Photo Slate Coating Changes :(

[Ucase Ltd]

Could someone describe the boxes the Longforte slates come in, that might give me an idea as there seems to be 3 different boxes

The Longforte slates (like most now) come in the light grey boxes that just say "Photo Slate". Like your picture on the right.
I don't think many suppliers use the black "Rock Photo" packaging anymore.

Obviously there has been a change in the way they are made but I'm hoping this is a blip and as long as enough people complain, the manufacturers will go back to the old style eventually.

I guess until then we're stuck with them.

On the bright side - If you can get it working there'll be less competition ;)

[harlequeen]

LOL, yes less competition, but the surface of some I've had recently seem to have 'milling' marks on them. :(

[webtrekker]

LOL, yes less competition, but the surface of some I've had recently seem to have 'milling' marks on them. :(

Raise your prices and advertise the marks as 'a unique feature, not commonly found on cheaper products!'

[harlequeen]

LOL :)...............

[webtrekker]

Sorry, couldn't help myself , but I know that doesn't solve your problem.

Aside from sublimation, which I'm just starting out in, I do a lot of printing and cutting of printable magnetic sheet and there have been a couple of times when my existing supplier has run out of stock and the stuff I've had to order from competitors has been absolute rubbish. I hate it when that happens. There's such a wide variation in products that are advertised to the same spec.

[froggy]

@ harleqeen.

It looks as though the white point on your second (newer image) has shifted. Can you play with the pre press image in your image software?

If I were "playing" with it, I may try to change my white, grey and black points so that the image had more saturation in the colours.

Just a thought, good luck

[Smart Mart]

I have this problem,with the slates from longeforte they were spot on but the ones i get from cgraph (as longeforte are now out of stock of the a4 size) come out a lot lighter & not as glossy,they way i got around it was adding more contrast to the print -,that solved the lightness issue but not the glossy problem.

These are 2 slates I have printed recently - using the same exact process both times. One is an old slate I had from a previous order the other is one of a new batch. You can see the difference immediately. I have bought from 2 differenct suppliers and are getting the same results with the new ones.

I am going to send them back as I can't do anything with them.

[harlequeen]

The images show the 2 different slates, but I printed both on paper at the same time using using exactly the same settings as my customer wanted 2, 1 for each of the parents' mothers.

I just don't have the time or the inclination to do a test to check out how slates are going to print. I want consistency each time. Apart from the quality of finish, the coatings seem 'scratched' and I can see marks. If you look closely at the area in the highlight you can see marks on the surface. I have sent these images to the supplier, and he has commented on the printed slates, but has ignored the surface image - so far.

[JMugs]

I feel the pain. It is so frustrating when things are out of your control.

Janners

[pisquee]

It's almost like the new slates need a specific ICC profile making to print to them, which in theory would be fine, if they weren't so expensive to have to use enough to make a profile.