Accurip Black Pearl Jagged Lines

[Cole]

I'm having this issue with my either Photoshop or Accurip. I can't really tell. My custom registration marks, which should be printing perfectly since they are not rasterized, are coming out super jagged. Sometimes they are crisp, sometimes they come out looking like crap. It varies from file to file. Any idea why this is happening? Are there certain settings that need to be used in photoshop/Accurip in order to fix this? The lines in my art are pretty clean, but those even come out super jagged at times. Dealing with film output is an area where I am really lacking in knowledge. I'm totally self taught on photoshop, so I'm sure the way I go about things is far from the correct way.

Here are the specs:

Photoshop CS4
Accurip Black Pearl
300dpi files
Printer Manages Colors
Printing from Layers
Epson 1430 with Black Max

[3Deep]

Looks about right coming out of photoshop, I've never really had super clean lines coming out of photoshop if I print from there, and I print at around 150 to 300 dpi.  I'm sure some other guys here will jump in here and give you some settings that will work if it's not in your printer or rip software, who print from photoshop all the time, me I try to send as much stuff to my vector programs for that reason.

[Colin]

All those bumps - is the rip trying to convert that verrrry slight fuzzy edge to halftones.

You need to grab all those areas that need to be 100% black and make sure the edges have no pixel drop off.

If you have resized ANYTHING that needs to be vector sharp - you have now created a fuzzy edge.  Go back and use curves to make those pieces solid.

Zoom in and possibly use your eyedropper to make sure your pixels are sharp.

[Sbrem]

Though I don't know what kind of file you're starting with, that logo would be fine as a bitmap tif. No grays, just black and white. If it's a raster image, it starts with that file's physical size and resolution. I might take a decent sized jpeg into PS and run it through PhotoZoom Pro to enlarge it and smooth the edges. I usually go up 2X. Then, I'll open the resulting image in PS, and increase the resolution to at least 600 ppi. Then, some judicious Gaussian Blur, as little as possible, just to the point where the image looks smoother, then go into Curves and drag the top and bottom points close to the 50% mark, but don't cross the line. This will give some smoother hard edges, hopefully. Then, take it through the modes in the Image menu to Bitmap (if your original is CMYK or RGB, you have to make it Grayscale first). The last step is to reduce it to the final size, which makes it even a little less noticeable. I've fixed a lot of sponsor logos with this trick, though it's useless with tiny images. For this particular image though, why not just redraw it with vectors?

Steve

[Squeegie]

Looks like maybe a print head alignment issue...based on on the dots to the right side of the vertical lines.

Is the fill of the reg mark 100%?
Has the reg mark been scaled in some files and not in others?


EDIT: Looks like I was slow to the party...after looking at it again...there is only one vertical edge that has the dots.
Leaning more to the scaled image.

[mimosatexas]

Could be that the mark is "black" but not actually black.  Like rich black vs true black, or how cmyk and rgb black are different.

[Cole]

Though I don't know what kind of file you're starting with, that logo would be fine as a bitmap tif. No grays, just black and white. If it's a raster image, it starts with that file's physical size and resolution. I might take a decent sized jpeg into PS and run it through PhotoZoom Pro to enlarge it and smooth the edges. I usually go up 2X. Then, I'll open the resulting image in PS, and increase the resolution to at least 600 ppi. Then, some judicious Gaussian Blur, as little as possible, just to the point where the image looks smoother, then go into Curves and drag the top and bottom points close to the 50% mark, but don't cross the line. This will give some smoother hard edges, hopefully. Then, take it through the modes in the Image menu to Bitmap (if your original is CMYK or RGB, you have to make it Grayscale first). The last step is to reduce it to the final size, which makes it even a little less noticeable. I've fixed a lot of sponsor logos with this trick, though it's useless with tiny images. For this particular image though, why not just redraw it with vectors?

Steve

THANK YOU for going into so much detail. I've been messing around with it and I think you are right. The lines are slightly blurry and so Accurip is trying to halftone them. What you suggested sounds like a really good idea for low res logos. Which is what I receive on a daily basis since no one can figure out what "high resolution image" means. The image I attached to my post isn't an actual design, it's just a registration mark. As far as redrawing it with vectors, I have no idea how to do that. I only work in photoshop. I have Illustrator, but I don't know how to use it. I've tried to go on YouTube to figure out how to use Illustrator for screen printing purposes, but after a few videos, I just give up and go back to photoshop.

[dsh]

Sometimes in photoshop you can go to IMAGE - ADJUSTMENTS - THRESHHOLD and get the lighter colors to fill in black.  It doesn't always give a better image but on occasion it helps.

[Prince Art]

IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>LEVELS
Not as much control as Curves, but I find it quicker, easier, and sufficient in most cases. Can either go solid black & white from there, or get it close & follow up with Threshold.

[mimosatexas]

I use threshold on literally ever spot color film out of photoshop. Even if you import a vector black image at super high DPI it will have subtle gray/translucent pixels on the edges due to the raster vs vector.

[Sbrem]

I use threshold on literally ever spot color film out of photoshop. Even if you import a vector black image at super high DPI it will have subtle gray/translucent pixels on the edges due to the raster vs vector.

If I open a vector in PS, I open it at 200% minimum, at 300 ppi. And yes, because it's PS, it automatically is raster, but it's so small it imperceptable to the naked eye, so when you shrink it back down to normal, the shirt will mess up the lines more than the software..

Steve

[mimosatexas]

I open all vector images at print size and at 720 dpi, no editing in photoshop except flatten>threshold so they print cleanly.  On fine details like small text or thin lines, if I dont threshold it will typically try to halftone them a bit which will mess up how they print.  On huge blocky text it isnt noticeable on the shirt, but if you look at the film you can tell it is trying to create little halftones around the edges.  For whatever reason accurip through my photoshop sees illustrator files as something like 90% black vs actually black unless I threshold.  Accurip also hates CMYK vs RGB in my experience.  Honestly I havent messed with it much beyond knowing that step will fix the issue 100% of the time.