Funky Junk in my print.

[razzildazzil]

I'd call this a transparency issue, but my search results say otherwise...

I'm designing in Illy (on Windows 7), exporting as EPS to my RIP, loading into VersaWorks 4.6 and printing. I've used the same file without incident previously... but for some reason it's giving me grief now. I've tried Orajet profiles, Arlon profiles, VW canned profiles, Arlon GTX vinyl, Aspire vinyl, and 3M IJ180 vinyl, US Prepress color profile, custom color profile, and Max Impact color profile. Every combination gave me the same results. I also tried flattening transperancy in Illy, same issue @ printing.

The ONLY solution I found to work was flatting the image in PS and printing that way. And while I'm grateful to have found a solution that works... I would love to know what the issue is so I can try and prevent it in the future.

Thanks in advance for the help! :U Rock:

 

[P Wagner]

Transparency issues in vector files can oftentimes yield unexpected and undesirable print artifacts. Things like soft shadows, lens effects, and others will often timed be the source of these problems. You have already described the failsafe solution that always works - to rasterize the effect away in Photoshop. This solution, while it solves this issue, will sometimes cause other issues. These can include color changes from switching from vector spot (Pantone) color to process (RGB or CMYK) color models.

There is another thing tha you can do if you are using Versaworks. In the color management area of the quality tab in the job settings dialog, choose the preset titled 'full page conversion mode'. This will render the file using only one rendering intent for all objects on the page, and can help with the transparency problems, without resorting to rasterizing the file. Give it a shot...

 

[razzildazzil]

Samples

Since I forgot to attach these Friday... here they are. Hope this helps clarify the problem I'm having better.

 

[P Wagner]

Exactly what I was expecting to see... note the box around the extents of the raster shadow effect. Use the Full Page Conversion Mode, and it may well resolve this issue (no guarantees though...).

 

[J Hill Designs]

set your rendering intents to the same for raster and vector

 

[razzildazzil]

set your rendering intents to the same for raster and vector

I have no idea what this is or where to do it. Btw I'm having this issue throughout all my prints where there should be white space. I even created white lettering with a black outline & shadow (100% vector) to test the theory and still have the pinkish grey fill inside the white letters when printed.

 

[J Hill Designs]

what RIP are you using?

edit: oh versaworks. no help from me then sry

 

[P Wagner]

I have no idea what this is or where to do it. Btw I'm having this issue throughout all my prints where there should be white space. I even created white lettering with a black outline & shadow (100% vector) to test the theory and still have the pinkish grey fill inside the white letters when printed.

You have given no indication that you have tried, or even attempted to try my suggestion, despite my multiple posts. I'll try this just one more time:

In Versaworks:
1. Add Job
2. Open the Job Settings window (Job Menu > Settings)
3. Go to the Quality Tab (2nd from the top)
4. In the area labeled Color Management, choose Full Page Conversion Mode from the list box. This will render everything using the same rendering intent (Colorimetric).
5. Click OK
6. Print the job.

 

[razzildazzil]

You have given no indication that you have tried, or even attempted to try my suggestion, despite my multiple posts..

I have not tried it because I haven't had the time. I've had my Roland running all day today getting prints ready for a couple wraps we're doing this week. I plan to try it as soon as my que is clear ~ 4:30 today. I'll post the results here.

 

[MikePro]

leaving my rip software to process effects/appearances in illy such as dropshadow/outerglow/etc. always yields the same result.
problem solved via illustrator>photoshop>illustrator prior to print.

 

[razzildazzil]

Oh my...

Mr. Castek - you are my HERO!

Colors look fantastic, no junk in the prints, no more guesswork and wasted media. Thank you!!

:U Rock:

Attached is the test print. Other than taking the picture from my crappy phone camera, it looks great. Thanks again