Comments | ningyo_doll: i need printer help!!!

ningyo_doll

i need printer help!!!

Sep 06, 2006 08:42

do i need to print out all those RGB charts and look through each one to find the right color when i'm trying to match colors? i'm working on my portfolio, but i'm having trouble getting my printouts to look halfway decent ( Read more... )

Comments 8

maschine9 September 6 2006, 15:56:42 UTC

Espon matte heavy weight is one of my favorite all-purpose papers

ningyo_doll September 7 2006, 12:23:43 UTC

thanks!

disco_vixen September 6 2006, 15:58:02 UTC

you can't print rgb. you can print cmyk. it will look duller. rgb are measures of light. it's kind of confusing.

matching textile swatches is hard on a printer. i had to do that for reebok. you basicly have to print out a sort of "test strip" and compare the fabric to your printer. there's a callibration program called edox. but i'm sure you don't want to deal with that.

the best way to do it is use coated paper.. that'll brighten it up but you still can't print rgb. you have to convert everything to cmyk onscreen and adjust it.

ningyo_doll September 7 2006, 12:27:19 UTC

weird. at my last job, all the color swatches were labeled in RGB, and we had to convert everything to RGB before printing artwork...but on my home printer, it's definitely CMYK...and it SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what's edox? maybe that's what i need, 'cause i need the colors to match, otherwise they'll think i'm colorblind at my job interviews! hah!

disco_vixen September 7 2006, 15:04:26 UTC

whoever told you to convert to RGB before printing should not have been allowed to touch a computer. good god.

honestly, your best bet is looking at the fabric swatch, go into illustrator, tweak the color around and print. then compare the printout test strip to your fabric swatch. edox is to tell every color lazer printer in the printing network to recognize a color name as having an exact toner formula so all colors print the same. unfortunatley it still needs eye callibration, like, a "color expert" that's what i was. it's a long process. but if you're doing this a lot it's worth it.

ningyo_doll September 7 2006, 16:08:47 UTC

hah...i think it was because it was a lectra system (which is way screwy and totally not user-friendly if you ask me--it's all BACKWARDS!!!)...some u4ia cad stuff...but then again, it has been awhile since i worked at that place, and my memory isn't what it used to be anymore...:) i believe it was only if we did artwork in illustrator at our own stations, then needed to open it in u4ia in order to print to our gazillion dollar epson (so the files would be compatible with u4ia)...some roundabout ass backwards way that my company did, i'm sure...

cherrytreedusk September 6 2006, 23:05:23 UTC

After lots of failure in getting colors to be right on, and useless investment in various printing products, I've decided it's better to pay the nice folks at the photo place on Thayer to do it for me. They make fabulous prints, especially matte ones. So good that the RISD museum accepted them without batting an eyelash!

....and when I just need 4x6s, I go to CVS. Standard glossies. Still better than anything I can do with my printer (which is supposedly decent...supposedly).

If you figure out how to make your printer give you good prints that don't cost more for the ink alone than it would've been to just pay someone else to do it for you, I'd love to hear about it...

ningyo_doll September 7 2006, 12:30:20 UTC

i've been trying to decide if it's worth it for me get a new printer, etc. or if i should just take everything somewhere to print it out...but there's no guarantee that the colors will be even remotely close...grrr!

as far as photos go, i'd take those elsewhere to print, 'cause it's not cost-effective to print them out myself...but artwork...i don't know. someone mentioned you can print things out at kinko's on one of their huge epson's...hmm...