Same colors print differently off two separate files.

[EvilOneGFX]

Hello guys,

I'm breaking my head trying to figure out what the problem is with my two files when printing. Let me explain. I created some art for a patch on an RGB file, then when it was approved I went ahead and printed a sample of it, which came out pretty close to what I see on screen. I then placed this art into a separate file, a print template we use for production, just to find out the colors came out somewhat desaturated. In the beginning I thought it could be one of the machines, but the second machine did the exact thing. I then proceeded to check each file's color mode and profile and both were RGB. Still thinking the problem was with the machines' printing profile, I went ahead and tested the original art to see if it would print desaturated too, but it printed just like the approved art or the way it looks on the screen. So at this point I don't know what could be causing the issue. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Monika Gause]

You didn't tell us about the type of printer.

Also: how does the template work?

The template probably did conversion to CMYK?

Or it ios RGB, but uses a different RGB color profile.

[EvilOneGFX]

Hey, Monika,

Thank you for your reply. The printer is a Roland UV machine that uses CMYK inks, but we use RGB colors for the simple reason that they come out a little more vibrant than using CMYK color values.

We use two separate RGB templates, one contains the artwork and the other is a form for gang-running. Our automated system opens up the art file, copy and pastes it into the form as many times needed, then the file gets saved as PDF. Then, we open this PDF document in the machine's prepress software and send it to print. We have done this same proces thousands of times, so I don't know what happened in this ocassion.

I've attached a photo of two prints using the same art, but using two different files. The left image is how the orginal art file prints, the right one is from the form. Again, both are using the same RGB profile.

[AmandaLubischer]

Hey! I am having the same issue using a Roland UV printer - did you ever figure out what happened and how to fix it?