Question Roland -Very slight colour shift between panelled .eps print file

[DesireeM]

I have an anomaly and although the customer was happy I won't sleep until I know what caused this and how to avoid it in the future...

We printed an .eps file, all vector, solid Pantone 321 background and white text.
Rip software is Versaworks and printer is Roland VS-540
We used versaworks to tile the artwork into 3 horizontal panels and printed 2 copies of each(6 panels total).

The first panel came out just slightly lighter in colour than the rest...really just ever so slightly.

We then printed 2 copies of another .eps file using the same colour - this one was not tiled because it was small enough to print in one piece and matched the colour of panels 2-6 mentioned above.
BUT we had to re-print(patch) part of it afterwards because the customer changed their mind about a word. So, open illustrator, change the word, re-save the .eps, load it to versaworks and print it. It came out as the same slightly faded colour as the very first panel!

Same vinyl and laminate - even the same roll of vinyl and laminate for everything.
Checked the settings in versaworks - all the same
Checked illustrator file setting and colour mode - all the same

Any suggestions what could have caused the colour shift?

 

[Johnny Best]

I have noticed when printing large panels of color that the ones I run first are not as deep in color as the last ones.
I always though it had something to do with the ink running more through the machine and being warmed up better.
So now I run other prints through before I run the solid color through. Thats all I got.

 

[DesireeM]

I have noticed when printing large panels of color that the ones I run first are not as deep in color as the last ones.
I always though it had something to do with the ink running more through the machine and being warmed up better.
So now I run other prints through before I run the solid color through. Thats all I got.

hmm...I think I'm more bewildered because in almost 10 years I've never seen this issue....we routinely tile and print large, solid coloured graphics.

I will admit that my Roland has seen better days. In fact, we have a tech coming to do maintenance on it in a few days (for a contour cutting issue specifically) so maybe it's just age...but also the change in colour was not gradual and our printer doesn't get much "down time". Not that it means your suggestion is not possible - it could still apply to this scenario.

 

[MBO_1]

If you print "tiled" it is best to use the option "Place Alternated" so the intersection of both tiles are then printed on the same side of the machine (= same conditions on heat, etc...)
This might be a solution.

 

[DesireeM]

If you print "tiled" it is best to use the option "Place Alternated" so the intersection of both tiles are then printed on the same side of the machine (= same conditions on heat, etc...)
This might be a solution.

Thank you but no it would not be the case here. The full sign itself is 12'h x 8'w tiled in 3 horizontal pieces so the tiles were each 4'x8' plus bleed. Our printer is 54" so the tiles took up almost the entire print surface. they were not side-by-side. Rather end-to-end.

 

[JoeDG]

You would still be best placed to use 'place alternated'. This helps as the tiles are flipped 180 every other tile meaning that each joining side of the tiles are printed on the same side of the machine (R&L)...this can have a very slight change due to dry times (travel of print head).
However...I think your issue could likely be from timing/heat/environment(?). Often when printing tiles if the first tile is printed first thing in the day, perhaps the room is sat in an environment different to normal working day. i.e. when you first come in in the morning it is cold in the room, then the room heats up by tile 2 and so on.
Not always the case but does make a difference!
Had you done any other printing first that day?

 

[GTSTech_1]

Make sure you have "Full Width Scan" enabled.........I ran into slight color shifts when producing large single color panels. With the scan disabled, it never resest the heaters, and the temp fluctuations caused the color shift in my prints.

Just my .02

 

[DesireeM]

You would still be best placed to use 'place alternated'. This helps as the tiles are flipped 180 every other tile meaning that each joining side of the tiles are printed on the same side of the machine (R&L)...this can have a very slight change due to dry times (travel of print head).
However...I think your issue could likely be from timing/heat/environment(?). Often when printing tiles if the first tile is printed first thing in the day, perhaps the room is sat in an environment different to normal working day. i.e. when you first come in in the morning it is cold in the room, then the room heats up by tile 2 and so on.
Not always the case but does make a difference!
Had you done any other printing first that day?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding or not explaining myself properly but the entire tile was a different colour from the other two that followed so I don't see how a left vs right print surface could be the culprit - wouldn't the single tile itself have the colour inconsistency in that case? Also it's never happened before.

I do agree that heat, timing and environment can have an impact but I'm not sure it applies here. In regards to the temperature theory we are in Canada and our building is heated to approx. 21 degrees celcius 24/7. The print room is isolated in the middle of the building(none of the walls are exterior walls) so the temperature stays very constant.
The first tile that came out the wrong colour was printed first of the day, yes. But the later patch (for the other sign) that came out wrong was printed mid-day after the printer had been running for hours.

My thinking is that it can't really be caused by anything that has always been. The temperature, environment, print surface, location, dry time etc... are all basically constants. Those things have been in play since I started this job 9+ years ago and this is the first time I've ever had this issue.

I'm starting to think my printer is on its way out...we'll see what the tech says...I really hope it's as simple as replacing a part.

 

[JoeDG]

Hmm, weird! On the machine there isn't really anything in terms of 'replacing a part' that would cause this as far as I'm aware.
You are right though, the flip tiles option may not apply but still good to d get in the habit of checking the option.
Stupid question...but are you sure if they were printed as separate jobs that you had the same colour management settings!?

Cheers

 

[DesireeM]

Thought I'd update this since I never responded...busy busy. Although we never figured out specifically what caused the colour shift on this print we did have some other catastrophic printer failures that resulted in the purchase of a new print head and 2 new dampers. Everything is now running smoothly.