More Mug print problems

[Louise]

Sorry I seem to just come here with all my problems, I live for the day I can answer some questions and be of help

I have some nice straight mugs now (thanks Graham) but the colours are so faded and dull. I know this is me printing it all wrong but for the life of me I dont know what to do!

I managed to re load all the printer set up and now get the menus so I can choose ceramics etc and the colour (intense, true, greyscale etc) but even setting it to intense the colours are dull and faded. There is an option for the type paper you use but I dont know what I have other than the cheaper one from BMS, no offence ment by that, thats what it says on the site , but could that change things so much? I also wonder about photo shop, could that be altering the colour? May eb I should buy the Corel Draw and try that?

I did the mugs for 195 seconds at 190 degrees, is this the problem maybe? Honestly I'm getting through mugs at a rate here so thought it was time to ask as clearly I have no idea at this point. The bloke who sold me everything showed me how to use it all infact I spent most the day there using it all, but it looked so simple there

Any help would be fantastic!

[Justin]

What printer/inks are you using Louise? Is this with a profile or powerdriver? Personally I don't get on too well with Photoshop for printing and prefer CorelDraw (but that's just me!) You could always download a trial of Corel first.

Your time and temp. sounds about right. Is it a new mug press? Just wondering if it's warming up correctly. What pressure are you using? Is it nice and tight?

What does the printout look like before you press onto the mugs? Are the colours rich at that stage?

[Louise]

Thanks so much for the fast reply Justin.

Its a powerdriver, thats me using the wrong wording, and the inks are sublijet, from yourselves, and an A4 ricoh printer. My last problem was the power driver didnt install, think you helped me get that right last time

The mug press is new, its an Adkins single mug press. I think its tight and Craig seems to think so too, not that we are expert by any means, but certaintly not loose at any rate.

The printout is dull too, but then I recall at the training day him saying it would look dull and then come out very bright? Sadly mine starts dull and ends up dull!

I'm going to give Corel a go as Ive just tried out a new banner for one of my websites and when its exported out of photo shop in a PNG file the purple writing was bright pink I think Photo shop is way beyond me.

[Justin]

Hi Louise, inks aren't from me...it's my forum but I'm not a supplier It sounds like the problem is more related to software and/or printer, I don't think it's a pressing issue. The print should look good it's just that the colours won't match perfectly at this stage and the quality may be slightly less as well.

i don't personally use Ricoh/powerdriver so someone else will be better placed to advise here

[Louise]

Sorry getting confused!

Thanks for you help though. Im downloading Corel and trying that, I really think this is a photo shop problem now, just read on the net about people having trouble with PS forcing colour profiles on you that you dont want There seemed a very long winded way to force it to turn off its profiles, but I think I'd rather try a different software and see if that is the problem.

Hey ho, still another 11 hours of the day left, plenty more experimenting time.

[John G]

Hi Louise,
Which Ricoh printer is it - if its the 5050 I don't think the powerdriver works with it, just uses a profile.
Cheers John

[Justin]

I really think this is a photo shop problem now, just read on the net about people having trouble with PS forcing colour profiles on you that you dont want There seemed a very long winded way to force it to turn off its profiles, but I think I'd rather try a different software and see if that is the problem.

I find Photoshop overcomplicated when it comes to setting up profiles etc. hence I stick to Corel. I have the setup instructions for Photoshop and Corel if you need to see them.

[Louise]

Hi John, the printer is the Ricoh GX3300n, the power driver came with the printer on a CD. I tried printing not using the powerdriver and it comes out like a normal printer (bright and the colour you expect ie red is red) with the powerdriver it comes out dull so black is more charcoal than black, any ideas which is the right way for the colours to look? If that makes any sense. thanks for your help.

Justin the set ups would be greatly appreciated, Ive downloaded Corel now and find it far easier to use already, but then I'm used to digitising software and its based on Corel so guess I would.

[Justin]

Is it X4 or X5 you downloaded? Is it possible that you're software is enabling colour profiles/management as well as the Powerdriver?

I used to use Powerdriver through an Epson 4800 and had a lot of problems. I prefer to use a profile myself, do you have to use Powerdriver with the 3300?

Take a look here: [url="http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/v.php?pg=113]http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/v.php?pg=113[/url] there are setup files on the list for your printer.

[Louise]

Its X5 Ive downloaded. We did follow the sawgrass insturctions to load the powerdriver, but the corel and photoshop insturctions are not my versions Honestly how complicated is this becoming eh? Thanks so much for the help.