User guide

Q: I am using a profile for adhesive back vinyl but it does not look
good on my media, why?
A: As stated above there are many variables that can affect a profiles replication
of a color. Media and temperature are two more of those variables. For example
Avery 2010 and 3M 3555 are both matte adhesive back vinyls, but that is about
all they have in common. The chemical makeup of both materials is different
(each formulating theirs for a specific function) meaning they probably will not
accept ink in the same way. The color (or white point) of each media is also
slightly different and can even vary from lot to lot. If the base white point of a
material is not the same it cannot reflect back the same colors that your eye
detects. No two printers will output the exact same amount of ink, meaning that
a maximum ink limit for one printer may be too much for another or vice versa. If
color replication is an extremely important part your business plan it is
recommend that you have the maximum ink limits for your printer determined in
order to ensure your printer is properly linearized. Once a printer is considered
linear then the output look up tables for a given ICC profile will be much more
accurate.
Q: Were do I get ICC profiles from?
A: For starters each of the major third party RIP companies will provide ‘base’ or
‘standard’ profiles for a media type. Most of the time these will work just fine but
if these do not meet your needs. Please contact your local dealer representative.
As part of contractual agreements between Mutoh and it’s dealers the dealer is to
provide a complete solution for the end user this includes both the proper medias
to run on the printer as well as custom profiles to maximize the output on that
particular printer/media combination.
Q: Why can I not get ICC profiles from Mutoh?
A: Due the literally hundreds of media types and multitude of RIP software
options it is impossible for Mutoh America to provide known good profiles for all
of them. With that in mind we have made agreements with dealers to provide a
complete solution for the end user. A solution includes but in not limited to:
Software to drive the printer, a known good media that will meet the end users
needs, proper ICC profiles/media configurations for those medias, and also the
proper training to ensure the end user is capable of using the printer to the best
of it’s abilities.