Having hard time with small print

[SOLO_Fab]

Hey guys kinda new to printing labels for customers, so far all labels have been great but with this latest one it almost seems as if I'm seeing the black bleed over causing the letters to be unlegible. I'm running the Epson SureColor 80600L and Onyx RIP I've tried printing in high quality first and didn't work and then went to low quality (360@720x720dpi-6 pass) thinking possibly less ink would be used but still everything's the same results. Customer only provided a pdf file which I had to take to illustrator to add cut lines to it then save again so that my cut server knew what to do. Is this an issue with having to stary from a pdf or a setting I'm not doing right. Thx

 

[victor bogdanov]

Are you using the correct profile for the material?

What size is the label/text

 

[unclebun]

Your profile is wrong for the material. The green should not be all grainy like that, and it definitely is overinking the black. In addition the barcode should not have bumpy lines.

 

[SOLO_Fab]

The label is 3.75"w by 1.5" t on GF 3mill vinyl. The profile the tech that helped me install the printer said to leave it on Avery MPI 1105 for the profile

 

[SOLO_Fab]

Your profile is wrong for the material. The green should not be all grainy like that, and it definitely is overinking the black. In addition the barcode should not have bumpy lines.

Yes I totally agree with what you said, when you say profile do you mean the media group? I attached what my current profile is.thx

 

[victor bogdanov]

You will need to find a profile for the GF material. Using a "default" profile like you're doing will work for most prints but can result in issues like you are experiencing.

 

[Solventinkjet]

- Make sure your printhead alignments, particularly the bi-directional alignment, is dialed in
- Use a higher resolution profile if you can
- Choose the slowest motor speed if that an option in the profile settings
- Low head height mode
- Increase heat
- For bar codes, orient them on the page so that the lines run longways with the direction of the printhead

 

[White Haus]

- Make sure your printhead alignments, particularly the bi-directional alignment, is dialed in
- Use a higher resolution profile if you can
- Choose the slowest motor speed if that an option in the profile settings
- Low head height mode
- Increase heat
- For bar codes, orient them on the page so that the lines run longways with the direction of the printhead

All good tips.

I'd also add, and without trying to be rude or unhelpful, that you should spend some time to familiarize yourself with profiles, resolutions, file formats, and how they affect output.

The fact that your customer provide a PDF file should not be a concern, it should be celebrated.

I'd be looking at a 720 @ 720 x 1440 dpi profile for that level of detail at that size. You may even have to look at 1440x1440 and/or going uni-directional.

Hope that helps. Again, not trying to be rude, only helpful.

 

[Saturn]

Echoing White Haus, I would definitely look at doing this uni-directional, regardless of how well the bi-directional is dialed in, and it doesn't look like yours is.

Look for the 'bi-directional alignment' Solventinkjet mentions. You can run the auto one, or look for the manual one—Media Setup > Customize Settings > Media Adjust > Manual > Head Alignment. Just need sharp eyes and/or a loupe.

 

[SOLO_Fab]

All good tips.

I'd also add, and without trying to be rude or unhelpful, that you should spend some time to familiarize yourself with profiles, resolutions, file formats, and how they affect output.

The fact that your customer provide a PDF file should not be a concern, it should be celebrated.

I'd be looking at a 720 @ 720 x 1440 dpi profile for that level of detail at that size. You may even have to look at 1440x1440 and/or going uni-directional.

Hope that helps. Again, not trying to be rude, only helpful.

Thanks for the advice, I had a tech just set it up and gone so I been learning Onyx and how to get things to talk between the computer, printer and graphtec. It's hard to find information on how to use the printer. Any direction you could point me towards? Thx

 

[White Haus]

Thanks for the advice, I had a tech just set it up and gone so I been learning Onyx and how to get things to talk between the computer, printer and graphtec. It's hard to find information on how to use the printer. Any direction you could point me towards? Thx

When it comes to Onyx, they have a ton of resources online.

Their Onyx TV Youtube channel:

ONYX TV

ONYX TV is the official video headquarters for all things Onyx Graphics, award winning RIP software. ONYX TV allows experts to share their knowledge and tips on the full ONYX software product line. Watch instructional videos featuring in-depth information on ONYX Thrive workflow software; ONYX...

www.youtube.com

Their website:

MyOnyx - Onyx Graphics - RIP Software for wide-format print

onyxgfx.com

In terms of physically using your printer, your tech/dealer should have provided training. Did you purchase it new? If you recently purchased it new and didn't receive any proper training, I'd reach out to your sales rep and ask if they can provide some additional training. Depending on your relationship with them, they might (should) do it for free, especially if it was listed as a line item on the equipment purchase/lease. If training wasn't supposed to be provided, or if you bought the unit used, it might still be worth asking them if you can book a day with a knowledgeable tech, or even a few hours. Hands on experience with someone that knows the machine well is worth every penny and can potentially save you lots of time and money down the road.

That being said, there are lots of helpful members here and also lots of people running Epsons, so asking here is always a good (free) option. We've had a S60600 for about a year and a half, and despite the fact that we had a tech here all day yesterday at $185/hr working on it, it's (up until now) been a great machine. They're pretty bulletproof and simple to use, once you wrap your head around how they operate.

In addition to the previous suggestions, one thing I forgot to ask: Do you have your media type/feed settings set to the vinyl you're using?
See page 57 in the user's guide here: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://files.support.epson.com/docid/cpd5/cpd50696.pdf

I'd suggest creating media settings for all your materials, only takes 5 mins or so. We've just done the auto version and it's worked well.

In terms of your print profiles, there are a few options. Use the canned ones that Onyx comes with (which is pretty limited), make your own, (which requires a spectrophotometer) or use the manufacturer's provided profiles. Manufacturers profiles will generally be better than canned profiles but still not perfect.
Here is the link to GF's profiles: https://www.generalformulations.com/profiles/?_icc_prma=icc-epson&_icc_prmo=surecolor-s80600
Just select the media you're printing on, and download that profile.

Also found this, which might be helpful: