Problem with using way too much spot foil on gerber edge

[budgie]

Hi everyone, yes I'm a total newbie to this site and the world of printing. I have a gerber edge printer and a gerber Gs15 plotter. Purchased second hand so I cant get support for it!
Having a foil print problem. When i print (Im using spot colours) It will print, say black, some of the design but then goes back for a second print to print the rest of the black it missed the first time! This can't be right! I'm using twice as much foil as I need, making it very expensive. My software is omega 1.56. Great site by the way. Any help or suggestions appreaciated. Thanks

 

[omgsideburns]

It's not the machine. Check you spot assignments. Sometimes when you assign a spot color twice it shows up twice. In composer check 'select spot colors' after you've done your assignments to make sure you color isn't shoing up twice. If it is just select one, change the color, then change it back and that should fix it.

 

[Mike Paul]

Sounds like you may have two blacks assigned in your design. Spot black and Process Black.

 

[Dane DeFord]

Sounds like you may have two blacks assigned in your design. Spot black and Process Black.

I'm gonna have to agree with Mike. Also, it's possible, if you're importing clipart, sometimes the "black" is made up of all the process colors thrown together. Thus requiring you to put the black cartridge in twice. Hope it helps.

Regards, Dane

 

[Bob Gilliland]

Does any part of your duplicated spot colour have “Overprint” assigned? Standard fill and Overlap print at one heat setting while Overlap prints at an elevated heat. The Edge only allows printing at one heat setting per pass; i.e. – standard fill and overlap will print on the first pass while Overprint assignments will print on the following pass.

Inside GSPPlot, wireframe view, Red lines reflect a standard print with cuts turned off, Green is standard print with cuts on. If you see Magenta (Overlap) or Blue (Overlap) lines, you have these attributes set from the design. And again, Blue line objects will print at the elevated heat setting.

While in GSPPlot, press [F11] to display the Print Options dialog. This will also reveal some potential problems coming your way. In the upper right-hand area of the dialog box where foil information is displayed, look for “twice” the amount of foil usage then what you are expecting. Also, look for an “O” on the O-Print column. This also reveals an Overlap or Overprint attribute present for that colour.

Within Composer, use the Select drop down to select Overprints (Fill, Stroke, or Both) and I believe you will find what is selected is what prints on the second pass of the spot colour foil.

 

[Fred Weiss]

In addition to what's been suggested, check also if part of your black has full overprint assigned to the fill and part does not. Full overprint calls for a hotter printhead temperature so it will cause it to print separately.

To get it to print all in the same pass, either set the overprint to the half full thermometer icon setting (which overprints but does not raise the temperature) of set all the black to full overprint.

 

[Bob Gilliland]

The following post may (or may not) be helpful in illustrating what I perceive happening. Once the theory is grasped, it becomes very, very easy to check your prints before output and also how to work within the parameters of the physical hardware.

Gerber Edge, possible foil saving tip

 

[budgie]

You guys are terrific!! I'm going to check all the suggestions and get back to you. I think its the overprint/overlap heat issue but will check and let you know. I have to say this site and your participation is amazing!!! Thanks to you all, for the time you have taken in considering my problem. Dont be supprised to hear from me on a regular basis, ha ha, you might regret the help youv'e given me.