Getting a good red with CMYK

[David Rogers]

it will basically vary by printer / ink & rip set to an extent.

I suggest you pick an image that you KNOW has a good red and prints well (eg, print a coke can) and sample that CMYK value with a graphics program to get that value.

[Lee Attewell]

Why not print yourself a CMYK colour sample grid with breakdowns of colour? That way you can have samples of the red you want for with different media.

[Glenn Sharp]

I’ve found that the way you send the job through to the rip can give you variations of colour aswell

publishing as PDF for Document Distribution and publishing as PDF for Editing should give the same colour chart a very different look

[Paul Richards]

Thanks for that guys
I have the red colors I like on screen, but when i print them onto my media, they are not red, but seem to be magenta trying to be red
If that makes any sense
Right now I am printing straight from Illustrator CS4, but maybe I will have a go at printing from a pdf of file, see how that turns out

[Chris Wool]

What sort of paper or media are you printing on really needs to be a photo quality to get good reds etc.
Presumably the yellow is printing correctly

[Paul Richards]

Hi Chris, the output has been on gloss printable vinyl and Ive done some tests on high quality photo paper, but still the same result
NOt red, but magenta pretending to be red…..lol

[Chris Wool]

are you using cheap inks as the yellow in normally poor??

i would print a row of 20mm sq boxes with 100% colours
black yellow magenta cyan they should print solid colours no speckeles of any outher colour in them if there is then you have a profile problem

[Paul Richards]

Hi Chris, thanks for that
I would nt say that they are expensive inks…..lol
Did what you said and there are dirty color speckles in all of them
The black doesnt seem jet black either
So what do I need to do to change profile?
Many thanks
Paul

[Chris Wool]

try
under print comand
in misc
untick apply icc profile which is the one i think is giving you trouble.
try a test print as before

[Paul Richards]

Hi Chris, im currently trying what you advised
But there are profiles for illustrator and printer software?
Thanks

[Paul Richards]

Hi Chris, think Ive found the issue
On my printer management, it was set to Vivid
Ive changed this to RGB 2.2 Gamma
This seems to be a lot better on the CMYK strip, but will know more on design investigation
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction
Paul 😀

[Chris Wool]

have not a clue with illyfustrator
you need to send the file to the printer driver unmolested the printer profile adjusts ink levels and resolution for different types of media.

[Paul Richards]

Ok, great
Thanks
Paul

[Paul Richards]

Hi Chris, Im kind of getting close
So thought I’d post my settings to see if any feedback

Color set : Euro coated v2
Assign profile : Euro coated v2
Printer management(Epson) : RGB 2.2 or for a tad lighter 1.8
Printer profile : RGB

Still not 100% happy, but like you said, could be the quality of the inks

[Jamie Dale]

quote Paul Richards:

Hi Chris, Im kind of getting close
So thought I’d post my settings to see if any feedback

Color set : Euro coated v2
Assign profile : Euro coated v2
Printer management(Epson) : RGB 2.2 or for a tad lighter 1.8
Printer profile : RGB

Still not 100% happy, but like you said, could be the quality of the inks

Just get your printer profiled correctly. A few years ago I used http://www.pureprofiles.com before I got my own spectrophotometer. The outputs were far better with using the correct profile for the ink. If you are using cheap third party inks most likely there won’t be any profile for them so you will have to get it custom made. 🙂

[Paul Richards]

Hey Jamie, thanks for that
Looks really good
Probably give it a go when I get a CISS system for my printer
Many thanks
Paul