I had a job that I printed in March this year and they brought the truck back so we can replace a panel, and I cannot get the colors to match. I am using the same profile, same passes, same print adjustments. The printer is color calibrated, the printheads are fairly new. Does anybody have the same issues or any advice on how to solve this?
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LX850 Color Consistency Problem
- Thread starter enis1986
- Start date
It could be as simple explanation as a different batch of media. In which case you'll have to just try to make the custom adjustments to match what you did 6 months ago. I've always told my clients in the case of replacing / repairing sections or panels of previously installed graphics that there is no guarantee of a perfect color match due to variations in manufacture of ink and media, and also the conditions under which it was printed the first time around (temperature, humidity) are likely different and may have an effect.
dypinc
New Member
How did you make a profile if you did not linearize somewhere. If it is actually done on the printer then re-linearize from the printer. Without re-linearizing you'll never get a color consistency as heads wear and are replaced or media changes. Of course you can do the whole CM to a new profile but you should not have to if you can just re-linearize.
danno
New Member
I've found out that if I call a Voodoo witch to come bless our machine it prints better. If you'd like, I will contact her for you. I have also found that the latex machines aren't the best for matching previously printed colours. I just matched a solvent print from 4 years ago with my HP9000s, and can't match a latex print from a week ago.
@danno I totally agree with you! I'm going crazy over here with this LX850, I am trying to talk my boss into getting rid of it and getting some new rolands or seiko's. On top of the LX850 my company has purchased 2 L26500's which are a little bit better then the LX850 but still so not worth it. There is no way that I can tell a client that if they come back next month we will not be able to match the colors.
dypinc
New Member
Maybe the color was not correct on the on the truck in the first place. If that is the case getting it correct now is going to be next to impossible. That is what happens when you don't have good color management policies in place and calibrate color/re-linearize on a consistent basis.
dypinc
New Member
I hear what you saying. Latex is much more dependent on the media coats to stay consistent. Sometime your just better off creating a new profile.
But if you think Latex is bad you should try digital presses where you need to calibrate during a run and throughout the day if it is a color critical job.
sballinger
New Member
Good luck with HP, they still can't tell me the proper way to color manage that 850! Since it's a contone printer, the rip does the ICC but the printer does the ink limits and the linearization. Even with it calibrated with our i1 Pro 2, it's still not perfect. Add the cluster of printing on fabrics to that mix and it's a joke!
This is how we do it:
- first make a new profile in the printer , set your ink restrictions, make head alignment , then calibrate inside the printer.
- then on the rip make new profile make linearization then set ink limits, lastly make your icc profile.
you have to make sure when printing to choose the same two profiles( inside printer and on the Rip) to get consistent color. Those two profiles need to have the same name so you can match them in future jobs.
in my expirience other thing that can mess with color is heads, a bad head can seem to print good bit is changing colors.
- first make a new profile in the printer , set your ink restrictions, make head alignment , then calibrate inside the printer.
- then on the rip make new profile make linearization then set ink limits, lastly make your icc profile.
you have to make sure when printing to choose the same two profiles( inside printer and on the Rip) to get consistent color. Those two profiles need to have the same name so you can match them in future jobs.
in my expirience other thing that can mess with color is heads, a bad head can seem to print good bit is changing colors.
danno
New Member
Yes, that is what I did with ours. I have found that temperature, humidity and time of day all affect the colours on this beast. I can start a print and 1600" later, I can print the first file again and the colours will be different. I've been told that the heat generated by the printer causes the head to weaken. I have also been told to change the heads more frequently and use the print queue function instead of loading up 1700" to run at once. The best I've been able to do is change the heads when I change the ink cartridge. That just really isn't cost effective though.