Variable ink dot claim by Mimaki

[Out There]

Mimaki touts this "variable ink dot creating smooth images with out being grainy, even with just 4 color". I don't know I'm really not seeing it.

My question is those using rasterlink 5. Are your prints still looking grainy at say a foot or two away? Spot colors look ok, but orange, pink, browns and such look pretty bad IMO.

I am new to digital print, so I'm sure some or most of it's the operator.

 

[genericname]

The variable dot pattern is really just there to smooth out gradients and transitions from one colour to the next. Instead of dropping fewer and fewer even spaced dots of the same size, it prints smaller dots in the same space to fool the eye into seeing smoother transitions.

If you find solid colours look grainy, try changing your diffusion pattern, or check to see if your heads need aligning.

 

[Out There]

The variable dot pattern is really just there to smooth out gradients and transitions from one color to the next. Instead of dropping fewer and fewer even spaced dots of the same size, it prints smaller dots in the same space to fool the eye into seeing smoother transitions.

I see. I guess I'm so use to sublimation printing. Every thing is covered in ink, no matter how close I stick my nose. With wide format the closer my nose gets the grainier, or should I say pixilated?, it gets. My tech says I'm just too picky .

If you find solid colours look grainy, try changing your diffusion pattern, or check to see if your heads need aligning.

Solid colors are actually not to bad. Although I do seem to get better prints using my trial Onyx x10 rip. I just can't get myself to spend a few more thousand dollars yet, but I think I'm going to have to get a decent rip here in the near future.

 

[genericname]

I see. I guess I'm so use to sublimation printing. Every thing is covered in ink, no matter how close I stick my nose. With wide format the closer my nose gets the grainier, or should I say pixilated?, it gets. My tech says I'm just too picky .

Solid colors are actually not to bad. Although I do seem to get better prints using my trial Onyx x10 rip. I just can't get myself to spend a few more thousand dollars yet, but I think I'm going to have to get a decent rip here in the near future.

Yeah, sublimation has the benefit of ink bleed adding a bit to the effect, evening out colours. Chances are, you are being too picky. That's a good thing from time to time; if it passes your inspection, it'll definitely pass that of the client's. Still, don't sweat it too much. Generally, unless you're doing art reproductions, you're good if it's clear from a couple feet away.

RE. Onyx, we found the same thing when switching from a Flexi based RIP to Onyx. Still a few problem areas that they'll probably never iron out, but overall, the results are much better.

 

[Out There]

Fire your tech. If you're buying a new printer you have the right to be picky....and I wouldn't consider wanting prints that aren't grainy as being picky.

I hear ya..The tech mostly wants to blame Rasterlink, but the fraustration is come to find out that Rasterlink is not a very well supported RIP with Grimco, go figure.

However, I do like a challenge and this is a good one.

 

[genericname]

What resolution and number of passes are you using anyhow? You could mitigate the issue by dropping more ink in a finer area with a higher resolution. You'd end up with a similar effect to that of sublimation, as you'd have more dots bleeding into one another.

You could have the opposite problem as well, mind you, but it's worth looking into if you can create profiles yourself.

 

[Freese]

I hear ya..The tech mostly wants to blame Rasterlink, but the fraustration is come to find out that Rasterlink is not a very well supported RIP with Grimco, go figure.

However, I do like a challenge and this is a good one.

You have a picture by any chance? It could be you are too picky, but it also could not be.

Most solvent inkjet printers hardly look solid up close, but if it still looks grainy from a good few feet away than there is an issue.

 

[Out There]

What resolution and number of passes are you using anyhow? You could mitigate the issue by dropping more ink in a finer area with a higher resolution. You'd end up with a similar effect to that of sublimation, as you'd have more dots bleeding into one another.

You could have the opposite problem as well, mind you, but it's worth looking into if you can create profiles yourself.

720x1440 is the highest resolution profile I've used and that was set up as 12 pass. I get into banding issues when I up the passes from the stock profile with 3M180c.

I've also messed around with the density, which helps. Also changing to saturation from perceptual makes a big difference with vectors.

 

[Out There]

You have a picture by any chance? It could be you are too picky, but it also could not be.

Most solvent inkjet printers hardly look solid up close, but if it still looks grainy from a good few feet away than there is an issue.

Here's a scan

 

[Out There]

Hmm..Well hard to tell with that pic. It's the orange and yellow and light green that I have issues with.

 

[Freese]

Here's a scan

Honestly, I see no issue there, but it could be a combination of my monitor and the resolution of your scanner.

But from JUST what I see, looks pretty good to me

 

[Out There]

Ya, I say it's just me.

 

[Out There]

Ya, I say it's just me.

I'll try a pdf and see if it shows up any better.

 

[Out There]

Ok.. I'll stop obsessing.

 

[Freese]

Looks about the same.

I am a bit curious, though.

Maybe feedback from customers would be ideal?

 

[Out There]

Looks about the same.

I am a bit curious, though.

Maybe feedback from customers would be ideal?

So far everyone has been very happy. Although most of my printing has been on banners . It's when I see it up close it's hard for me to just accept it is, what it is.


Here's some different pics and then I promise I'll stop.

 

[Out There]

I think when I get through with this next set of 4 color ink. I'll try out 6 color just for giggles.

 

[Arcdru]

I see some people have suggested changing the dither pattern, or even re-profile. The v3 profiles in RLP have only one dither pattern so changing is not an option. When profiling for RLP you can't change the dot size, only the point at which the different dot sizes initiate, so that what help either. The way to get the best print quality from RLP is to print in the highest resolution available (1440x1440) this locks in the small dot only. Adding to this uni-directional at normal speed with the head set in the low position. Sometimes this is not practical so you may need to experiment to find a happy medium. Converting to six colours will definitely produce better print quality, however you will loose print speed (and also the UISS if you have a CJV or JV33)
You'll find the graininess is most noticeable in oranges and light greens. This is because yellow is the base colour, then sparse cyan or magenta dots are added. Also grey if print with pure K.
Onyx will give you a smoother print because when you write a profile you have the option to choose smaller dots. Onyx however is expensive and if you haven't used it before can be quite had to navigate through.
Hope this is helpful. All the best.

 

[Out There]

Arcdru-Great info Thanks.

One question- Within Rasterlinkpro 5 can I change a profile to print 1440x1440? I searched through out the program and can't find anything that would allow me to do that.