problems with HP Latex?

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Anyone having problems with HP Latex printers producing the right colors or lengths?

 

[CanuckSigns]

This is a very common issue on the latex machines, it's been mentioned on here a few times, there are some settings you can use to help correct it but the general consensus is that it's the nature of latex machines and the high heat they need.

A search will bring up the relevant threads.

 

[Bobby H]

We’ve had some issues printing onto window perf vinyl. The prints would shrink a little bit. That can throw off registration of a store front window wrap design. Onyx Thrive has a setting where you can compensate for shrinkage. I haven’t noticed any problems with color. Just have to use the right material profiles. Color will be a bit muted regardless on some vinyls.

 

[ikarasu]

Doing reprints we've had to rescan and rematch the Color if it was going side by side.

But we've printed huge 20ft by 30ft panels and the colors aligned the whole way.

We actually found doing a Color calibration before printing anything that needs to match perfectly usually brings pretty close if not perfect results.

 

[Bly]

We had trouble with colour repeatability and length matching on our 360s.
There are some workarounds if you keep your eye on the ball all the time but we ended up getting an Epson 60600 for certain jobs.
Having said that we still love our latex and run most of our jobs on them.

 

[AF]

Colorgate has a quality control module that lets you calibrate a baseline for a particular media and then periodically you can bring the printer back to that calibration for better consistency over time. Not sure if onyx and caldera have this but it is worth the effort.

 

[ikarasu]

HP Latex has this built into it... It's just most people seem to not use it. Or they'll print for weeks/months, wait until it says to re-calibrate... then they'll re-calibrate and wonder why the job they printed the day before doesn't match their new panels. As your head gets older and the nozzles deform...It shoots ink out differently. Doing a color calibration adjusts the color for that issue - I think daily, or even weekly is more often than needed... But it doesn't hurt, and will likely prevent all these problems.

We make it a habit to color calibrate before every job we know we'll be repeating... Or whenever there is downtime. Takes 5-10 minutes and a foot or so of media... It's probably overkill, but I havent had a problem matching colors on old prints yet. We do police vehicles... and the colors from our sample print 2 years ago matches side by side with all the new prints we do.

 

[Bly]

Yes you can calibrate media on the printer through the front panel. Very easy to do.
There's also a Tiling Mode preset you can use to try and keep the heads printing consistently.
It's moderately effective and deadly slow.

 

[dypinc]

Colorgate has a quality control module that lets you calibrate a baseline for a particular media and then periodically you can bring the printer back to that calibration for better consistency over time. Not sure if onyx and caldera have this but it is worth the effort.

This seems to be Colorgate's version of Re-linerazation which all RIP have. With the on board calibration I don't find it all that necessary to be used. But one things that is absolutely necessary is to calibrate and (linearize if you what to use that too) immediately before creating an output profile. Otherwise you have built the output profile on top of a bad calibration which will then not be correct of match output the next time you calibrate.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

So they are not like the OkiData and Epson printers which have Piezo heads and print the same colors and lengths forever?
Have seen some wraps done on Piezo printers and the truck brought back a year later and replacement tile printed and matches perfectly a year later!
Not capable on HP?

 

[Reveal1]

The disposable, user replaceable heads are (mostly) a blessing and (sometimes) a curse for HP printers. Color consistency is achievable but depends on regular profile calibration as a part of the maintenance routine. We replace on our 560 heads at 4200 ml fired regardless of what test prints show. . Printheads run 138 each so replacing the five color heads (optimizer heads seems to last forever) is around $700 although of course we only replace them individually as they hit that number.

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

The printhead produces different colors as you print and they heat up. Then they cool down and the next 10 foot you print is a different color.

 

[Bobby H]

Does ambient temperature and relative humidity in the room where the printer is running affect color output?

I wouldn't think temperature would make too much of a different considering how hot the printer heats up the inks and media running through it. In one respect I kind of like the heat output. We have two HP Latex 360 printers side by side in the room where I work. They can offset the cold air rushing in when people leave the studio door wide open making trips back and forth to vehicles or whatever. But that's only good when the printers are running. It gets pretty hot here in the Summer, but a couple of my co-workers like cranking up the AC and making things a little too chilly. Again, the printers can offset that so I can take off my hoodie.

We just installed a new Mimaki flatbed printer in the next big room where a lot of vinyl application is done. We're having to do a good bit of work to climate control that room since the UV ink demands a relatively narrow temperature and humidity range.

 

[dypinc]

The printhead produces different colors as you print and they heat up. Then they cool down and the next 10 foot you print is a different color.

That is why we use the tiling setting and tailgating.

 

[ikarasu]

Does ambient temperature and relative humidity in the room where the printer is running affect color output?

I wouldn't think temperature would make too much of a different considering how hot the printer heats up the inks and media running through it. In one respect I kind of like the heat output. We have two HP Latex 360 printers side by side in the room where I work. They can offset the cold air rushing in when people leave the studio door wide open making trips back and forth to vehicles or whatever. But that's only good when the printers are running. It gets pretty hot here in the Summer, but a couple of my co-workers like cranking up the AC and making things a little too chilly. Again, the printers can offset that so I can take off my hoodie.

We just installed a new Mimaki flatbed printer in the next big room where a lot of vinyl application is done. We're having to do a good bit of work to climate control that room since the UV ink demands a relatively narrow temperature and humidity range.

To a degree. That's why you're supposed to rotate tiles... Incase one of your heaters (sides of printers) is hotter than the other side.

But every rip has a "prepare printer" button that will preheat the printer up. If it's below room temp we usually do that for a few minutes... Mostly so ink doesn't come out wet.

The inside of the printer is generally heat controlled, so it shouldn't make MUCH if any difference providing the printer has heated up to its operating spec. Unless it's so cold that the heaters can't keep up...

 

[AF]

This seems to be Colorgate's version of Re-linerazation which all RIP have. With the on board calibration I don't find it all that necessary to be used. But one things that is absolutely necessary is to calibrate and (linearize if you what to use that too) immediately before creating an output profile. Otherwise you have built the output profile on top of a bad calibration which will then not be correct of match output the next time you calibrate.

The quality control module in Colorgate works differently then just making a new linearization or new profile. It reads what the printer actually outputs and then matches the later update process to that data set rather than to ICC color space.

I linearize after new heads installed or after a head strike.