Updated November 15, 2018
Although square prints have been an option on roll dye subs for a while, there was great buzz about them during PBX 2018. Many printers have done square prints including 6x6 on the Mitsubishi K60,
Steve did a post on it in a previous blogpost. Please remember, 4x6 media comes out of the printer horizontally which is why you can print and cut 2-2x6. You cannot cut a 4x4 on 4x6 media on any dye sub printer. To cut 6x6 square prints you need 6x8 media and to print 5x5, you need 5x7 media. Your software must be able to send a square print to the printer. You cannot send a 6x8 photo to a printer set to 6x6 as it may either not print and error out or cut in an odd place.
DNP recently released firmware and drivers for the
RX1HS and
DS620A printers for 6x6 on the RX1 with 6x8 media and 5x5 on 5x7 and 6x6 on 6x8 media for the DS620A.
Visit the official DNP support page for the latest firmware and drivers. The
DS40 has the 6x6 capability in the firmware but it is not available within the DNP driver. The DS40 can do 6x6 only with the built in DS40 driver in Darkroom Booth and it is not available in Darkroom Core or Pro at this time.
View our selection of DNP media.
On the Mitsubishi printers, the
CP-K60DW-S and
CP-D90DW do 5x5 on 5x7 and 6x6 on 6x8. The
CP-D70DW only does 6x6 on 6x8. The CPD70DW does not do 5x5 at all.
The
HiTi 525 can print 5x5 on 5x7 and 6x6 on a 6x8.
The
Sinfonia CS2 has a really neat option; It has the 5x5 on 5x7 and 6x6 on 6x8 media. However, it can also cut 1-6x6 and 1-2x6 on a 6x8 to give you a square print and coupon or other photo option.
When printing 5x5 and 6x6 it should decrease the print time by around 1/3 on 5x5 and ¼ on a 6x6. For 8x8 on the 8x10 printers. The
Sinfonia CE1, the
DNP DS80 and
DNP 820A can cut 8x8 on 8x10 media. The
FujiFilm DX100 printer has 4”, 5”, 6” and 8” wide paper. It can print from 3 ½” to 39” long. It can easily print, 4x4 on 4” paper, 5x5 on 5” paper, 6x6 on 6” paper and 8x8 on 8” paper. Currently the Brava 21 does not offer any square prints.
Here is a breakdown of printers that have square cut capabilities,
| Printer |
5 x 5 |
6 x 6 |
| Mitsubishi K60 |
Y |
Y |
| Mitsubishi 70DW |
N |
Y |
| Mitsubishi 80 DW |
Y |
Y |
| Mitsubishi 90 DW |
Y |
Y |
| Hiti 525 |
Y |
Y |
| Sinfonia CS2 |
Y |
Y |
| DNP DS40 |
N |
* |
| DNP 620 |
Y |
Y |
| DNP RX1 (and HS) |
N |
Y |
| Ciaat Brave 21 |
N |
N |
| Fujifilm ASK-300 |
N |
N |
*
for the DS40, under 6 x 6 is only available with Darkroom Booth
