HP 1050C Plus for Dip Proofs

[jbingaman]

Hi everyone,

We've been using an old HP DesignJet 1050C Plus for our DIPs and have noticed that the quality level seems to be worse than it once was. I was asked to look into the issue to see if it may be something that is set incorrectly in either the printer driver or the RIP. I can't see anything out of the ordinary.

I looked up the specs on the device and it's max is only 600dpi, so I'm not expecting anything mind blowing as far as quality even if it were dialed in. But the 'peppering' is the main issue. It never seems to print 'solid' blocks of color. Everything looks 'dotted' or 'peppered'...not just gradations, but everything.

We're using RAMPage as the RIP for this device and the profiles are all set up for 600dpi.

Would using an Eye One Pro be of any benefit? Maybe linearization and profiling the printer would make a difference? I'm sure this has not been done for some time...if ever. My real question is...if we linearize and profile the printer using Eye-One software and spectro...where would we enter those profiles in RAMPage?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. We have a new printer on the books for that department, but it looks like that's at least a year out in the budget.

Thanks in advance!

-Jeremy

 

[rbailleu]

i was considering buying a 1050 with spinjet. do you use this for position only. or Do you color proofs with it as well.

 

[jbingaman]

It's supposed to be primarily for position, but most customers still ask why the color and quality is so terrible. Once we explain that we can provide a color contract proof which would match what comes off the press (theoretically) but at a considerably higher price...they stick with the DIP.

At this point I just wanna get something out of it that looks halfway decent so we don't have to explain the same thing every time to those customers who chose a DIP rather than a CCP.

In the near future we will get an entirely new inkjet for DIPS and color match it to the press so they should look almost as good as the CCPs, but for now the RAMpage upgrade to v11 takes priority so I'm stuck with the 1050.

 

[pcmodem]

What is your definition of DIP?

 

[jbingaman]

DIP - Digital Imposition Proof...
We have a Fuji Luxell for CCPs (Color Contract Proofs) but the cost incurred to produce these is often too high for the customer so we're looking at lower cost alternatives for this situation. Certainly not ooking to 'replace' CCPs with DIPs, just trying to improve the quality of the lower cost option.