Need Help Customer files with different swatches

[altereddezignz]

I have a customer that i print for that he designs everything with roland swatch panels. He also does a small test print and sent it with everything i print for him.

He works at a large factory that prints all their own prints in house so he is able to print a small sample but not the actual job so i do that for him. He send me files print ready but our colors do not always match.

I use i1 profiler to create all our profiles in house and he just uses downloaded roland profiles in versa works when he prints the samples.

Is there a way to get our colors closer together so i am not having to spend so much time matching his colors?

I said he always sends a sample but about every other time he does this.

I had him match the way my illustrator was set up as well.

This bring up another question if i am creating a file for someone else like a logo how can i sure that the colors i am using are correct when someone else prints them? Or is there a way?

Here is the color setting in my illustrator if that even helps lol.

We had a g6 profile expert come in and train us when we installed all of our equipment. It was a trade deal bc there was some issues when the install was done and this was a way to compensate us for some of the issues.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I have a customer who has two Mutoh 1624 printers and bought them at the exact same time (serial numbers are 1 away from each other) and use the same inks and media. Since he is a perfectionist he noticed that the machines were not matching perfectly and spent the money to have them profiled to match. The point of the story is that even if you are using the same machine, ink and RIP in the same room, the results can be different and the only perfect solution would be to profile both machines together to match. In your case you could try just using the same profile he uses and see if it gets any closer. If the machines are different models it could be even harder to match due to heads being different etc.

 

[altereddezignz]

Yes we use an Epson S80600 and he uses a roland 4 color. I think i may just print a pantone chart for him and send it to him for reference. My printer prints VERY close to pantone swatch books so may just have him order one of those as a good reference.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Yes we use an Epson S80600 and he uses a roland 4 color. I think i may just print a pantone chart for him and send it to him for reference. My printer prints VERY close to pantone swatch books so may just have him order one of those as a good reference.

That's a good idea too. We used to do that at a shop I worked at and the customers could just pick the color they want and we knew we could print it.

 

[bannertime]

That's a good idea too. We used to do that at a shop I worked at and the customers could just pick the color they want and we knew we could print it.

That's what I do. I have a printed swatch of the Orcal 651 colors and names. They print out pretty dang close to the cut vinyl so if we have to switch back and forth, it'll be relatively painless. I know it'd work the same with Pantone, but too many colors for most people to sift through.

 

[Joe House]

Are you using the same model of Roland printer to print on? The Roland Color System works great if you're picking colors from a swatch that was printed on the production printer. They use fixed CMYK colors to print out the colors and if you're not on the same machine - even similar ones will vary from each other. Otherwise, you probably won't get a good match. You don't mention what RIP you're using, but I think you might get better results using Pantone colors as most RIP software includes lookup tables for Pantone colors - including Roland VersaWorks.
Then, of course if he's not using a fully color managed system - monitor profiles, custom printer profiles, etc, you're probably not going to hit the mark as often as you'd like. And in this case, I think it's more on him than on your system.

Edit - just saw what you were writing while I was writing. Sounds like we all have the same idea.

Good Luck

 

[HillHouseGraphics]

I have a customer that i print for that he designs everything with roland swatch panels. He also does a small test print and sent it with everything i print for him.

He works at a large factory that prints all their own prints in house so he is able to print a small sample but not the actual job so i do that for him. He send me files print ready but our colors do not always match.

I use i1 profiler to create all our profiles in house and he just uses downloaded roland profiles in versa works when he prints the samples.

Is there a way to get our colors closer together so i am not having to spend so much time matching his colors?

I said he always sends a sample but about every other time he does this.

I had him match the way my illustrator was set up as well.

This bring up another question if i am creating a file for someone else like a logo how can i sure that the colors i am using are correct when someone else prints them? Or is there a way?

Here is the color setting in my illustrator if that even helps lol.

We had a g6 profile expert come in and train us when we installed all of our equipment. It was a trade deal bc there was some issues when the install was done and this was a way to compensate us for some of the issues.

I work with several agencies and we frequently have to match color. I have found it helpful to print PMS Swatches on my most popular materials for them. With that we have a good understanding of what we need. I have also taken the time to adjust a couple of mixes in versaworks to match specific colors and have a cheat sheet for other custom colors I have made to match special spot colors in my client's files. It is a huge pain in the rear end, but having been 20+ years in one type of printing or another, I have found that sometimes it pays to put the effort in and you will secure the client, because even if they try to move to another printer, they will have a difficult time meeting their expectations. This allows me some peace of mind about clients not leaving for price. Hope that may help you. -Ian

 

[printhog]

Have your client invest in a color sampling tool... a great one is the "colormuse" $59 Color Muse Matching App | Paint Color Matching | Color Matching Tool. Its an awesome bluetooth smartphone accessory..

It'll deliver your client's colors as L*a*b values of the actual spectral data. . He should specify his colors as L*a*b read under the unit's default D50 lighting. The L*a*b color space is the central color space for all RIP's.. its also the only color space based on what human eyes actually see.

A L*a*b call out will give you the spectral data for the TARGET color you're after, but NOT the ink values you need to print to get that. REREAD THAT LAST PART!! Your ICC profile should align your printer's output to that color if set properly (use Relative or Absolute Rendering intent - not perceptual or saturation).

Remember that PMS isnt a digital nor 4 color process technology, its an analog color communication standard for SPOT inks that are actually made from 14 premixed tints. They are then interblended by a recipe for each PMS callout to get various spot colors. Many of them are not reproducible in the 4 color process space. As NO ONE makes a PMS inkset you need a communication that is true digital vs analog. Having a color definition in the L*a*b space will cut out the errors of converting RGB/CMYK inputs. If it all goes right, you'll get as close as possible to the spectral color when you use your internal profile to match that L*a*b specification.