InkJet
There are many types of inkjet cartridges available in the consumer market. However, very few of companies make it easy to interface with their cartridges. This page will define a "good interface" as one which can integrate with RepRap electronics and software. Below are some notes on cartridges and implementations that may be of use to someone exploring powder printing, or different deposition methods and materials (such as resin or bacteria) .
Contents
Piezo
RepRappable
See also this page: Scratchbuilt Piezo Printhead.
Thermal
HP TIJ
The HP TIJ is a series of inkjet cartridges available from HP that are designed to be easy to interface with. There is a PDF from HP available here, which describes the different two series in depth. Below are some potential use cases and notes on applications to RepRaps.
1.0
Note: it would be good to 'uncompact' this pdf into a proper wiki page.--Sebastien Bailard 07:02, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
2.5
A higher resolution cartridge than the 1.0 capable of faster nozzle firings. There has not been a documented use within the RepRap or open hardware community.
Control Software
Firmware
Movement planning
Traditional multiple head inkjet printers use a droplet overlap method. Currently there is no known software applicable to RepRap that would generate these patterns from an image. For some research there are times when clear boundaries between colors are desired.
CMYK overlap
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) overlap is the traditional method and process of producing color images from an inkjet printer. More information about the CMYK process can be found on the Wikipedia page.
Boundary Preserving
A Python 2.7 script is available which will take BMP images and generate G-Code paths that preserve the boundary between pixels. Further documentation is available on GitHiub at the link below.
Link: image_to_gcode
