Getting the same output from two different RIP's? Same ICC profile, same printer...

[Alamo]

So we had an .icc profile created last year for our printer, and are trying to come up a consistent workflow and stick to it. One current, ongoing variable is our rip software, as we sometimes switch between printing from Caldera or Onyx (depending what kind of job we are doing) and we noticed there is variation on our color outputs based on which RIP we're using. We are using the same exact color profile, same exact printer, same exact material, same print settings (ex. 8pass, uni). Do rips just calculate colors differently and this is an impossible goal to accomplish, or are there settings somewhere in one/both of the RIP's we're not choosing correctly to get identical output? Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[balstestrat]

Why do you keep switching between the two??? What could possibly be the reason?

How did you make the ICC? Did you do it separately on both Onyx and Caldera? It will come out looking different with default settings.

 

[bob]

Identical output from two different printers? Doubtful that will ever happen seeing as it can be seemingly impossible to get identical output from the same printer. There's lots of parameters not considered by a profile, any profile. Like temperature, humidity, general state of the printer, etc. Moreover, different RIP's work differently. You can come close but, in the finest Aristotelian tradition, there's no two things in the entire universe that are exactly alike. Sometimes the difference is detectable, sometimes it's not.

 

[SightLine]

Different RIP software generally licenses one of several actual RIP engines like APPE (Adobe PDF Print Engine), Harlequin, etc. Different engines have different methods of rendering color, support different dither methods, etc. so its not always easy to get a close match between two different programs.

 

[netsol]

i can get a SURPRISINGLY GOOOD color match between our Roland SC545-EX (CMYKlclm, circa 2006)
& our Mutoh VJ1617h (CMYK, circa 2018)

BUT, i think i can spot the trouble jobs, just by looking at them.

why don't we save A LOT of trouble and stipulate that EVERYTHING will not match from machine to machine or RIP to RIP & simply assign the 1 machine, 1 RIP to the customer s where it will be critical?

 

[cornholio]

If you use the same ICC with different Rips, your linearisations and ink limits need to be the same as well to start with... it should be possible, but you need to understand your Rips.

 

[Pauly]

Why are you using 2 different RIPs ?

 

[ONYXtechtips]

So we had an .icc profile created last year for our printer, and are trying to come up a consistent workflow and stick to it. One current, ongoing variable is our rip software, as we sometimes switch between printing from Caldera or Onyx (depending what kind of job we are doing) and we noticed there is variation on our color outputs based on which RIP we're using. We are using the same exact color profile, same exact printer, same exact material, same print settings (ex. 8pass, uni). Do rips just calculate colors differently and this is an impossible goal to accomplish, or are there settings somewhere in one/both of the RIP's we're not choosing correctly to get identical output? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Achieving the same color between two different RIPs is a near impossible task without some special tools (ONYX Swatchbooks). This is due to the math done behind the scenes. Color in a RIP is defined as 3 coordinates in a 3 dimensional color space. This color space is called Lab. Each letter in Lab represents an axis in the 3 dimensional color space. Your RIP identifies one color in this space and determines how close your printer is able to achieve this color. Some colors are just not within the capacities of the printer and the RIP will try and get as close as it can. It uses math to calculate the nearest possible color. Within ONYX RIP Queue, you would have the ability to match the color from Caldera by using Swatchbooks. The color from Caldera would be the target color and Swatchbooks will be able to help visually identify a color that matches. Then you can use a color replacement to achieve the match.

 

[Proofread People]

One HP tech told me that sometimes profiles don't update in the firmware. He advise us to delete the old profile and redownload a new one. It happened when my cyan dropped out (printheads were new), I re downloaded IJ40C and it worked...go figure.

 

[Gene@mpls]

We use two identical printers for that reason and there will still be minor differences

 

[netsol]

AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
you had A PROFILE created?
are you saying you print EVERYTHING using one profile?

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Yes you can get close match output between two printers and two rips. The colors will not be print on both machines for one print exact color; but if you print wall 1 on Onyx and wall 2 on Caldera and they aren't touching then, yes it will work.

You really need to change your color management process to ideally use one RIP but, if needing both, use an Agnostic profiling software like XRite. Then you can create an independant Profile for both Onyx and Caldera who will respect the color mapping. Or you can export Caldera's ICC profile (Since it is built on XRite) and then import it in to Onyx. You will then go through the process of linerizing, setting ink limits, and etc. This process needs to match between RIPs.

Onyx's Color engine is different than Caldera's or other RIPs because it is proprietary. We have switched to XRite but still use Onyx since we get better and more consistent color this way.

 

[yannb]

So we had an .icc profile created last year for our printer, and are trying to come up a consistent workflow and stick to it. One current, ongoing variable is our rip software, as we sometimes switch between printing from Caldera or Onyx (depending what kind of job we are doing) and we noticed there is variation on our color outputs based on which RIP we're using. We are using the same exact color profile, same exact printer, same exact material, same print settings (ex. 8pass, uni). Do rips just calculate colors differently and this is an impossible goal to accomplish, or are there settings somewhere in one/both of the RIP's we're not choosing correctly to get identical output? Thanks in advance for any advice!

You also need to set source (input) profiles and rendering intents the same. When using spot colors, LAB values need to be the same too.

 

[unmateria]

U need to make an intermediate devicelink profile. Is easy, fast, and works perfectly. Linearization, dot size and max ink limits should be as close as posible. And of course, u need an i1 or similar, or forget it

 

[richsweeney]

In the sheet fed print world we sell "Pleasing color" I think for the most part the market no longer cares about an exact color match. If you have a client that does, send them to your least favorite competitor.