My Reds Are Not Red Anymore

[garleness]

Roland sp 540 v - printing on oracle 3651- using versa works

I have done some colour match prints for an upcoming job (this week). however I just went to change some colours and I realized everything is off. I have cleaned machine, switched profiles, switched medias printed same files etc. all of my reds are printing orangish pink browns. test pattern has not changed in months either. also tried switching from sign, prepress, max impact etc. Im at a loss and this is now a rush job for a new client.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[ThatGuy]

Roland sp 540 v - printing on oracle 3651- using versa works

I have done some colour match prints for an upcoming job (this week). however I just went to change some colours and I realized everything is off. I have cleaned machine, switched profiles, switched medias printed same files etc. all of my reds are printing orangish pink browns. test pattern has not changed in months either. also tried switching from sign, prepress, max impact etc. Im at a loss and this is now a rush job for a new client.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

As a quick fix, you can open the file in versaworks and change the output of the color to 0,100,100,0. When I had this issue versaworks was changing the output cmyk mix giving me an orange color.

Since I switched to 3M profiles, this does not happen.

 

[garleness]

How do I switch the colour in versa works, I didn't switch anything and I have just left my printer unplugged. I'm trying to get rid of any possibility that it's corrupted. I have tried 3m profile and it printed the same.

 

[ThatGuy]

How do I switch the colour in versa works, I didn't switch anything and I have just left my printer unplugged. I'm trying to get rid of any possibility that it's corrupted. I have tried 3m profile and it printed the same.

Are you printing using from versaworks color palette? PR43K or PR42K?

 

[garleness]

I'm actually trying to use Pantone and cmyk equivalent. However this 7 colour swatch is cmyk. It's the same file, same vinyl etc. even the black is lighter. I will try to enter a special colour but was wondering how to do it. I have printed versa colors but turned away from them because everything was off blues were purple etc. thinking maybe it was something wonky with my printer, possibly!

 

[bob]

Roland sp 540 v - printing on oracle 3651- using versa works

I have done some colour match prints for an upcoming job (this week). however I just went to change some colours and I realized everything is off. I have cleaned machine, switched profiles, switched medias printed same files etc. all of my reds are printing orangish pink browns. test pattern has not changed in months either. also tried switching from sign, prepress, max impact etc. Im at a loss and this is now a rush job for a new client.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

To what are your rendering intents set? What dither algorithm are you using? A quick glance at the images you posted suggests that one or both of these items might need attention.

 

[oldgoatroper]

Its happened to me before. Some setting gets changed and you don't realize it. It could be in your source file, it could be a setting in exporting to eps (if you do that, or in the printer driver, or in the rip.

I attended a Xerox colour workshop more than a year ago, and from what I can remember, what Bob said above is likely going to be where you need to look. It is important that every thing is "aligned", so to speak, in terms of rendering intent or profile selection for best output on all modern colour output devices -- large or small, toner, inkjet, whatever. A temporary work-around is to turn off all colour profiling in every place you can find and adjust your CMYK values as needed.

 

[garleness]

To what are your rendering intents set? What dither algorithm are you using? A quick glance at the images you posted suggests that one or both of these items might need attention.

I'm not exactly sure what has changed or where to find this setting but I agree it's probably something simple. My area is prone to browouts even though this printer has a ups supply connected. Under quality setting halftone is set to dither, interpolation is nearest neighbor and direction is bi directional.

The part I don't get is I have changed nothing, please help me to check settings I'm using versa works 4.9.1 if that helps.
I also have zero special settings saved

 

[garleness]

Its happened to me before. Some setting gets changed and you don't realize it. It could be in your source file, it could be a setting in exporting to eps (if you do that, or in the printer driver, or in the rip.

I attended a Xerox colour workshop more than a year ago, and from what I can remember, what Bob said above is likely going to be where you need to look. It is important that every thing is "aligned", so to speak, in terms of rendering intent or profile selection for best output on all modern colour output devices -- large or small, toner, inkjet, whatever. A temporary work-around is to turn off all colour profiling in every place you can find and adjust your CMYK values as needed.

This file was already ripped I just hit reprint, I'm looking to give more input but I'm at a loss as to where setting might get changed. Because this file was already printed, along with other similar files all are off that I have tested. The last thing I printed were blue magnets and they printed great. The files were already saved so this has to be on my print server or printer im thinking

 

[ThatGuy]

Only 2 possibilities I can believe might be happening. Either versaworks updated and something changed or the printer has an issue. The captops may be suspect or a color may be dropping from a head issue.I am not an expert on Roland. Someone else would be better to consult before touching the printer.

As a side note, I did have a defective cyan cartridge once that made colors impossible to replicate. I had to change cartridge, flush the lines and install new to correct the issue.

 

[Pauly]

So many reasons why.
What file are you using? If it's a .eps, there's no embedded profile, so your rip doesn't know what input profile to use. That can cause issues.
Have you used this Media/media profile combo before? if not, then the profile could be the issue. Try another ICC profile.

This the reason why i don't understand why shops don't use ICC profiles, Colour's not contestant or accurate.

 

[garleness]

So many reasons why.
What file are you using? If it's a .eps, there's no embedded profile, so your rip doesn't know what input profile to use. That can cause issues.
Have you used this Media/media profile combo before? if not, then the profile could be the issue. Try another ICC profile.

This the reason why i don't understand why shops don't use ICC profiles, Colour's not contestant or accurate.

Actually this was a colour match of swatches I was doing, Pantone 186c it looked way off so we decided to revert to the cmyk swatch I had printed for samples. No change to file, I'm not sure if versa updated in the background it's set to manual. Printer is printing decent pattern and cmyk test print just reds are not popping it's like they are sun faded. I'm thinking it has to be software related because everything else is looking good. I have tried many profiles and switched media too!

 

[garleness]

So many reasons why.
What file are you using? If it's a .eps, there's no embedded profile, so your rip doesn't know what input profile to use. That can cause issues.
Have you used this Media/media profile combo before? if not, then the profile could be the issue. Try another ICC profile.

This the reason why i don't understand why shops don't use ICC profiles, Colour's not contestant or accurate.

This was a reprint, already ripped and same media printer is printing decent pattern and good cmyk test print.

 

[garleness]

Here is a print from flexi , red looks better but it's printing white lines like boxes no profiles added

 

[Pauly]

It is possible for the printer to drift, heads get old ect. If it was already ripped when you printed it from being printed previously, It should match.

Try some gradient test prints of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Do 2 prints with icc on and off. See if they're smooth or if there's any irregularities in it.

Do you have or have access to a spectrophotometer? That can come in handy. Even measuring 100% magenta from todays print vs 3 months ago.

 

[Malardalensbildekor]

Roland sp 540 v - printing on oracle 3651- using versa works

I have done some colour match prints for an upcoming job (this week). however I just went to change some colours and I realized everything is off. I have cleaned machine, switched profiles, switched medias printed same files etc. all of my reds are printing orangish pink browns. test pattern has not changed in months either. also tried switching from sign, prepress, max impact etc. Im at a loss and this is now a rush job for a new client.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I know what is wrong, i had the same problems with my old sp-540v

First of all you can never leave your printer unplugged, it needs to be plugged at all times so that it can make its cleaning cycles.

What has happend in your case is that colors have been walking up in the wrong channel in the printheads, what you need to do it to try making a few heavy cleanings, this will suck out the ink and if the ink dod not walk to far in the wrong channel this might be enough, if you get your colors back go ahead and print, if the issue comes back or the above dont solve your problem, uou need to change the cap stations and dampers

 

[garleness]

I know what is wrong, i had the same problems with my old sp-540v

First of all you can never leave your printer unplugged, it needs to be plugged at all times so that it can make its cleaning cycles.

What has happend in your case is that colors have been walking up in the wrong channel in the printheads, what you need to do it to try making a few heavy cleanings, this will suck out the ink and if the ink dod not walk to far in the wrong channel this might be enough, if you get your colors back go ahead and print, if the issue comes back or the above dont solve your problem, uou need to change the cap stations and dampers

I did do a powerful clean, and then another manual clean. I performed a reprint and I do have cmyk red. Client said it's orange but that's better than brown. This was the second manual clean that I performed that day. After the reprint my magenta cartridge needed to be replaced, thinking maybe it was a combination of things, including possible file corruption. I talked with a rep who had me print a picture. It was good, little dark but still good even the red coat my son was wearing. Job has been held off till Monday. I'm hoping I have a fresh start.
Printer was only unplugged for a few hours to see if it was software glitch, possible power outage when I'm not home. Before you ask, yes it is on a battery back up UPS.
Thanks for the input I will keep my eye on that.

 

[Malardalensbildekor]

I did do a powerful clean, and then another manual clean. I performed a reprint and I do have cmyk red. Client said it's orange but that's better than brown. This was the second manual clean that I performed that day. After the reprint my magenta cartridge needed to be replaced, thinking maybe it was a combination of things, including possible file corruption. I talked with a rep who had me print a picture. It was good, little dark but still good even the red coat my son was wearing. Job has been held off till Monday. I'm hoping I have a fresh start.
Printer was only unplugged for a few hours to see if it was software glitch, possible power outage when I'm not home. Before you ask, yes it is on a battery back up UPS.
Thanks for the input I will keep my eye on that.

Just continue making heavy cleanings followed by testprint until your colors are good again, if they become good and then the day after its again mixed up you need to change cap tops