Printing PS file through AccuRip

[Stinkhorn Press]

Windows user.

we've used accurip for years, but 99% outputting through corel.

have a bitmap file that needs printed out of its native PS environment. single channel. it's detailed, but it's a control film for screen-printing, built to be output!

THE PROBLEM: the film comes out with a wash of tiny dots over everything.

what control, settings are we missing? in the accurip settings? in the print settings inside PS? in the "printer settings"?

[mimosatexas]

Background isn't solid white. Could be a color profile thing or you may need to open levels and move the white over a touch

[Dottonedan]

Could be a photoshop file thing like Mimo is mentioning. That's common.

The other thing that people can overlook, when printing out of Photoshop, is in order to take advantage of all Accurips settings, ink control and weight, and black./white readings, you need to be sure that in the Photoshop print setup, (command P)  that you have SEPARATIONS selected under color profile.  You can only do this when you have Accurip chosen as default printer setup at top.

You can work around this when printing a one color, but that's where things get wiggy.

With the above SEPARATIONS chosen, you can print multiple channels (all eyeballs on) at one time and it will run one after the other. Don't have the eyeballs on for anything other than the spot channels. It messes up the print preview and also adds cmyk seps if the RGB is showing to print.

[Stinkhorn Press]

80% confident that there isn't any color (gray only in this instance) floating about in the "empty" spaces.

Dan, you talked to us on the phone about this very issue the last time we tried to do it, and your advice was exactly what you're pointing out here - to make sure "printer manages colors" was selected (not the default "photoshop manages colors"). And that worked, the last time. (new LPI and dot angle output this time round).

We can't choose "separations" as this IS a single color, single channel artwork.


..... as we type - i flattened the image and went to print, so far it seems to be functioning correctly in this fashion ...
edit, nope i was wrong, flattened still has dots.

i just wish i understood the why of what goes on when my fat ape fingers choose one option and then another...

[Sbrem]

I'm a little confused, a bitmap mode in PS is black and white, no grays to print as a halftone. We always save the file and print from Illustrator (I'm pretty sure CD does the same, but I don't use it, just assuming). Are you converting a grayscale image to bitmap using the halftone function to make dots? If so, then like others have pointed out, the white isn't 0%, but something higher... post an image if you have a chance...

Steve

[Stinkhorn Press]

I'm a little confused, a bitmap mode in PS is black and white, no grays to print as a halftone. We always save the file and print from Illustrator (I'm pretty sure CD does the same, but I don't use it, just assuming). Are you converting a grayscale image to bitmap using the halftone function to make dots? If so, then like others have pointed out, the white isn't 0%, but something higher... post an image if you have a chance...

Steve

sorry, bad language use. i live in a vector world - all things made up of dots to me are "bitmap" but i see that i'm not using the word properly (or how PS means that anyway). it is a GRAYSCALE image. i'm not converting anything, just printing from the print function box in PS using "accurip to 4880" as my printer. SHOULD i be somehow printing from Illy instead?

[Stinkhorn Press]

unfortunately can't post an image, it's protected/paid property.

[Dottonedan]

If it's greyscale, try converting to Multi channel and printing that way.  Sometimes just switching modes will work.

[Doug B]

  If you are used to Corel, why don't you just import the PS file and print from there?

[Frog]

unfortunately can't post an image, it's protected/paid property.

Sometimes in an instance like this, you could crop put a small, unrecognizable section that displays the problem, but not the image itself.

[Dottonedan]

I'm a little confused, a bitmap mode in PS is black and white, no grays to print as a halftone. We always save the file and print from Illustrator (I'm pretty sure CD does the same, but I don't use it, just assuming). Are you converting a grayscale image to bitmap using the halftone function to make dots? If so, then like others have pointed out, the white isn't 0%, but something higher... post an image if you have a chance...

Steve

Technically speaking, any "raster file" is a bitmap. But yes, Photoshop as a specific mode many of us use that converts to black or white. The thing to remember about bitmap mode is that this mode is independent. Meaning, that dot gain functions and program gain functions like photoshop color profiles, don't get applied.It's just that Photoshops bitmap (feature) changes it to either black or white more so for effects that happen to work for us printers well.

[Stinkhorn Press]

  If you are used to Corel, why don't you just import the PS file and print from there?

Corel Draw, the vector program. The Corel brand raster/bitmap program we barely touch.
we have, in the past, exported PS files to eps files and opened them from Illy to better control our registration marks, but that's killing a whole cow to eat a hamburger. And I'd love to be able to output from native programs when *stuff like this* doesn't get in the way...

If it's greyscale, try converting to Multi channel and printing that way.  Sometimes just switching modes will work.

SUCCESS! thanks dan!! any ideas WHY that works?

[1964GN]

I have never been able to print in multichannel. Everything always prints at 91% *shrug*

When in multichannel etc I will always convert to RGB or CMYK. Create 3 empty channels, move all 3 to the top of the channel list, Mode>RBG. This preserves your channels seps and then I print.

I get a lot of art in multichannel and always have to convert to RGB or CMYK in order to print the seps.

[jsheridan]

Stop!...

 It's a known issue go read the Accu rip knowledge base it's a problem with Photoshop

Edit.. where the heck did the knowledge base go and for that matter where did their website go?