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. [QUOTE=harlequeen;118189]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.
[/QUOTE]

[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.

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slate surface.jpg (82.81 KiB) Viewed 52 times

[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.