Howdy All
I would like to say this the best forum for digital I have been on.
We have iGEN3 XMPie docuSP ver 5.1 color ver 3.6.56
We make pdf’s from xmpie to show a proof to our client, When the pdf proof is approved we use vipp from xmpie in 1000 records batchs for the final project. Most of our projects are 10M+ records. pdf's take to long to process.
Here is the issue.
We see a color change, More than 1 or 2 % more like 5+%, with this issue we are forced to make atrc to get the color back to the pdf proof.
Has anyone seen this issue and if so how do you address it or do you at all?
Thank You All
IGEN Jim

Jim,

Glad to have you on the forums. I am glad you have found it to be a good site.

My experience with XMPie is very limited but I had a couple questions.

Is the difference is that the PDF workflow out of xmpie is retaining spot colors that are not being retained in the vipp code?

Is it the file that creates the color difference or machine drift from proof to production run? If file, not that it would be the idea workflow, but wouldn't it be possible to proof using vipp as well, that would help.

Would it be possible for you to upload a sample pdf output and vipp output? Maybe not a real job, just a simple sample. I would be curious to see the vipp code being output.

Cheers,
John

Is it just output from XMPie that seems to be way off or is it any output over time that is off by that much?

Just trying to narrow down where the issue is. I can't imagine that XMPie is outputting different color values each time. It is possible the you are seeing drift on the iGen3 that may or may not be "normal".

If you have a spectrophotometer, or colorimeter, you could check the Delta-E (change in color, not density) from sheet to sheet. Or proof to print. As far as I am aware, maybe Elmo3 can fill us in, Xerox won't guarantee a Delta-E spec, but in my experience anything below a 4 Delta-E (CMC 1:2:1) is acceptable on the iGen3. However, keep in mind that most people's eyes can see a change of 1 Delta-E depending on the saturation of color.

Drift of color from run to run less then 4 Delta-E on the iGen3 I would consider normal, but you can get it better by doing what you are doing, and adjusting color. Keep in mind that even during the run the color may drift and you may need to re-calibrate or adjust your curves.

I'd be curious to see if other non-XMPie files vary as well, of if it is just XMPie generated files that are that far off. 1-2% isn't much but using a spectro / colorimeter you can see the actual color change and see if its major or not.

Thank you all for your help
After some testing it seems to be an issue with the environment in our igen room i think.
Today we output pdf files from InDesign and xmpie and dbf from xmpie, there was a little color variance 1- 2% between the 3 versions, That is normal.
The proofs are coming back 2 or 3 days later and the environment has change in the igen room. the press is not in the best environment, With the weather changing like it is hot cold and cold hot is not helping I’m sure.
Or we have not given enough offerings to the litho god and this one time issue i hope.
This is the 2nd igen i have run and the first one had it’s own environment and we did’t have issue like this.
Thank You
iGEN Jim

The environment plays a major roll with the way the I-Gen3 runs as well as the quality. If the environment is your problem you can actually manipulate it quite easily and inexpensively too. We had some problems with the humidity being to low in the winter and too high in the summer. The I-Gen has a built in air conditioner, but no humidifer/ evaperator..... simple fix- buy a large home style humdifier.

Another tip would be to calibrate at a minimum of every 8 hrs of print time. This is one of the topics they stress in Rochester during the training. If the press is not running constantly, you can get away with not calibrating for a day or two, any more and you can see the change when held up side to side.