Current information suggests that some print modes are optional on some machines and need to be separately licensed and enabled / installed by VUTEk in order to become available. This means that available driver during the installation only support modes that were available for testing on models to which we had access to for verifying the drivers.
Example: the “QS2 Pro” supports natively “600×360 [Binary]” and “1000×720 [Binary]”; a “600×360 [Grayscale]” can additionally be licensed (and has been implemented in builds 2.0.3.7894 and higher). It is not known if there is also a [GS] option for the 1000×720 resolution – none was installed on the printer on which the driver was beta tested. Interestingly the DFE accepted RTL files in “1000×720 [Grayscale]” and displayed them properly, yet the printer reported an error message when trying to run them.
If you encounter during install that modes missing, please report them to 3rd line support immediately along with a very small RTL file (content irrelevant; 1cm x 1cm or 1” x 1” is sufficient; important info is in the header of the RTL); chances are you might get a replacement driver with the missing print modes added within 1 work day – please report results with this driver IMMEDIATELY back.
Your tests need to include a large sheet / roll size output with cutter barcodes and camera marks, crop / registrations marks and FOGRA or IDEAlliance label added. These elements outside the main print file area are important tests of the RTL file creation.
Submitting a job from the Editor or RIP which includes a White layer will print all channels simultaneous, which creates a pastel look.
If a user is not used to working with in the RIP/Editor generated White, then this can lead to undesired results and the assumption that White generated by the RIP/Editor isn’t working with a VUTEk.
Such user reaction prompted the writing of this instruction sheet.
This print option can be used if White is used as a spot color on the same printing layer as the color image or to create pastel appearances.
This should not be used in FLOOD mode during profiling. The result will look very pastel from either side of a material. See photo:
This is the most common form of printing with White and directly takes the White channel from the by the RIP generated RTL and prints it as a separate layer before (= Underflood) or after (= Overflood) the CMYK (CMYKcm, CMYKcmyk or similar) channels.
This form of printing with White does not require a White channel inside the RIP generated RTL, but generates one automatically over the entire printable area and prints it as a separate layer before (= Underflood) or after (= Overflood) the CMYK (CMYKcm, CMYKcmyk or similar) channels.
This mode leaves an existing (generated by the RIP) White channel untouched inline! Please deactivate an existing White channel in the imported RTL unless you want that channel to print White Inline (= spot channel).
As of August 2013 this mode is required to print cutter camera marks and barcodes onto dark or clear materials. Prints onto acrylic substrates with White Overflood will cover the cutter marks and require the camera marks to be read through the acrylic with the print side down on the cutter. As the barcode and camera marks do not get mirrored, the barcode cannot be read automatically (e.g. by i-cut 7) yet still might work with a handheld barcode reader and reading camera marks through thick substrates (= over 3 mm) might not work at all.
Consider printing 3 layers with DFE generated White layer for cutter functionality to work.
Feature requests to support white backing of camera marks and bar codes as well as mirror options for bar codes / camera marks are being processed. Please alter this paragraph when implemented.
Please follow the instructions as above and use the 3 Layer option.
This form of printing creates a print result with a white layer sandwiched between 2 color layers. It is generally used on clear or matted substrates for use on light boxes which can be viewed also with ambient light.
Examples are outdoor light boxes like they are commonly seen at bus shelters or movie poster displays.
The white backing turns into a replacement of a paper color when seen under ambient light (light box is turned off) and also diffuses the light from the light source in the box (so you don’t see the lamps through the clear film material), while the additional backprint provides higher contrast for when the ambient light is off (e.g. at night) and instead the lightbox itself turns into a light source. Omitting backprint would make the single layer print appear washed out.
In some cases users want to print different images on either side of a transparent material. To avoid see-thru effects it is common to use a black blocking layer in the middle and white before and after and colors are printed directly onto substrate and as last visible layer.
White Flood / Black Flood / White Flood would generate such layers.
Often prints of this type would be shaped objects in which case a flood white of full document frame size might not be desired, but rather a Blocking Layer Channel and White Channels (identical? / different? For front / back?) would be used, which allow to take predefined shapes.
It is currently unknown if there is a reliable way of achieving this with current VUTEk systems. If information becomes available, please edit this chapter.
Printing on opaque white film with double strike / double density / dual layer is an easy method to achieve the increased density necessary for backlit applications. This means applications where the light of the light box is never turned off. Using an opaque white film material and no white ink is much cheaper than the earlier CMYK+W+CMYK method on clear film and requires 30% less print time, but without backlight on the prints will look oversaturated and dark.
On a VUTEk it is very easy to use Double Strike: simply create a Multi Layer document and load the same RTL into Bottom and Top Layer (see the white printing steps for Step-By-Step infos on loading documents into layers)
There are 2 methods for color managing this type of printing:
Use the Double Strike setting already when creating the PMM and measure in transmissive mode, e.g. using a Barbieri Spectro LFP.
This will produce an accurate profile correctly balancing the ink channels to look correct even with higher ink application. This setting also allows establishing optimal TAC and curing settings as it is treated as a completely separate PMM entity.
If a user lacks the ability of transmissive profiling, then a simple double strike using a normal PMM for opaque printing (preferably on the same substrate) can also be used.
To avoid adhesion issues and visible color shifts caused by simply printing the same image twice onto the same substrate area, the user might have to fine tune lamp intensity (Curing Low / Medium / High) and try different PMM modes (EcoSave (CMYK) might produce more stable gray, while Less Black (CMYK) can reduce artifacts caused by printing the same dot pattern twice on top of each other.
Be aware that the prints will look oversaturated when not backlit. Also cutter camera marks and bar codes can suffer from the double hit printing.
If it is important that prints also look correct when backlighting is off, then Color-White-Color printing with 3 layers needs to be used.
Jobs that have been changed into multiple layers or in other ways and need to be modified only need to be right-clicked, then select “Edit Job” and the layer settings window opens again.
Caution: some DFE versions seem to activate the White again when you check the Top Image a 2nd time (exact cause unknown).