Why Did My Press Suddenly Stop Matching the Proof After Years of Success?

One of my clients recently complained to me about press downtime. "This is incredibly frustrating. Has anyone else been through this?" he asked. "One thing I keep seeing is that some jobs the ink on press seems weak, and we have to make a curve plate with a boost to a process color or 2." This is a press that had been running smoothly for years, and then one day, this happened. "Our only hope now is to successfully create a new press/proofer profile that's easier to match. We've tried to do it ourselves twice and have made ugly proof profiles both times."

"We need to try again when it slows down here, but right now it's just job after job in the busy season going down on press and it's getting intense with emotions. Feels like somethings gonna snap," my client said.

Diagnostic Checklist: What Changed in His Process?

When a press and proofer drift apart, the first step is to figure out what changed rather than arbitrarily adjusting plate curves. My colleague in the field suggested a rigorous series of questions that every manager should ask:

Consumables and Chemicals

• Ink and Paper: "Did something change right before this issue started? Such as...Ink vendor/manufacturer/recipe? Was something added to the Offset Ink to solve some other issue?" 

• UV Ink Considerations: If you are transitioning to UV systems, remember that high-quality UV offset ink should be environmentally friendly and offer fast curing speeds and excellent adherence. Our UV-HTC series, for instance, is specifically designed for foil and metallic cardboards.

  
  

• Fountain Solution: Fountain Solution/make? Dosage amount? If your fountain solution is a 2 step, did the alcohol sub change?" 

• Plates: "Plate vendor/manufacturer/brand/type? New batch of plates? Could be a bad batch." 

Hardware and Press Condition

• Rollers and Blankets: "Has something about the press changed? Rollers? Blankets? Some other variable?"

• Press Maintenance: "Is the pressroom properly maintaining their presses (including rollers) and on a scheduled basis? Calcium build-up?"

  
  

• Platesetter/Processor: "Is your platesetter out of calibration? Perhaps the platesetter is in need of service? Laser life is not infinite. Is the chemistry within the processor fresh?"

  
  

Moving Beyond "Band-Aid" Fixes

One of the most profound points made during our roundtable discussion was about the cost of shortcuts. A mentor of mine once said, "We seem to never have time to do it right the first time, every time, BUT we always find time (usually over-time) to rerun, remake for a customer rejection."

Short-term, temporary fixes are like paying interest on a debt that only gets larger. "Pay me now, or pay me later?" is the ultimate question for any print shop owner.

The Scientific Method for Color Matching

If your press has suddenly stopped matching proofs after years of consistent output, you must remeasure your press sheets and compare Lab/DeltaE values to proofs using a Spectrophotometer. Target standards like G7 or FOGRA depending on your specific requirements.

Action Steps for Recovery

To get your color back on track, follow these essential steps:

1. Run a Fingerprinting Test: Assess your current press condition by printing to the color bars and measuring the results.

2. Verify the Plates: "Make your plates with a wedge to observe changes." This will show you within days if the issue is with the plates or the printer.

   
   

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4. Recalibrate the Proofer: "Recalibrate both your monitor and proofer, and verify the RIP(Raster Image Processor) profile matches the press condition."

   
   

At PrintBar, we understand that color consistency is the backbone of your business. Whether you are troubleshooting a sudden drift or looking to upgrade your consumables to more stable options like our UV-HTP series for synthetic papers, we are here to help.

For more technical support or to see our quality control process in action, visit our About Us  page  or take a  VR Virtual Tour of our facility.