Roland VS-640 Metallic Ink

[Merre]

Local artists and sign shops in our area have been asking to see how these metallic swatches look for the VS-640, available in 512 shades in Adobe Illustrator. Once printed, they look great. The ink is very delicate so it can smudge easily, but with lamination the shine in the colour is incredible.

Is there any way these swatches can be handled on rasterized art? For example, metal in an image getting some sort of alpha channel in photoshop and - placed in illustrator with a targa?

Here are some examples of images that would look enhanced if the metallic colour is applied effectively:

Offsite pics replaced. Please observe our rules on photo posting.

Images' Sources from modelmayhem.com

Are there any possible solutions, and have you tested them? I'll try out some ideas on the printer here.

 

[artbot]

for my mimaki in rasterlink, you just shift click to separate images (color and special channel) in the rip and set the second feed for the second image to print at the same feed point (zero inches). raster or vector...doesn't matter.

does this question mean that the vs640 can't simultaneously print independent metallic raster layers under color layers?

proofing tip:

when adjusting for metallic color, put a light gray (or even scan if metal finish) under the raster layer and set the color layer to multiply. that will give you the most perceivable replication of the way it will print. of course place a white print layer in between the silver for blocking/opacity if working on non-white substrates.

 

[jasonx]

I think with versaworks your going to have to import your raster graphics into illustrator or corel draw and draw your metallic over the top.

 

[petepaz]

i am pretty sure when they demo-ed this machine for us the metallic had to be a spot color just like when you do the white or maybe you can do it cmyk w/ metallic pass

we have the xc540 that prints white and sometimes what i do if i need the white to print under my image for opacity i will set up the white file as a separate job and have it return to origin then i will print the cmyk file over it (good idea to let it dry a little first maybe like 15-20 min) maybe you can do that with the metallic

 

[Merre]

Yes, I understand how the machine is using the spot colours when I'm printing vector art from Illustrator, but how would you go about applying a layer of the metallic over specific parts of an image with raster metallic in it, with the fading effects of an alpha channel so there isn't flat vector objects on a photo, but smooth gradient mesh like blends integrated into a photo.

 

[jasonx]

Yes, I understand how the machine is using the spot colours when I'm printing vector art from Illustrator, but how would you go about applying a layer of the metallic over specific parts of an image with raster metallic in it, with the fading effects of an alpha channel so there isn't flat vector objects on a photo, but smooth gradient mesh like blends integrated into a photo.

Versaworks only recognised spot colours as vector graphics. So no you can't do it in photoshop. Your going to have to recreate your mesh and gradients illustrator if you want metallic over your raster images.

 

[Merre]

I have a feeling there might be a work around, as the sign supplier I visited had some promotional material from Roland, and there was an example from Roland with a photo similar to the examples I showed you (from Roland) and it had this technique applied to it perfectly.

 

[jasonx]

I have a feeling there might be a work around, as the sign supplier I visited had some promotional material from Roland, and there was an example from Roland with a photo similar to the examples I showed you (from Roland) and it had this technique applied to it perfectly.

If you find out please let me know. I have the XC540 with white and I have to do all my white even for raster images in illustrator.

 

[Merre]

Yes, the supplier wasn't proficient in design software. He merely did sales.

Some of the options I wanted to test:

-Alpha Channel in Photoshop saved as a targa
-Gradient mesh overlay
-live paint or live trace

 

[jasonx]

http://support.rolanddga.com/docs/D.../Manuals and Guides/SIL-TEXTURE_USE_EN_R1.pdf

This might help you find out how they achieved the effects.