Ergosoft RIP is not only a powerful tool for direct large format inkjet printing, it can also assist in traditional screen or offset printing applications by creating color separations for film and screens. This way you can automatically create color separated image data from any file and job while using Ergosofts powerful composition, layout and job workflow tools. Then use the separated image data as screens in your traditional offset/screen printing process.
Control every aspect from separated colors to screen frequency, shape, angle, etc. by configuring the separation and Ergosoft RIP will automatically convert your selected image into perfect color separations, ready to print and apply to your process.
Ergosoft offers two modes of printing separations:
Separations can be configured in the JobComposer so the image is directly separated into its color channels when it is imported. The number of channels is determined by the image file.
Separations can also be output into separated TIFF files by separating your image into color separated channels during rastering/printing with a special Print Environment. In this case the number of channels is determined by the Print Environment.
By using a Separation Job, images can be split up into their color channels on import. This way you’ll immediately see what your channels look like and individually edit and manipulate each channel in the JobComposer before sending them straight to the printer for output.
To set up a separation job, go to File > New Separation Job. This will open a new Job that looks just like a regular one, though you’ll see that on the bottom right in the status bar it says «Separation Job». In a separation job, every image that is imported is automatically split into individual black and white images for each CMYK color channel.
Simply use the regular image import function to place image files into your separation job and you’ll notice they are immediately split into multiple monochrome images. One for for each CMYK color and additional color channels in the file.
Different file types will have certain specialties in how they are split up:
Postscript files will have additional separation channels for each spot color present in the file (7 total channels max., always counting CMYK even if if they are unchecked. More channels can be printed by duplicating the image and selecting different channels for each duplicate).
Multi-Channel TIFF files will have additional separation channels for each spot color channel in the file.
After you have imported an image into a separation job, you can make further adjustments by right-clicking on one of the separations and selecting Separation...
Adjust raster specific settings like Angle, Shape and Frequency by selecting one of the Separations in the list at the top and clicking the Edit... button. By default every change is applied to all screens. If you want to edit each channel individually, uncheck the boxes for Apply same dot shape/line frequency/dot gain curves for all screens. You can also apply a custom Dot Gain Curve to each separation channel.
If you don’t want to print certain separations by simply uncheck them from the list.
If you do not want to have your spot colors as separate channels and would instead like to include them in the CMYK channels, uncheck the channels and activate the checkbox Render Unused Channels to CMYK (This checkbox is only visible if you have more than CMYK channels).
You may also choose which Process Profile should be used to create the separations by making a selection in Separation Process Profile or using the Import button to import a profile (E.g. to use an exported printer profile for the separations).
Use the Save and Load Buttons at the bottom of the dialog to save your configuration and easily re-apply it to different separations.
After you have configured your separations, you can edit them in the JobComposer like any other image. When you are satisfied, use the Print button to output the job to you machine.
Do note that when printing, most Print Environment Quality settings such as Density Linearization, Printer Profile etc. are ignored and the separation settings are used instead. Only the output resolution from the PrEnv is applied.
Ergosoft 16 also offers dedicated screen printing application drivers that let you output images into color separated monochrome TIFF files. You can still configure all the parameters for your separations such as Dot Angle, Shape, Frequency, etc. but the separation happens at the raster/printing stage and the channels are rendered into a monochrome TIFF file for each channel that you can then use in your workflow.
First, we’ll need to set up a FilmTIFF Output Print Environment. Open the JobComposer of Ergosoft and go to the Print Environment Manager. Click Add... to create a new Print Environment and select Add New Queue (Or use an existing one). When prompted to select a Printer Driver, select Ergosoft > FilmTiffOutput and select the driver with the number of colors you want to use (4C, 6C or 8C).
When configuring the port, you’ll notice that you can’t set a regular port but instead you’ll be asked to specify an output folder. The output folder is where Ergosoft will create your separated TIFF files and where you’ll find them after printing (Note that the Spool folder is separate from the output folder and only used to store temporary data).
Finish the Print Environment setup until you get to the Print Environment configuration.
Note that if you want to use more than 8 colors (incl. CMYK), you’ll need to set up multiple Print Environments, each with a subset of the channels.
After completing the Print Environment setup, the Print Environment Settings will automatically open. This is where you configure the settings for the TIFF output.
First go to the Quality tab and select the dithering method Screen Printing Applications. You may click the Settings... button next to the dropdown menu to configure your screenprinting raster and configure Dot Frequency, Angle and Shape for each channel.
Next go to Device Options and set the output resolution. This will be the resolution for your monochrome TIFF files. You may also set a compression type and specify wether you would like a smaller preview file of the final image in BMP format to be generated next to the TIFF files with the Generate Preview checkbox.
If you’d like to make further adjustments to your Print Environment settings you may of course do so. You can find more information on the available settings in the article Print Environment Settings.
When you are done, confirm your settings with Ok, make sure your FilmTiffOutput Print Environment is selected and close the Print Environment Manager with Ok.
You can now
import, edit and print an image as normal. When you are done, click Print to
output the Job. But instead of regularly sending the Job to the printer,
separated monochrome TIFF files will be generated at the output location. You
can then use these separated TIFFs in your further workflow.