Spot color not printing spot color

[Jharris81]

So I want to print a sticker with just black, so I made sure that the graphic in illustrator was BK21A which is 100% K. Even shows up that way in Versaworks as the spot color but under magnification I can sure see magenta around the edges. I haven't worked to much with spot colors because I haven't really had to but is there something I need to change to make this happen. It's a very small graphic so I just wanted to do 100% K so I didn't have to worry about the head lining up just perfect. I am printing with max density profile.

 

[damonCA21]

it is probably down to your profile settings in versaworks. You can change this to density control only and it will print just using the black head without applying a profile to it

 

[Jharris81]

I know you can do this with density control but I figured if I used “black” BK21A it would but down just black in. Thought that was the whole point of spot colors.

 

[damonCA21]

In theory yes but sometimes weird things can happen when you export the file from illustrator and it changes it!

 

[dweavers]

So I want to print a sticker with just black, so I made sure that the graphic in illustrator was BK21A which is 100% K. Even shows up that way in Versaworks as the spot color but under magnification I can sure see magenta around the edges. I haven't worked to much with spot colors because I haven't really had to but is there something I need to change to make this happen. It's a very small graphic so I just wanted to do 100% K so I didn't have to worry about the head lining up just perfect. I am printing with max density profile.

do you have convert spot colour ticked under file format in versa works rip, it wont honour the colour if you don't

 

[Jharris81]

do you have convert spot colour ticked under file format in versa works rip, it wont honour the colour if you don't

I don't think I do. The image I uploaded were the settings I have and the check box is not checked. I'll have to check this weekend and give it another run. should that be check all the time?

 

[Mike Paul]

Look at you spot color check boxes

 

[Mike Paul]

Just send it 0-0-0-100 k
Why spot color?

 

[Jharris81]

Just send it 0-0-0-100 k
Why spot color?

Well I don't know if there is a difference but when the graphic in illustrator is selected for the color, it is 0-0-0-100 k. When I selected the color for the graphic I just used the Roland color library so that I didn't have any issues just printing straight black. Apparently I was wrong.

 

[cornholio]

You can use the library, but then "convert spot color" needs to be selected. (In VW6 it's ticked by default, in VW5 it's not)
Just using 100% K only works, if you either set preserve primary colors(with any profile) or use density control only(no profile is used and images may look strange).

 

[Johnny Best]

Are you working in rgb and not cmyk and saving as a .pdf

 

[Jharris81]

Are you working in rgb and not cmyk and saving as a .pdf

working in cmyk and exporting as PDF

 

[Johnny Best]

you should work in rgb and your RIP will convert it to cmyk

 

[cornholio]

you should work in rgb and your RIP will convert it to cmyk

Not, if you want pure black text in VW5

 

[netsol]

you should work in rgb and your RIP will convert it to cmyk

that always seemed counterintuitive to me, but, i have to admit, i probably print less than anyone on here.

 

[Solventinkjet]

that always seemed counterintuitive to me, but, i have to admit, i probably print less than anyone on here.

It's more of a band aid fix. The standard CMYK input profile has a smaller gamut than most modern printers can print these days. So designing in RGB allows you to hit those out of gamut colors. If you create a customer profile and map the actual gamut of your printer, however, it's much better to design in CMYK using that profile. That way, the only colors available to you are in gamut so what you see is what you print.

 

[Boudica]

It's more of a band aid fix. The standard CMYK input profile has a smaller gamut than most modern printers can print these days. So designing in RGB allows you to hit those out of gamut colors. If you create a customer profile and map the actual gamut of your printer, however, it's much better to design in CMYK using that profile. That way, the only colors available to you are in gamut so what you see is what you print.

Yes, but.... as it was explained to me... we don't print in 4 colors, most of our printers are 6 colors, and one is 9 colors - none are just CMYK. Therefor with the higher gamut of rgb, we are able to hit that higher rgb gamut with printing more than just the limited cmyk.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Yes, but.... as it was explained to me... we don't print in 4 colors, most of our printers are 6 colors, and one is 9 colors - none are just CMYK. Therefor with the higher gamut of rgb, we are able to hit that higher rgb gamut with printing more than just the limited cmyk.

Yup, there's nothing wrong with designing in RGB for that reason. You could also profile the 9 color printer and import it into your design software which would just give you a little more control of hitting exact colors and more confidence that what you see on the screen is what will print.

 

[Boudica]

Yup, there's nothing wrong with designing in RGB for that reason. You could also profile the 9 color printer and import it into your design software which would just give you a little more control of hitting exact colors and more confidence that what you see on the screen is what will print.

how do I do this?

profile the 9 color printer and import it into your design software

We use Adobe Illustrator, the 9 color printer is an Epson S80600...
ETA - Onyx Thrive is our RIP

 

[Jim Hancock]

And keep in mind, your display is an RGB device. If you work in RGB, then there is no CMYK-RGB conversion of the data so it can be displayed. And make your working space at least AdobeRGB 1998. It has a larger gamut than sRGB.