Roland Color Issue - Panels printing different colors than original

[AdamSok]

Was wondering if anyone has come across this issue with their Roland VP-540 or other large format printer.

Here is an example of what is happening:

We print one side of a vehicle wrap. The print and the color is great! For whatever reason we need to reprint one of the panels and the color is completely different than the original. Let me give you some background.

-It's the same file already been that's already been loaded into Versaworks.
-It's the same exact profile.
-It's the same ink cartridges (none have been changed between the time of the original print and the reprint)
-It's the same temperature and humidity in the room.
-It's the same material.

What are we missing here? It seems that every possible factor is the same, except that it is definitely printing different shades of the intended colors compared to the original.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[J Hill Designs]

got any nozzle drop?

 

[deejay]

We had this problem before. Check your ink levels make sure you didnt run one dry!

 

[SignTeam.us]

Same heating settings?

 

[CS-SignSupply]

What version of Versaworks?

 

[Fatboy]

How often?

 

[deejay]

Since were talking about versaworks how long can I keep the roland paused on a print before it quits or timesout?

Sorry for changing the subject

 

[CS-SignSupply]

Good question.... not sure exactly but after a bit you might see a dry line after resuming your print.

 

[Mike Paul]

Before or after laminating?
I had a three panel job on a box truck once and installed a new roll of laminate
for the last panel and it shifted the color. Same exact laminate 290Gloss but must have been a different lot # and it darkened the print slightly.

 

[eye4clr]

Same day, or different day?

If you don't control your shop temps, you can get BIG color shifts.

 

[AdamSok]

I really appreciate all the quick responses here! To answer your questions:

-no nozzle drop
-one ink level was low, but not out. changed it anyhow, same color issue
-same heater settings
-versaworks 4.6
-this is before lamination, however the color is completely off.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[ProWraps]

welcome to digital printing.

**** 100' away and it will print a different shade. different rolls, different carts, different temps, different humidity, different moon phase, different time of day, different......

catch my drift? it aint just you.

 

[AdamSok]

I hear ya. Thanks, made me smile... a little. I don't think I would care as much if it were some small print overall, but now I may need to reprint the entire wrap. I know you feel my pain!

 

[eye4clr]

That's a huge difference. I'm gambling that the sides somehow had different color management applied to them. Did anything differ in the process from creation/prep or the path through the RIP?

 

[mtroup]

I'm with everyone else I've seen this happen purely random it seems but one thing to check for sure is if you have a 100% test print before you start printing, on long print jobs I usually manually clean the print heads before starting to make sure it's consistent as it's easy to notice a different/bad color on something you print all the time but if its a new file you may not notice that one of the heads is firing slightly less and if so, after cleaning you will surely get a different color.

 

[anotherdog]

humidity, temperature, wind direction?
If you have perceptable shifts in your colour, then there is some issue with your production, either the rip changed from CMY to RGB, you upgraded some linked software or all your heads aren't firing. I have had a shift in colour when my heater blew a fuse. You may not see it now, but there is something different and it's blindingly obvious.

Not much consolation if it has already been printed. The real question is how are you going to change things to get the reprint to print like last time (when last time may have been a screw-up)?

 

[AdamSok]

That's a huge difference. I'm gambling that the sides somehow had different color management applied to them. Did anything differ in the process from creation/prep or the path through the RIP?

Good question. All we did was reopen what was already brought into Versaworks, clicked off the tiles we didn't want, and hit okay. No other settings were changed.

 

[AdamSok]

I'm with everyone else I've seen this happen purely random it seems but one thing to check for sure is if you have a 100% test print before you start printing, on long print jobs I usually manually clean the print heads before starting to make sure it's consistent as it's easy to notice a different/bad color on something you print all the time but if its a new file you may not notice that one of the heads is firing slightly less and if so, after cleaning you will surely get a different color.

We're with you, we manually clean for these long runs and always test print.

 

[AdamSok]

humidity, temperature, wind direction?
If you have perceptable shifts in your colour, then there is some issue with your production, either the rip changed from CMY to RGB, you upgraded some linked software or all your heads aren't firing. I have had a shift in colour when my heater blew a fuse. You may not see it now, but there is something different and it's blindingly obvious.

Not much consolation if it has already been printed. The real question is how are you going to change things to get the reprint to print like last time (when last time may have been a screw-up)?

Good things to think about. How and where would the rip change from cmyk to rgb? We print the profile settings on all prints and they matched exactly.

Where can we check the heater fuse? Does the printer alert you to the issue?

Thanks!

 

[mudmedia]

Yeah Ive had this happen before...Same rip same everything and then ive also had it where id go back and reprint a panel and it does match. Dang things are to moody lol

 

[MichaelAlmand]

Good question. All we did was reopen what was already brought into Versaworks, clicked off the tiles we didn't want, and hit okay. No other settings were changed.

I have the exact same issue. I have a sp540v and did a 40'trailer. Funny thing is that it looks like the one side of a panel prints fine and the other side is slightly darker. Makes me think that its a encoder strip that going bad or a sensor. Cant wait for the new Re640 to come in.