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First Print

A project log for Analog Pixel Art: DIY Cyanotype Printer

X/Y Plotter for high wattage UV LEDs to expose Cyanotype and other printing methods.

johnjohn 06/29/2026 at 16:140 Comments

First successful UV print from the printhead. Still some issues.

Software is all mangled up, AI just decided it didn't need to work anymore. Gonna have to sort this out by hand. All 4 passes are apart. The print shows this.

The Z drive isn't working, for some reason, again, when I'm working on the code, I'll figure it out. 

The Good?

Accuracy, the boxes on the print look really sharp. Hopefully I can minimize them by moving the print head away and I have the hardware to keep it at a set distance. The squares are slightly less than 2mm squares, calculated to allow some expansion. I might have another rev of the boards coming, so I'll throw in a slightly bigger stencil too. 

Every square was DMax, so I need to drastically shorten the exposure, which means ... faster printing. 

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