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Post by texbearjoe on Dec 16, 2022 1:25:59 GMT
I just received a batch of proof prints, and the quality of black was appalling. I don't know if anyone else has had issues with black coverage.
1) Book Interior
-> Magazine format
-> Black & White Premium
-> #80 Coated paper
-> Adobe InDesign, entire book was CMYK (fills and images), with rich black (20/20/20/100).
The output in interior pages areas of substantial black was as though the page was made of charcoal, a light grey, with considerable white of the page showing through.
I've printed the same format material previously, and pages were a rich gloss black, not charcoal grey.
2) Book Cover
-> created with AI
-> fills were all CMYK rich black (20/20/20/100)
-> All resulting black areas have a distinct grey cast
Have no idea what to do further if CMYK black comes out lighter than RGB Black. Help?
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Dec 16, 2022 1:39:12 GMT
I don't know about CMYK being used, or RGB. Print On Demand does not use plates. Inkjet or laser printers are used. Commercial ones similar to what you possibly use at home.
I simply use Docx for page text. Jpgs for images and covers. The former in Word, the latter in Paintshop Pro 95 (in fact called 95 because that is the year it's from!) My jpg images are simply set to 'millions of colours' when I create them. Or greyscale when needed. No messing around with CMYK or RGB settings. I have had no problems.
But you need to tell Lulu, if indeed you used Lulu, you have not said. Lulu do not read this forum.
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Post by Mag2024 on Dec 16, 2022 17:42:47 GMT
I just received a batch of proof prints, and the quality of black was appalling. I don't know if anyone else has had issues with black coverage. 1) Book Interior -> Magazine format -> Black & White Premium -> #80 Coated paper -> Adobe InDesign, entire book was CMYK (fills and images), with rich black (20/20/20/100). The output in interior pages areas of substantial black was as though the page was made of charcoal, a light grey, with considerable white of the page showing through. I've printed the same format material previously, and pages were a rich gloss black, not charcoal grey. 2) Book Cover -> created with AI -> fills were all CMYK rich black (20/20/20/100) -> All resulting black areas have a distinct grey cast Have no idea what to do further if CMYK black comes out lighter than RGB Black. Help? Are you using Lulu or IngramsSpark? Lulu used to print with RGB color. Try printing using the setting PDFx1a 2001 and upload that. Download a free Adobe Pro. |
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Post by Mag2024 on Dec 16, 2022 17:45:26 GMT
I just received a batch of proof prints, and the quality of black was appalling. I don't know if anyone else has had issues with black coverage. 1) Book Interior -> Magazine format -> Black & White Premium -> #80 Coated paper -> Adobe InDesign, entire book was CMYK (fills and images), with rich black (20/20/20/100). The output in interior pages areas of substantial black was as though the page was made of charcoal, a light grey, with considerable white of the page showing through. I've printed the same format material previously, and pages were a rich gloss black, not charcoal grey. 2) Book Cover -> created with AI -> fills were all CMYK rich black (20/20/20/100) -> All resulting black areas have a distinct grey cast Have no idea what to do further if CMYK black comes out lighter than RGB Black. Help? If you're uploading a generic PDF, Lulu is converting the PDF for you to CMYK. This changes the colour. |
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sirram
Senior Printer
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
Posts: 269
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Post by sirram on Dec 16, 2022 18:46:06 GMT
To go back to the original post, print runs are usually very good but I have occasionally received a batch of books where the black is faint. I assumed that the printer company was trying to eke out their printer inks until the last possible moment.
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Post by potet on Dec 17, 2022 20:56:08 GMT
Two weeks ago, my B&W book with grayscale illustrations on white 60g paper was perfect.
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Dec 20, 2022 1:15:17 GMT
I do not think the machine operators inspect every print. A bell possibly goes off when getting low on ink, but that can be set by the operator. In the old Lulu forums people at times muttered about print quality, grey text etc. Lulu's reply usually was, "but the printing company does not know the text should not actually be grey in the books." Never sure how true that was because most commercial POD machines have a screen displaying the pages.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Dec 21, 2022 13:20:16 GMT
The "black looking gray" problem I've had with Lulu printers lately is on the covers. The interiors look fine.
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Dec 22, 2022 1:01:51 GMT
And of course we have no idea what the books look like that customers order direct from Lulu or any other site.
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