ARTJET UV Printer Application 4 Sai rip color graph
ARTJET UV Printer has been sold in Korea for 4 years, and we are organizing the printer problems we have encountered so far, their causes, and their solutions.
We have compiled 10 different print head problems and 17 ink supply problems, and you can find detailed information at the site below.
ARTJET UV Printer troubleshooting sum up
From last time, we are explaining not only UV printer problems and solutions, but also what products are produced with UV printers.
In the first session, we explained how to print high-value Braille using the ARTJET UV Printer. For more details, please refer to the site below.
ARTJET UV Printer Application 1 braille printing
In the second session, we explained how to align the images on the front and back when flipping the material over and printing a different image on the back after printing on the front. See below for details.
ARTJET UV Printer Application 2 Flip the material and align it
In the third session, we explained how to print a three-dimensional elephant rather than simply printing it in color as shown below.
ARTJET UV Printer Application 3 2.5D UV print
ARTJET UV Printer Application 3_1
Today, I will explain how to implement colors that are not expressed in colors created with an ICC profile using the Sai rip [Color Adjustment] tab.
I. Japanese equipment has nice colors. Can I match them similarly?
1. Please match the colors to the Mimaki and Roland UV printer!!
A customer interested in ARTJET UV Printer visited our company.
He brought a sample printed on the back on acrylic and asked if we could match the color to be similar to the printed color.
These were two acrylic samples, one printed on a Mimaki UV Printer and the other on a Roland UV Printer.
2. 1st attempt at ARTJET basic ICC profile
First, we printed it with our basic ICC profile.
Naturally, the colors did not come out similarly, and the images printed with the ARTJET UV Printer compared to Japanese products had weak colors overall.
Some factors that may cause colors to not appear similarly are as follows:
First, the ink used is different.
Since the density and color gamut of the ink itself are different, if you apply the basic ICC profile, it will inevitably be wrong because it will be set to a standard color according to the ink’s unique color gamut.
Second, the difference in maximum resolution that the equipment can print
The minimum ink drop size is different for each print head, and because of this, there is a difference in resolution. Depending on the resolution, the maximum color that can be displayed will inevitably vary.
For more detailed information on ink resolution, please refer to the following.
Third, differences in the Rip Software program used
Ai files, or image files, are converted into a printable file format through Rip software.
Each Rip software has a different conversion method and color implementation method.The colors that can be reproduced well vary slightly depending on the different Rip software.
Fourth, acrylic with different transparency
“The printed image’s colors on the back and front of the acrylic are different!!”
When Color + White + Color is printed on transparent acrylic, the color of the image exposed to the ink and the color of the image seen through the transparent acrylic are different.
Because of this, people who are using UV Printer for the first time may wonder, “Is there something wrong with the file?” Is the UV Printer wrong?’ many people has been thinking about it for a while.
The reason for the difference between the color of the surface where the ink is exposed and the color visible through the acrylic is,
“Clear acrylic” is not completely transparent as we think, but contains some color.
The color visible through the fine color of acrylic retains that color, so it looks different.
in other words,
“The color varies depending on the transparency of the acrylic used.”
II. ARTJET UV Printer basic configuration and color implementation possibility
1. ARTJET UV Ink
It may be hard to believe, but China has ranked first in global consumption of UV ink since 2010.
Within China
Japan’s Toyo ink maintained first place in the early days, but due to the disadvantage of discoloration after 9 months in outdoor use, British Sunjet ink, which has excellent stability and adhesion, maintained first place for over 3 years.
However, it had the disadvantage of having a weak red ink color, and subsequently lost first place to Nazdar UV Ink from the United States and Agfa UV Ink from Belgium.
I’m not sure about the ranking since it hasn’t been updated, but I think Chinese-manufactured ink is currently number one.
Global ink companies have invested heavily in the Chinese market, and as a result, the quality level of ink has increased. Chinese ink manufacturers have been created to replace the ink of global ink companies, so the ink color and adhesion will be similar to those of global companies. There is no choice but to do so.
In other words, the ink used in ARTJET UV Printer is
“The color of the ink itself is not weaker than that of Japanese, European or American manufacturers.”
2. ARTJET UV Printer print resolution
Roland
The Roland UV printer uses the Epson DX4 print head, and the ARTJET UV Printer uses the Epson XP600 print head.
Looking at the print head spec, the DX4 is about 0.5 to 1.0 pico smaller, but has 4 colors, and the XP600 has 6 colors, so there is not much difference in ink dots, or print resolution.
Mimaki UV Printer
According to a representative who used both Mimaki and Roland products,,
“Roland products have better output quality than Mimaki, but they are too slow, so I used Roland, but switched to Mimaki.”
At last
“There is no significant difference in ink droplets depending on head specifications, so there is not much difference in print quality due to print resolution.”
3. ARTJET UV Printer Sai rip software
ARTJET UV Printer bundles Sai rip.
Some people may think that it is cheap rip software or bad rip software that comes with the printer.
However, the place where it was developed is Salt Lake City, USA.
Rip, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is either Onyx or Wasatch, which you might know if you’ve used a lot of large equipment.
This is a rip software that has been widely used in Europe for over 10 years.
In other words,
“The Rip software program’s own specifications are also not far behind Japanese equipment.”
4. “The colors on the back and front of the acrylic are different!!”
When Color + White + Color is printed on transparent acrylic, the color of the image exposed to the ink and the color of the image seen through the transparent acrylic are different.
Because of this, people who are using UV Printer for the first time may wonder, “Is there something wrong with the file?” Is the UV Printer wrong?’ They’ve been thinking about it for a while.
The reason for the difference between the color of the surface where the ink is exposed and the color visible through the acrylic is,
“Clear acrylic” is not completely transparent as we think, but contains some color.
The color visible through the fine color of acrylic retains that color, so it looks different.
In other words,
“The color varies depending on the transparency of the acrylic used.”
III. Color adjustment result
1. AI file change and Rip software “color adjustment” option
The colors that can be realized in the UV Printer’s ICC profile color area can be matched by modifying the Ai file.
However, for color areas that are not implemented in the ICC profile, you can use the “Color Adjustment” option in Rip software to find the desired color.
2. Before and after applying the purple “Color Adjustment” option
Before applying color options
After applying color options
This is the color I found after adjusting the color adjustment graph several times to match purple.
3. Red and eye image before and after applying “Adjust Colors” option
Before applying color options
After applying color options
This is the color I found after adjusting the red and eye image color adjustment graph several times.
IV. Color adjustment option description
1. Color Adjustment Graph Basic Description
What the graph means when nothing has been adjusted
This is a graph before increased the color value of CMYK.
The numbers on the bottom are the input color values, and the numbers on the vertical axis are the actual output color values.
If you follow the base value of 50 upward, you will reach the vertical axis output value of 50.
In other words, if you do not touch the graph, the input value is printed as is.
What happens when you change one value?
I tried adding random values for explanation.
This is the graph after adjusting the input 5% to output 8%.
Instead of only the entered part going up, the entire graph is changed to draw a parabola for color harmony based on the changed value.
Except for 0% and 100%, the output values for all colors are slightly higher than the input values.
Colors are maintained without distortion, and since the output is higher than the input, dark colors are realized overall.
2. Color adjustment graph application
When a weak black or bluish black appears,
By changing the black input value of 95% to the output of 97%, you can obtain the desired black color.
However, if you adjust the graph too much, all colors may change, so you need to find an appropriate value.
Darkening a weak purple color
If purple is weak even after adjusting all colors, adjust the graph for each color rather than all colors.
For dark purple, the Cyan graph was changed from 5% to 8% as shown below.
3. Save the adjusted graph
Save as click
Select the option to save and click OK
Since what we will use is color, click the “Confirm” button with only the color adjustment tab checked.
After some time, the window below will appear, specify a name and click the OK button.
If you want to bring the saved color adjustment values, select from below.
IV. last request
As I mentioned at the beginning, there are many factors involved in color, including UV Ink, printing resolution, Rip software program, and material.
You cannot match all colors similarly using the [Color Adjustment Options], but you can follow a close approximation.
However, this is also possible only if the four conditions mentioned above are met.
“In the case of the ARTJET UV Printer, the ink, head specifications, and rip are not significantly lacking compared to Japanese equipment.” Since I had this decision, I decided to do color adjustment.
That’s it for today.