Win driver V Versaworks

[Teejay]

I've had my versacamm for about six months now. and, in general, I'm happy with the output i'm getting from it. However I have one big issue with the versaworks software, and that is that I can't get it to produce bright, vibrant colour like the the windows driver from Corel does. I've tried different profiles, adjusted brightness and contrast settings and just about every other setting that can be changed , has been.
The first thing I did when I got the machine was to print out the colour palettes that I use. Printed directly from corel draw they were fine. Rich ,vivid and well defined colurs. But sent to versaworks and printed they were washed out and pale. Purples became lilacs,reds were orange,pinks beige and dark greens were grey.
Can anyone tell me where I am going wrong here coz if I weren't so bald I'd be tearing my hair out right now.

[tdgraphics]

I use Versaworks most of the time. I have Signlab and find that the colours from it are washed out. Much of the work I do is in Illustrator and I print to the Virtual Versaworks printer which creates the .ps file within Versaworks. Once I have set up the materials and profiles I need I then print with no real hassles.

I have attached a link to one of the jobs I did this weekend. The reds are fine and vibrant even on the Kentmere Roll Up Banner film which is not the most vibrant of materials to start with.

What materials are you printing on?

What settings are you using in Versaworks?

[Chuck12563]

I think that what you are running into is an RGB/CMYK issue. When you printed from Corel directly to your VersaCamm you were probably sending RGB color data. When you use VersaWorks, you are exporting your Corel file as an EPS and then VersaWorks is reading the color data in the EPS and is telling the printer to print that and this is where I think the problem occurs. You see, the color data in the EPS is CMYK. VersaWorks is not changing the colors, Corel is. Corel is coverting it's RGB values to color values that are within the CMYK color gamut that it internally uses. The colors are already toned-down before they ever get to VersaWorks. Do this little test--Take one of you color pallet files and rasterize the page as an RGB Tiff. Then print the TIFF using VersaWorks. If you have all of your old colors back, then it is an RGB/CMYK thing (really it is how Corel makes the EPS). You get the "bright" colors when you let VersaWorks do the RGB to CMYK conversion.

If you must work in RGB, a possible workaround is to save a version of your Corel files as RGB TIFFS and print the TIFFS. If you also need to print & cut, you MAY be able to add a CutPath on top of the TIFF, save the whole thing as an EPS and the RGB TIFF might image correctly (or maybe not).

Another solution is to work in CMYK, get Corel's color management setup to display colors that are true to how they print out and then print new color swatches using CMYK values.

And yet another solution is to use Adobe Illustrator instead of Corel. Illustrator versions 10 & up can save EPSs as pure RGB or CMYK.

I'm sure that others here will have more to say on this.

Good luck

[eye4clr]

I'll second the RGB vs CMYK problem, Chuck is likely right on the $.

But, i'm going to fall very short here with specific help because I don't use Corel or Versaworks.

I can tell you in general terms what you need to do to fix the problem. If someone else could pick up my slack here on the specifics, you'll be good.

Your problem is one of color workflow. In your comparison, one path is handling the color better than the other. Thing is, Versaworks 'should' be doing a better job. So the challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to get your workflow dialed up.

First, you need to get VW and Corel to 'think' of color the same way. This is done by what Adobe has named Working Spaces. These are ICC profiles that behave as the central hub of the overall workflow from creation to output. These Working Spaces are used to associate a file's RGB or CMYK values to a common, behind the scenes, color space called LAB. No need to obsess about that unless you get off on this stuff. What's important is that Corel and VW agree on thier Working Spaces.

Think of the workflow like a stream, files come from Corel and go to VW. In this context, how Corel Working Spaces are configured is upstream of VW. It is then VW's job to take the incoming files and convert them using the ICC profile for your printer/ink/media/resolution as output CMYK. Notice I didn't mention if the incoming is RGB or CMYK, because it shouldn't matter. If Corel and VW have the same Working Spaces setup, the output for incoming RGB or CMYK should be very similar if not exaclty the same.

The help we need from others is to tell us both how to configure Corel's Working Spaces and VW Input Profiles. This is how and where we connect the 2 applications from a color perspective.

What Working Spaces should you use? Well, ultimately that's a personal choice that some folks get a little worked up over. I'll suggest some safe choices: sRGB Color Space Profile.icm and US Web Coated SWOP v2.icm. I'm suggesting these not because they are the HUGEST COLOR SPACE EVER, but because they are the most commonly used. See, most people don't really mess with this stuff, as a result, they don't change their defaults. I know you Corel users think Corel is all that. But a landslide majority of folks in the print industry use Adobe products. These Working Spaces I've suggested are the defaults in most versions of Adobe products. This way you'll be conforming to 99% of files you'll get from other people.

I tried to attach these two working spaces to this post but was not allowed. I'm guessing the problem is poor support for my Mac. Maybe somebody else can zip up the sRGB Color Space Profile and US Web Coated SWOP for you. When you get them, unzip them and just stick 'em on your desktop. Use your right mouse to click on them and choose INSTALL PROFILE from the little menu that pops up. Restart Corel and they should be available. VW may need copies of them put in some particular folder or you may be able to import them into VW through it's own method. Somebody help us out here.

If you have a computer with Adobe Photoshop or some other modern Adobe app on it, you can do a search for these profiles and make copies for VW and Corel.

[VINYLGUY52]

I have been using Corel 12 and now 13 and when you export your image and post script as eps file it gives you the option of rgb or cmyk.
I use cmyk on almost everything. I have always used Corel and love it. The thing I like about colorip 2.2 is that what I see in my preview screen is what I get in output. Hope that is the same in vworks

I Am Selling my sign business this week and working from home on internet sales. We will be purchasing a new sp300v to replace the sp300. Hope I dont run into color issues with versaworks. Most of the items I sell on the net are simple and small as compared to the large files I have worked with in my shop so maybe I will be happy with versaworks.
.
Or should I just spring for the wasatch from the start and avoid any problems.
So check out your export window and try exporting one file as rgb and the same file again as cmyk and you should be able to see the difference in your preview window inside vworks.

Good Luck
Vinylguy52

[jnerfing]

Ok, it bares repeating,
Xara Xtreme has vector design nailed,
all the way to awesome bevels
realtime vector feathering,
and a color gamut
that can be output as a tiff, from
versaworks that will knock your socks off,

Not to mention Xara is lightning fast
on just about any pc.

Tip want vibrant reds?
buy Xara, output at 600 dpi tiff, RGB
use colormetric setting in Versaworks
print on Oracal 651 with Oracal profile,

The Colors are Amazing
on my 540-V.

[slangsc]

Here are the proper settings in the Color Management window in Corel. As long as these match the settings in VW, and you are using profiles matched to your media, your color should be good. Corel automatically exports eps with CMYK colors and doesn't use your profiles when coverting, so it must be done manually before you export, if you are designing in RGB and exporting as eps. To get around this, I just save as a PDF, which will allow both RGB and CMYK data, and it's all good. Make sure no color correction is applied on the export. Use the native setting. This ensures colors going into VW are exactly as you have designed them. There is nothing wrong with using RGB colors in your design. Your printer is likely able to produce more colors than just the SWOP CMYK gamut.

[eye4clr]

good work slangsc