Question Print factory colors not matching PF swatch book

[Gary Wiant]

I am using Flexi & Print Factory and I created a swatch book through print factory but when I select a color from the swatch book I want to print and select that color in Flexi from the Pantone library the colors are different. Can anyone help me figure out how to get the same colors?

Thanks in advance

 

[bob]

Even the most rabid colorista would have problems getting three versions of the purported same color that are the same. What you do is, first, repeat the following until it's burned into your conscience; "What comes out of the printer is the truth." The gather up a Pantone chart, or any other collection of colors, including your own, and print this chart on the media you're using. Now you have a collection of the actual colors available to you. Find the color you want on this chart and use that instead of whatever color is actually specified. If your choice brackets your target then choose the darker. Granted this rather brute force method makes a buck colorista assume the fetal position and moan but it's quick and it works.

 

[Gary Wiant]

No you mis-understand Print Factory has a feature that allows you to print a swatch book of Pantone colors (which i did) but now when I pick the color I want to use the colors don't match. If my JV100 printed the Pantene swatch book on 3m ij180 through Print Factory it should be able to match that color on 3m ij180 when printing through Print factory. Everything is the same. Media, Printer, profile,etc.

Thanks

 

[weyandsign]

I'm guessing that Print Factory's pantone swatch is not the same as Flexi's pantone swatch. You can create a pantone swatch chart in Flexi (View menu->Create Swatch->Current Palette. Then make sure to select the correct one in design central and adjust how you want it layed out), and print that one out. Otherwise you need to see if you can import Print Factory's pantone swatch table into Flexi.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Yeah it's probably just a disconnect between the way each software handles the spot color names. You could do a quick test by creating a spot color and name it exactly how it's labeled on your Print Factory swatch. Then print it out and see if the color is correct. So where Flexi might be naming it "Pantone 124 C", Print Factory looks like it just calls it, "124 C" without the Pantone in front. If you send a new spot color called 124 C and it prints correctly, then you know that's the problem. Also, contact Print Factory and see if they have a Flexi swatch library you can import which will make things easier.

 

[kingmike67]

Can I ask how Flexi factors into this? Is Flexi driving one of your printers? If I had access to Print Factory, I personally would never touch Flexi again. We have used Print Factory in the past to match colors on different machines in different continents and never had an issue.

 

[dypinc]

So if you print a PDF from Flexi and open that PDF in Acrobat what Pantone Spot Color shows in Acrobat? If that is correct, the when import that PDF into Print Factory what Spot Color is Print Factory showing? Make sure you are not converting to process color somewhere along the workflow.

 

[Gary Wiant]

Flexi is just what I used to design & i print on the Mutoh 661 with it.

Print Factory has a feature in Calibrator that prints their pantone palette as a swatch book and I call out the colors in Flexi (same naming) they just aren't printing the same

 

[dypinc]

So you are using both Flexi and Print Factory to print with. I am not surprise that the color doesn't match if your trying to match a color printed with Print Factory when printing with Flexi.

 

[Gary Wiant]

No I'm only trying to match print factory output with print factory output. The lack of tech support has me thinking about switching back to Rasterlink 7.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I'd search your settings in both the save dialog in Flexi and Print Factory. It's possible that when saving the file in Flexi that it's converting spot colors to CMYK or something similar that is erasing your spot color from the file. In Print Factory, maybe there's a toggle button to turn on and off color mapping or maybe they call it something different. If that setting was turned off, it would just revert the spot color to the underlying CMYK values as well.

 

[Gary Wiant]

No the Print Factory tech says i cannot do it this way. I need to use the device colors then assign all colors through PF editor. It seems like it is really going to slow down work flow

 

[Solventinkjet]

Maybe try Flexi's RIP since you already use their designer. Should be seamless as far as what you're trying to do.