versacamm questions

[amw]

I have a few questions i hope someone can answer for me.

Equipment: We are using a versacamm sp-300v w/ versaworks.
Software: Photoshop CS3, Illy CS, CoreldrawX3

1) When printing a photo after ajusting in photoshop what is the BEST format to use (ie: jpg, tiff, pdf, etc.)??

2) When i print an eps it seams like its "jagged" where there should be curves, and the print is not "crisp" looking (standard print quality) why??
and what do i do to make it look right??

3) When you push the power button on the front is it ANY dif. than when it goes to sleep by it self??
(is there an advantage to one or the other?)

4) The installer told me that the profiles from roland are the BEST ones to use, and the ones from oracal wont be as good...any truth to this??

5) Anything you wish the installer told you that you learned later?

(we got it 2 days ago!)

Thank you very much for your help.

Thanks,
Tony & Marsha

 

[Velocity]

5) Anything you wish the installer told you that you learned later?

(Velocity)Yeah never shut off the main power. Panel power is ok but we werent told to keep the main power on and the system cycles the ink every so often to keep the heads from jamming up. $1200 oops.

1) When printing a photo after adjusting in photoshop what is the BEST format to use (ie: jpg, tiff, pdf, etc.)??

2) When i print an eps it seams like its "jagged" where there should be curves, and the print is not "crisp" looking (standard print quality) why??
and what do i do to make it look right??

(Velocity)What resolution and size are you creating your images at in PS?

4) The installer told me that the profiles from roland are the BEST ones to use, and the ones from oracal wont be as good...any truth to this??

(Velocity)We actually purchased Flexi as well with ours and due to color differences between Flexi and Versaworks we had to decide on one of them and found Flexi to mimic the colors a little better when designing through PS but this is my experience. Both software packages have pro's and con's but we use Flexi more often for simple lettering jobs.

Hope this was a little of what you were asking for.

V

 

[Gino]

• We're using CS3 also, but me personally... I'm still on 2.
  
• Usually a 'tiff will work fine when going directly to the printer without a contour cut line. No sense compressing it and using a .jpg.
  
• When you go from Photoshop to Illustrator... flatten your image first. Then apply your cut line if it's a free form shape.
  
• I was told to let it go into 'Sleep Mode'.... but we don't. At the end of the day we turn it off completely.
  
• For the most part Roland profiles will be good, but if you're using the proper media to go along with their profiles. You'll have to experiment and probably even come up with some of your own.
  
• Nope.

Be sure to keep the unit clean. Even if you don't have a job to run through it, still run something through it once a day.... even if it's a sample for your wall. You don't have to worry about drying out, but it's a good habit to get into to have it print as much as possible.

Good Luck.............​

 

[amw]

in PS:
what ever size i want to print is the size i have been making the design.
300 ppi

Should it be more?

 

[signgirl71]

Same here.....

We also just got a Versacamm SP-300 and I am running into these same questions.... The prints just aren't as clear and our other machine. I figure it's some kind of profiling issue that I just haven't had time to figure out yet.
Our tech also told us about not turning off the main power-said it will cause problems down the road. Another good suggestion was to run the environment match atleast once a week. Other than that I have only run small jobs and test prints so far-just haven't had the time to screw with the profiles yet. I did try both a Roland generic profile and and oracal profile but since you can change the variables in them so much I haven't decided which one is better. I just can't wait to do a partial wrap on my husbands truck..... I only wish this thing came with all the profiles all set up perfectly-but I guess since we got such a good deal on the printer I can't ask for too much!
Chris
Total Image Signs & Graphics
totalimage@bellsouth.net

 

[Service Sign Co]

Hope you got a really good deal Signgirl. Been researching & reading posts from real end users and things like the above mentioned just seem like a pain. Makes me want to consider a Summa again

 

[Velocity]

Are you using Versaworks to scale up your image?

Even when using Flexi we dont do that anymore. Use Photoshop to scale your image to size before sending to rip. PS will do a better job.

We dont work with anything under 350 ppi

The best advice ive gotten yet, especially for larger prints was to design at 720 ppi @ 10% of your final size. When done Scale it back up 10% which gives you your final size at 72 ppi. Portable enough to send to rip.

Hope this helps you, it has changed the way we do things here and has been a significant improvement in my final product.

Let me know how it goes. If it makes you more money I will send you my address for my commission. LOL

 

[gwimpy]

I recently got a used SP-300, and because it was used,didn't get any training with it. It has been a slow, uphill battle to figure it out on my own. I think I have done pretty well, but just had a sign come in that he wants printed on black vinyl. I tried it, and of course, had no success. I printed it with a black background on white, and the black seems to bleed into the red letters. I have been reading for about an hour on what to do, and will adjust my CMYK value for the black so it doesn't lay down so much ink, but was wondering if there was anything else that I can try.
Any help would be appreciated.
This is my first post ever...what fun!
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[chopper]

gwimpy you can also turn up your heat settings on the machine also need to know what rip you are using//chopper

 

[gwimpy]

I am using the Roland ColoRip that came with the machine.
Thanx!

 

[chopper]

I have an sp-300v and I am using oracal 3651 etc, and I am using signlab for my rip, I must say it works quite well using their profiles for the materials,
gwimpy you may need to play with different profiles and ink limits with the signlab I have not need to do that yet...also with the signlab I can drop an image right from my digital camera and print it and it comes out photo perfect with great detail very sharp and clean, sorry Iam not running the same rip as you so I cannot help you much I used versaworks and didnt care for it much so I went to the signlab rip and never looked back good luck //chopper

 

[gwimpy]

Thank you anyway for trying to help. I have heard good things about SignLab. Is it worth the investment?
Thanx again,
*Gwen

 

[Replicator]

Roland ColourChoice is great . . . and I usually print EPS files, but on occasion i print tiffs as well.

 

[gwimpy]

Thank you. I'll look into it. I have Corel Draw X3...but haven't used it yet. Should I start figuring it out or should I just get something different with better rip capabilities? I've heard it's pretty hard to work with.
Thanx,
*Gwen

 

[Ken]

Tony & Marsha and Gwen...
I'm using sp300 with colorip ( not V)
An EPS file may contain both bitmap images and vector lines. You need to make sure the bitmap part of the file is of good quality or you get the jagged edges.
I use .tiff file for straight bitmaps. But I export files using the RGB mode, this give a wider color gamut than CMYK export. The RIP will do the conversion to CMYK.
If you have the latest firmware upgrade, just let the machine go to sleep on it's own. If you do not use the printer for a day or two. It will wake up and squirt some ink thru the heads to prevent clogging/dryup.
www.printingdigital.net has a good tutorial on the cleaning proceedure.
The ink limit settings in the printer setup are effective if you are getting ink running or taking way too long to dry. Experiment with that. I run my heaters at 46 and 40. But when printing a banner I have the heaters off. Same if you are just cutting vinyl..heaters off.
At the end of the session, I turn the heaters off, lift the pinch rollers and let the baby go to sleep.
Hope this helps...Ken

 

[Ken]

Gwen, I use X3 nearly excusively. Get to know it. I personally find Illustrator more difficult.
Cheers!
Ken

 

[Graphix Plus Ink]

High res jpg will always work on versawerk or flexi. All those other files usually add file size and longer ripping time except vector. My opinion just use a sharp 300dpi jpg and you'll be fine everytime. When your comfortable then experiment with other stuff.