right i just keep getting frusrated around the same topic and was intrested if anyone could give a good answer to a problem that i presume bugs a lot of people. every time i finish something i am doing ,i take a moment to pause and look for any mistakes or such, every time im satisfied with the colour wich most of the time in my works has a strong shine to it or a bit of a radiance, dont know if its just the lcd monitor that makes me think i got were i was going but when i take it to the printer it allways comes out dry and bland and all the vibrance is lost. i tried experementing with some home made photoshop techniques, but im sure there are loads more out there, so if anyone has some sugestions on anything from paper, print to in software techniques id be happy to start up a conversation about it... thanks in advance
i guarentee you are doing your work in RGB, if so what sort of an idiot are you. its not the fault of the printers its your lack of design skill. do you own a pantone book?
Echo Around Town remaining true to form there. I'll try to give a more helpful reply. Apologies if I'm stating the obvious and things you've already checked. Hope it's of some use. • Is your monitor/proofing printer calibrated? Monitor colours can be a long way off the actual colours specified, not least because of the differences between RGB on screen and CMYK or spot printing (as Echo Around Town so eloquently touched on). It's possible to buy equipment/software to calibrate your monitor - I don't have a great deal of experience using these products so can't recommend anything in particular but know they vary in price and features. • Using a Pantone book and visualising your designs in the printed colours is a good way to go. I'd go for the Color Bridge book as it shows how each spot colour will appear if printed in CMYK. If converting spot colours to CMYK on your artwork check the colour splits - Creative Suite can use different splits than Quark or than specified in the Color Bridge book. • Speak to your printer about paper stocks and finishes. How you specify a print job can affect the appearance of the finished item. This is most obvious between coated and uncoated paper but can also be affected by various other factors. • Consider paying for a colour-accurate proof (such as a Match Print) from your printer before the job goes on press if the colours are particularly critical. • Remember that if a printer is particularly cheap they may (but will not always!) be rushing jobs through without taking as much care over colour accuracy etc. Most of the time you get what you pay for.
Altho Echo has pretty much got it down to a tee (most probably) the only thing that should be done with this comment is for it to be passed over. Double check that your working with CMYK and when you export it to for print etc tis not automatically being converted somehow. If your doing all this right I would ask the printer if he/she does anything to the file between you handing it to them and it being printed... YOu never know
thats great advice. i cold called random printing companies to find out what was the general settings the might have in common, which makes my job as a freelance prepresser that bit easier. have you got your colour profiles set up via photoshop? rgb: adobe RGB 1998 cmyk: ISO Coated v2 (ECI) this is a good way to start.
