Onyx 24 new user questions (Mimaki JFX200-2513EX)

[artifacture]

I installed Onyx Go Plus today, and despite no apparent documentation being available (for free), I've worked my way through it so far. But I've encountered some issues/questions that I'm hoping someone can help with.

1. I have selected the driver for my JFX200-2513EX. There seem to be only 2 profiles available, both for the LUS-120 inkset, while I have the LUS-150. That's not a big deal as I'm planning to make my own profiles anyway. The issue is in selecting the ink configuration. I have CMYKWWVV, but the closest option it offers is CMYKWV. I would say that's ok but it specifically says 6 channels and I have 8. The only 8 channel options include light cyan and magenta, which I don't have. When I view the machine status, it correctly shows all 8 channels, so it knows they exist.

2. Any idea what 2bpp refers to? Possibly related, how to I access variable dot? That's key to getting the best results on this machine. I have tested using 600x600 and the display shows ND which I assume means Normal dot, while it showed VD from RasterLink. I believe Variable Dot is only available in the higher pass count, but even when I selected that, it still seemed to offer only small, medium, large static dot among the options.

3. Luckily the on-screen help seems reasonable, but are there documentation resources available without paying them? I'm already paying for the software, that traditionally gets you documentation. But the most recent videos on profiling on YouTube are from 4 years ago. Their resources section is very minimal. Some answers say "click here for more" and have no live link. I have no problem with companies offering workshops as a more efficient alternative to reading documentation, but it should be available for those of us who want it.

4. On the ink limit test, A and B get to black about half way up the scale, but there are still white lines between the swatches and no apparent differences in quality all the way up the scale. So I assume that means 400% is ok? Because it's UV cure, I'm guessing it's a bit more tolerant of high ink density.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but we'll start here.

 

[yannb]

I installed Onyx Go Plus today, and despite no apparent documentation being available (for free), I've worked my way through it so far. But I've encountered some issues/questions that I'm hoping someone can help with.

1. I have selected the driver for my JFX200-2513EX. There seem to be only 2 profiles available, both for the LUS-120 inkset, while I have the LUS-150. That's not a big deal as I'm planning to make my own profiles anyway. The issue is in selecting the ink configuration. I have CMYKWWVV, but the closest option it offers is CMYKWV. I would say that's ok but it specifically says 6 channels and I have 8. The only 8 channel options include light cyan and magenta, which I don't have. When I view the machine status, it correctly shows all 8 channels, so it knows they exist.

View attachment 173221 View attachment 173222

2. Any idea what 2bpp refers to? Possibly related, how to I access variable dot? That's key to getting the best results on this machine. I have tested using 600x600 and the display shows ND which I assume means Normal dot, while it showed VD from RasterLink. I believe Variable Dot is only available in the higher pass count, but even when I selected that, it still seemed to offer only small, medium, large static dot among the options.

View attachment 173223

3. Luckily the on-screen help seems reasonable, but are there documentation resources available without paying them? I'm already paying for the software, that traditionally gets you documentation. But the most recent videos on profiling on YouTube are from 4 years ago. Their resources section is very minimal. Some answers say "click here for more" and have no live link. I have no problem with companies offering workshops as a more efficient alternative to reading documentation, but it should be available for those of us who want it.

4. On the ink limit test, A and B get to black about half way up the scale, but there are still white lines between the swatches and no apparent differences in quality all the way up the scale. So I assume that means 400% is ok? Because it's UV cure, I'm guessing it's a bit more tolerant of high ink density.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but we'll start here.

Hi,
1. Choose CMYKWV, these are the process colors for your machine. Onyx will send the same amount of W and V to the other channel.
2. 2bpp means variable dot. In the mode options don’t forget to choose FAST instead not NORMAL carriage speed.
3. I believe Onyx has some online training too, not sure.
4. I set the 2, 3 and 4 ink channel limits as follows: does more ink improve the density or not? More ink may look harmless, but it sure thickens the ink layer without much benefit. Most of the time A 225, B 300 and C 325 are better than 3 times 400.

 

[yannb]

I installed Onyx Go Plus today, and despite no apparent documentation being available (for free), I've worked my way through it so far. But I've encountered some issues/questions that I'm hoping someone can help with.

1. I have selected the driver for my JFX200-2513EX. There seem to be only 2 profiles available, both for the LUS-120 inkset, while I have the LUS-150. That's not a big deal as I'm planning to make my own profiles anyway. The issue is in selecting the ink configuration. I have CMYKWWVV, but the closest option it offers is CMYKWV. I would say that's ok but it specifically says 6 channels and I have 8. The only 8 channel options include light cyan and magenta, which I don't have. When I view the machine status, it correctly shows all 8 channels, so it knows they exist.

View attachment 173221 View attachment 173222

2. Any idea what 2bpp refers to? Possibly related, how to I access variable dot? That's key to getting the best results on this machine. I have tested using 600x600 and the display shows ND which I assume means Normal dot, while it showed VD from RasterLink. I believe Variable Dot is only available in the higher pass count, but even when I selected that, it still seemed to offer only small, medium, large static dot among the options.

View attachment 173223

3. Luckily the on-screen help seems reasonable, but are there documentation resources available without paying them? I'm already paying for the software, that traditionally gets you documentation. But the most recent videos on profiling on YouTube are from 4 years ago. Their resources section is very minimal. Some answers say "click here for more" and have no live link. I have no problem with companies offering workshops as a more efficient alternative to reading documentation, but it should be available for those of us who want it.

4. On the ink limit test, A and B get to black about half way up the scale, but there are still white lines between the swatches and no apparent differences in quality all the way up the scale. So I assume that means 400% is ok? Because it's UV cure, I'm guessing it's a bit more tolerant of high ink density.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but we'll start

(Sorry, double post)

 

[artifacture]

Ok, so I spent a lot of time on calibration this weekend (on paper). and have a few takeaways:

- Setting Ink limits was not clear. The instructions focused on looking for defects, but in this case, I didn't consider any of them bad. It mentioned an embossed look being an issue, so I picked ones that seemed thin by feel. That got me decent results, but the blues were off when I compared it to my Pantone book.

I researched more online on how to read an ink limit chart and found something talking about measuring chroma and that it would reach a high point at the limit and then start to decline. When I tried measuring that, it was declining from the start. So I switched to densiometry and measured the density of each swatch since that's really the whole point of this. At some point, each one reached a peak and topped out. I switched to advanced mode and set it based on those. I got 210 for A1, A2, and A3. For B1 and B2 I got 300, but B3 (blue) was only 200. The neutrals only had one field but three rows. I think I got 290, 340, and 100. I went with 340.

I found this document in another thread that was useful:
https://www.lfpc.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Using_the_Ink_Limit_Wheel__Hive.pdf

I saw the propeller in the D color wheel, but it only had one "blade". It was lighter, so I tried increasing D, but it was already at 90 and going to 100 didn't fix it. I ended up raising B3 to 220 and it went away.

- I learned that it's possible to scan across the swatches (i1 Pro 3) too fast. It doesn't tell you that, it just gets the swatches out of order on the screen.

- If something mis-reads, the re-do strip button seems to lead to the software hanging/crashing. Instead, I have to close the program and save the progress, then you can resume (though I'm unsure if you can resume from the middle of a read session.)

- When printing the swatches, it will break it up onto multiple pages if they're smaller than the art. But it would print them in reverse order, meaning I couldn't start measuring until it was done printing. I found that if I open the print job in job editor and rotate it 180 degrees, it will print from row A instead.

The quality image print looks good and the the Pantone swatches seem reasonably similar considering they're coated swatches and my paper is uncoated, so I'm ready to move on. I think the next step is adding spot color(s), at least white. I'm not sure how varnish will work.

Question: When I profile transparent acrylic printed second surface, do I read off the ink side, or through the acrylic? I feel like through the acrylic is likely to differ slightly and is what is important to that application, but I can also imagine light from neighboring patches influencing the readings. I have a clear thin film I can use. It's not acrylic, but should be close enough I imagine?

 

[yannb]

Regarding the acrylic: measure through the film, preferably the thinnest acrylic you can get, and print big patches.