Small Press Proofing

[MacTwidget]

Hi All.
In addition to our large format offset presses, we also have two RYOBI 3302Ms.
We are using a Mitsubishi SDP-Eco 1630II platesetter (polyester) for these presses. It is run by a Harlequin RIP, so we just "print" right from the desktop application.
Our large press workflow is RAMPAGE.
My question is, does anyone else have a similar set-up and if so, how do you "proof" your small press jobs?
We currently have a RICHO Aficio SP811DN color laser printer that we use for all hard proofs.

I am just curious to see how anyone else is doing this.

Thanks.

 

[BillJ]

Depending on the version of the rip, there are several ink jet printer plug ins available. The newer the rip version, the newer the ink jet printers you can select from. Check with the dealer that you purchased it from. Your other alternative would be generating tiff's and proofing from the Rampage and the sending the tiff to the Eco's rip. Ideally, integrating into a tiff workflow would allow you to match the small presses to the big presses.

 

[david]

Proofing for either the HQ or for 1 bit TIFFs

Proofing for either the HQ or for 1 bit TIFFs

Briefly I wanted to offer a suggestion that you might want to consider moving your proofing from hard copy to online mode. It cuts costs and saves a lot of time!
We have a solution called I-Zoom that can work either with your HQ Rip - or by processing your 1 bit files to produce a very high quality online color proof that your users can easily zoom in and out from. It is Very inexpensive and a lot easier to use than emailing PDF's. It is normally configured so that the user just needs the Microsoft Silverlight plugin to their browser for a super smooth zooming on Mac or PC by just scrolling their mouse wheel, however it can also be configured with no plugin needed if you prefer.

Here is an example of a 2400 DPI job with 6 inks made directly from the final screened 1 bit TIFF files. Notice how you can easily zoom right to the dot level, and this example is hosted behind a SLOW 1 MB DSL connection!

I-Zoom Zoomable Proof

David Lewis
Lucid Dream Software

 

[gordo]

Here is an example of a 2400 DPI job with 6 inks made directly from the final screened 1 bit TIFF files. Notice how you can easily zoom right to the dot level, and this example is hosted behind a SLOW 1 MB DSL connection!

Very nice.
Just a bit of a niggle though - if you hadn't said that it was a 6/c job I don't see a way to proof that fact (and that the correct colors were used in the correct place). It would be nice if one could turn on, and off, the various channels (which you obviously can do with a PDF) to see the separations.

best, gordon p

 

[Arthaven]

Briefly I wanted to offer a suggestion that you might want to consider moving your proofing from hard copy to online mode. It cuts costs and saves a lot of time!

I don't disagree with this but from a philosophical and procedural point of view I personally don't recommend negating the hard copy proof. In the long run it keeps every department and process on track and focused on creating the proper piece that is to be delivered. So even if you are proofing online and getting customer approvals, you should still have a hard copy proofing system in place. The time that is wasted, the jobs that get bounced and re-run, the customer service dance that has to be done all because there wasn't a hard copy for everyone to be on the same page with is not worth it in my book. At the same time though each printing company had their own idiosyncrasies that will determine what their best route should be.

MacTwidget,
Probably the most popular industry standard is having a calibrated ink jet with a imposition proofing stock and a match print proofing stock.

 

[edwinb]

set the rampage to output a pdf to a proofing folder, then set that folder as the hotfolder input for your favorite brand of rip (eg Efi xf)
does spot colours ok
edwin

 

[BillJ]

First, I don't think you will see to many people running 6 color jobs on Poly plates on 2 color presses. It is possible, but the make ready would probably negate the cost of running metal plates.

I also agree that the hard copy proof is important in the case of the ECO/3302 combination. Most shops don't run color controls in those situations and use the proof to "eyeball" to.