers] (or [Printers
and Faxes]) from the Start menu ( ).

Right-click the "Roland BN-20" icon, and
then click Printing Preferences.
The BN-20 driver's Printing Preferences screen opens.
BN-20 Driver's Printing Preferences Screen
The window shown below is
displayed on a white ink model.

Introduction
8
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
How to Open the Utility Window / Exit the Utility
How to Open the Utility Window
Click the Utility icon on the
task tray.
(Or, right-click the , and
then click [View/Hide].)
The Utility window is displayed.
If is not displayed on the task tray, start Utility from the Windows start menu.
Starting from the Windows start menu
From the start menu, click [All Programs] or [Program] >> [Roland BN-20] >> [Utility].
Utility starts.
How to Exit the Utility
Right-click the (Utility
icon) in the task tray, and then
click [End].
The Utility screen closes.
Utility is resident software
Utility is “resident software” that is always run-
ning. To hide the window, click at the
upper right of the window or click [Close]; Utility
will not terminate.

Introduction
9
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
How to Start the R-Works
From the start menu ( ), click [All Programs] or [Program] >> [R-Works] >> [R-Works].
* You cannot make an output from R-Works on a white ink model.
How to Open the BN-20 Driver/R-Works Help
BN-20 driver
Open the BN-20 driver's Printing Preferences screen, and then click [Help].
P.7, "How to Open the BN-20 Driver's Printing Preferences Screen"

Introduction
10
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
R-Works
Start R-Works, and then click [Help] - [Table of Contents] from the menu.
P.9, "How to Start the R-Works"
From the start menu ( ), click [All Programs] or [Program] >> [R-Works] >> [R-Works Help].

Introduction
11
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics
Usable Media
Some media are not suitable for use with this machine. When selecting media, always conduct a test and
conrm the output quality meets your requirements.
Types of Media
This Master Guide uses the word “media” to mean sheets used for output. Media used with this machine are
broadly classied into two types:
Roll media: Media wound onto a paper tube
Sheet media: Any media that is not wound on to a paper tube, e.g. standard size paper sheets
For both roll and sheet media, dierent types of paper can be selected according to the purpose. For details
contact your media supplier. Media can also be purchased from the Roland DG Corp. website.
http://www.rolanddg.com/
Size
Width (For both roll media and sheet media)
150 to 170 mm (5.9 to 6.7 inch)
200 to 235 mm (7.9 to 9.3 inch)
287 to 322 mm (11.3 to 12.7 inch)
348 to 383 mm (13.7 to 15.1 inch)
393 to 429 mm (15.5 to 16.9 inch)
439 to 474 mm (17.3 to 18.7 inch)
487 to 515 mm (19.2 to 20.3 inch)
Cuttable media thickness (For both roll and sheet media)
0.22 mm (depending on the media composition)
Maximum media thickness including any backing paper or release paper (For both roll media
and sheet media)
For printing only: 1.0 mm
For cutting: 0.4 mm
Roll outer diameter
150 mm
Paper tube (core) inner diameter
76.2 mm (3 in.) or 50.8 mm (2 in.)
Maximum roll weight
6 kg
Other conditions
The following media cannot be used.
Roll media with inner start section glued to the paper tube (core)
Heavily warped or curled media
Media that cannot withstand the heat generated by the media heating system
Media with a bent or crushed paper tube (core)
Media that bends under its own weight when loaded
Media with a bent roll
Media that is rolled unevenly

Introduction
Chapter 1 The Basics
12
Chapter 1 The Basics
Four Different Output Methods
The following four output methods are available for this machine.
Printing (Only) Printing by using ink. It is also called "Printing Only" as well to distinguish
from "Printing and Cutting."
Cutting (Only) Cutting by using cutter such as for cutting seal. It is also called "Cutting
Only" as well to distinguish from "Printing and Cutting."
Printing & Cutting
Printing method which performs printing followed by cutting. If sending
output data which contains both printing and cutting information to the
printer, cutting operation starts after printing nishes.
Crop Cut
Outputting method using "Crop Marks" to align printing and cutting result.
In a case such as "removing the printed media and performing lamination,
and then reloading it and performing cutting," align them using the crop
marks and perform cutting.
Important Points During Use
Use the machine periodically
We recommend using the machine at least once a week. If left unused for a long period of time, the ink may
settle, resulting in unstable discharge (and nozzle clogging). Any dry ink will need to be discharged.
About handling white ink and metallic silver ink
The usage and handling of white ink and metallic silver ink involve some important considerations that do
not apply to ink of other colors.
Refer to p. 40 "Characteristics of Metallic Silver Ink and Important Notes" and "Important: "Characteristics of
Ink and Important Notes" of "BN-20 Roland VersaWorks SPECIAL COLOR INK GUIDE (Metallic Silver & White)".

13
Chapter 1 The BasicsChapter 1 The Basics
Switching Power On and Off
WARNING When output is not being carried out, remove media or switch the sub
power off.
If the same section is continuously heated, there is a re risk or media may
generate toxic gas.
Switching the Power On
Procedure

Close the front cover.

Switch the main power on.

Press the POWER key.
When the POWER key indicator changes from ashing to steady, startup is completed.

Introduction
14
Chapter 1 The Basics
Switching the Power Off (Sub-power Off)
Procedure

When output is completed, press and hold down the POWER key for one second or more.
When the POWER key light is o, the power is o.

Push the loading lever backward.
Even if you are not going to switch the power o when the machine is not in use, make sure the loading
lever is moved to the rear.
About Sleep Mode (Power-Saving Mode)
The machine has a power-saving function; after about 30 minutes of non-use the machine automatically
changes to the lower power consumption sleep mode. In the sleep mode, the POWER key slowly ashes on
and o. When you next operate the POWER key or send print data from a computer to the machine with media
loaded, the machine returns to the regular mode.
Make sure that the main power is on at all times
Never switch the main power o. Continuous power on allows the automatic maintenance function to work
periodically. Failure to ensure automatic maintenance will result in a malfunction of the machine, such as
a damaged print head.
During operation, never unplug or switch the main power off.
During operation, if the main power is switched o, or unplugged, the print heads may be damaged. The
sub power switch must always be turned o before the main power is switched o.To turn o the sub power
switch, press and hold down the POWER key. If accidentally the main power is switched o, immediately
switch the main power and sub power (POWER key) back on again.

15
Chapter 1 The Basics
Printing
This section describes operations when printing only. Refer to page 28 "Cutting / Printing & Cutting" and page
35 "Performing Printing and Cutting Separately."
STEP 1: Loading Media
Roll media
Procedure

Push the loading lever backward.
Move the left media guide to the left.

Attach the media ange to one end of
the media bar.
Insert the side of the media bar with a hole into
the media ange, and secure it with the mounting
pin. Use one of the two media anges.The inside
should be the one that ts the inner diameter of
the roll media paper tube.

Load the roll media onto the media bar.
Press the media anges into the paper tube at both ends. Place the xed media ange at the bottom, so
that the media feeds in a clockwise direction when looking from above. You cannot set the media cor-
rectly if the feed direction is not correct.
Left media guide
Loading lever
Media bar
Mounting pin
Hole
Make sure that there are no gaps.
Push in
Push in
Media ange

Printing

Place the roll media loaded onto the media bar on the printer.
Press both ends of the media bar into the grooves at the back of the printer while making sure the media
does not become loose.

Move the roll media to the right so the media ange touches the right media guide.
Slide the left media guide and press it to the media ange.
Right media guide
Media ange
Left media guide
Main
unit
Media feeding direction
Media bar
Media ange
16
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics

Printing

Pass the media through the printer.
Pull the media straight to keep it taut, and let it pass beneath the media clamps.

Make sure the left media guide is pressed against the media ange.
Close the front cover.
Pull the loading lever forward.
Left media guide
Loading lever
OK NG
Media clamp
17
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics

Printing
Sheet Media
Procedure

Push the loading lever backward.
Move the left media guide to the left.

Move the media to the right, and apply it to the right media guide.
Slide the left media guide and apply it to the media.
Left media guide
Loading lever
Right media guide
Left media guide
18
Chapter 1 The Basics Chapter 1 The Basics