How can I improve the colour match between my screen and prints?

Activating colour matching in AVA

• Is Soft Proof ticked in the Overprint Inspector?
• Is the substrate set correctly? (If they use a Tone DB, this will and should not be AVA Printing White)
• Is there a Dot Gain set in Settings ? If so, should there be? In some cases, yes!
• Are the colours in gamut?
• If the colours are overprinting, each individual colour may be in gamut, but the overprinting colour could be out of gamut. Use Gamut Warnings to check this

Activating colour matching in ColourSys

• Is Soft Proof ticked in the Colour menu?

Activating colour matching in the CMS Controller

• Are the correct / most up to date profiles set?
• In Viewing Conditions, usually everything is set to default, but if you are using a glossy iMac®, the brightness should be set to 0. If Viewing Conditions are applied, find out why.
• Rendering should be on Best.
• Usually nothing is set in the Advanced or Proof tab, but if there is, you need to learn why before changing it.

Resolving colour problems on the printer

• Has this problem occurred over night? Could it be a blocked head?
• Perhaps a good head clean will resolve the problem.
• Have you done a nozzle check?

Resolving colour problems in the Mac® OS driver

• Are you using the correct preset?
• Do they have the correct media type set?
• Is No Colour Adjustment selected
• How old is the profile?

Resolving colour problems in the AVA Digital Print Rip

• Have you set the correct ink setting set in the print queue?
• Have you selected the correct settings in the 'Printer Settings' section?
• How old is the profile? If it is over one month old, please re-profile, set the new profile in the AVA CMS Controller, then do another test print. 
• Do you have anything set in the Colour Management section? If you do, should you have? Is the correct profile set in here?

Could my colour problems be caused by metamerism?

Metamerism occurs when two colours that are not actually the same (they reflect different wavelengths of light) appear to be the same colour under certain lighting conditions. Colours that match under some lights but not others are referred to as 'metamers'.

What can I do to improve the colour match between my digital prints and production prints?

Change the transparency of your layers

The default layer transparency in AVA is 50% and sometimes simply changing this to reflect the transparency of the inks used in your production can help to improve the match considerably.   To do this, go to the AVA Menu > Settings > Overprint and change the value set in the 'Default layer transparency' option.

If it is appropriate to, set a resist value

A resist ink is a specially mixed application ink in production that prevents other layers or colours from overprinting where it lies. It is a typical process in many areas of textile printing, creating a similar effect to that of printing on wax or similar substances, which will not hold inks. The resist ink (generally containing a special oil or wax to create the resist) can usually be mixed to offer varying degrees of resistance to the overprinting inks.

To set a resist value on a colour chip:

1. Click on a chip in your colour file and select Edit Chip from the Colour Menu
   
   
2. Enter an appropriate percentage in the Resist field. 1 is the minimum and 100 is the maximum

Create and use a Tonal Database

The nature of production with different inks, substrates and production processes means the tonal breakdown of colours can differ greatly. A solid colour can be exactly the same but as soon as that colour is printed with screened tone and production inks, its characteristics may differ greatly from that of a software’s digital breakdown.

A Tone DB is a colour file which contains the tonal breakdowns of each 100% chip and can contain an unlimited number of colours.  Tone DBs can be added to at anytime, and play a vital role in Production Colour Management, because when colours from a Tone BD are used to colour designs in AVA, tonal areas of the design will closely match the production prints.

For more information about creating and using Tone DB's in AVA, click here. 

Create and use a Dot Gain

A Dot Gain is used to simulate the effects of the printing process in AVA. It is designed to alter the view of the design on screen and the print you get from your studio printer, to make them look more like the results you get in production. This helps to ensure that an accurate design separation is created.

For more information about creating and using Dot Gains, click here.

Use Alternative Dot Gains

Intended to visualise the behaviour of ink rejection, you can tick the option Use Alternative Dot Gains in the AVA Settings . This simulation is achieved with the help of Palettes, where you can set up different Dot Gains for a maximum of ten layers. With just one click, these will then be applied in order of visible layers in the Layer Palette. In other words, the first Dot Gain will be applied to the first visible layer, saving the long-winded process of manually loading in individual Dot Gains to each layer, and eliminating potential room for error.

For more information about creating and using Alternative Dot Gains, click here. 

Use the Missing Dots Palette to apply a filter to the design ahead of printing it digitally

Available from our Downloads page, this Palette uses a combination of history and filter tasks along with a print batch task to apply an effect to your design, print it, then undo the effect. Many people find this to be very effective. 

Implement AVA Production Colour Management

This advanced software module requires prior ownership of, and full training in AVA Colour. This module is designed to facilitate matching from digital prints (whether samples or digital production) to conventional analogue (usually rotary screen or gravure printed) production by customising both the overprint models used in the AVA software and the tonal breakdown of spot colours to take into account the actual inks, dyes and substrates used by individual customers.

To read more about this, click here.