Hi all,
I've been studying graphic design a while on my own, doing photo enhancement and illustration with photoshop and illustrator. Overwhelmingly I've designed for practice and for the web, and now that I am trying to do some work for print I am quite frustrated! I have some books and have been reading about process vs spot colors, RGB vs CMYK and thought I understood it all, but I'm having some problems.
I'm using process uncoated colors, because I wanted to settle on a certain color that I can reproduce in the future (for a logo), and printing from a desk inkjet. Naturally the colors show up differently on my 3 LCD displays, so I am printing multiple colored versions of the design to check them in print. But the printer I am using will only print very light colors, and even the blacks are coming out grey-ish! I have changed the ink cartridges and still they are not printing well. Also I checked the transparency and it's all at 100% opaque.
So, is this something to do with Process Uncoated colors, or could it be another setting or the printer itself? I'm right now using a canon pixma 1700--not a great printer, but it's billed as a photo printer so it should be able to handle color. In the past, I've printed photos and found them to be oversaturated, so now it seems I'm having the opposite problem.
Any advice you all can give would be much appreciated. This is sort of confusing and frustrating to me, and has really set me behind on getting my collateral printed (it's for my business as a freelance writer).
While I'm on the soapbox here I also have another related question about color printing... I would like to print some window decals, but I was wondering if I need to change any of the settings for printing because it is on transparent paper instead of white??
Thanks for your help.
Amy
I've been studying graphic design a while on my own, doing photo enhancement and illustration with photoshop and illustrator. Overwhelmingly I've designed for practice and for the web, and now that I am trying to do some work for print I am quite frustrated! I have some books and have been reading about process vs spot colors, RGB vs CMYK and thought I understood it all, but I'm having some problems.
I'm using process uncoated colors, because I wanted to settle on a certain color that I can reproduce in the future (for a logo), and printing from a desk inkjet. Naturally the colors show up differently on my 3 LCD displays, so I am printing multiple colored versions of the design to check them in print. But the printer I am using will only print very light colors, and even the blacks are coming out grey-ish! I have changed the ink cartridges and still they are not printing well. Also I checked the transparency and it's all at 100% opaque.
So, is this something to do with Process Uncoated colors, or could it be another setting or the printer itself? I'm right now using a canon pixma 1700--not a great printer, but it's billed as a photo printer so it should be able to handle color. In the past, I've printed photos and found them to be oversaturated, so now it seems I'm having the opposite problem.
Any advice you all can give would be much appreciated. This is sort of confusing and frustrating to me, and has really set me behind on getting my collateral printed (it's for my business as a freelance writer).
While I'm on the soapbox here I also have another related question about color printing... I would like to print some window decals, but I was wondering if I need to change any of the settings for printing because it is on transparent paper instead of white??
Thanks for your help.
Amy
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Re: Need help -- problems with Process Uncoated colors, printing too light
Mon, December 17, 2007 - 8:56 AMHi Sylph,
Printing to a deskjet will always be inconsistent using Pantone colors. If you intend to send these files to press, where pantones will actually be used, then you can count on the color being accurate from them. Most printers are able to give you a color-accurate proof as well, but home printers are not color-calibrated. It really has nothing to do with the pantones, as you are printing in cmyk. If you intend to print from your home printer always, I recommend using cmyk and adjusting the values until they print the way you want them. As for the black, again if you intend to print from your home printer, you can create a "rich" black by adding some cyan, magenta and yellow to the black (I usually use around 40% of each, so it's 40 40 40 100). If you are sending to a printer, it should not be a problem using plain old black (in fact, DON'T create rich black to send to a printer if you are printing in spot colors)
As for pantones, the difference between coated and uncoated is paper. The ink used for both is the same, one is printed on coated paper, one on uncoated producing a different look. They are specified differently so we as the designers can more accurately see what the finished product will look like on our computer screens.
I notice also that you are using process uncoated. Switch that to spot uncoated if you are sending to a printer. Process is actually using cmyk ink. Hope I didn't make it more confusing. -
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Re: Need help -- problems with Process Uncoated colors, printing too light
Wed, December 19, 2007 - 4:01 PMHi Satya, thanks for your input and explanations.
I counted on some color variations using process colors on my deskjet, but I didn't expect medium-dark colors to print looking pastel. I don't think I could do any amount of adjustment that would fix that, so I just went to Kinko's. Their printers reproduced colors of the approximate luminance/saturation as I see on my screen, rather than being semi-transparent. So, the problem seems to be with the little desk printer I was using.
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Re: Need help -- problems with Process Uncoated colors, printing too light
Thu, December 20, 2007 - 1:51 PMAs Satya mentioned, color management is an important component if you need to view colors accurately on screen and from your printer. Color management is an involved and complicated process, but you'll at least need a color calibrator like the Eye-One to set up profiles for all the devices you're using, such as your monitor, printers, and scanner. See: www.colorhq.com/index.asp
Otherwise, you can check what your colors will look like printed by requesting a proof from your printer. You may also see what colors will print like with a Pantone book and a book of CMYK sample mixes like "Process Color Manual, 24,000 CMYK Combinations for Design, Prepress, and Printing." See: www.amazon.com/Process-Ma.../ref=sr_1_2
I also recommend speaking with your printer. They are usually very helpful with any question you may have setting up colors in the documents you are sending them to print.
