If you own a Kodak 6800 or 6850 Photo Printer, you are probably aware of the fact that Kodak discontinued the 4″ media kit used to make 4×6 prints. It is now necessary to use the 6″ media kit to make 4×6 prints. (Update: Please note that there are two Kodak 6″ media kits: the standard 1974096 $0.33/4×6 print; and the less expensive consumer version 1696418, $0.19/4×6 print. The consumer version uses a thinner paper, great for proofs.)
A remarkable feature of the printer though allows you to print single 4×6’s with no waste (half the cost of a 6×8)! If you send a 4×6 to the printer, it will spit out a single 4×6 borderless print. If you send another single 4×6 image, the printer will rewind the ribbon (we’re using 6×8 ribbon remember) to the unused portion and use that for your second 4×6. Pretty smart! However if you print a single 4×6, then print a 6×8, you will have wasted the unused portion of the ribbon from that first 4×6 and that 4×6 cost you about as much as a 6×8.
This is all fine and dandy, but what about if you want to offer 4×6’s and 6×8’s (or 5×7’s printed on 6×8 paper) in a “production” or high volume environment? The problem is that every time you want to switch from 4×6 to 6×8 you have to go into the properties of the printer driver and make the change. Then do your 4×6 print. Then go to the properties and change it back to 6×8 (or vice versa). A real pain and a real slow down.
Here’s a little “hack” to get around this problem. This will work especially well if you are using ExpressDigital Darkroom Software (Core or Pro) but really works with any program you might be using. What you want to do is to install the printer twice in your Windows Printers and Faxes so that you have 2 printers listed (eg “Kodak 6850” and “Kodak 6850 Copy #1”). Rename one of the printers “Kodak 6850 4×6” and one of them “Kodak 6850 6×8”. Go into the properties of each and set them so that the “4×6 printer” prints borderless 4×6’s and the “6×8 printer” prints 6×8’s. Now when you go to print (or when setting up Express Digital Darkroom), send your 4×6’s to “Kodak 6850 4×6” and your 6×8’s to the “Kodak 6850 6×8”. See screen shots below.
Here’s how it will look in Windows Printers and Faxes.
Here’s how it will look in the Darkroom Setup tab (click to enlarge).
There you go…a relatively simple way to get the most (and cheapest) prints from your Kodak 6850 or 6800 printer. As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, give us a call or shoot us an email. Good luck and Good printing!
12 Comments