Ok, I printed my first prints tonight, and I am sooo stoked! They looked great and very detailed. I'm so happy that I've been on this forum learning from all you guys and gals. It's made the road so much smoother for me.
I do have one question though about color. I am using corel X3, and I have my art set to cmyk color. I send it through rip pro on the default settings. The colors look good, but are not like the image I'm seeing on Corel. For example, reds look more pinkish to purple. Does anyone know the best way to have my settings produce the picture that looks more like the image in Corel Paint X3?
Yay I am so glad to hear you are printing This is what I do for getting accurate colors. I print a color chart out on a shirt, and then choose my colors from the shirt. The reason for this is that the monitor sees colors in rgb and your printer prints in cmyk. So they are going from different types of colors. Some times they will be very close, but some times they will look different. The printed color chart works well, because you are seeing exactly what the colors are going to look like after printing. Also in your advanced printer settings when you go to print, are you setting your RGB to NTCS1953 (I think thats the corrrect letters I am on a different computer right now) and the CMYK to Swop simulated? These setting make it a little better if you have not done that. Also are you using photo normal or vivid dark? I will see if I can help some
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Yay I am so glad to hear you are printing This is what I do for getting accurate colors. I print a color chart out on a shirt, and then choose my colors from the shirt. The reason for this is that the monitor sees colors in rgb and your printer prints in cmyk. So they are going from different types of colors. Some times they will be very close, but some times they will look different. The printed color chart works well, because you are seeing exactly what the colors are going to look like after printing. Also in your advanced printer settings when you go to print, are you setting your RGB to NTCS1953 (I think thats the corrrect letters I am on a different computer right now) and the CMYK to Swop simulated? These setting make it a little better if you have not done that. Also are you using photo normal or vivid dark? I will see if I can help some
Thank you soo much Sunnydayz!! I'm going to try printing the color chart and see how that goes. That seems like a really good idea. I've heard of the NTC1953 you're talking about, but is that workable with Corel? How do I set that, as I've heard others are using this. Do I just set the Rip Pro RGB settings to the NTC1953?
When you go to print and your print screen comes up, before the rip does, you will see an advanced settings button on the print screen. Tell me what these settings are set to in there. This is where you would set all of your dpi, layer type, and so on. That is where you would set your RGB and CMYK. This is also where you will set whether you are printing on a white shirt or a dark or light shirt, what layer you want, whether its just a color layer or a color layer with auto mask (which is printing a white layer for a dark shirt with a color layer on top) how many copies (this one is easier to just resend in your rip instead of handling here, your photo normal or vivid darker setting ( This one you want to use the photo normal for photos and vivid darker for vector artwork.
Well I am sure I did not list them all (such as using white highlights, unidirectional and bidirectional) But let me know what your settings are and I will tell you what I use
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
When you go to print and your print screen comes up, before the rip does, you will see an advanced settings button on the print screen. Tell me what these settings are set to in there. This is where you would set all of your dpi, layer type, and so on. That is where you would set your RGB and CMYK. This is also where you will set whether you are printing on a white shirt or a dark or light shirt, what layer you want, whether its just a color layer or a color layer with auto mask (which is printing a white layer for a dark shirt with a color layer on top) how many copies (this one is easier to just resend in your rip instead of handling here, your photo normal or vivid darker setting ( This one you want to use the photo normal for photos and vivid darker for vector artwork.
Well I am sure I did not list them all (such as using white highlights, unidirectional and bidirectional) But let me know what your settings are and I will tell you what I use
Thanks again for the reply Sunnydayz. I'm using the color layer setting for printing on just a white shirt. I tried vivid darker to see if it made a difference, and it did for the better. What I'm not sure of, is that I've converted my artwork in Corel Paint X3 to cmyk, and the colors don't come out the same on the print. They look good, but they're not what I'm seeing. If I change the RGB setting to NTC1953, will this change the cmyk artwork to print more like what I'm seeing on my computer screen?
It usually will make a bit of a difference. It works great for me and very rarely are my colors off by much. Not so much that I have to change them. Most times my prints are pretty accurate with these settings. On the cmyk I would also try using the swop simulated.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
There are more than one way to handle color management. Corel is definitely a little harder than Photoshop - especially when you bring in a photo (i.e. raster graphic) and add text (i.e. vector object) to it. Some people like to turn Corel's color management off (which based on my experiences does not really turn it completely off) and the other way is to hard code a profile. Here is a link to a video on how to hard code a profile - http://www.multirip.com/HardCode_Corel/HardCode_Corel.htm. The key is you have to use the same profile (i.e. same Layer Type, same resolution, same Media Type).
The other important thing is to track what you did to get you desired colors from a color chart and then repeating it later on. This is why I am pushing people to print below their color charts the exact settings they have in the graphic software, in the RIP software and with their heat press (time, temperature, pressure). Then when you look at the shirt several months from now, all the important information to allow you to repeat the process will be right there.
Ok, now I'm having a hell of a time getting my white underbase to look right. This should be easy, but I don't know why it's not working. I've tried every setting I can think of. I've got simple text written in white with a red border around the letters. It is a psd file, and there is now backround. The inside of the letters are white. When I try to lay an underbase in all the different settings, it only lays down white for the red border around the letters. This is a black shirt, and I've put it on black garment, so I can get white lettering. Ahhhhh
Ok it sounds like your white is too white The printer does not recognize white as a color, since with all printers white is actually a non color. To fix this you need to add color to your white. I usually will add 2% magenta or blue. Leave every thing else at 0. So for instance your color on your white would look like C 0%, M 2%, Y 0%, K 0%. Try this and let me know if it works
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Ok it sounds like your white is too white The printer does not recognize white as a color, since with all printers white is actually a non color. To fix this you need to add color to your white. I usually will add 2% magenta or blue. Leave every thing else at 0. So for instance your color on your white would look like C 0%, M 2%, Y 0%, K 0%. Try this and let me know if it works
About Working With Color 
This is what I do for getting accurate colors. I print a color chart out on a shirt, and then choose my colors from the shirt. The reason for this is that the monitor sees colors in rgb and your printer prints in cmyk. So they are going from different types of colors. Some times they will be very close, but some times they will look different. The printed color chart works well, because you are seeing exactly what the colors are going to look like after printing. Also in your advanced printer settings when you go to print, are you setting your RGB to NTCS1953 (I think thats the corrrect letters 
