First Article

By Vishen Moonsamy, Mr

A useful floor note on approving the first print so colour drift and banding are caught early.

The first approved print tells the shop whether the job is safe to continue or about to waste media. On South African large-format floors, skipping that check often leads to a full run with the wrong profile, wrong pass setting or the wrong material loaded. First Article is our note for that first controlled check off the printer.

First Article covers the first sheet pulled from a live run, not for office approval later. We focus on checks a South African operator can make at the machine, including banding, colour cast, feed direction and whether the loaded media matches the RIP setup.

First print approval record

• Media loaded and face checked
• Clear photo of the first printed section
• RIP profile, pass count and resolution noted
• FastJET, Stormjet or Skywalker setup written clearly

Read this note next to the matching ICC profile and cartridge note for the same machine. First Article tells you what to inspect on the actual print, while the other notes explain why the result may shift. Used together, they help separate media trouble from profile trouble.

First sheet under production conditions

First Article is the check that saves waste at the start of a run. Approve the first print properly so banding, colour drift or feed issues are picked up before the full job continues.

Before the run is released, note the media loaded, RIP profile selected, pass count, heater settings and take-up condition. Johannesburg dust, Durban humidity, Cape Town winter damp and load-shedding can all change how that first sheet reads. On FastJET, Stormjet and Skywalker work, one approved test print with date, operator and settings recorded is worth more than guessing after 200 square metres are out.

Mark the approved area on the first print before the run continues. That sheet becomes the reference for skin tones, solids, small text and any visible stepping across the width. When a later panel drifts, the team can compare it to something physical instead of guessing from memory.

Conditions that change first prints

A first print in Crown Mines may not look the same as one pulled near the coast on the same day. Temperature, overnight storage, dusty media edges and stop-start power all change how confidently you can approve that first sheet. The note assumes a working shop where jobs must move, not a test bench with unlimited media.

Coastal shops often watch drying and coalescence more closely on dark fills. Inland sites tend to pick up dust marks, static and head strikes sooner on lighter stock. If a print is for dispatch through OR Tambo or a same-day install in Durban, the first approved sample matters even more because there is less room for reruns.

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