HP L365 Red issues- Flexi19

[Intense01]

Hello, I purchased a brand new HP L365 in November of 2020. I have not been able to get it to produce a decent red. I had an HP l26500 before this printer and had it dialed in. Currently only use 3M 180 or 3M ij35c. I have used both the uploaded profiles with increased saturation and cannot get it to print a good red. Really muddy orange looking reds. I have color calibrated it to the media many times and all print heads are good. In the demo HP tests the red prints decent but I am pretty sure it is printing a flattened image and not a vector file.

Normally 10 or 12 pass bidi with 110 to 120 sat.

I have gone back and forth with HP, flexi and Grimco and I cannot figure it out. I have tried color mapping and changing input settings through Flexi but somehow that seems to make it worse.

I have tried CMYK and RGB and both seem to have the same results. Does anyone have any pointers to help me get more poppy reds? I have gone up to a 12 pass 170sat backlit and produced a decent red but on contour cut graphics it must warp the media or something and I cannot get it to cut accurately.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

PS: I tried searching but couldn't find anything with a solid answer so I apologize if this has been hashed out before....

 

[balstestrat]

Sounds to me like you have some sort of colour profile issue in Flexi.

But other than that, have you tried to just make a new print mode and create new ICC for that in the printer?

 

[Intense01]

Sounds to me like you have some sort of colour profile issue in Flexi.

But other than that, have you tried to just make a new print mode and create new ICC for that in the printer?

That is what I am thinking too. I think it could be a Flexi issue or something with the ink limits. I am not sure how I can change those .

I did create a new media and started fresh. Also did the new ICC from the printer. It prints the exact same. All the other colors seem to print pretty good but the reds are definitely lacking.

 

[jwlllpl]

We had this issue after upgrading to Flexi 19. Went back to Flexi 12 and reds are bright again. I keep both versions loaded and check it periodically. Still the same as of last month when I checked it and only seems to be with the reds.

 

[Intense01]

We had this issue after upgrading to Flexi 19. Went back to Flexi 12 and reds are bright again. I keep both versions loaded and check it periodically. Still the same as of last month when I checked it and only seems to be with the reds.

Thank you, that is good to know. I only have Flexi Cloud and it didn't have an option for my l365 on the rip so I think I am stuck with 19 for now. I will call SAI again to see if they can help point me in the right direction.

 

[Intense01]

We had this issue after upgrading to Flexi 19. Went back to Flexi 12 and reds are bright again. I keep both versions loaded and check it periodically. Still the same as of last month when I checked it and only seems to be with the reds.

I got Flexi 12 now and they seem to be much less orange. Still having an issue getting a bright red. Looks like it has many other colors in it besides 100M and 100Y as the base color. I am trying a new profile right now and will see if that helps.

 

[jwlllpl]

Try the ICC Briteline Gloss Air Release IM 3203x or 3204x. I get the brightest reds with that profile on almost all name brands. Be sure to hit advanced on the profile and check mark box for long runs. It keeps the heat more consistent in turn keeping the color consistent.

 

[jwlllpl]

Just another thought. Make sure in Flexi print manager that "Use Color Correction" is showing in the drop down box.

 

[Intense01]

Just another thought. Make sure in Flexi print manager that "Use Color Correction" is showing in the drop down box.

I have "use color correction" in the drop down box and I downloaded the Grimco Briteline profile for the 3203X. Do you leave the saturation at 100 or increase it? Any idea of what reds print well on it? Standard CMYK red or do you use a pantone?

 

[jwlllpl]

I have used cmyk, pantone and rgb. I design everything in Coreldraw or Illustrator then export as a pdf. I would recommend printing a Pantone chart that has cmyk and rgb values using this ICC profile. I also recommend calibrating the printer with this ICC profile. I am not at the shop right now but would be glad to post the one I use on Monday for you.

 

[jwlllpl]

Yes..I leave saturation at 100%. I must note 3M wrap material and 3M reflective prints perfect for me using this same profile. However, the standard air release always seemed a little dull to me. For this I have no fix. I have been using Briteline for my standard air release now and colors are much brighter on this product.

 

[Intense01]

Yes..I leave saturation at 100%. I must note 3M wrap material and 3M reflective prints perfect for me using this same profile. However, the standard air release always seemed a little dull to me. For this I have no fix. I have been using Briteline for my standard air release now and colors are much brighter on this product.

That is helpful. I have been messing around with this all weekend and I haven't really gotten anywhere. I think some reds are actually worse then before. Do you have any idea what your settings are in Flexi? Input/ rendering intent? What are the values you are using for a solid red on that profile?

 

[jwlllpl]

Sorry for delay in getting back to you. I use default settings with exception on Flexi print manager "Use Color Correction" is showing in the drop down box.

 

[Darth Brooks]

I've had a similar issue with the color profile for Avery MPI 1105. The reds looks more like orange that red. It's frustrated my boss so badly that we went back to an ancient Roland to print the job. This is not an issue with the color profile for banners, it prints a nice red. Do you use the same profile for all vinyls or do you use manufacturer specific profiles? Right now we have the aforementioned Avery MPI 1105 and Arlon DFP 510. Both have issues with reds. The grays also had a magenta cast.

Thank you.

 

[balstestrat]

I've had a similar issue with the color profile for Avery MPI 1105. The reds looks more like orange that red. It's frustrated my boss so badly that we went back to an ancient Roland to print the job. This is not an issue with the color profile for banners, it prints a nice red. Do you use the same profile for all vinyls or do you use manufacturer specific profiles? Right now we have the aforementioned Avery MPI 1105 and Arlon DFP 510. Both have issues with reds. The grays also had a magenta cast.

Thank you.

If you have the issue with only those profiles, have you tried to color calibrate the profile and make a new ICC for the print mode?

 

[Darth Brooks]

Have any tutorials? I've run color calibration on the machine but really don't know how to make an ICC.

I had to explain to my very unhappy boss as to why I didn't have the Latex 365 figured out and the only way of explaining it was to compare the Roland to a prop plane and the HP 365 to a Jet. It's more powerful but if you don't know what you're doing it's going to be harder to get off the ground and you can get into trouble way faster.

 

[balstestrat]

Have any tutorials? I've run color calibration on the machine but really don't know how to make an ICC.

I had to explain to my very unhappy boss as to why I didn't have the Latex 365 figured out and the only way of explaining it was to compare the Roland to a prop plane and the HP 365 to a Jet. It's more powerful but if you don't know what you're doing it's going to be harder to get off the ground and you can get into trouble way faster.

You don't have to create it so just go to the last step.
Make sure you select some decent amount of passes like 10-pass, not 6-pass.

 

[RobMerkel]

We just bought a HP Latex 365 and I was struggling with the same problem, seems if you change the rendering intent in the advanced options of the colour management tab (in Flexi) to saturation rather than perceptual and use higher pass values it really helps deepen the reds. It's a bit of a brute force fix because it changes all the other colours as well but it works on both vector and raster files.

 

[GAPrinting]

Has anyone who runs Cadlink run into this issue? I could have been the one writing your opening question Intense01. We have had the 365 for about a year and have went through tons of issues with colour since we have had it. I thought everything was sorted out but have started noticing that the reds don't come out nearly as sharp as they used to on our L26500. I'm not sure if it's something I am doing wrong or that Cadlink is doing something to make it come out wrong?
Any input would be appreciated