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Gerber Edge registration issue

ABBOTARTDEPT

New Member
Im having some issues with colors not registering correctly. I usually print spot color foils. and latetly the colors are off just a tad. a red letter with a black stroke is showing the white vinyl around the red. the red and black arent touching completely. the left side of the letters are touching, actually the color is trapped, but the right side isnt at all. its as if one of the colors is being stretched a tad harder than the other. using Omega 2.0. I hope im explaining myself correctly.
 

Marlene

New Member
what vinyl are you using? is the vinyl being pulled off the roll as it feeds threw the Edge? if so, check the holes in the paper to see if they look like they have been distorted as they should look totally round. if you see this, try rolling out a few feet of vinyl so that it drapes and just feeds into the Edge without the Edge unwinding it from the roll. you can also try using 225 Gerber vinyl on the clear backing. other things you can do is to put a stroke on the letters or work with the choke and spread.
 

gabagoo

New Member
I have had the same problem from timt to time, some say it can be the difference of the amount of foil on the two cartridges that can cause it. For me I stay away from trapping as much as possible. It can be very frustrating as it's nothing that you have done. Also it can be the clutches in the machine too.
 

WhiskeyDreamer

Professional Snow Ninja
by trapped? do you mean you put a choke/spread on??

EDIT: just saw Marlene's post....definitely check the material...if there is any kind of stress on the holes, that alone could be the culprit......does the vinyl go all the way to the edge of the material or is it stripped?? and i know this may sound strange, but how old are the foils?? i had an issue awhile back with an olympic blue foil.....after talking with a gerber tech, i got a new foil in....problem solved....
 

Mike Paul

Super Active Member
A few things you could try:

-Clean the sprockets.
-Try to use cartridges with the same amount of foil on them.
-Use a color trap.
-Make your Black a Duotone color, 100% Black & 100% Red to eliminate the white gap.
 

ABBOTARTDEPT

New Member
I use avery vinyl and the holes are fine. I didnt trap the colors on purpose. its just laying the foil that way in some spots because of the misalignment. i figured it might be because of the amount of foil is different on each color roll and the edge uses a constant tourque. so thats probably it. which would suck because how am i supposed to keep the foils close in foild length? ive only been testing this with one decal at a time. should i try several and see if the later decals start lining up? thanks for the quick replies and suggestions. this forum rocks.


*EDIT: im a noob in this buisness (about 6 months exp.) how do i make the black a duotone color?
 

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
This has been discussed many times.

The Edge has a built in design flaw that results in color to color registration errors of about + or - .020". There are two ways to deal with it:

1. Create chokes and spreads greater than the tolerance needed to cover the error if using spot colors.
2. Produce the prints using process or duotone (spectratone) colors so that the errors are absorbed due to percentage of color blending instead of 100% spot color impressions.
 

Marlene

New Member
just click your help button and read up on how to do use the choke and spread there are set by steps to help.
 

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
When you output using CMYK, change to Classical Dot or SRT Photo for your halftone and bump your LPI up to 70.7. Then when you output, turn off the Automatic Color Management in the 123 dialog of GSPPlot and manually select the output profile named Gerber Edge II 300 DPI CMYK. You will probably see the colors come out a lot better.
 

Tony Teveris

New Member
Choke & Spread (C/S) is the way to go but I've seen some real small decals where it is just impossible to C/S. This problem has been around a long time and some of the things I notice are 1) depends on foils (colors, amount on roll, etc) 2) materials (225, Lexedge, ect) 3) even when all the colors line up I still see a white halo (very small).

For those who have jobs where color to color registration is a problem and doing repeats do you see the same amount of "error" over the entire job?

I have a little program that I use to correct the "error" because I hate C/S even thought I have updated it in our next version of Omega (known as 3.0). The whole idea of the program is to fudge the "X" position of the foil in the job after a couple of test of the job. It wastes material but always seems to make a better print in the end with no C/S. I always use and Edge II for printing and can not say how it works on an FX. Email me if you are interested and if I get time I will put something together and explain how it works and you can try it.
 

ABBOTARTDEPT

New Member
When you output using CMYK, change to Classical Dot or SRT Photo for your halftone and bump your LPI up to 70.7. Then when you output, turn off the Automatic Color Management in the 123 dialog of GSPPlot and manually select the output profile named Gerber Edge II 300 DPI CMYK. You will probably see the colors come out a lot better.


I did that and it looks quite good. only issue is the purple color. i can see the halftone pattern. but in all other colors its smooth.
 
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