AccuRIP and the dot gain setup....WTH!!!!

[blue moon]

as with the rest of the AccuRIP, Charlie is trying to make the printer's life easier. It does make more sense to enter data that way.

I do think that we tried what he is saying, but at least we know now what's supposed to be done. I'll look around and see if I can find the old films I read for everybody and give the numbers to enter into the curve dialog.

pierre

We should actually print the test target that comes with AccuRIP (in the dot gain control dialog) according to Charlie, but I'm not exactly sure how that would make a difference... anyway, this should end the head scratching. (Really, when the film came out darker, didn't it just suck the air out of you? )

Steve

does the target have the % indicated for the fields? If you guys send those over, I'll take the readings. . .

pierre

[Sbrem]

Yes, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 95 and 100. I just printed 2 out, I'll send one out today.

Steve

[middletownink]

Steve
Thanks so much for that info.  I think my issue was not having that raw file read. I had a file read straight out of Illustrator. With the option to lock your angle and lpi in accurip, that makes more sense.  I will print mine out today and have it examined.  I will report my findings.  There really are soooooooo many variables here to consider.  It kinda makes you head spin!!!

[blue moon]

got Steve's films and took the readings. For most ppl with AccuRIP using his settings will be pretty close until they get the actual readings.
Here's what came up:
lefts side is the printed percentage followed up by the actual readings (the number to be entered into the adjustment fields)
 5-9
10-17
20-29
30-42
40-55
50-65
60-75
70-84
80-90
90-97
95-99.5
100-100

pierre

[Sbrem]

Thanks Pierre, that's great. Can't wait to have the next job go through... I hope I don't have to correct or re-output some old files, I'll have to output the whole job

Steve

[blue moon]

Thanks Pierre, that's great. Can't wait to have the next job go through... I hope I don't have to correct or re-output some old files, I'll have to output the whole job

Steve

we've run into that before and it was a PAIN! We now print gradient boxes on all the sim process films so we can match it if the need ever comes.

pierre

[Sbrem]

OK, I finally had a chance to print out the old test (Pierre's) with the new settings, and it's much, much better. I haven't had a chance to really study it, but it's, well, much, much better.

Steve

Thanks for the help Pierre; you da man

[Homer]

I dropped these numbers in mine too and they opened up the 90% range and what I thought was 5% is actually closer to 15! thanks guys!

[Gilligan]

So is this a good base line for just about anyone?  Or is it just for those running a particular printer?

[Sbrem]

This test was for my Epson 1400; running a single cartridge instead of all six, droplet weight is 12. 12 seems to give us a nice dense black for solids. When I get my 4800 up and running again, I'll run the test again for that as well, and save the profile. "Your mileage may vary..."

Steve

[blue moon]

of the three RIPs I've tested, every single one was printing more than 60% where it should have been 50%. Most produce in 65-72% range. This was on three different printers (3000, 1400 and 4800).
So statistically speaking, this would make a good baseline, but there is no guarantee of what comes out. For what it's worth, if I had nothing, I would use those numbers rather than the factory settings.

Your best bet is to print the test and mail it out for the readings. 'cost you about a buck worth of stamps . . .

pierre

[ScreenPrinter123]

I just tried entering our readings into the Dot Gain Control Feature (thanks Pierre!) and Accruip gives the following error (see attachment) when trying to output films.  The "initlinearization" means something is going on with the Dot Gain Feature, which was confirmed because when I unselect the Dot Gain Control films print with no problem.  I submitted a ticket with Software For Screen Printers but was wondering if maybe someone else encountered this issue and knows what is going on.

Accurip Version 1.01 Build 53
Illustrator CS2

[ZooCity]

I mentioned this in another post I think but make sure you only have a zero or a five in the first decimal place.

[ScreenPrinter123]

Im a dope!  I had 100 in more than one slot.  Since 80 and above all read as 100 I just used 98.5, 99, 99.5, and 100 for the last 4 slots.  I did remember your increments of .5 post and made sure to do that but I was unaware of the fact that multiple 100s would cause a problem even though it seems obvious in hindsight.  Thanks Zoo!

[ScreenPrinter123]

Now another question...our 5% was reading as 14.5% so when outputting after adjusting the Dot Gain Control feature I get nothing printed at 4% and below.  Is there anything that I can do to address this?  This will not mean much of anything for 99.9% of the stuff we currently print but why settle for mediocrity!