RasterLink Functions Explained: A Full Icon Guide

UV Printing · RasterLink

RasterLink functions explained: a full icon guide

Quality, Jig Print, Composition, Layer, Color Replace — a plain-English breakdown of every icon in RasterLink and what it actually does.

Job setup Special plates Job management

RasterLink's toolbar isn't complicated once you know what each icon is actually for — but nothing in the interface tells you that up front. This is the reference we wish we'd had on day one: what every function does, plus the tips that aren't obvious just from clicking around.

Job setup

Setting up a job

Properties

Your job's Home tab — job cost and ink consumption information lives here.

Arrangement

Arranges multiple jobs together. They need to be built the same way to work as a set.

Quality

Controls profiles, pass rates, overprints, resolution, and Clear Gloss settings. Higher resolution means a higher pass rate and a slower print. Overprints create a textured effect.

Crop

Crops the job. Initialize resets it to the original, and your crop saves automatically so you can go straight to printing.

Special plates

Special plates & white ink

This is where white, clear, and primer plates get created and arranged — and where most of the "why does my white ink look wrong" questions actually get answered.

Special Plate

Creates special plates — white, clear, or primer — for your job.

Composition

Arranges your special colors and plates, and sets the order they print in when you're running multiple plates.

Color Plate: working with white base

This is how you build your white base — you can adjust the density of the white depending on how much coverage you need.
Whole Image lays white under the entire artboard. Valid Pixel puts white only under the actual printed pixels.
Composite automatically works fine for a single plate. For multiple plates, create all of them first, then composite — and decide whether white goes on top or underneath.
Once you've composited, you can't go back and add more plates — get your plates set up before you composite.

Layer: thinning the white ink (choke)

Useful when white is peeking out past the edge of your print. You have to be on the white layer to use it — it won't apply otherwise.

You can thin or thicken pixels independently on the scan axis (left to right) and the feed axis (front to back), so you can pull the white in from just the side it's actually showing on.

Jig print

Jig print, the key things to know

Jig Print is the most powerful — and least obvious — function in RasterLink. Here's what actually matters when you're setting one up.

You have to check the Jig Print box to activate its options — this grays out General Print, and colors/whites gray out too until you add them before running the jig.
The green + button adds a jig and lets you modify all of its options.
Scroll down and set your count to 1 before you start.
Full print area is 21.016" x 16.535".
Material size is the physical size of your material. Interval/pitch needs to be as large or larger than the material — it sets the spacing between prints.
The green page with multiple squares is where you print the job onto the bed.
You can save the jigs you build and cut them out on a laser.
Jig layout is how the file itself is laid out. Layout in jig definition is where the image prints within each space.
For multiple jobs in one jig: open the files in General Print, select them, go to Jig Print, and grab the layout.

Bed layout

General print: positioning on the bed

Scaling & rotation

Scale, rotate, reverse-print, or deskew your job before sending it to the bed.

Position

Sets where the job lands on the bed. Bottom right is always 0x0 — scan runs left to right, feed runs front to back.

Job management

Managing & finishing jobs

Execution

Sends the job to the printer, and lets you set a print count if you need the same job multiple times. Rip and print, then hit start.

Favorites

Save and load your favorite settings so you're not rebuilding the same setup every time.

Duplicate

Right-click any job to duplicate it — a fast way to build variations off a job you've already set up.

Backup

Pulls up an old job — useful for anything you print often instead of rebuilding it from scratch.

Color Replace

Select the color you want to change, then replace it with anything you like. It won't show the change in the preview — only in the actual print. To undo it, click replace again and hit apply.

Trash Can

Deletes a job or its rip data. Make sure you delete every part of a job, or you'll only end up deleting part of it. The job highlighted in blue is the one you're currently working on — double-check that before you hit delete.

Cost & color

Cost analysis & color matching

Cost analysis

Rip a job and RasterLink will tell you what it costs to print — roughly $0.21 per CC. Ctrl- or shift-click to check multiple jobs at once, and read the breakdown from the bottom up.

CMYK color chart tool

Use this when you're trying to replicate a specific color — it shows you exactly what CMYK values produce it.

At a glance

Full function glossary

Function	What it does
Properties	Home tab — job cost and ink consumption
Arrangement	Arranges multiple jobs to work together
Quality	Profiles, pass rates, resolution, Clear Gloss/Matte
Crop	Crops a job; auto-saves
General Print	Positions and scales the job on the bed
Jig Print	Creates jigs and templates for repeat layouts
Execution	Sends the job to the printer
Special Plate	Creates white, clear, or primer plates
Composition	Arranges and orders special colors/plates
Layer	Thins or thickens the white ink (choke)
Color Replace	Swaps one print color for another
Favorites	Saves and loads your preferred settings
Duplicate	Right-click a job to copy it
Backup	Pulls up a previously run job
Trash Can	Deletes a job or its rip data

Most of RasterLink only feels complicated the first week. Once you know what Composition, Layer, and Jig Print are actually for, the rest of the interface starts making a lot more sense — and you'll spend a lot less time clicking around looking for the right button.

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