If you have prints that are off size it is most likely NOT the Dreamscape wallcovering material that is your problem.   Below is an excerpt from a recent customer inquiry.

CUSTOMER QUESTION:  
"I have printed panels that are coming up shorter then they are supposed to be.  We have measured and can see that our prints are several inches smaller then what the print software is stating. "

AGENT RESPONSE:

I have seen this numerous times over maybe the last 30 odd years of inkjet printing. In every case, the issue is related to transport through the printer.

The first thing to do is measure the width of the panel. If the width is correct, then shrinkage is not taking place. The error in the length needs to be managed.


Several things need to be done to manage this:

1) calibrate the rip and printer for exact sizing. Normally, if you print small images, there is little notice of a slight deviation in feed size but when you print 10 ft panels, an error of even 1/4 percent can be more than 1/4 inch ... which may be too much to tolerate. Most rip software provides a calibration function for length, some more advanced rips permit calibration for height and width.

I suggest using at least 48 inches square ... or if you print long panels regularly, use a 48x96 panel made to high precision. Print the panel, measure it with a very accurate steel ruler or tape, then apply the values per your software's instructions to effect the correction.

Print the panel again to make sure the sizing is accurate.


2) Always make sure the machine is tracking squarely. Media that is mistracking by even a small angle will print a trapezoid, not a rectangle. This will make seaming a nightmare for some patterns or small type. Measure the height of the panel on the left and right edge. If they do not match exactly, then the machine is tracking out of square.

3) Make sure your supply roll is not too heavy for the machine. On some machines, especially machines without a powered unwinder, the feed roll can place an excessive burden on the feed system. Typically, in this circumstance, the panels printed from a full roll will be slightly shorter than the panels printed as the supply roll becomes lighter. Also, in this circumstance, the operator will observe that virtually all of the panels are a different length. This can be managed by using smaller rolls, by increasing the machine passes (thus decreasing the feed error per pass), or manually unwinding the material to take the load off of the feed motor ... seriously wasteful of skilled labor. Increasing passes will increase time to print, again, not wise in terms of profitability. Bottom line here ... use smaller rolls and load the machine more often.

As I had said, I have seen this more times than I can count and it is always a transport issue. The material is certified to be stable with respect to size. This can be verified by measuring the width as well as height of the panels.