Has anyone had good success using any external RIPs to provide better color management for the 541?
We print on many different shirt types (white to grays etc.) and I'm not completely satisifed with what comes out from the internal printer driver/color_management system . I'm thinking that I may need to consider buying a RIP package that has a driver for Brother to get what I want out of it. Any suggestions?
Hey there! Like yourself, I think there is a lot of room for improvement in the Brother color gamut. I do not believe the limitation is necessarily in the ink formulation (although that might contribute), so that leaves only the internal profiling setup. I am sure, with proper adjustments, the color gamut on the Brother (using OEM inks) could be greatly expanded, and color could be made to appear more accurate.
I had actually posted a thread about this very issue on another forum, quite some time ago; from there, I was able to find out that Ergosoft was developing a RIP that supported the Brother GT-541. They finished it quite some time ago, but I have heard very limited feedback on it.
I spoke to a Brother owner who was using it, quite some time ago, and they claimed their purples and blues were coming out like never before. However, any time I have asked a Brother rep about it, they say it is essentially useless. So, I guess it depends on who you ask. I have not had a chance to use it, personally, since I spoke to the Ergosoft rep quite some time before I ever got my Brother printer; then I never went back to investigate further!
Good luck, and let us know if you find out anything more....
I never have an issue with blues and purples.. knock on wood : )
Yea that RIP is like 3 or 4 grand yikes.. rip off.. put my rep said you can get true pantone colors with it spot on and that there is a handful of folk that even use it : )
There is an alternative, that no one apparently speaks about.. Wasatch makes a rip that is compatible with Brother printers to but cost like 1200 I believe which is like 1/3 the cost of Ero. thingy
I have seen people pay more, for good RIP software! Just goes to show you how important color management can be to some people... I have Wasatch SoftRIP, and I love it; I bought it when I owned my Kornit, so I don't know if the version I have is compatible with the Brother, or not. I will have to look into it! The Wasatch series is amazing, as far as features are concerned; really good networking tools, good auto-RIP features (with hot folders), and more. The downside? It is pretty slow, compared to Onyx and other popular RIP options. Additionally, as with any RIP software, proper color profiling is the absolute, number 1 factor is determining its usefulness. I know the Ergosoft guys spent quite a bit of time, creating color profiles specifically for the Brother OEM inks. I am not sure if Wasatch spent any hands-on time with the machine (they supported the Kornit, after all, but had a disclaimer on their site that said they had never actually profiled for the Kornit inks, so generic profiles were applied; not very good), or any other RIP manufacturer, but that's not to say that any motivated machine owner couldn't do exactly that.
I would love to hear from people who actually use a RIP program with their Brother printer! But then again, as was pointed out, those people are few and far between.
I def. know there is one guy on here that uses a RIP because he was saying how he gets good purples but dont know name top off head, I bet if you did a search in Brother section you'll find him... I think he was using Wasatch too.
I feel one down side of a RIP is tha it aint as easy as doing file print Lol.
I use two RIP systems and they are awesome for big printers but for a little t shirt printer makes me feel it is over kill.
I been getting awesome colors soo far, so I don feel like it is needed, only time I can see it being handy is when a client sends a CMKY file and when I convert it to RGB colors get funked up a tad
I disagree about a RIP being less easy to use that a direct print; direct print requires you to open up your files in Photoshop or something, and then select print options and click PRINT for each individual item..... With a RIP (set up properly), you can have 100 files, drop ALL of them at once into a regular folder on your desktop, and they could all start ripping, automatically. You could even set up multiple folders, allowing different print presets, based on which folder you drop the image into.
If you process for artwork files in advance, like we do, then RIP hot folders are the only way to go. Even when you are working on Photoshop, you can write your predefined actions in such a way that every time you click the button, the current loaded image is adjusted properly in PS, and then saved as a copy in a predetermined hot folder......
I am not sure why people don't think RIPs are efficient and eay to use; when properly set up, there is not a print process on earth that could be as easy as using a proper RIP (complete with workflow automation settings, like the Wasatch RIP has). I think too many people don't fully understand what a good RIP program should be able to do for you; its not only about color, people! Its also about streamlining your workflow.
True, True.. way that you use it than it would be efficient but for me, I do jobs that are min of 25 to 200 shirts at a time, I rarely do short runs for clients, and when I do it is just a sample job for a larger job that they typically need.
For people with those design your own shirts, than a RIP would def. be more easy to manage a work flow
Ah, yes, good point! I wasn't even thinking about varying business models; I know that some DTG printer owners don't print a lot of short runs, so they spend less time swapping artwork than some people might.
It is important to analyze your current business model, your plans for the future and how everything will fit together, before determining whether or not a RIP setup would directly benefit your business. Obviously, color profiling is just one small piece to the puzzle, as many software programs bring lots of other great features to the table. Whether or not you might necessarily need all of the features...... Well, that is up to you.
Ya, for my business structure it is pointless, I really don't do short runs, thank god
As for color profiling, would be kinda nice, I get 99 percent of time sport colors, but sometimes when I have a dark blue and black in same area, black dominates it ....
Also, RIP is important for matching corporate pantone colors, why some people apparently purchase rip, so far I dont got clients that finicky
To do color management correctly with any rip you need to do profiles for all the substraights and any changes that may occur to the substraights will effect the final colors!
I would like to know what you are using for your blues and purple colors. I can't get my GT to print a nice NAVY blue or a nice PURPLE like K STATE Wildcat color. Are you using RGB color or CMYK. I have been using Adobe Illustrator for all my artwork.
After printing with my GT-541, I have to agree; if there was a $1k solution to getting a better navy blue or royal purple, I'd buy it.
We service a lot of sports teams and for some reason royal purple is an incredibly popular color in our market. I think in order from most popular to slightly less popular: navy blue, Coca-Cola red and royal purple are our most popular spot colors.
Then again, it might jsut be a perception issue as I struggle with those jobs everytime they come up and that makes them stand out in my mind more.
Use of any RIPs for better color management? 
. I'm thinking that I may need to consider buying a RIP package that has a driver for Brother to get what I want out of it. Any suggestions?
