T-RIP Support

Support for T-RIP is free to the original purchaser of the program. Before calling for support, please make sure you have read the manual and checked the Troubleshooting steps at the bottom of this page to see if there are any updates, new support videos and additional help.

Support  is only given for the program T-RIP and not for your inkjet printer. Although we will try to help with inkjet printer problems, we would prefer you contact the dealer you purchased the printer from or Epson direct. We do not offer free support for other programs like FastRIP, FilmMaker, Photoshop, etc. Support for these programs (technical support) is available for a small fee.

It is often easier to answer support questions via email. Send email to support@tbiznetwork.com with details about your problem. Make sure to include your contact information, phone, computer system, graphics program printing from, etc. We will try to phone you back if we need more information or need to walk you through troubleshooting problems.

Click here to return to our main Support page for support numbers and more general support details.

Make sure to also download the UPDATED  66-page manual.  It has much more detail about how to use the program. Download T-RIP PDF Manual.

Updates and New Printer Models
If you own T-RIP and have not updated from the older 1.0 to 1.2 please download the most current Free Trial and install it. It is a full version 1.2 and your PIN number will unlock it permanently. T-RIP works on Windows 8!

If you update to a newer printer model there is a chance you do not have the newest printer list in your version. If you don’t see your new printer listed when you go to “Add Devices” send email to support@tbiznetwork.com for the most current printer driver package.

Version 1.2 Update – Effective September 11, 2012
We have released an update for version 1.2 that fixes some of the issues below with the Epson 1430. This is a maintenance update also with program improvements and small bug fixes. If you have T-RIP 1.2.1 – build 5.04 then you should upgrade to T-RIP 1.2.2 build 5.08-4711. This upgrade works for full unlocked versions and for the free trial download. If you have downloaded a free trial on or before September 10, 2012 then you can update the free trial here.

Click HERE to download the 108 mb T-RIP Upgrade File. Copy this file to your TRIP folder. This file is an EXE file that must be run in Administrative mode. This means you should right click on the file and select “run as administrator.” You should see a progress bar and watch the file do its work. If nothing happens when you click on this file then you are not running it as an administrator. Make sure T-RIP is not running when you do the upgrade.

Problems and Solutions

T-RIP is very trouble free and easy to use. But, due to the wide range of printer models and computer operating systems there can occasionally be communication issues between the printer and T-RIP.

Here are the three most common errors or problems and suggestions on how to fix them.

1.  “Holding” error

The most common error you can get when printing to T-RIP is a “holding” error. This can happen when you release a job to print (right clicking on “pending”) and the job will start to go Active and may even say Printing and then it goes to Holding. You can “clear” this error with a right mouse click and try again.

2.  Job starts to print and then stops part way through.
T-RIP will start to print a job and may show 5% or more and then simply stop.

3.  “Unable to Start Queue” error or similar “can’t open” error.

All three of the above  errors usually mean there is a communication issue between the printer and T-RIP. It is not uncommon for you to be able to print directly to a printer using the Epson driver – but not be able to print to T-RIP.

Troubleshooting Suggestions

Please read and try these suggestions before calling for support. These suggestions are listed in the order of effectiveness from the easiest and most likely to fix an error to fixes that are not always as obvious.

1. Make sure your printer will print using the Epson driver. This at least rules out a general communication or cable issue.
2. Make sure your printer is turned on and there are no lights flashing. On most inkjet printers, flashing lights mean either a job is being sent (and maybe hung up), paper or film is jammed in the printer, or the printer is out of a particular ink color. If a color is entirely empty the printer will not print. Some older model printers like the Epson 3000 will not print or will print stretched images if the ink levels are low.
3. The most common “fix” for communication issues is to “refresh” the printer driver. This one is easy. Go to Queue/Manage Queues. Select your “queue/printer” from the list. Scroll over to the right and click on Remove. Your computer may ask for you to approve this. Next, in the same screen, click on Install. You have just refreshed the printer driver.

   If you have installed a new printer driver or possibly removed the main Epson driver for your printer you will need to perform this step.

4. Check overall communication between T-RIP and your printer. Go to Devices/Manage Devices. Select your printer. Click on the fourth icon from the left which is a small printer “Device Properties.” If there is good communication this button will show you ink levels and maintenance options for your printer. If you get an error “unable to communicate….” then it is obvious that T-RIP is not talking to your printer.

   Refer back to suggestion #2. Are there lights flashing on your printer? Is it out of paper/film? Is it low on ink?

   Refer to suggestion #3. Try refreshing the driver with “Remove/Install.”

5. Sometimes the Epson driver (not the T-RIP driver) needs to be removed and re-installed. You might have noticed that with all inkjet printers you can often end up with a number of duplicate drivers. This is one of the issues when you turn off a computer and re-start it. Epson will often sense the printer is online and install a “new” driver – even though the older driver is already installed.

   Go to the Start button in Windows and then to Printers and Faxes. If you see multiple versions of the same driver (copy 1, copy 2, etc.) delete all but one of them and then re-start T-RIP. You may have to go back to suggestion #3 and do a “Remove/Install” to refresh the communication between T-RIP and the driver.

6. The Windows operating system can also have quirks. When you go to Queue/Manage Queues you need to make sure the printer is set to the correct port. This is often Epson…..USB2 or something similar. It is pretty obvious which port is correct.

   But, for an odd reason and something that is not consistent – Windows will change the port setting to something like Unknown USB port. This most often happens when you shut everything down at night and in the morning turn things back on. As a reminder – if you do this – always turn on the printer FIRST and then the computer.

   If you are having communication issues between T-RIP and your printer, check the port setting in Queue/Manage Queues to see if it is still on the Epson port.

7. IMPORTANT FIXES AND WORK AROUNDS FOR NEWER EPSON 1430: A newer problem has developed with the latest Epson model printers like the 1430. In the past we have been suggesting naming the “queue” using the same name as the Epson driver – something like – Epson Photo Stylus 1400TRIP.  The problem with this is the newer Epson Printer Monitor programs seems to look for any driver with a name similar to the Epson driver name and it can cause printing issues such as holding errors or job printing halfway and then simply hanging.

   To be on the safe side if you are getting errors, go to Queue/Properties and in the General tab name your “queue” something different like T-RIP Epson Printer.  Make sure to go to Queue/Manager Queues and do a “Remove/Install” if you re-name the Queue.

   The above fix may not always stop the Epson Printer Monitor from finding the T-RIP driver and causing problems. If you change the name of the rip but still have issues – especially with the printer printing just half a page and stopping  – then you need to make one more change.

   Go to the Start button in Windows and then Printers and Faxes or Devices and Printers (depending on your version of Windows). This page shows all of the printers and devices you have hooked up to your computer. Select the Epson driver for your printer. Do not confuse this with your new “T-RIP” driver. Right click on the Epson printer icon and select Printer Properties. Select the Ports tab. You should see the current printer port and it will be something like USB003 or USB002. Change the Port selection to Print To File. This MAY effect the ability to print in color with this printer using the Epson driver. This is an Epson error that causes the problem and not a T-RIP error.

8. Film size and type mismatches can cause errors. If you are using a printer that supports sheet and roll media and if you can control the type of media from the printer menu – make sure you have the same settings in Queue/Properties/Media Setup. You don’t want that menu to be set for sheet media and the printer to be set for roll media.

9. Cable issues can cause errors. Older Epson printers like the 3000 and 1520 have a dated parallel port output connection. There are a number of third party parallel-to-USB cables on the market but some are not good. It may take unplugging and plugging back in these cables a number of times to get good communication.

   And, with some older printers and cables being a little fussy, if you have a USB hub with lots of connections this can cause communication issues. If you are using a USB hub try plugging the printer directly into the computer to see if it fixes errors.

10. If for some reason you have uninstalled T-RIP and then re-installed it – a number of times – there will be more than one T-RIP driver in Windows Printers and Faxes. Delete all but one and then again go  to suggestion #3 and do a “remove/install.”

11. Some Epson wider format printers like the 7000 and 9000 series offer the option to print with either dye or pigment ink. The Print Modes in T-RIP are specific to dye or pigment ink for this Epson printer series. If you are using a Print Mode that is for Dye ink with a printer that is set to print with Pigment ink – you may get a “command error” at the actual printer.

12. You can create Custom Page Sizes inside T-RIP to accommodate specific non-standard film sizes. These custom sizes will often not show up as an option in your applications like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator. To fix this go to Devices/Manage Print Media. Select Update Control Panel Now. Close this window.  Now all the custom page sizes will show up in your graphics software.

13. A file will sometimes simply not print out as a separation but will print in color as a composite of all channels. This can happen if you have your application (Photoshop, Corel, Illustrator) set to print a composite rather than a separation.

14. You can have this same problem if you have not chosen a Print Mode (Queue/Properties/General) and have left the Print Mode set to Default.

15. Certain printers (especially older models) will put down too much ink. The first thing to check is that you are using the correct side of the film. The sticky side (wet finger test) is the printing side. Make sure you have selected Standard Density or an SD Print Mode.

16. Can’t Import Job…..” “Can’t place job on page….” errors

There are a variety of reasons for these errors. Here are things to check:

1. See if you have a print command hung up in the standard Windows Print Manager. This can happen when printing to your inkjet printer not using T-RIP and then cancelling a print job. It is like putting a kink in a hose. There is a job hung up and it needs to be cancelled from Windows Print Manager.
2. A job might be hung up in T-RIP. If you cancel a job or have errors on a job it might get hung up. Try shutting down T-RIP and re-starting it. If that doesn’t help, go to Queue/Manage Queues and Remove and then Install the Queue to refresh it.

Rather than waste film troubleshooting printing errors, once you have made changes, try printing a Test Page first. The real test to see if everything is communicating correctly is to either print a Test Page, or go to Devices/Manage Devices – select your printer and click on the small printer icon (Device Properties). If you get the error that T-RIP is unable to communicate with your device then you know that your films won’t print.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS….Shut Everything Down (you might try this FIRST).

Certain devices and computers like to see things turned on in a specific order. Generally, you should turn the printer ON before you boot your computer. When all else fails there is nothing like starting fresh. TURN EVERYTHING OFF AND UNPLUG EVERYTHING FROM THE WALL OUTLET (computer and printer). Computers and printers still receive current when they are shut off. Unplugging them removes any current from reaching them and will often clear out any “bugs” that need to be shut down. Wait two minutes and then turn the printer ON and re-start your computer and T-RIP.

Other Dongle or RIP Conflicts

If you are printing to other devices that use a dongle, or if you have another RIP installed for other applications, there may be dongle conflicts (if using the dongle version). Try removing other dongles, or disabling other RIP’s before printing to see if it resolves conflicts.

Re-Installing T-RIP

Occasionally you simply need to try a fresh install. Before re-installing T-RIP you should uninstall it first. Go to the Start button and then Control Panel. Click on Programs and Features. Find T-RIP and uninstall it.

Help Files

There is much more information about T-RIP in the Help system built into the program.

Film Has Lines or Banding

90% of the time the clear horizontal lines are caused by clogged Nozzles in the printer. This will happen over time and quicker because we are using film transparencies. Film transparencies show head problems much more than paper does. The ink will bleed slightly on paper and cover up banding. Film is much less forgiving. This causes clear lines to show more quickly. Try the following steps to see if you can get rid of the clear lines.

Head cleaning

1)  Run head cleanings 4-5 times.

2)  Print a Nozzle Check from the Regular Epson driver on film. Look to see if there are any breaks in the black. If there are then run about 3-4 Head cleanings on the black. If not continue to step 3.

3)  Create a small, solid black box in a graphic program. Print this box through T-RIP on film. If you still get clear horizontal lines run about 3-4 more Head cleanings.

4)  Print out the black box again through T-RIP on film. If the clear lines improve, try running more Head cleanings. Print the Black box again. See if the clear lines are going away. If they are going away, then  try running more Head cleanings.

If the clear lines stay the same when the second black box is printed, then the Nozzles are clogged with dust/debris/dry ink. You need to have your printer professionally cleaned by an Authorized Epson Repair Service. They will need to fix the Nozzle/Head on the printer. They may be able to clean the Nozzle or they might need to replace the Head. When they replace the Head, it replaces the Nozzles on the printer.

If you do not know of anyone close to you, contact Epson Support. They can help you find someone close that is an Authorized Epson Repair Center. The Epson Support number is 562-276-7202.

General Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting
The Epson small desktop printers are great for film output. The only real problem is that like most small inkjet printers, they don’t always like to print on film. They are designed for paper. Your best solution is to put only ONE sheet of film in the printer at a time. This is especially important if using waterproof film which can stick to itself and have a lot of static.

Also, the paper holders for some of the smaller Epson printers are not very good at holding large 13” x 19” sheets in place. You may have to actually place your hand on the film as it starts to feed to keep it straight in the print path. You can also tape a small cardboard “guide” at the top of the paper feed holder to keep the film straight when being fed into the printer.

These printers will also sometimes advance the film through without making a print. They have sensors that don’t always like clear film. If that happens simply place the film back in the paper feeder and if necessary press the small “paper” icon (top button) on the printer.

The Epson 1400 and 1430 use dye based ink which is great for film. Most Epson model printers use pigment ink which is better for full color longevity but is not as good on film. Dye based ink works best and you can use the standard Epson dye based ink on film. You can also buy third party dye ink and film from a variety of industry screen printing suppliers and if you print a lot of films you should look at getting a bulk ink system for your printer. With a bulk ink system you can put cleaning fluid in all the color slots so you won’t have to keep buying the colors.