Bizhub Press C7000 help

[Greg08]

We currently drive our C7000 with IC-307 Print Controller.
I always convert all colors to CMYK in the native program before
creating a PDF. What is the best way in Print Controller to output
so that the color is consistent from job to job?
I don't want to be clicking and changing settings all the time.
Thanks for your time.
Greg

 

[csudman]

What are you doing for color managment on the c7000? If your not calibrating daily, you will have color shift.

 

[Louiscamp]

I can calibrate 3 times a day and the color will be different every time I print on our C-7000. They have replaced just about everything in in. Some long runs change color as its printing. Can't count on Konica Minolta to do anything about it, they are a waste of time.
Lou

 

[arossetti]

If it is the printer and not the file/RIP there is nothing that you can do.

 

[csudman]

What calibration procedures are you using? Over the last 2 years, we were shown 3 different processes by different trainers. We finaly have one that works for us. What calibration software are you using?

 

[lfelton]

I'm not that familiar with the Creo front end, so can't give you specific guidance. However, as a general rule, you MUST insist that KM sends a colour specialist to spend at least a day with you to (a) profile the papers that you use (you should only use profiled papers if you want to keep any kind of colour consistency) and (b) help you understand your "workflow" so that you can achieve repeatable results.

If you didn't negotiate this pre-sale, then you may have to contribute to this.

Having said that, EXACT colour matching from month to month is still a challenge and we have to fine tune to a file copy if this is required. "Fairly close" is pretty much as good as you can get on current generation KM kit without a good operator matching to a previous copy. I'm not knocking KM's BTW, my colleague who runs our c8000 used to run an Indigo 5500 and loves the c8000, apparently its much easier to produce quality print on.

There are various known problems with the c8000s/C6501s that we use that have an impact on colour consistency (firmware versions, black density controls, sensor issues, etc. etc.) and I'm sure the 7000 is no different, but basically you can get fairly reasonable colour consistency. If you are not getting this it's either (a) a hardware problem (b) a training problem.

And finally, do you have the room environment under reasonable control?

 

[Erniek]

C7000 color

C7000 color

We have a C7000 and the color does tend to change the longer a copy run is. Color consistency is in the ballpark at best on this machine. Surprisingly our 6500 tends to hold color better than the 7000. I calibrate to the paper I am running usually and them adjust color from there. We have a Fiery and have many options with it color wise. One thing we do also is note on our job tickets the settings we used on the machine to have a base the next time we need to match color.

 

[Jack Flash]

We currently drive our C7000 with IC-307 Print Controller.
I always convert all colors to CMYK in the native program before
creating a PDF. What is the best way in Print Controller to output
so that the color is consistent from job to job?
I don't want to be clicking and changing settings all the time.
Thanks for your time.
Greg

What PDF setting are you using when saving/printing PDF's
What programs are you PDFing from?
Why do you convert to CMYK, have you tried leaving images in RGB and just working in CMYK in your design program?
In what file format do you save your images?

I have a C6000 and have not had any colour trouble in 2 years, and I use the built in KM Controller!
I also hardly use PDF's for printing, rather native programs.
There is always a colour change between PDF's and Native program printing.

 

[ErnieLail]

Greg, we have a 6000 and 8000. The c6000 uses basically the same engine as the 7000. We use software called ColorCare by KM. It has really helped us get some consistency day to day. It will allow you to adjust density across sheet left to right and top to bottom. It will also allow you to adjust gamma with the use of the spectrophotometer. Instead of eyeballing the standard gamma sheet, this will allow you to take readings from the sheet and compare them to a standard and adjust until the deltaE is within an acceptable range.

Hope this helps. This software was the only way we could get any day to day color consistency. You will always need to tweak your color settings(assuming you are using the RIP curves to adjust color) to some extent, but ColorCare is a must have IMO.

 

[Toner4Brains]

The IC307 color profiler utility is fantastic. Set your CMYK working space in your Adobe products to Gracol, set the input profile on the RIP to Gracol, and set the output profile and calibration set to Linked. Use the profiler utility to build a custom output profile on a coated sheet and on an uncoated sheet, and do a calibration for both coated and uncoated. Make sure Color Density Control is set to on at the engine. With this set up, any paper set up as coated in the engine will automatically use the coated profile and coated calibration set and vice versa for uncoated, and the CDC automatically links to the paper type as well.

 

[cosmo]

Hi ernie, did you get the full colorcare package, ie, do you need a better spectro than the i1?

Also, I hear it is supposed to be able to print to standards, ie 12647-8, for proofing, how does it verify that, is it part of the software, does it use a colour strip to verify against?

One thing i notice about the konica 8000 is the fluctuation in the actual machine engine, not the rip, and profiling it can be a waste of time, if the techs come out and change something in the settings, it renders the profile useless.

cheers.

 

[cosmo]

where do i find that setting toner4brains? the colour density control setting?

also, just out of interest, what do your CMYK densitys read on the calibration in the RIP, measured vs target?