Skip to main content
L
Lydia22134476zkfv
Participating Frequently
October 14, 2022
Question

One colour in a design is printing incorrectly

  • October 14, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 323 views

I’ve had a test print produced for some correx lamp post sleeves and the dark teal from our brand's colour pallet (CMYK: 86 38 32 15) came out a lot greener/ duller than when it’s printed on paper or vinyl and from how it appears on screens. The rest of the colours in the design printed as expected. This has happened previously with some PVC pull-up banners from a different printer. When I questioned the colour issue with the pull-up banner printer, they advised that colours print differently on different materials and that the export settings for my artwork were fine. However, this amount of colour change seems excessive and I’ve never come across this issue before with any other colour. 

 

Can you advise if this amount of colour change is usual between different materials? (photos attached) and why would the rest of the colours print as expected but the dark teal hasn't? Is there a way that I can get the correx sleeve to print closer to how it prints on paper?

 

I've attached the pdf artwork for the correx lamp post sleeve.

My export settings for the correx lamp post sleeve -
PDF Preset: PDF/X-1a:2001
Colour conversion: Convert to Destination (preserve numbers)
Destination: ISO Coated V2 ECI (the same profile that the printer's graphic designer uses)

 

Export settings for the PVC banner -
PDF Preset: Press Quality
Colour conversion: Convert to Destination (preserve numbers)
Destination: Document CMYK - Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004)

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

D
defaultl2dcn3pi5o8u
Inspiring
October 14, 2022

I've worked extensively in large format vinyl printing - I can tell you that I used custom profiles for each media. It's just a different world.

 

There are so many printer side factors like humidity and roll speed. You will want to look at the print side of things for sure. Your print is banding, which is indicitive of a inaccurate profile- and the heads probably need cleaning too. 

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
October 14, 2022

This material clearly isn't what FOGRA39 was profiled for. You need an ICC profile for that specific printing condition (ink, press, material). If they can't give you one, and just stand by saying "oh, colours print differently" run away and find a printer who cares. This is their job. 

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2022

Is the print output to an offset press or some kind of composite printer e.g. inkjet?  FOGRA39 and ISO Coated are offset press profiles.

L
Lydia22134476zkfvAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 14, 2022

I'm not sure as they only told me that the artwork needed to be CMYK and that their designers use that profile when exporting to pdf. Surely if they use that profile and their designs print as expected, my designs should also print as expected with the same profile? Both print companies have good reveiews and produce print jobs for large companies so this makes me wonder if there is something wrong with my InDesign file or this specific colour?

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2022

The value in your PDF are the same 86|38|32|15 CMYK value, but the export presets you are using export the CMYK values with no profile embedded (the color is listed as Device CMYK). Your brand CMYK values with no profile would print differently from different devices or on different substrates—so trying to define a brand color as a single CMYK value usually doesn’t work very well. Have you talked to the printer, or is this an online printer?

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/branding-color-guide/td-p/10818696

 

Eric Dumas
Community Expert
Eric DumasCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2022

Did you talk about using spot colours with your printer?

Also, make sure that your screen's drivers are loaded in the colour profile Work with Photoshop color profiles (adobe.com) there is a section on InDesign. 

In Photoshop check Edit > Color Settings (settings that apply to most Adobe software once changed in Photoshop Color settings in Photoshop (adobe.com)).

By using spot colors like Pantone Inks created for vinyl, paper... you have a better chance to align all the colours as closely as possible.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices