Flatbed Testing

[dlndesign]

I have a new flatbed machine and I want to work out all the "kinks" before producing large quantity jobs. I want to set up a system of checks with the different materials and substrates we use. Run tests on those materials after they have been printed to test durability. Qualiuty and color will be another set of checks that I'll do independently. Is there anything I am missing? I know it all depends on what you do, but if you have a flatbed and have run a similar quality control test, please let me know what else I can add to my check list. Thanks!

 

[Gino]

Personally, I'm not quite sure what or why you're testing at this point ??

Getting profiles setup, number of passes, full lamp or half lamp, uni or bi directional and then testing each product before you do a final print is all that's necessary. The only thing we have to hone is if someone wants a specific color and we have trouble obtaining it under normal processes. Then we have to use our CATZper program which will bring up about 100 to 150 neighboring colors at a pop.

 

[dlndesign]

Gino, I appreciate the point your making. At this point I am new to the flatbed printing aspect of our services. I get verbally vomited on to come up with ways to test our materials with little to no information on what, how and why, so I am trying to pickup these pieces as fast as I can and come up with a logical process to get the best from our machines. Now, since this is a new machine, it has a unique ink-set, we are kinda beta testing here. So any other thoughts on the type of direction I should be focusing on?

 

[Gino]

I would imagine reading up on the machines capabilities would be a good place to start, but only believe about half of what they write.

Anyway, you'd do better to identify the machine you have and what these specialty inks are and maybe someone else here can help you.

When we got ours, we printed on just about every flat surfaced substrate we could think of from ceiling tiles to carpeting. We printed on every substrate we have in the shop, but we do this still to this day. Something is always mystifying us and we want to know. We bought the machine for a few specific purposes/reasons and bought the machine we thought best at the time. It has served us well and our first job, more than paid for the machine in full and still gave us a profit on that first job. Rather than testing, we call it more like experimenting for new effects, better adhesion and just for the heck of it.

Depending on true flatbed vs. hybrid as long as you have U/V lamps and some kind of outdoor durable inks, you should be pretty much good to go as long as you use proper profiles to match your substrate.