CMYK amounts for RGB black?

[Colin]

Whenever creating a file for printing that has any black, I always use the black from the RGB color palette (CorelDraw), as it produces a nice deep, rich black, compared to K=100.

My question is: Is there a way to find out what mixture of CMYK my printer uses to achieve this? I’m just curious, as it appears to consume a lot of magenta, and not so much K.

(Roland SP-540i)

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Not familiar with the specs of your printer, but I know FlexiSign's Production Manager will tell you what percentages of each ink used when you double-click on the job and go to the color options tab (I'm going from memory- been a while since I did it) and select the color as if you were going to adjust it.
I'd assume there's something similar in your RIP software.

 

[Colin]

All I can see in VersaWorks is total ink consumption (cc) and the ability to adjust the CMYK values, nothing else.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

In the area where you adjust the CMYK values, does it not show what the current values are? (Not familiar with VersaWorks, sorry)

 

[T_K]

I was taught, and have been using, 60/40/40/100 to produce a rich RGB-type black.

You can easily google this (e.g. "rich black cmyk") and quickly get overwhelmed by the variety of responses.

Big thing is to test it out on your machine and material and check it in a variety of light sources. Some combinations will produce a nice, rich black for interior uses, but put them outside and you notice different hues coming through. It takes a little time and money, but you get to learn your machine/material and develop your own preference.

 

[Baz]

Set all values CMYK to 100% Not just K 100%

 

[Colin]

In the area where you adjust the CMYK values, does it not show what the current values are? (Not familiar with VersaWorks, sorry)

Nope, this is all we see...

 

[Colin]

I was taught, and have been using, 60/40/40/100 to produce a rich RGB-type black.

You can easily google this (e.g. "rich black cmyk") and quickly get overwhelmed by the variety of responses.

Big thing is to test it out on your machine and material and check it in a variety of light sources. Some combinations will produce a nice, rich black for interior uses, but put them outside and you notice different hues coming through. It takes a little time and money, but you get to learn your machine/material and develop your own preference.

Set all values CMYK to 100% Not just K 100%

Thanks for the replies, but I'm not looking for ways to set CMYK values for black, but rather wanting to know what my printer/RIP is doing for a recipe for RGB black.

 

[greysquirrel]

I have always used...30 30 30 100

however, i typically design in rgb and let my rip convert to cmyk 1x...