Corel Vs. VersaCamm

[Pryam Carter]

If you are exporting as an eps file it depends what boxes you have ticked.
Can’t remember the correct settings of the top of my head.

[Rodney Gold]

You are working in RGB space , Ie your monitor is displaying colours that can’t be printed as RGB is essentally an additive system (R+G+B = white) whereas the printer is a CMYK device (C+Y+M= black)
The machine will use a swop type of algorithm to print these.
Firstly , use color management in Corel to emulate professional output (should be under tools , color management)
2ndly , rgb bitmaps should be changed to CMYK , all you do is select the bitmap , click bitmaps in the menu and then hit mode , change it to cmyk. You can also convert vector graphics to a CMYK bitmap(barring the cutlines)
and export to EPS
Should you want a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) scenario , you will have to calibrate the monitor to the printer.
The rip itself (upgrade to version 2.1 , at http://www.rolandgg.com) will show you what you are getting , IE the picture colours you see is more or less what the printer puts out (if your monitor is reasonably calibrated ) , you can demo this by selecting the colour correction curves and modifying one , the pic in the box next to it will show what you are getting.)
Go to the american Roland site , http://www.rolandgga.com and download the chip chart from thier support site and print it , then go to http://www.pantone.com and under support (i think) is a full EPS of pantone colours , print that too. That will give you a reference as to how various colours print and you can match to that in corel if you want , using either the CMYK palette or the Pantone one.
A lot of factors will affect printing colour , like ink laydown , dot size , media etc.
Stuff like a JPG etc doesnt have to go thru Corel to print , you can bring it directly into the RIP.
You can export to RGB in eps rather than CMYK , however this will give a ton of error messages in the RIP , but will still print.
Color management is one area that is fraught with difficulty , the RIP itself has a zillion options apart from your design package.
It’s almost impossible to diagnose where your problem lies unless all the variables etc are known , IE is it an overll thing , does it affect bitmaps more than vectors and so forth.

[Fredrik]

Downloaded the 2.1 and the chip chart so now im going to make the best of it.

btw, I think the monitor is to old to be calibrated to perfection so im on a mission to make the boss buy me a new one, another question for you is,
what kind of speccs do you prefer on a computer that works with a VersaCamm?

[Rodney Gold]

In terms of the best puter , you have 2 sections to look at
1) graphics performance – IE something that works well with your design package- that means a decent graphics card and monitor
2) RIPPING – this requires processor power
I would say a 2.4 gig p4 , a nice graphics card , 120mb HD , 1 gig ram , a 17″ flat screen monitor would do you nicely.