by peregrine101 » 07 Nov 2012, 03:22
Hi Allagain, sorry for the delay
I ended up creating a 'post card' with the same, exact layout front and back except one side was done the old way with CS4 graphics and the other a 'new' way with CS6 graphics. I then sent the post card to my printer and the results were interesting.
This is what was included in the [b]CS4 layout
[ulist][*]CMYK: 3 strips with a blend going from yellow to magenta to cyan[ulist][*]Strip 1: CS4 AI Native (CMYK) file (with ICC embedded)[*]Strip 2: CS4 AI EPS (CMYK) file (with ICC embedded)[*]Strip 3: Quark (had to create two stips of colors -- yellow to magenta and the other magenta to cyan)[/ulist][*]RGB: 3 strips created like the CMYK ones[*]3 Block sets of colors: 185 red, reflex (my standard mix of 100, 73, 0, 2) and 355 green
[ulist][*]Each set of colors had 3 blocks: AI Native (ICC), AI EPS (ICC) and Quark (using the spot inks generated by the AI files)[/ulist][*]3 Logos: each one an AI EPS/CMYK file[*]Photo: CMYK TIF[/ulist]This is what was included in the [b]CS6 layout
[ulist][*]CMYK: 3 strips with a blend going from yellow to magenta to cyan[ulist][*]Strip 1: CS6 AI Native (CMYK) file (with ICC embedded)[*]Strip 2: CS6 AI EPS (CMYK) file (with ICC embedded)[*]Strip 3: Quark (had to create two stips of colors -- yellow to magenta and the other magenta to cyan)[/ulist][*]RGB: 3 strips created like the CMYK ones[*]3 Block sets of colors: 185 red, reflex (my standard mix of 100, 73, 0, 2) and 355 green
[ulist][*]Each set of colors had 3 blocks: AI Native (ICC), AI EPS (ICC) and Quark (using the spot inks generated by the AI files)[*]Please note: the AI Native with ICC display as black on the Quark file (Quark is aware of this)
[/ulist][*]3 Logos: each one an AI EPS/LAB file
[*]Photo: RGB TIF[/ulist]The results:
[ulist][*]CMYK strips: whether CS4 or CS6 side of the card, there was no difference in the strips![*]RGB strips[ulist][*]CS4 and CS6: all three strips (QX, EPS and AI) printed very differently[*]CS4 and CS6: each respective strip printed the same on both sides -- in other words, the QX strip on both sides looked exactly the same[/ulist][*]3 Block sets of colors[ulist][*]CS4 side: the EPS box printed much lighter (almost hazy) than the AI or QX box[*]CS4 side: the AI and QX box printed exactly the same[*]CS6 side: the EPS box was only slightly lighter[*]CS6 side: the AI and QX box printed exactly the same[/ulist][*]3 Logos: The CS6 LAB files printed bolder[*]Photo: did not see any difference[/ulist]I have 500 of these post cards! So if any of you would like me to send you samples, I would love to! Send me an email with your address and I'll get them out right away!
Since these tests, I've run a few jobs: tri-folds, sell sheets, business cards. My new workflow:
[ulist][*]AI files: I create them using spot colors (as my clients usually want specific Pantone colors) with the new LAB default of Pantone +[ulist][*]I have to save them as EPS files since native AI files with ICC still shows up as black (Quark is aware of this now!)[/ulist][*]Place the EPS files into Quark[ulist][*]I then use the spot color that shows up in the color pallete for text and such
[/ulist][*]Any photos/raster images[ulist][*]I save them as RGB TIF files[/ulist][*]Export: I save as a Press Quality PDF converting colors to process[/ulist]This seemed to work fine. A lot to do about nothing maybe? I don't know. But as many of us expect only the best from ourselves, we do what we need to do to make sure our clients get what they are paying for...
[b]I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your help. Your quick responses (although my last one took forever!) were very helpful!!! It's nice to know this community exists to help each other out!!!
Thanks so much again,
Robert