Dot gain for Kinkos?

[Tim_Lookingbill@adobeforums.com]

Dot?! You know Dot at Kinko's?! She gains on me all the time I go there. She follows me everywhere I go. Can't dodge her.

I couldn't resist, sorry ; )

[Cabbage@adobeforums.com]

JasonSmith try and up hook up some of the kiddies there with tickets and some drinks to the show and you can probably get a 5 finger discount. I hooked up a ton of local bands that played at the Stone Pony in exchange for tickets and for letting me video tape and get a soundboard patch.

[Paul_Hokanson@adobeforums.com]

>The few that I have seen do have some issues but they arent detrimental

given the nature of the job. I've seen a few color duplicates that were
horrendous though.




Jason,

I do lots of short run color output through Kinkos and similar print shops (low price wins State University bids... gotta love the effeciency of Gov't!). Anyway, the B&W gain is rarely an issue as toner isn't soaking into the page like press ink would. Your experience with color is a fair reflection of quality I've seen on some of my jobs. For full color output, I've found the quality of color from a Xerox Docutech type printer will improve if you send it RGB PDFs (or at least RGB photos in the layouts). Also, inquire if they are calibrating the printers. I've seen a number of jobs with color trapping problems due to poorly registered printing. These are a solid ink (oil based?) style printer, so there must be seperate drums for each color that need to be aligned, right? Maybe someone with Xerox experience will know for sure. Needless to say, the jobs that looked the best didn't have misregistration problems, and thus had much sharper and "cleaner" looking colors.

Btw, just like on a press, the area where registration mis-alignment shows first on these prints is hairlines and small type.

After seeing samples, I've been able to request quality improvements at the local Kinkos and another shop with a similar printer. This resulted in a much better final output. That tells me the operator has some control over things. That's the guy (gal) who's on my Xmas card list. :)

[Wade_Zimmerman@adobeforums.com]

I would ask them to run a proof at the time they are about to run the job you want to be there for the first print if they show a proof (sample) then run the balance later then someone else is working on it and it maybe an entirely different story.

[Phosphor@adobeforums.com]

Color laser printers use CMYK powdered pigments that get heated and fused to the substrate.

And yes...deliver RGB files because the commercial laser printers are always run off a hardware RIP. Ask for color profiles to work with while you're building your files; preview your file in simulated CMYK space to catch any gamut warnings. If the print shop won't give the profile(s) to you, or look at you like you have three heads when you ask for them, get them from printer manufacturer's website, or from the RIP manufacturer's website. Prepare to dig, because they're not the easiest files to find. BUT, once you find them, they should be free for the D/L'ing.

Color registration shouldn't be a problem if the company keeps their machine(s) well maintained.

[Gordon_Anderson@adobeforums.com]

Phosphor (or anyone).

Is there anyway you can elaborate on your comment about commercial laser printers "running off the hardware rip and thus it's best to put it in RGB". I know (or have heard) that laser printers run on RGB, but then you mentioned to preview the CMYK space to catch gamut warnings... so it seems if it was running in a RGB space the CMYK gamut warnings would be irrelevant. Am I missing something? Thanks for your explanation.

Gordon

[Danny_Whitehead@adobeforums.com]

The Canon laser machine here basically has NO dot gain if it's linearised and calibrated. There's also the toners to take into consideration, as they differ in colour from offset printing inks.

If you were supplying files for output here, I would prefer tagged RGB, so I can just tell the RIP the RGB source space and let it do its own conversion to the printer's CMYK. If I receive files already converted to something like SWOP, Euroscale or 'mystery meat' CMYK, I have to have the RIP simulate SWOP/Euroscale, so you're not getting the full gamut of the printer. This wouldn't be a problem if I had given you the CMYK profile of the printer, and you supplied your files in that space, bt I've yet to have anyone ask for a profile or even had the chance to offer one, as we don't really much outputting artwork from outside sources.