More Mug print problems

[Louise]

Sorry I seem to just come here with all my problems, I live for the day I can answer some questions and be of help :oops:

I have some nice straight mugs now (thanks Graham) but the colours are so faded and dull. I know this is me printing it all wrong but for the life of me I dont know what to do!

I managed to re load all the printer set up and now get the menus so I can choose ceramics etc and the colour (intense, true, greyscale etc) but even setting it to intense the colours are dull and faded. There is an option for the type paper you use but I dont know what I have other than the cheaper one from BMS, no offence ment by that, thats what it says on the site :) , but could that change things so much? I also wonder about photo shop, could that be altering the colour? May eb I should buy the Corel Draw and try that?

I did the mugs for 195 seconds at 190 degrees, is this the problem maybe? Honestly I'm getting through mugs at a rate here :lol: so thought it was time to ask as clearly I have no idea at this point. The bloke who sold me everything showed me how to use it all infact I spent most the day there using it all, but it looked so simple there :?

Any help would be fantastic!

[Justin]

What printer/inks are you using Louise? Is this with a profile or powerdriver? Personally I don't get on too well with Photoshop for printing and prefer CorelDraw (but that's just me!) You could always download a trial of Corel first.

Your time and temp. sounds about right. Is it a new mug press? Just wondering if it's warming up correctly. What pressure are you using? Is it nice and tight?

What does the printout look like before you press onto the mugs? Are the colours rich at that stage?

[Louise]

Thanks so much for the fast reply Justin.

Its a powerdriver, thats me using the wrong wording, and the inks are sublijet, from yourselves, and an A4 ricoh printer. My last problem was the power driver didnt install, think you helped me get that right last time :lol:

The mug press is new, its an Adkins single mug press. I think its tight and Craig seems to think so too, not that we are expert by any means, but certaintly not loose at any rate.

The printout is dull too, but then I recall at the training day him saying it would look dull and then come out very bright? Sadly mine starts dull and ends up dull!

I'm going to give Corel a go as Ive just tried out a new banner for one of my websites and when its exported out of photo shop in a PNG file the purple writing was bright pink :? I think Photo shop is way beyond me.

[Justin]

Hi Louise, inks aren't from me...it's my forum but I'm not a supplier ;) It sounds like the problem is more related to software and/or printer, I don't think it's a pressing issue. The print should look good it's just that the colours won't match perfectly at this stage and the quality may be slightly less as well.

i don't personally use Ricoh/powerdriver so someone else will be better placed to advise here :D

[Louise]

Sorry getting confused!

Thanks for you help though. Im downloading Corel and trying that, I really think this is a photo shop problem now, just read on the net about people having trouble with PS forcing colour profiles on you that you dont want :roll: There seemed a very long winded way to force it to turn off its profiles, but I think I'd rather try a different software and see if that is the problem.

Hey ho, still another 11 hours of the day left, plenty more experimenting time. :lol:

[John G]

Hi Louise,
Which Ricoh printer is it - if its the 5050 I don't think the powerdriver works with it, just uses a profile.
Cheers John

[Justin]

I really think this is a photo shop problem now, just read on the net about people having trouble with PS forcing colour profiles on you that you dont want :roll: There seemed a very long winded way to force it to turn off its profiles, but I think I'd rather try a different software and see if that is the problem.

I find Photoshop overcomplicated when it comes to setting up profiles etc. hence I stick to Corel. I have the setup instructions for Photoshop and Corel if you need to see them.

[Louise]

Hi John, the printer is the Ricoh GX3300n, the power driver came with the printer on a CD. I tried printing not using the powerdriver and it comes out like a normal printer (bright and the colour you expect ie red is red) with the powerdriver it comes out dull so black is more charcoal than black, any ideas which is the right way for the colours to look? If that makes any sense. thanks for your help.

Justin the set ups would be greatly appreciated, Ive downloaded Corel now and find it far easier to use already, but then I'm used to digitising software and its based on Corel so guess I would.

[Justin]

Is it X4 or X5 you downloaded? Is it possible that you're software is enabling colour profiles/management as well as the Powerdriver?

I used to use Powerdriver through an Epson 4800 and had a lot of problems. I prefer to use a profile myself, do you have to use Powerdriver with the 3300?

Take a look here: http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/v.php?pg=113 there are setup files on the list for your printer.

[Louise]

Its X5 Ive downloaded. We did follow the sawgrass insturctions to load the powerdriver, but the corel and photoshop insturctions are not my versions :? Honestly how complicated is this becoming eh? Thanks so much for the help.

[bms]

Hi Louise,

I've posted before about the Ricoh's sublimating and if the press is too hot for too long then blacks start to go brown and colours look blurred and lack colour. Does your mug press start at a lower temp and when you put a mug in it starts to heat up to 190? If so then I would take the temp down to 180 and take the time down to 125 seconds. If this works okay then you could take the time to 140-150 seconds.

It doesn't matter whether you print from PhotoShop or Corel because PowerDriver takes over all the colour management. You could equally print direct from the picture and fax viewer on Windows using PowerDriver as the originating graphics package make no difference at all.

You should have the settings in PowerDriver set to TruPix paper and Unisub products - that's the standard. Don't tweak anything else and then try the new temp/ times above.

[Justin]

Pretty sure instructions for colour management are the same for X4 and X5.

[Louise]

Justin, maybe its because its a trial version still? But I dont get the picture with arrow to alter just drop down boxes and menus.

Martin, hi I tried a lower setting and time and same results. Ive taken some pics if I can load the on here to show you. I even switched off the powerdriver as John said and the result to me was good, so the mug with the heart is no powerdriver and the other 2 are with it.

I'm very greatful to you all listening to my problems today, I think I need to speak to the people who sold this to me now instead of bending all your ears, maybe they would take a look at it for me. I would say I'd play the dumb blonde card for sympathy, but in this instance it may be true :? Or perhaps its just my age :lol:

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad329/loubybaby/001.jpg

[John G]

If the printer is supposed to use the powerdriver software and you are getting bad results it sounds as though something is overriding the software. The love heart mug looks fine to me.

Have you tried the love heart mug with and without the powerdriver - that would give a more acurate test, using the same image.

[Louise]

Hi John, yes the first few mugs where with that design (should have taken the photo of the 2 same designs just grabbed what was near) and where all dull, then after your message I tried without the driver and got the good result.

Will call the place I got it tomorrow and see what they can suggest. Thanks again.

[Kaz]

Hi Louise

Do you use a laptop or a PC?

I get different on screen results on my laptop than I do on my PC, which could be why it looks purple on screen and comes out pink on the paper.

Just a thought.

Kaz

[Louise]

Thanks Kaz, Ive now worked out through trial and error its using 2 colour management profiles when printing, but do you think i can trun the blasted things off? No :x I really feel like just giving up tbh :x , its cost me a fortune if blanks and paper just to never get it right and I'm up to my ears in embroidery, which I can do properly :lol: , so why am I bothering :? I'm just posting another thread for any one whos good with corel draw then if I still cant do it I will admit defeat :(

Thanks for the reply though. :)

[gorgall]

Don't forget you can print on a mug more than once, just do a small test area and then you will have room to do several tests and only waste one mug.

Gordon

[bms]

Hi Louise,

I would suggest going back to square one for a moment. Re-install the printer and the PowerDrive software checking you have the settings correct. On the SubliJet CD there are pdf files showing you what you need to do to configure the printer and PowerDriver. Print a test document and put it on half a mug - if this is good then great. If not then...

Install the ICC colour management profile - again on the CD there are pdf files showing you what you need to do - methodically work through these to make sure all the settings are correct and print the same document and put it on the other half of the mug.

One of these should give you the results you're after.

[Louise]

Thanks Gorgal, you know I actually didnt think of that, what a thicky! :lol:

Martin thanks, I will try all of that, I cant believe I'm making such a drama out of all this! :roll:

[Louise]

Well re loading it all did nothing to help things sadly, so on to trying the ICC profile now. However my printer dosnt come with the profile, they only supply the powerdriver on the cd, Ive looked about and it seems I need to buy this but I'm worried I may buy the wrong thing.

So can anyone point me in the direction of a good supplier who will sell me the correct thing? Ive seen 2 but ones $15 and the other $193 so no idea which I need. I have the Ricoh GX3300n printer with sublijet inks. I wont go back to the place I got it again as they arnt all that helpful and just keep saying they are sure its fine :?

So where I went may have been cheaper than other people but the afterservice hasnt been that good. :(

[bms]

The ICC Profile should be on the same CD as the PowerDriver. If it isn't then pm me with your email address and I'll forward it to you tomorrow. It doesn't cost you anything and should have been provided on the CD in the first place. If you can let me know which graphic packages you have access to then I can forward the instructions for setting those up. If your original supplier won't help then you can contact Sawgrass direct (they are based in Leeds) - they'd prefer you to go through your supplier but if you're not getting any joy there then Sawgrass will help.

[Louise]

Thanks very much Martin.

[Louise]

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for their help with my print problems and the biggest thanks to Martin at BMS. The Colour profile and your insturctions solved all my problems and the first try was perfect! Many, many thanks for the support to a newbie. :D

[bms]

Thanks for the feedback Louise, glad it worked. Can't understand why the original suppliers didn't provide this though as it's on the CD that comes from Sawgrass. They must be burning their own CD's and removing part of the support files. Bizarre :?