Printing perfect or good gray colors in Flexi? Saturation color setting?

[CSOCSO]

Very new to flexi. I know other rip softwares and i can find my way around to print good gray colors.
Most of you might know that when you try to print gray colors with the usual color profiles the gray will either come out with greenish or pinkish hue.
I need to print a carbon fiber pattern that has a lot of gray and black colors.
In other rip softwares i found the way to print with saturation only so it only prints with black ink. Is there a way to adjust the colors like this? The file is a photoshop raster image. Not vector. I can not use spot colors.
I also need to figure out how to print the pattern continuously without a break on the whole roll.
Any help is appreciated!

 

[Pauly]

you can use spot colours in photoshop. Pretty sure .TIFF recognises them. PDF does.

 

[Susan Stewart]

Under job properties then under the color management tab is the color correction dialog box. Have you tried to print the file by clicking the no color correction? What are you printing to?

 

[eahicks]

you can use spot colours in photoshop. Pretty sure .TIFF recognises them. PDF does.

wow ....he said NO spot colors as it is raster. Spot colors do not transfer to CMYK or RGB raster images.

 

[eahicks]

I also need to figure out how to print the pattern continuously without a break on the whole roll.

You would need to make sure your image is a tileable pattern, and set to repeat with .000" margin or space between. Or you'll have to set up your file to be one long image.

 

[CSOCSO]

it is tileable. thanks.

 

[CSOCSO]

I have found a youtube video which was pretty weird.
My file was created in grayscale, to begin with. Saved as grayscale as well.
in the youtube video that was made for how to print grayscale on flexi they took the greyscale image. created a new CMYK image. In channels turn off CMY and select the black (K channel) then copy the image on to that channel. Wonder if it would work any better compared to just printing grayscale image

 

[ColorCrest]

Most of you might know that when you try to print gray colors with the usual color profiles the gray will either come out with greenish or pinkish hue.

Proper printer calibration and proper ICC printer profiles produce neutral grays from black through white. So, when you were using your “usual” color profiles, your setup was not correct.

I have found a youtube video which was pretty weird.

Yes, the method is grossly inferior and will result in a print with a washed-out appearance compared to what the image should be because there is no "rich black."

The file is a photoshop raster image. Not vector. I can not use spot colors.

You could use a spot color in Photoshop in CMYK or RGB but that is still grossly inferior.

You should properly calibrate and / or properly create an ICC output profile for your setup.

Good luck.

 

[ColorCrest]

wow ....he said NO spot colors as it is raster. Spot colors do not transfer to CMYK or RGB raster images.

Spot colors from Photoshop in CMYK or RGB mode can be properly interpreted by many RIPs when the print file is a modern PDF. (Already many years now.)

 

[Solventinkjet]

Spot colors don't matter if your printer only prints CMYK. If you add white or silver then you have a spot color you can use. They also use spot color to designate cut contours. When you send a spot color to a RIP that prints to a printer that only prints CMYK, it just converts the spot color to a CMYK value and prints it. So at the end of the day choosing a spot color is exactly like choosing a swatch in Illustrator when your printer doesn't have a spot color in it.

 

[ColorCrest]

When you send a spot color to a RIP that prints to a printer that only prints CMYK, it just converts the spot color to a CMYK value and prints it.

Yes, with user-definable values, usually to optimize color match.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

On another thread, you mentioned you were printing on a Mutoh. If it's not profiled and it's not one of their eight color models, you're going to have to play with it to get the gray you want. There is a way to tweak individual colors on one of the tabs that pops up when you go to output (been a while since I used Flexi and I'm drawing a blank on what it's called)- but you were able to select a specific color and change the CMYK values. Just make sure you write down what you change them to so you have them next time you need them.

 

[FrankW]

Do consequent profiling is the best way to achieve good greys.

If this is not possible, you could give pure hue a try. White this you could force the RIP to print black and greys with black ink only (but with more grain and other possible quality issues). You choose pure hue for black and other colours through a button in the colour management-Tab. I‘m not shure about the correct Name of the button, because I use a german Flexi, and currently I‘m not in the office, but should sound like „Options“ or something of this kind.

And: be careful what light you use to control your colours. Your grey could look totally different if viewing them under light from lamps indoor, or daylight outdoor. ICC bases on a standard light near daylight.

 

[CSOCSO]

choosing a color profile is a complete "Russian roulette"

choosing the right profile. Right profile for what? that matched the media? That will NOT get you perfect colors. EVER. A few weeks ago i was working with spot color and when i chose avery 1105 profile the rip software completely ruined the colors because the max ink limit was %180 so you can't get %100cyan and %magenta to create a superb red. No matter what profile you go with to create gray it will always use CMYK and you will not get perfect grays. It's impossible to print the right gray unless you do spot color. Its impossible to do spot color if you have a transparent layer or gradient layer ( at least that's the case with versaworks. not sure about onyx or flexi to be honest)
other than spot colors if you use raster image the only way to print gray you know the right way to do it. It took me a while to figure it out on versaworks and onyx. on both rip software you have to find the way to print with only "saturation"

 

[P Wagner]

choosing a color profile is a complete "Russian roulette"

choosing the right profile. Right profile for what? that matched the media? That will NOT get you perfect colors. EVER. A few weeks ago i was working with spot color and when i chose avery 1105 profile the rip software completely ruined the colors because the max ink limit was %180 so you can't get %100cyan and %magenta to create a superb red."

Color profiles (more appropriately named Media Presets) are not roulette, or magical bytes conjured up by the color gods. Rather they are built by real people, using real printers, real media, real ink, and crafted in real physical environments, with concrete goals and intentions in mind (saving ink or maximizing gamut?).

The closer your printer, ink, media, environment, and goals are consistent with those of the Preset creator, the better the result is likely to be. The inverse is also true.

The ultimate (and best) solution is to create custom profiles on your equipment, as this approach forces alignment of all of the variables, and as a direct result, produces the most predictable and accurate color on the device. When done properly, it also solves the issues with non-neutral grays.

 

[Pauly]

wow ....he said NO spot colors as it is raster. Spot colors do not transfer to CMYK or RGB raster images.

wow..... You CAN use spot colours in photoshop and YES you can use spot colours in a CMYK or RGB raster image.
And well, yes you also can print gradients with spot colours.

So before trying to make me look like an idiot.. you should know what you're talking about first before jumping at me because i do spot colours on photoshop at least once a week.

 

[CSOCSO]

What I meant is that getting the right gray colors when it comes to different profiles is a russian roulette.
You can go through a million profiles you might not get the right grey color. To get decent gray you will have to print saturation only. I don't think you have any other choices since if you print with cmyk profiles the printer will use all colors to print greys. And then you will get green or pink hue in it
quesion is what is the setting on flexi to do so? I did figure it out on Onyx and Versaworks.
Also saw some videos on youtube so my question is probably already answered but I wouldn't know until i go to my buddy's shop and see it for myself.

 

[CSOCSO]

in flexi you can use gradient and transparent layers with spot colors? I know in Versaworks you can't

by the way I just looked up spot colors in photoshop. this is far from spot colors in illustrator. You apply it to channels and you can not even save the file with more than 27 spot colors. Anyway. As I said. No spot colors in my case.

 

[Pauly]

What I meant is that getting the right gray colors when it comes to different profiles is a russian roulette.
You can go through a million profiles you might not get the right grey color. To get decent gray you will have to print saturation only. I don't think you have any other choices since if you print with cmyk profiles the printer will use all colors to print greys. And then you will get green or pink hue in it
quesion is what is the setting on flexi to do so? I did figure it out on Onyx and Versaworks.
Also saw some videos on youtube so my question is probably already answered but I wouldn't know until i go to my buddy's shop and see it for myself.

Im not sure you quiet understand how ICC Profiles work.
You create, or you pay someone to create an ICC profile for the particular media you're printing on. and that profile will only work for that media. You cannot use a profile for a vinyl on paper or even a coated paper profile on a uncoated paper. it will not look the same.
You dont sit there choosing profiles that you'll think will work with your media.

in flexi you can use gradient and transparent layers with spot colors? I know in Versaworks you can't

by the way I just looked up spot colors in photoshop. this is far from spot colors in illustrator. You apply it to channels and you can not even save the file with more than 27 spot colors. Anyway. As I said. No spot colors in my case.

No exp with versaworks or flexi. I use onyx.

And i dont understand what you're trying... From your original post you're trying to print B&W or in grey scale or just using black ink, Either way you're trying to produce a neutral black and white image.
OK. You do not need 27 channels in photoshop to print black and white!

In your RIP, there should be a colour library with pantone/named colours. You should be able to make your own and use your own CMYK mixture. IF so make one and name it "BLACK 01" and set the CMYK formular as 100%k If it's in LAB you will need a spectrophotometer so don't worry about this step.

Open your image in photoshop.
Convert it to gray scale.
Go to your channels and duplicate your Gray channel
Click on your gray copy chanel, go to the drop down box on the right and click Channel Options
Rename it to what your spot channel needs to be (E.G Black 01 if you've created one or Pantone Black C if you're using pantone colour charts ect...)
Select Spot Color. Choose a colour (visual) like red or green.
Make only the gray chanel visiable and keep that selected. erase everything on the art board so it's white.
Turn on your spot colour channel and now you'll see the spot channel and the colour you've selected (visually) so if it's red, now your image will be red

Save it as a PDF.
Open it into your RIP.. In your RIP you should be able to edit the spot colour mixture. If you chose a pantone colour you should be able to change it to 100% K.
There you go.
There's other ways to do it. But just Proved you all wrong in making spot channels in photoshop with a Raster image.

That's all the help im going to give before people start contradicting me again because apparently i'm wrong, you cannot do spot colours in Photoshop and apparently you need more than 20 channels to do a B&W Image.

 

[eahicks]

wow..... You CAN use spot colours in photoshop and YES you can use spot colours in a CMYK or RGB raster image.
And well, yes you also can print gradients with spot colours.

So before trying to make me look like an idiot.. you should know what you're talking about first before jumping at me because i do spot colours on photoshop at least once a week.

LOL.... I was not jumping on you....
30+ years in this business, I know what I'm talking about. I know you can assign spot colors in Photoshop, but once you save that image as TIF or PSD or any other bitmap, that spot color info is out the window and it's all CMYK or RGB, depending on which color space you saved it in. If you import ANY bitmap image and RIP it, it is not going to identify one single spot color, period.