Concentric Screening Users

[DavidMa]

Hello All,
We are beginning some testing using Esko's Concentric Screening, any of you USERs out there have any comments... Pros/Cons?

no sales pitches please, just anyone who has used it or tested it, please.


thank you,
David

[gordo]

Hello All,
We are beginning some testing using Esko's Concentric Screening, any of you USERs out there have any comments... Pros/Cons?
no sales pitches please, just anyone who has used it or tested it, please.
thank you, David

Make sure that you compare apples to apples. For example, using the same test elements, if you are testing 300 lpi Concentric compare it to 300 lpi conventional AM.

It would be great if you could post a low res image of the test form you plan to use so that folks could understand how you will be testing the screening.

thx, gordon p

[steppy]

David:

Concentric is also being considered here. Please keep us updated!

Stephen

[macdevin]

Make sure that you compare apples to apples. For example, using the same test elements, if you are testing 300 lpi Concentric compare it to 300 lpi conventional AM.

It would be great if you could post a low res image of the test form you plan to use so that folks could understand how you will be testing the screening.

thx, gordon p

This is would be great but your going to find that you don't need to print at a higher res then am to see a better printed piece. You will also find that Concentric will allow your press room more latitude with out the huge sift in color. Using the same testing elements is a great idea for sure. But I've found that in most cases printing around 220 Concentric will look far better then any 300 am, and your press room will think they are printing like it was 175... The Dot sweet!

Make sure if you have any issue you get Mark S. on the phone with Esko.

[gordo]

This is would be great but your going to find that you don't need to print at a higher res then am to see a better printed piece. You will also find that Concentric will allow your press room more latitude with out the huge sift in color. Using the same testing elements is a great idea for sure. But I've found that in most cases printing around 220 Concentric will look far better then any 300 am, and your press room will think they are printing like it was 175... The Dot sweet!

In a separate thread on this topic "dauby" stated: "Management decided not to go forward [with Concentric] because of price and our process controls were not tight enough."
That's why it's important to compare screening at the same frequency 175 lpi AM/XM against 175 concentric. 240 lpi AM/XM against 240 concentric, etc. using a combination of subjective and measurable objective test elements. Gamuts can be measured and compared. Presswork latitude can be measured and compared as can ink savings. Proper testing will reveal whether there is sufficient benefit vs the cost/complexity of implementation. It would also rule out the effect of expectations on perception.

best, gordon p

[DavidMa]

Thanks for the comments, we are comparing apples to apples.

We started out using the 300 line concentric but then dropped down to the 200 line and so far it looks pretty good. Nice smooth transitions from shadow to highlights, smooth gradients.

We're looking to solve a problem we've had with a particular client that has sunglasses with the lens being the difficult target. The lens can be in just about any color (not just gray, but yellows, pinks, blues, & reds), and the printing of these smooth shades of colors tend to look mottled on the press sheet and we're looking to smooth them out even more.

We'll let you know how it works for us, if it does.

Any more Users out there?


thanks,
David

[Kristian]

We have just completed the 1-col Concentric test on all of our substrates. This was to gives us common screening settings that we can apply to all substrates to keep it simple.

We have decided to go with 226lpi (we currently use 150 Paragon). This is for label printing and stocks such as 80g WLP and 30 micron clear and metallic films. Just by looking at the one colour we can see instantly that the Concentric gives a much cleaner looking result. We have already ran a 4-colour test job using standard setting from Esko and the results were great. Press guys said it came up to colour very quickly and seemed stable. Nothing but positive feedback from everyone so far.

Out next stage is to start profiling using PressSync. We also have GMG PrintControl and are going to try and combine the results. I will hopefully make a start on this sometime this week.

Kristian

[DavidMa]

thanks Kristian, glad you've had positive results!

We were looking at the 212 line screen ourselves, but we could probably go with 226.
Did you see any sort of pattern in any screen mixes or images?
Did you happen to have any gradients on your test?


thanks for your insights,
David

[Kristian]

thanks Kristian, glad you've had positive results!

We were looking at the 212 line screen ourselves, but we could probably go with 226.
Did you see any sort of pattern in any screen mixes or images?
Did you happen to have any gradients on your test?


thanks for your insights,
David

Hi David

The 1 colour concentric test plate is only gradations at different ring and space sizes. There was no noticeable steps, they all appeared smooth but looking at the actual rings under an eye glass 226 seemed to be the highest ruling whilst still holding the best result.

Our test job was actually printed at 250lpi but was on much thicker paper than normal. It ran really well without any moire or strange screening artifacts.

[DavidMa]

Kristian,
what was your output device and resolution (2540 or 2400), if you don't mind me asking?

thanks,
David