Software – Knowledge Base

Printer Missing in DirectRip after Windows 11 Update

Problem: An update for Windows 11 has been found to block DirectRip from loading the list of available printers in the Print Setup window, so the R2400 device name is no longer available for selection.

Preliminary checks: There are a few things other than a Windows 11 update that may result in the printer being missing from the available Port options in the Print Setup window. Check these fundamental items before proceeding with the fix for Windows 11.

Confirm that the Freejet printer is completely turned on with the Power light on the control pad lit.
Confirm that the Maintenance tab of the R2400 driver’s Printing Preferences window can send a head clean or nozzle check to the printer.
Confirm that DirectRIP is running as Administrator. If you’re not sure, right-click on the icon for a Run as administrator option.

If the above three points check out, proceed with the fix for the Windows 11 issue.

Solution: Close DirectRIP (if it is running) and then run the “Updater” patch tool linked at the bottom of this article using the following steps:

Download ‘221015_OMNI_DirectRIPForWindows11_USBPortPatch.zip‘ from the below link to the PC with DirectRIP on it.
Double-click on the downloaded .zip file to view its contents in Windows File Explorer.
Click & drag the ‘10_15_2022_OMNI_DirectRIPForWindows11_USBPortPatch‘ folder from File Explorer to the Windows Desktop.
Double-click on the new folder that was copied to your Windows Desktop (‘10_15_2022_OMNI_DirectRIPForWindows11_USBPortPatch‘) to open that folder and display its contents.
Right-click on Updater.exe, then click on ‘Run as administrator‘. If Windows prompts you with the message, “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?“, click the ‘Yes‘ button.
When prompted with the following message, make sure that DirectRIP is not running and then click the ‘Yes’ button.
The DirectRIP folder will be displayed in a new window. Just click the ‘OK‘ button to continue.

That’s it! You can now load DirectRIP and the printer will now be listed in the Print Setup as an available Port to select.

Ethernet Configuration for OmniDTF

The OmniDTF printer uses the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) over an Ethernet connection to communicate with your PC. This requires a one-time configuration in Windows, which OmniPrint Training sets up for you during your initial training session.

The following information will help you to perform that same configuration if you should ever need to update your PC’s Ethernet adapter or if you’ve installed the OmniDTF UI and Print Pro software onto a new PC.

Your OmniDTF printer and its software implementation are not designed to communicate over the Internet or any other network. We use a simple point-to-point connection between one PC and the printer, directly connected with a single Ethernet (“RJ45”) cable.

There are two pieces of software where we configure TCP/IP parameters: Microsoft Windows (Control Panel) and Print Pro. We’ll cover both in that order.

Microsoft Windows

Windows Control Panel’s Network and Sharing Center is where any Ethernet adapters to be used in a Windows PC are configured, using the following steps.

Run Windows Control Panel.
Click on Network and Sharing Center.

If you don’t see Network and Sharing Center in Windows Control Panel, it is because Control Panel is in the Category View mode. In that case, first click on Network and Internet, then click on Network and Sharing Center.

Select Change adapter settings
Double-click on the Ethernet adapter to be used (or right-click on the adapter and select Properties).

Your Ethernet adapter may have a different description than the Ethernet 4 pictured above. Don’t be concerned if there is a red ‘x’ on the adapter, which simply means that it isn’t currently connected to anything.

The ExpressVPN TAP Adapter does not represent a physical (actual) Ethernet hardware port and is not usable. This is strictly a “virtual” adapter built into Windows for creating VPN connections and has no purpose for the OmniDTF.

Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) (or single-click on it and then click the Properties button).
Click the Use the following IP address radio-button (if it isn’t already selected) and enter the following, then click ‘OK‘.
IP address: 192.168.127.12
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

The Windows Control Panel Ethernet configuration is now complete!

Print Pro

Print Pro needs to know the IP address that it will be using for its communication with the OmniDTF printer, and there are just a few more steps to set that up.

Run the Print Pro program.
From the Home tab, click on Printer Name Mapping.
Double-click on the first cell space under the Physical Printer Port heading.
Click on the drop-down lists’s down-carat symbol (downward pointing triangle) at the right end of the cell/box.
Select “127.0.0.1,9100 (TCP/IP ,RAW)”.
Double-click on the first cell space under the Printer Model heading.
Click on the drop-down list’s down-carat symbol.
Select “Omni DTF”
Double-click on the first cell space under the Printer Name heading.
Type “OmniDTF” into the cell (or your preferred name for the printer).
Confirm that your settings look like the image below, then click on the green checkmark icon to save the settings.

The Print Pro Ethernet configuration is now complete!

Updating Print Pro DTF Environments

To update the Environments in Print Pro for your OmniDTF printer, download the file at the bottom of this article and follow the below steps.

Details on recommended usage of the various OmniDTF Environments installed with these instructions are available from a knowledge base article link at the bottom of this page.

Installing the Environments

The installation process of the Environments is quick and easy.

Download the Environments file to the PC on which you’ve installed Print Pro.
- See the download link at the bottom of this article.
Extract the .kiee file from the downloaded zip file.
- Placing the file on the Windows Desktop is recommended to easily find the file. It can be deleted after this installation process.
Run Print Pro.
Select the Home tab, then click the Import button.
Select the .kiee file that was unzipped from the download, then click the Open button.
If prompted with a message of “Already ‘Omni DTF-720×3600’ environment exist.” (The actual environment name will vary), click the Yes button.
- If prompted to Select environment settings to use, select ‘Use new environment settings only’ and click OK.
Click OK on the “Media packages imported successfully” window.
Exit out of the Print Pro program, then restart it.

The OmniDTF Environments have now been updated and are ready for use.

Print Pro Environments download link

DirectRIP “Can not open file” Error

While the below-pictured DirectRIP error message may seem alarming, it is easy to resolve using the steps detailed below.

Your exact file path and filename in the message may differ, but the same solution applies.

Why is this happening?

This error will occur if a DirectRIP installation has missing or corrupt files that are needed when an Environment is selected.

How to resolve the issue

There is a video following these instructions which demonstrates steps 3-6.

Close the DirectRIP program if it is running
Download the ‘RIP Files.zip’ archive file from the link at the bottom of this article to your Windows Desktop
Right-click on the downloaded ‘RIP Files.zip’ and select ‘Extract All…’
Click the ‘Show extracted files when complete’ checkbox, then click the ‘Extract’ button
Right-click on the DirectRIP shortcut, select ‘Properties’, then click on ‘Open File Location’ from the ‘Shortcut’ tab in the ‘DirectRIP Properties’ window
1. This will open the DirectRIP application folder in another File Explorer window
Copy the three folders from the newly created ‘RIP Files’ folder to the DirectRIP application folder
1. Allow Windows to replace any & all existing folders and files when prompted

Solution video clip

Expand the below video to full screen for the best viewing experience.

Next time you start DirectRIP, the Environments will work as expected without the error message.

Installing & Configuring DirectRIP for the Freejet 330-Series

Plastic container with USB thumbdrive and security dongle.

Plastic case with a USB thumb drive containing a copy of DirectRIP and a security key “dongle”

In order to operate your FreeJet Printer, you will need a working installation of DirectRIP on your Windows PC. You may be a first-time user, or possibly have recently acquired a new PC and are looking to migrate your installation, but in any case, this guide will show you how to install DirectRIP.

Verify your Equipment

Before we start your installation, ensure that you gather the following components, which are included with your printer purchase:

USB hub
USB thumb drive containing installation files & folders
USB security key “dongle” (Sentinel HASP key)
DirectRIP plastic case which the USB thumbdrive & security key came in

USB thumb drive and security key dongle

USB hub

Insert the two DirectRIP USB devices from the plastic case into the USB hub as shown above, and connect the hub to a USB port on your PC. If applicable for your hub, ensure the buttons on those USB slots are enabled (depressed).

Installation

With all components connected to your PC, if Windows didn’t automatically open its File Browser to display the contents of the USB thumb drive when it was connected, run File Browser and navigate to the USB thumb drive.

Run ‘Setup’ from the thumb drive to initiate the installation of DirectRIP.

The installation program will prompt you to enter the CD Key from the plastic case. Enter the full key (including the dash!), along with your name and company name, then continue. (You can use anything you like for the name and company name.)

The DirectRIP CD Key is always “776-3691394”.

You will then be asked for the serial number. Enter the serial number from your USB device packaging (it starts with ‘RPQL’, as pictured above).

Your DirectRIP Serial Number will be “RPQL####WVK”, but replace #### with just the numbers on your thumb drive and security key dongle labels. For example, the serial number for the USB devices pictured above is “RPQL2242WVK”.

Select the installation location and options as desired to proceed with the installation of the DirectRIP Software. Using the suggested defaults is fine.

Once the installation of DirectRIP is complete, a small window will appear asking “Install HASP Driver?” Select ‘Yes’ to begin the installation of the Sentinel encryption key software. This install will typically hang for a few moments when its status bar reads around 75%, but after a delay, it should rapidly climb to 100% and complete the installation.

If you don’t see the “Install HASP Driver” prompt, minimize all other programs because this prompt may have launched behind other windows on your Desktop, hiding it from your immediate view.

At this point, you can check the installation by opening DirectRIP from the shortcut that the installation program placed on your Desktop. If DirectRIP and the Sentinel key driver are installed correctly, the program will load & run.

Once you’ve confirmed that DirectRIP loads you can store the thumb drive in a safe place because it is only needed during the installation process. On the other hand, the security key dongle must always be plugged into the USB hub in order to run DirectRIP.

Configuring Environments

Once DirectRIP is installed, you’ll want to do some initial configuration on the program to reduce clutter and improve ease of use.

First, let’s configure the DirectRIP Environments. You can think of the Environments as macros or as a set of presets that simplify selecting settings for printing on a particular type of shirt.

Start by clicking on the icon of a globe & wrench that is to the immediate right of the Environment selection drop-down box in the DirectRIP toolbar.

This will open the ‘Manage Environment’ window.

The next step is to select an Environment row labeled “OmniPrint FreeJet 320 TX” in its ‘Environment Group’ column, then tap your keyboard’s delete key or click the ‘Delete Environment’ icon (a globe over a sheet of paper with a red ‘x’) to delete the selected Environment row.

Repeat the deletion for each ‘OmniPrint FreeJet 320 TX’ entry.

If using a standard FreeJet 330TX (not the Plus model):
Also delete any environments with the “FreeJet 330 TX Plus” in the Environment Group Column.

If using the FreeJet 330TX Plus:
Also delete any environments with “Omniprint FreeJet 330 TX” in the Environment Group column, with the exception of the “FreeJet 330TX Photo” Environments, which have value for both the Freejet 330TX and the 330TX Plus.

Click the green checkmark icon at the lower-right corner of the ‘Manage Environment’ subwindow to accept changes and close the window.

All DirectRIP Environments are organized into Environment Groups, which you can think of as folders in which Environments are stored. The next step is to remove the Environment Groups that are now empty.

To edit Environment Groups, click the folder icon next to the Environment dropdown box to open the ‘Manage Environment Group’ subwindow.

Then, highlight an Environment Group for which all Environments were deleted in the previous step, and click the ‘Delete Environment Group’ button to delete the group. Repeat until you have deleted all of those now-empty groups.

Configuring Ink Costs

At the top of the DirectRIP window, click the Options menu, then click the ‘Ink Cost’ menu item.

In the ‘Ink Cost’ window, enter the per-liter cost of each color of ink, and leave “Other” at 0.00.

Click the green checkmark to save your changes and close the subwindow.

Configuring the Workspace

The first time that you run DirectRIP after installing it, a ‘Page Layout’ subwindow will be open. This feature isn’t needed and isn’t used with Freejet printers, so you’ll want to close it. To do this, note the two X’s near the top-right corner of the DirectRIP window (see below) and click the inner or lower one.

After closing the Layout subwindow, the next step is to open the ‘Q Rip’ window, which is very instrumental for setting up prints. To do this, select the ‘View’ menu at the top of DirectRIP, then select the ‘Show QRip’ option…

……and then re-enter the ‘View’ menu and select ‘Channel Pallete’, then ‘Show’.

Finally, arrange the ‘Q Rip’ and ‘Channel Palette’ subwindows to your preference. I like to align them at the right edge of the DirectRIP window, so DirectRIP looks like this when the program loads in full-screen mode:

Now you’re all set! DirectRIP is now ready to start running print jobs with all the features that you need at your fingertips.

Freejet 330-series: Setting Up a Print in DirectRIP

DirectRIP provides a wealth of options for how you’d like to print your image, to allow you maximum control over your products. This article will discuss how to select, import, and set up an image for Freejet 330-series printing in DirectRIP.

Format Considerations

No matter how high-quality the shirt, and how perfect the pretreatment job, there’s no amount of technical tweaking that can turn a bad image into a good print. Before you get started with setting up the print, you’ll want to make sure that you’re working with a properly formatted image that will yield satisfactory results! If you need guidance on how to create and format a proper print image, please follow the guidelines contained in this knowledgebase article.

Importing Your Image

DirectRIP makes importing your image a snap! You can either use the ‘File’ menu option on the top-left corner of DirectRIP , or simply click and drag any compatible image from Windows’ File Explorer into the gray space in the center of DirectRIP!

File import (open image file in DirectRIP)

To make sure your images print at your expected size, there should be very little “negative” or dead space (transparent content) along the borders of your image, to give a more precise projection of the artwork’s dimensions. Otherwise, the printed image itself will be reduced in size by the amount of transparency at the edges of the image. This would typically be handled during image creation in a tool like Photoshop or Corel Draw, but DirectRIP can be used for simple, rectangular cropping, too.

Steps to crop an image in DirectRIP

To crop the image in DirectRIP:

Click the Selection tool. It is the dashed box near the top-left of the image window.
Click & drag to draw a selection box around the parts of the image that you want to keep.
Right-click the image and select Crop from the pop-up menu to make the crop.

Using DirectRIP’s crop feature does not edit your original image file. It creates a new, temporary file of the cropped area to be used just for the current print job. To create a permanent crop to your image, edit it in your image creation software.

Configuring Your Print

Now that your image has been loaded and properly cropped to size, you can begin your setup process. The first step of any print configuration is to choose your Environment. Your choice of Environment will depend on two or three factors, depending on your printer model:

Expected (based on artwork) or desired print quality
Color of fabric being printed on
Type of fabric (Freejet 330TX PLUS model only)

In the Environment drop-down box, select the Environment Group and Environment which corresponds with the desired type or quality of your printed image.

Environment selection

Once you have selected an Environment, most of the heavy lifting of setting up the print is already complete and all that’s left is for you to size and place your image! Next, turn your attention to the QRip subwindow:

Q Rip subwindow

In the Size section of the Q Rip subwindow, select the third radio button from the top, to enable resizing of the image.
Make sure the checkbox to the left of the padlock icon is checked to lock in the original aspect ratio of the image (preventing distortion of the horizontal & vertical proportions), then resize as desired.

When resizing images, remember that if you upscale the image to print at a size larger than the design then your image quality will be degraded. The larger the percentage of upscaling, the more the quality will be reduced. Creating artwork designs at or larger than the dimensions to be printed is recommended.

Select the desired positioning of your image on the garment. This should be Top Center unless you’re doing something specific which requires some other print positioning.
Note the Mirror and Invert image options, which are typically not used. Mirror Image will print the design backwards, which is useful for Direct-to-Transfer (DTF) printing, or anytime you want to reverse the horizontal axis of your image. Invert Image will print your image’s photonegative — a dramatic effect seldom needed, but available.
Locate the two printer icons on the bottom right corner of the QRip subwindow. The icon on the left is the Print Setup icon. Click it to open the Print Setup window.

Print Setup

Note that the Platen placement on printing bed setting should never be changed. It has a completely different purpose than the Position setting in the Q Rip window, even though both settings are presented with the same 3×3 grid.

In the Print Setup window, select “Epson Stylus Photo R2400” from the Selected port dropdown box, then click the Properties button to pull up the Properties window.

Print Setup — Properties window

In the Properties window’s Margins section, set each desired margin. These margins set print position offsets from the justification setting previously selected in the QRip window. Each of the four arrows point to the side from which the margin can be set. For example, the 3rd box with the upward-pointing arrow indicates setting a margin from the top.

It’s a common practice in DTG printing (and garment printing, in general) to leave a 2″ margin down from the collar before printing the design.

Note that the dimensions of any margins selected are added to the dimensions of the print, as previously configured in the Q Rip windows, and the total must not exceed the dimensions of the print area — 12.5″ x 18″ on the Standard Adult platen. So, if you will be adding a 2″ top margin then the height of your design must be 16″ or less, as configured in the Q Rip window.

Click ‘OK’ to finalize the Properties settings and close that window, then click ‘OK’ again on the Print Setup window to close it and save the settings.

Final Preparations

If you’re using the Dark or Black environments on a 330TX Plus, or the Color or Black environments on the 330TX, DirectRIP will generate a White Underbase. Since white ink may slightly expand when it lands on a garment, we will need to slightly restrict the edges of the underbase to compensate and ensure that there won’t be an unintended white “halo” around the edges of the printed design. To do this, select the Image menu near the top left corner of DirectRIP, then select ‘Add WhiteUnderbase Choke’ from the menu — the second-to-last option on the list.

Add white underbase choke

Click ‘OK’ on the dialogue box that appears to accept the default of 2 pixels for the white underbase choke, then confirm that “UnderbaseChoke 1” has appeared in your Channels Palette.

Channels, with white underbase choke

At this point, the design is technically ready to print. But, you always want to be careful and make sure it has been formatted correctly! To check your work, right-click your image and select Print Preview.

Print Preview

The image displayed in Print Preview is proportionally accurate to the way your design will look when printed on the 12.5″ x 18″ Standard Adult Platen. You can reasonably expect the design to appear on the print surface the same as it appears on this screen. To make sure you get the most accurate comparison, select the fill bucket icon (3rd from the right among the icons at the top of the screen) to change the background color to match your garment or print surface.

If everything in the preview looks solid, tap the Esc key on your keyboard to exit Print Preview mode.

DirectRIP print job setup speedrun

Starting the Print

Once your print job is completely configured, you’re ready to print! Run through the following checklist to make sure everything else is properly set up:

Is the platen properly mounted on the printer and flush against the alignment rails?
Is a pretreated garment mounted smoothly and securely on the platen?
Have you properly adjusted the platen height?
Is the gantry in the Print Ready (fore) position?

If you can answer “Yes” to all of these questions, you’re good to go!

As you can see, there are a few steps to configuring prints in DirectRIP, but the process is not complex and can be completed within a minute if your graphic is ready to go. Once you’ve performed a few prints, you’re sure to get it down to muscle memory in no time.

Happy Printing!

Installing Freejet DTF Environments

DTF printing comes with its own unique set of advantages so many DTG printer operations are running some of their print jobs using the DTF technique!

Freejet printers are fully capable of printing vibrant, durable, and profitable transfers. Best of all, expanding your Freejet operation to include film transfer printing is easy, requiring just a few modifications to your software and workflow!

This guide will take you through the process of importing the latest DTF Environments for the Freejet 330TX or 330TX Plus into DirectRIP, so you can try out this exciting kind of garment printing yourself!

Loading the DTF environments into DirectRIP

Download links for the Freejet 330TX and 330TX Plus DTF Environments (.kie files) are listed at the bottom of this article.

Make sure that the file that you download matches your printer model as the different inks in the 330TX and the 330TX Plus require different Environments. Using the incorrect environment can result in ink bleeding or poor adhesion.

In DirectRIP, next to your “Environment” drop-down box, there is an icon that looks like a globe with a wrench for ‘Manage Environment’.

Click this ‘Manage Environment’ icon.

The ‘Manage Environment’ window will open. Click the leftmost icon at the bottom of this window to open the ‘Import Environment Package’ window.

In the window that appears, navigate to where you saved the downloaded .kie file, select it, and click the ‘Open’ button.

The below screenshot examples are for the Freejet 330TX Plus. There will be slight differences in naming of the file & Environments for the Freejet 330TX but the process is the same.

You should arrive at this window:

Click the ‘Import Package’ icon. This will import the new environments and the ‘Import environment package’ window will automatically close.

Next, click the green checkmark on the ‘Manage Environment’ window to save the update and close the menu.

That’s it! The environments are now fully installed! You can now use them to print transfers!

Saving & Recalling Print Job Settings

While configuring an image for a print job becomes practically muscle memory for operators after a modest amount of practice, it can, nonetheless, become a bottleneck in your production process. You may wish to save the configuration settings of some print jobs for efficient recall at a later time. We’re happy to tell you this is absolutely possible, with just a few details to keep in mind.

Before saving print job configurations, I’d advise you to create a folder on your hard drive which will house all of these saved configurations. Sub-folders divided up by image, client, and/or job type would be a wise choice as well. You’ll see why in just a moment.

The next step is to configure your print job in DirectRip as usual. When the print is completely configured and ready, it’s time to Rip the image. You can do that by simply printing a shirt, which always involves first creating a Rip. Or if you just want to save these settings to print later, you can create a Rip without printing.

Ripping a Print Job without Printing

To create a Rip without printing, with your print job fully configured in DirectRIP, go down to DirectRIP’s ‘Queue Manager’ subwindow.

In Queue Manager, click the “Add the Active Document” icon, which looks like a sheet of paper with a ‘+’ sign in its lower-right corner.

The image’s filename will then appear in Queue Manager’s Job Status column. Right-click the filename, then select ‘Rip’ from the options that appear in the pop-up menu .

When the Rip has been completed, the Status column in Queue Manager will read “RipDone”.

Saving the Ripped Print Job

Whether you ran a print or used Queue Manager to Rip without printing, once the job has been Ripped, it will be ready to save. On the far right of the Queue Manager frame, find the column labeled “Save Location”.

Click anywhere in the cell or box displaying the file system path of the current Save location.

The ellipses (“…”) at the end of the path will then turn into a button.

Click the ellipses button that appears to edit the location and filename to be used when saving your Rip file. This will open your file browser. At this point, navigate to the folder in which you want to store the Rip.

After picking the folder, it is recommended that you give the job a new file name. Keep in mind that when selecting a saved print job to load in the future, you will not have a thumbnail or preview of the image. So, not only will the image in the file need to be identifiable from its name, but also the Environment, sizing, placement, and any other variables you may have adjusted when setting up the print job which makes it distinct from other, similar prints. (The file extension of all saved Rips will be .kprn.)

I recommend using something like: “<Image>_<Environment>_<Size>_<Date>”. For example: “TestImage_Dark_10x6_28Jan2022.kprn”. This will be instrumental to finding the file that you want to load for future printing sessions, to ensure that you have the correct version of any Rip file for the shirt you intend to print.

Once you’ve selected the Save Location and entered the filename to use, click the ‘Save’ button. Note that this action only saves the desired file name and location. You haven’t yet saved the actual Rip of the print job.

Next, click the ‘Save job’ disk icon in the Queue Manager toolbar to save the settings to a file.

Once you have clicked the ‘Save Job’ icon, the Rip is saved to the designated folder and filename, and it is safe to close DirectRip.

Recalling a Saved Print Job

To recall the file for later use, open DirectRip but don’t load an image file. Next, instead of loading an image file, we will load a previously saved print job using the Queue Manager.

The leftmost icon at the top of the Queue Manager subwindow, the open folder icon, is the “Load Job” option. Click this icon to open a file browser.

Next, navigate to the folder where your custom job is saved, select the appropriate file, and click “Open”.

The job will populate in the Queue Manager, ready to go!

DirectRip’s top-level menus and the Print buttons in the top toolbar and Q-Rip subwindow will all be greyed out since we haven’t loaded an image file. That’s fine because you will use the Print button in Queue Manager’s toolbar to run your print. As an alterative to the Print button, you can also right-click the filename in the Job Info column and select ‘Print’ from the pop-up menu.

This pop-up menu appears after right-clicking the filename in the Job Info column

Notice, as mentioned above, the image to be printed isn’t displayed in DirectRip. However, you’ve already confirmed the configuration of this print job before saving it, so as long as you have the printer started up and in the Print Ready position with a shirt pretreated and loaded on the platen, you are ready to print.

Click the Print icon or right-click the filename in the Job Info column and select ‘Print’ to run the print job.

Enjoy the increase in efficiency for designs that you will be using for multiple print jobs!

DirectRIP User Manual

Download the DirectRIP User Manual from the below link.

How To Reset the Waste Ink Pad Counter

The Waste Ink Pad Counter and Why we Reset It

You may have noticed that the Freejet 330-series occasionally jets very small amounts of ink into a small, chrome-plated tank (or spit tray) at the far left end of the carriage assembly. Ink accumulates in this tank over time so the printer will periodically warn us that the ink level in this waste tank should be checked and emptied to avoid overflowing, and the absorbent pad at the bottom of the tank replaced, as needed.

Waste ink tank (“spit tray”)

That warning comes in the form of the ‘Error’ and ‘Ink’ lights on the control pad flashing — blinking in an alternating pattern. Once this has occurred the printer will no longer accept print jobs until we acknowledge and clear the error, using a software utility. But there’s no need for that to happen.

Rather than wait for this to happen, we proactively check the waste ink tank level visually to avoid overfilling, and we use a software utility called the Adjustment Program to reset the counter which triggers the error condition, as part of our routine monthly maintenance. By doing so, we avoid ever having a print job interrupted by that error condition.

Here’s how…

Resetting the Waste Ink Pad Counter

If you don’t already have the Adjustment Program on the PC connected to your Freejet printer, get it here.

The Adjustment Program should be used only as directed below. Any other use without the direct guidance of OmniPrint staff is strongly discouraged and may cause problems that would not be covered by the warranty.

Use Windows File Explorer to navigate to where you installed the Adjustment Program, then double-click on the AdjProg program’s icon to launch the Adjustment Program.
Click on the ‘Particular adjustment mode’ button.
In the pop-up window, confirm that the Port selection is set to ‘Auto selection’, then click ‘OK’.
When the Adjustment Program window appears, scroll down to the ‘Maintenance’ section and select ‘Waste ink pad counter’, then click on the ‘OK’ button.
Click on the ‘Initialization’ button to reset the waste ink pad counter, then click ‘OK’ to close the informational window which pops up, then click ‘Finish’.
Click the ‘x’ in the upper-right corner of the Adjustment Program’s menu screen to close that window.
Click on the Adjustment Program’s ‘Quit’ button to end the program.
Turn the printer off from the rear power switch, wait 5 seconds, then turn it back on.

Congratulations! The waste ink pad counter has now been reset.

Wait… what about the waste ink pad?

The absorbent waste ink pad at the bottom of the waste ink tank should be replaced once it is thoroughly saturated. See our article about replacing consumable parts for details on how to replace the pad.