When Versacamm prints come out to dark...

[Tony Rome]

Every once in a while I will get some files from customers (usually jpg's) that look great on screen and then when I go print my Versacamm SP540V (via Versaworks) prints it pretty dark.
I know I could change the profile, but I should not have to go through multiple profiles to find the right one, is there something else I can do?
The monitor is displaying correctly.
This does not happen a lot, for the most part no issues, just every once in a while.
Could it be how customer is saving?/ Software they are using, RGB/CMYK?

Thanks

 

[Tony Rome]

Update: When I print on draft instead of Standard it prints the colors perfectly.

 

[klingsdesigns]

What media are you trying to print on and what profile?

 

[Tony Rome]

What media are you trying to print on and what profile?

Avery 2923 EZ, using the correct Avery profile and Pre-Press US but I have had the same problem using Oracal 3165RA.

 

[Tony Rome]

bump

 

[Solventinkjet]

It probably has something to do with the color settings of the original file. RGB tends to print out darker because the way the profile handles RBG usually lays down more ink in my experience. The fact that draft mode prints better makes sense because it uses less ink which would lighten up the prints. Do an experiment and save the same file in both color settings. See what happens.

 

[Correct Color]

Prepress US assumes that the incoming files were created in Adobe 1998 RGB if RGB, and SWOP CMYK if CMYK.

It also will honor any embedded profile in an image, so as to over-ride those settings. Which is good, because probably a good 95% plus of the RGB images out there are not created in Adobe 1998 RGB, they're created in sRGB. And if you're not familiar, what that means is that even though they are both RGB color spaces, the RGB numbers in each one do not represent the same actual colors.

Adobe 1998 has a larger gamut than sRGB, so lots of people like to use it, but to use it you do have to set a workflow up correctly.

What's probably happening is that occasionally you're getting untagged -- meaning they have no embedded profile -- RGB files from your clients that were created in sRGB, and since they're untagged, Versaworks is processing them as if they were Adobe 1998, as it is being directed by the Prepress US settings, which could have the effect of making them print darker.

(Edited to add: Easiest way to fix this if it is indeed the problem is to take an image that this has happened with and open it in Photoshop. Depending on your Photoshop color settings, you may or may not get a profile mismatch warning, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is to open it, and then save it. When you save it, make sure you check to embed whatever profile it's in.

Then try printing it again. If that fixes the problem, that was it; if not, it's something else.)

 

[Tony Rome]

Just wondering if there is anymore things I can try here, maybe stop using the "correct" media profile?
Colors are perfect in high speed (but then I have banding)
Too dark in Standard.

 

[player]

I have good luck with the Oracal 3651 profile.