How to check the ink coverage

[Giorgia]

I printed some wedding menu on Printed.com and few came out ok, others instead of a green text shows black text and kind of dirty. I complained and they told me that the ink coverage is too high, which I really don't know what means. They told me that if I modify the file they will reprint.

I used their template and set it up on Affinity Designer and sent them a PNG file and not in PDF because my font was not appearing correctly. 

I've attached the message I received, I have no idea how to change this and where to find it. 

[NotMyFault]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

This tutorial may help

 

[NotMyFault]

I‘m surprised you said sending them a PNG file. PNG does not support CMYK colors, and the reply form your printer says there having issues with CMYK based colors. If both is correct, then the conversion to CMYK have been done at their side.

you should export the artwork in a document format supporting CMYK color format like PDF. You can flatten the export so the fonts are fully rendered in the exported document.

[Giorgia]

Thank you! This is very helpful, I'll go thought it!

[MickRose]

I find it hard to believe that their maximum coverage is 150% though I don't know what machine they use for printing the wedding menus. On most paper/cards the maximum would be nearer 250 or 300. I wonder if you chose a stock that was very delicate and couldn't take much ink. Also, it is not good if some sheets were okay and others were not.

[Alfred]

2 minutes ago, MickRose said:

I wonder if you chose a stock that was very delicate and couldn't take much ink.

Tissue paper?

 

[thomaso]

9 hours ago, Giorgia said:

and few came out ok, others instead of a green text shows black text

Do you mean the same print file was printed with different results, "green" versus "black"?

What values was set for the "green" colour in your layout document? It appears odd that the printer's PDF shows your "green" with 40% red + 60% black. Even without black it would rather be "olive" than "green".
What colour profile was set for the layout – and which for export?
If you open your delivered print file in Affinity what colour values does it show for the "green" text?

Unless they use a special print material + profile the limit of 150% would mean that saturated colours would not be possible, e.g. this mid green or red:

[Giorgia]

@MickRose It’s a 300mg with a  watercolor finish type of paper, so not really thin, but it sounds to me a bit off that with the same input each print come out differently…if the input it was wrong all the prints they are supposed to come out wrong.

To be fair @NotMyFault I really find hard to understand the instruction of the link, this is not really my specialty so I don’t know what I’m really aiming for.

 

But it’s very helpful what you explained about RGB vs CMYK. I provided the PNG because I was worried about the front but now I’ve transformed the font in vectors and exported the file in CMYK with the informations they have provided. I’ll send the file and ask for confirmation…although they don’t sound very helpful!

I could also change the green colour so the K is zero and change the other components CMY. See below my current green with the K at 56 and the proposed at 0. Would this help? 

11 hours ago, thomaso said:

Do you mean the same print file was printed with different results, "green" versus "black"?

Yes, that's what they sent me, some copies in black other in green.

 

[MickRose]

@Giorgia Just re-reading the printers comments, their 150% limited applies to text - presumably that is because of the thin lines in some fonts - particularly at small sizes. I'm not convinced you can make a dark green with that limit. Or a rich red or many other intense colours. Having said that I would say that using digital printers can be problematic with some spidery fonts because of the resolution of the machines.

[thomaso]

14 hours ago, Giorgia said:

Yes, that's what they sent me, some copies in black other in green.

1. Ask them how that is possible / what got changed between the different print results for the same "green" colour.

2. Ask them for a print profile. *

3. Setup your document's profile to the export/print profile.

4. Make sure you define a colour in the Colours Panel and as CMYK. To check a colour deactivate the lock icon.

5. Create dark colours with more black (K) but less CMY to reduce the Total Ink Coverage (TOC). – For instance this green with 150% instead of your initial green with 278%:

* If your first screenshot shows your document and the second your exported PDF colours then apparently some profile / colour conversion was involved.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Giorgia said:

It’s a 300mg with a  watercolor finish type of paper, so not really thin

If you mean 300 gsm (i.e. 300 g/m²) then it’s really going to be quite thick unless it’s extremely dense.

[Giorgia]

On 4/4/2024 at 2:16 PM, thomaso said:

 

Just to let you know, I've asked if this colour would work and they said that is perfect....let's see how it comes out!

Thanks so much for all your input!

[Giorgia]

Hi all, I've received the new prints and they look fine, the green is less crisp but overall looks good. Thanks for your support!