Designing in Illy and colors change drastically in Production Manager...

[bendeane]

Hey Everybody...
Been doing some designs in Illustrator and when I send them to Flexi Production Manager to print, the colors are extremely off in the preview layout pane. Thought maybe it was production manager's preview and sent a small version to print, but the printed colors are off by quite a bit compared to what is on Illy's screen, then Production Manager's screen, and then finally the print. Used a few different profiles, but all have about the same result. Used Avery RS 1005 SuperCast and 3M IJ180 and cheap oracal vinyl.
Is there some reason I get such extreme color changes between the two programs and then the printer? Am I not setting up the file correctly in Illustrator? It's all CMYK and I had some spot colors that I converted to CMYK in Illy. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[J Hill Designs]

it it's any consolation, my completely non-profiled system acts the same way...as long as I set colors to my printed color charts, however, I get what I ask for in the end...

 

[iSign]

it it's any consolation, my completely non-profiled system acts the same way...as long as I set colors to my printed color charts, however, I get what I ask for in the end...

same here!

Ben, I always save my files as RGB before importing into Flexi, as do the majority of others who have posted here on the topic. I always thought it odd, going to a CMYK printer, but it is a common method, so I follow it. You will still get shifts (relative to your monitors), but you may get better color.

Like jhill suggests, get a color chart file that lists the cmyk values of it's swatches & print it out on vinyl & banner (and any other common media you use) and then choose a printed swatch you want to match, & set your color the same. As long as you follow the same steps, you should get the same color. I design in CMYK vectors, but I export my prints as RGB .tif files. Make sure the chart is printed at same resolution & settings as you would be likely to use on that media.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I use the one from this thread (post #7) http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55734&highlight=printable+pantone+chart

I have it printed out on three different medias at normal and hi-qual settings...then find your color, use that pms value, and print with same settings you printed the chart with - you will find that everything looks wrong on-screen, but prints correctly (enough lol)

 

[bendeane]

you will find that everything looks wrong on-screen, but prints correctly (enough lol)

Which sucks for sending proofs to clients...lol.

 

[J Hill Designs]

send them proof with the color you want to use, then match it to the printable equivalent...or, profile your setup...your call

 

[iSign]

Which sucks for sending proofs to clients...lol.

have clients pick up small printed samples from your printer.