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print the colors you are seeing on the screen
- Thread starter john527
- Start date
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Its called calibration... you have to calibrate your monitor and output device to the same standard. So monitors and printers have better gamuts than others meaning more accurate colors but for the most part you should be able to get both the monitor and printer to match.
Remember printers need to be profile linearized frequently due to weather, age, ink batches etc.
Remember printers need to be profile linearized frequently due to weather, age, ink batches etc.
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Your printer is the truth, your monitor is not. If colors on your monitor match what comes out of your print it's only coincidental and temporary. There is no causal nor necessary connection between what appears on your monitor and what comes out of your printer.
As long as you know what's going to come out of your printer what does it matter what appears on your monitor? You don't know what's going to come out of your printer? Then print a Pantone chart and hang it on the wall. Print all of the color tables that you use that are not Pantone as well. Now you'll know the truth.
As long as you know what's going to come out of your printer what does it matter what appears on your monitor? You don't know what's going to come out of your printer? Then print a Pantone chart and hang it on the wall. Print all of the color tables that you use that are not Pantone as well. Now you'll know the truth.
Replicator
New Member
Best solution is to print color charts on the various materials you use and then match the colors you'll need for each job, I've been doing it for years and it works great every time.
Farmboy
New Member
This
jkdbjj
New Member
While I agree that sometimes color charts save your hind end. I prefer to have everything calibrated, so that 90% of the time I can simply print and not worry about anything.
It is possible to have 6 different machines from different manufacturers print almost identical corporate colors without using color charts. Granted it takes time and some money (less than 10k) to set this kind of workflow up, but over time it is well worth it.
Periodically you have to rescan some profile charts to account for media changes, atmosphere etc...
If you decide to get into custom profiling, and need some help just PM me, and I will be glad to offer what I can. That goes for anyone else new to color management.
I am considering writing a paper up on it, as there aren't many online for free about complete color management and setting up your particular shop for optimization. Guys charge lots of money for that stuff. Anyone interested in getting a write up on that for free, or would it simply be a waste of time?
Or better yet! Has someone already done that on Signs 101 somewhere and posted it?
It is possible to have 6 different machines from different manufacturers print almost identical corporate colors without using color charts. Granted it takes time and some money (less than 10k) to set this kind of workflow up, but over time it is well worth it.
Periodically you have to rescan some profile charts to account for media changes, atmosphere etc...
If you decide to get into custom profiling, and need some help just PM me, and I will be glad to offer what I can. That goes for anyone else new to color management.
I am considering writing a paper up on it, as there aren't many online for free about complete color management and setting up your particular shop for optimization. Guys charge lots of money for that stuff. Anyone interested in getting a write up on that for free, or would it simply be a waste of time?
Or better yet! Has someone already done that on Signs 101 somewhere and posted it?
mac monitors are already calibrated.....if your running PC then you need monitors that have IPS (In Plane Switching). All our monitors are calibrated, it makes a world of difference, but we still have customers sign off on printed samples from their approved files as all medias print differently.
2B
Active Member
+1 we have the chart so the customers can view and pick the colors they want
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Why, exactly, do you feel that uber-anal not to mention expensive calibration of every piece of gear in sight is 'worth it'?
Did the less than $10K [it must be close to $10K or you would have chosen another benchmark] you spent generate at least that much additional business? Why would anyone want to blow money of that magnitude on something that might be fun but is totally unnecessary? A color chart costs a couple of bucks, takes a couple of minutes, and seldom if ever, changes.
The printer and a color chart produced thereupon is the truth. A monitor momentarily matching, somewhat, the truth of the printer is frivolous and inherently undependable. It most certainly is not the truth, only a coincidental, tenuous, and temporary agreement with the truth. An allegedly profiled monitor is merely something else to go wrong. Do not complicate things unnecessarily.
Custom_Grafx
New Member
I 90% half agree with around 10% of what is being discussed here. I hate colour.
slipperyfrog
New Member
No but the new Doritos shells on Taco Bell tacos has added a muted orange color to everything.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Hehe,
I watched that commercial and wondered how they got that past the FDA.
It looks more addictive than meth and twice as bad on the heart.
wayne k
guam usa
Pat Whatley
New Member
Damn Taco Bell stole my idea and won't even give me a free Doritos taco.
eye4clr
New Member
Now that is some funny ****. Thanks for the laugh.
jkdbjj
New Member
Thanks for the reply, I think...
The cost is dependent on the shop setup. I for example had to calibrate 7 printers. 3 solvents, 1 flatbed, 2 aqueous printers, and 1 dye-sub. This cost a little under 10 grand.
If a shop has 1 printer it can cost as little as 2 grand.
So you ask why would one do this, instead of the faithful color chart technique, and also did it pay for itself once it was done.
First part of your question: the charts are good for certain projects, or when a calibrated system isn't working correctly (which is rare). What the charts are not good for is very specific colors. Many business have colors they are picky about and don't want to come to your shop and look through color charts etc... They will if you leave them no choice, but ask any customer and they would prefer not to. Now again, if you only had one printer to deal with maybe the customer wouldn't mind as much. Though, if their order is going to be using multiple machines and materials, color charts are simply inferior IMO.
Other advantage to custom calibration is the range of colors you will achieve, the trueness of grey scales will be better, and time managing orders and machines will be reduced.
I have already proven one can take multiple machines and produce near exact colors, which is mostly not realistic with using color charts. Can you imagine having to print banners, fabric, and posterboards for an order and having to look up charts for each machine, material etc... That is insane.
Without calibrated machines you simply can't rely on sending the print without pulling the charts out everytime, especially if the job is split between different machines.
Next, where are the savings and did I make my money back. Of course I did. I generally never have to worry about color. I generally never have to explain to new employees how to use a chart system. And customers don't have to waste time choosing a "best" match, cause the sign shop is too lazy or cheap to calibrate their machines.
Obviously you can get by with charts, but there is something nice about being able to load prints and not have to pull charts everytime.
jkdbjj
New Member
Quick story about this topic. Before I started my own company, I worked for a few shops. My first shop was overwhelming. I was hired to do sales, and shortly after starting I realized the owner had 3 times more machines than employees. This didn't seem odd at first, but as soon as I started bringing in my connections, I then realized why it was a problem to have so many machines and not enough employees.
I sat with the owner, and basically had a talk about my client base and what they expect. Reason being, my fellow production employees weren't properly trained on the equipment and the product was not up to my standards.
I asked if I can stop selling for a few days and work with the employees to see where their comfort level was, what products they knew well, and so forth. They kept saying there were too many machines, and they didn't know how to really use them.
To cut to the chase, I began to ask myself, could a work flow exist that would allow production employees to simply submit jobs to multiple machines without having to babysit so much. The answer was yes, in a calibrated reorganized workflow.
The owner allowed me to bring in a consultant from X-rite, he flew in for a couple days went over color management, work flows, profiling and the whole nine yards. Next, I asked for an additional employee, one that could be dedicated to calibrating and color profiling all the materials and machines. He allowed it, and it took about 3 weeks to finish this project.
The employees moral went way up, production increased substantially, and I could be out with clients not having to worry they couldn't handle all the machines. Profits went up the first month after that, and we ended up doing a little over 100 vehicles that year for very large corporate clients and our machines never once had to stop for color chart checking.
After that experience, I never looked back. As soon as I opened my own shop, that was the first thing we did was profile everything, and sure enough, very little time was wasted playing with color. Cause if you add up the time taken to print samples, compare, adjust, print again, etc... Over a year, it is silly.
Sorry to be so long winded. I am a true believer in this type of workflow.
I sat with the owner, and basically had a talk about my client base and what they expect. Reason being, my fellow production employees weren't properly trained on the equipment and the product was not up to my standards.
I asked if I can stop selling for a few days and work with the employees to see where their comfort level was, what products they knew well, and so forth. They kept saying there were too many machines, and they didn't know how to really use them.
To cut to the chase, I began to ask myself, could a work flow exist that would allow production employees to simply submit jobs to multiple machines without having to babysit so much. The answer was yes, in a calibrated reorganized workflow.
The owner allowed me to bring in a consultant from X-rite, he flew in for a couple days went over color management, work flows, profiling and the whole nine yards. Next, I asked for an additional employee, one that could be dedicated to calibrating and color profiling all the materials and machines. He allowed it, and it took about 3 weeks to finish this project.
The employees moral went way up, production increased substantially, and I could be out with clients not having to worry they couldn't handle all the machines. Profits went up the first month after that, and we ended up doing a little over 100 vehicles that year for very large corporate clients and our machines never once had to stop for color chart checking.
After that experience, I never looked back. As soon as I opened my own shop, that was the first thing we did was profile everything, and sure enough, very little time was wasted playing with color. Cause if you add up the time taken to print samples, compare, adjust, print again, etc... Over a year, it is silly.
Sorry to be so long winded. I am a true believer in this type of workflow.