Quote from: andyfest on July 14, 2015, 06:14:46 PMFuji may have an adapter box that could act as a go-between for a new server and the older cabling on your platesetter. They showed me a set-up to replace our W2000 Gateway server with a new XMF Gateway with the adapter in between that and our old T9000 (Screen 8600).

Yes, I do recall they had something like that. I'll get pricing on that as well. Thank you.

Thanks for the suggestions – we have an 800 as well.

We're driving our aging Trendsetter with an equally old Dell Powered 4600 running Print Console. No support on this box and it's starting to have regular errors such as battery reconditioning (not a problem), no Windows Update, etc. It's only a matter of time before we'll have to replace it.
So, I'm looking for a TIFF Downloader to shoot XMF 1-bit TIFFs to the Trendsetter. I'd rather not replace it with a working but old system. 
Any recommendations?
Thanks!

Yes, there are a few of us!

Some inkjet inks, I'm sure. Definitely not their custom spot yellow!

The designer decided to keep it as CMYK (no spot yellow) to keep the effect; apparently they used something like it on their booth display. He is explaining it to them to remove responsibility from him and us  We'll see how that goes!

Thanks; I like your solution. The job prints as CMYK+Custom spot ink (yellow). I talked to the designer this morning. He said his customer is super picky about the yellow, so if we use a process version on top of the picture (RGB as-is) to achieve his effect, they might reject it if the yellow doesn't match the hue of their special color. So... he is playing around with either removing the picture or something else.

I'll share your idea with him – he may go for it, but not sure. I'll also try to leave the image as RGB then channel map just the yellow to see how it looks – perhaps the image would remain more neutral.

Excellent work! Yes, it's amusing that a designer sees that what he's trying to do won't work as a spot color and just converts it to process thinking we'll work it out. Oh well – most of the time we do!

- Patti

Quote from: Joe on July 07, 2015, 10:23:02 AMOK, I can make the spot to be transparent as a spot at output by changing the Hard Light value from 100% to something less depending on how much you want the photo below to show through. But the photo below is changing the custom yellow color appearance so you would probably need to adjust the values of the custom yellow until you get the desired color with the correct amount of transparency. Good luck with that.

Thanks. I doubt we could get the color effect they want keeping the color as a spot there. We will proceed as process in just that area and let them know. The effect that happens with the hard light filter is nice, but just not happening with spot.

Quote from: Joe on July 07, 2015, 10:03:25 AMOK I see it looks like screen shot two if you output custom yellow as a spot.

Right, and we have no good solution except set that "hard light" graphic to process. Are we missing something?

Here is a DropBox link to the first page with the problem. The link is an InDesign package and the PDF is included, but doesn't have the spot color enabled as a spot (customers do that a lot!).
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0vh65vkkdokfcun/AADRXRDqjiveF7Gt1JIPLHvOa?dl=0

Hello! Just wondering if anyone has a solution for this. We received an InDesign file that has an RGB image with a spot color graphic – a chevron shape elements with varying screen values of the spot color, set to the "hard light" effect. Customer turned the spot to process in Ink Manager and we can see the effect he wants, but when the spot is turned to a spot, the effect doesn't work. 

Tried opening the RGB image in Pshop, adding a spot channel and a new layer. Put the graphic in the new layer in the spot channel and set the effect to Hard Light, but it doesn't look like it does in InDesign when all process – not even close.

I've attached screen shots. This has us stumped – we're thinking it just doesn't work and that the effect couldn't calculate with a spot color. We'll probably tell our customer that it has to be process. 

The spot appears as a spot further up the page, and the "match" to the graphic in question will only be as good as a CMYK match, which isn't close. In fact, we made a special formalized ink for this customer since they wanted something not possible in CMYK or as a choice in Pantone.  I've attached screen shots of what the customer wants and what we get.

Hoping someone out there has a solution that we just don't see.

Thanks!

Quote from: frailer on January 06, 2015, 05:18:04 PMPatty, like Diddler, here in OZ we use Black Magic with XMF. It's an OZ company, but am sure they have a presence in the US. They are great guys to deal with, and would certainly be worth contacting. Peter Skarpetis, the principal, was the first, I believe, to get a decent 'RIP-Integrity' proofing system that was workable. Can still remember reading about it in a trade mag here in the early 90s.
It reads, (as I understand it), the 1-bit TIFF info from XMF, then re-renders it to 720 DPI, and adds a screening simulation.. We swear by it for simplicity and robustness, as I think Diddler does.
After (too) much pain, about 2 years ago we got it profiled for a 'best (shotgun) fit' for Uncoated stocks. We are not a certified shop in any way, and it's seat-of-the-pants from PDF in to bindery.  :embarrassed:  Having said that, we manage OK. We change stocks, as you do, for those. We can only get 'close', with the plethora of uncoated/recycled stocks around these days.

Re PDFs... we got stung by soft-proofing with PDFs out of XMF (pre-render). We routinely Export a RIP-integrity PDF from the Black Magic file. A fiddle, but well worth effort. One proviso; you need an Acrobat Pro Optimize pre-set to hack that file size down too emailable size. I get them down by ~90% without too much degradation. Takes some experimenting with Compression settings, but once done, a breeze.

The Black Magic software is done by Serendipity, when you're 'net searching.

.... oh, use an Epson Pro 7900 here (we-re B2 size).. A few years in with it. Love it.

Thanks - I see you're using TIFs in to the Blackmagic RIP. Which Blackmagic product do you use?

Quote from: Diddler on January 05, 2015, 06:30:20 PMI use Blackmagic software from Serendipity for all our colour calibration to run to Epson 9900, 9880 and 9800. The software works with XMF effortlessly and is fairly easy to use once it is set up. You just select your job and tell it to which print queue you would like it to run out of.
I have only every had to replace a print head on the 9800 once but that was after 37,000 prints and I must admit we kept it poorly maintained.

Which Blackmagic package do you use? Pro? Lite? 2-up? Thanks!

Update: Now my mission is to propose two systems – one system with only what we must have for a press proof and also to maintain / create plate profiles. For that, I'm looking to drive an Epson 7890 directly with XMF (might go rasterized for integrity), and the entire system would contain the Epson plus XRite i1Publish Pro 2, our XRite 530 Spectro, and our CCDot CCD5 plate dotmeter. XMF Tech guy assures me that they have several of the 7890 being driven directly by XMF without a problem.
The better system would add a Spectroproofer for a more automated, verified proofing system, which then would require a Fiery RIP. Would still need a reader, software for to build plate / proof profiles, so would add in XRite i1Publish Pro 2.
That's my most simple solution right now.
We are a small commercial printer but high quality. Alas, our equipment got so old we couldn't use most of it, so are now sadly out-of-date. The second system is nice but I'm mindful of overkill. Have to decide in the next couple of days. I do have a contact for Black Magic who I'll call back today. Any advice again much appreciated.

I will call about Blackmagic today. Another question came up today in conversation with owner – I recall that XMF will drive an Epson directly, but is not recommended because of color control. Can anyone elaborate? Does anyone do this? Thanks!