Bounding Halo on Objects with 3D FX

[davidgall]

I'm getting a halo around objects that have a 3D FX applied.  I've printed on an Epson and an HP, from a PC and an iPad and I get the same result.  Please see the attached image. It only happens in High or Best Quality print.  I've tried creating a JPG or PDF and they are fine, but the colors get all janked up - too much effort of try to get to my desired colors.

I appreciate any insight.  thanks

[v_kyr]

Looks normal to me, just pixelated probably due to APh pixel zoomed view. - Here's how that looks as default in ADe ...

... NOTE that the "Shininess" degree etc. can be adjusted accordingly.

[carl123]

4 hours ago, davidgall said:

I'm getting a halo around objects that have a 3D FX applied.

By halo do you mean the lighter coloured square around the objects with 3D FX?

If so, we will probably need to see the Affinity file or just a portion of it, copied to a new document, that shows the problem

[thomaso]

18 hours ago, davidgall said:

It only happens in High or Best Quality print.  I've tried creating a JPG or PDF and they are fine, but the colors get all janked up - too much effort of try to get to my desired colors.

Looks like a matter of different colour spaces when handling transparency. – Does it help if you rasterize the layers before printing?

[davidgall]

5 hours ago, thomaso said:

Looks like a matter of different colour spaces when handling transparency. – Does it help if you rasterize the layers before printing?

Rasterizing the layer did not work.
So, after MANY pages of testing I'm able to point to the trigger but I could not find a setting that will resolve it.  I found that if I print with any Paper Type other than plain - I have the problem. I've tried all paper types, printer settings, etc. and the only time I could have a clean print was with plain paper.

At this point, the only way I can get the results I want is to duplicate the shape, remove all color/3dfx and PLACE the real object inside the blank object. Not ideal but it gets the job done.
Just one more bug with an Affinity product.  Thanks for the help.

[thomaso]

2 minutes ago, davidgall said:

Rasterizing the layer did not work.

Just in case: The goal is to get rid of the transparency effects, so when rasterising, uncheck the "Preserve Layer fx" option.

If it depends on the paper quality you set, isn't it a printer driver problem rather than caused by Affinity?

At least the halo should not have a chance to get created if you merge all layers into one pixel layer. (e.g. group > rasterize)

Just curious: What colour space is the layout document / and what the various object colour definitions?

[davidgall]

51 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Just in case: The goal is to get rid of the transparency effects, so when rasterising, uncheck the "Preserve Layer fx" option.

If it depends on the paper quality you set, isn't it a printer driver problem rather than caused by Affinity?

At least the halo should not have a chance to get created if you merge all layers into one pixel layer. (e.g. group > rasterize)

Just curious: What colour space is the layout document / and what the various object colour definitions?

Actually, I just discovered that it wasn't paper, it was because it was grouped. Your observations may also have a hand in it, but ungrouping the contents fixed my issue (my post of the circle included a photo which I didn't want to include).  I can now print on all paper types with no issue (color is another issue but not the focus of this post.) The other object - the boom-a-rang was also grouped with another object I didn't include.

I've included a screen shot of my color settings.

[thomaso]

11 minutes ago, davidgall said:

I can now print on all paper types with no issue (color is another issue but not the focus of this post.)

That's good to hear – and good to know, too.

Your screenshot shows your application preference but not your used document colour space or profile (could be RGB or CMYK).

Is there a special reason that you set a printer profile (Epson …glossy) as your default RGB workspace profile? As a device profile (like a monitor calibration profile) it may cause unexpected results.

[dcgall]

11 hours ago, thomaso said:

Is there a special reason that you set a printer profile (Epson …glossy) as your default RGB workspace profile? As a device profile (like a monitor calibration profile) it may cause unexpected results.

CMYK is definitely my Document color setting. My sRGB setting is Epson out of pure ignorance.  Since I was printing to an Epson, I figured that has to the appropriate choice. I need to educate myself on the finer details. Thanks

[v_kyr]

14 minutes ago, dcgall said:

My sRGB setting is Epson out of pure ignorance.  Since I was printing to an Epson, I figured that has to the appropriate choice.

That's pretty wrong here, as a printer profile has nothing to do with a display/monitor profile!

14 minutes ago, dcgall said:

I figured that has to the appropriate choice. I need to educate myself on the finer details

See and read through the following to get an overall idea ...

• Display Colour Management in the Affinity apps

• APh Color Management

[thomaso]

3 minutes ago, dcgall said:

CMYK is definitely my Document color setting.

That could be one reason for the unwanted halo, caused by a hidden conversion in the print process form CMYK (document) to RGB (Affinity output or printer driver input), while Affinity handles transparency preferred in RGB.

It was mentioned in various threads as kind of limitation in the Affinity print process … and also can occur in a PDF exported with transparency (not flattened) where Affinity seems to use always sRGB as blend colour space regardless of CMYK as document / PDF colour space. That is why I assume your halo issue will not occur if fully flattened data get send to the printer.

Also, some threads mention that printer drivers often handle CMYK internally as RGB before they revert colours back to print with their CMYK inks.

[thomaso]

6 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

See and read through the following to get an overall idea ...

@dcgall, or simply set the default preference to sRGB for now ... until you have read and familiarised yourself with the CMS and/or find a concrete, valid reason for using a different profile. (For existing RGB documents you would have to change it separately in their document setup.)