Problems with my RGB file converting to CMYK

[BRUSHMARKS]

i am doing a design to be print and cut on my mimaki. I started in composer with my wireframe saved as an eps. opened it in AI. then opened that in PS CS3 and designed it one i got it designed (as an RGB) i flattened and saved as a TIFF. then i opened the tiff in AI. added my cuts and sent it to ONYX to rip and print. once it had ripped it printed wrong color very washed out. i did some digging and saw it was a CMYK. went back to AI and did "convert to RGB" just incase the problem was going from PS to AI. then resent it to onyx same thing!? does anyone know how to get an AI to ONYX and stay a RGB??
TY for the help

 

[Shovelhead]

Not being sarcastic but I'm genuinely interested why
you'd start in Omega and then work in your Adobe products?

 

[BRUSHMARKS]

Not being sarcastic but I'm genuinely interested why
you'd start in Omega and then work in your Adobe products?

We both have been using omega for about 6 years for me and 10 for him so its what we know we just started using PS and AI about 3 years ago. any ways we had to start off our design by making templates for a snowmobile so we would go to composer with our template in the scanner and go "scan to vector" and it would bring our template in with out having to "digitize" it.

 

[SignsOfMaine]

Without knowing onyx ... just a guess... maybe the final rips are always in cmyk because the printer will be working in cmyk. At some point it has to guess what mix of cyan magenta yellow and black inks will best simulate the colors in your file, so it just converts right then and there. Don't take that guess too seriously though, I don't know a lot about rip softare.

Make sure your software doesn't over- or under-compensate for the flatness of cmyk colors compared to rgb. I know sometimes in adobe programs it exaggerates things and makes cmyk look super dull and washed out on the screen compared to rgb (yet when it prints it's still vibrant).

Just a suggestion... I'd go back to step 1 and get used to working entirely in cmyk, and try to calibrate your software to show the colors on screen as accurately as possible, and be prepared to do some test prints to be safe.

 

[BRUSHMARKS]

We have always printed RGB alot more vibrant colors then a cmyk file has. and all of those in the past have been fine and stay a RGB when sent to ONYX. it is just happening now when we are trying to send and AI file to ONXY for print.