# color settings problem? or bad ink?



## inPhoenix (Nov 13, 2015)

Hello, I'm having a problem with my sublimation print when it comes to black.

All other colors seem to be fine, or at least they are not wrong in a way that looks bad.

Black comes out as greyish brown!

I print on Ricoh SG2100N through Photoshop CC, and I've used SOOO many different color settings!

I don't know if I should be using a specific ICC profile or something... that might be the problem. But I can't find one for my printer model.

Aside that, could it be that my ink is bad? It's a bulk purchase from china... no brand on it. I know you're first thought would be that this is the problem, but I've used similar bulk types of sublimation ink in the past without problem. 

Have a look at the photo link below, showing what my print looks like. If you notice spiderman's hand is brown when it should actually be 100% black.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45868220/sublimiation problem.jpg

Please let me know what you think a solution might be!


----------



## SunState (Mar 5, 2014)

A color profile is for the ink. The company you purchase the ink from should give you the color profile.


----------



## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

inPhoenix said:


> Hello, I'm having a problem with my sublimation print when it comes to black.
> 
> All other colors seem to be fine, or at least they are not wrong in a way that looks bad.
> 
> ...


Times 2 on Sunstate's comments.

I fixed your embedded link so your picture shows in this thread.


----------



## inPhoenix (Nov 13, 2015)

Thanks!! 

Well I guess I have a problem, since my ink is actually no brand ink!

So I'm thinking of trying a new brand of ink one I know I can get the ICC profile for... but do you think there will be a problem if only black ink is different brand? The other colors I am using seem fine and I got plenty of each! :/


----------



## AngelicEndeavour (Aug 12, 2013)

If you buy your ink from cobraink.com, Richard supplies the ICC profiles. I believe they're on his website.

That leads me to another question about Cobra Ink -- I see he has a NEW black ink called "4.1" I suppose it's meant to be "blacker." Does anyone have any experience with this new ink? I'm not sure when it actually came out...


----------



## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

AngelicEndeavour said:


> If you buy your ink from cobraink.com, Richard supplies the ICC profiles. I believe they're on his website.
> 
> That leads me to another question about Cobra Ink -- I see he has a NEW black ink called "4.1" I suppose it's meant to be "blacker." Does anyone have any experience with this new ink? I'm not sure when it actually came out...


I noticed the new black too. Not been there long. I'm not 100% sure but I think that was in response to some people having issues having to use the Matte setting on the poly fabric profile to get a real dense K black.

Seem it was laying down a lot of ink and then the paper feed might pick this up as the paper passes and give a "pizza wheel" effect showing black ink "trails" on the paper as if feeds. 

I will send an email to Richard and verify if no one confirms.


----------



## AngelicEndeavour (Aug 12, 2013)

Thanks again, Mike. It would be great to find out the reason for the new 4.1 release.


----------



## inPhoenix (Nov 13, 2015)

any thoughts on using a different brand ink for CMY and a different one for K? :/


----------



## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

inPhoenix said:


> any thoughts on using a different brand ink for CMY and a different one for K? :/


If the black colors are different it would "break" your ICC profile if you have one. If the black color is identical it wouldn't matter or matter much.

If the black color is different and if you don't have a profile it won't matter except if you had to do the same art in a re-order later with the same art. You would have to tweak the image to compensate. 

In terms of hardware I wouldn't just swap in vendor A's "CMY" cart then vendor B's "K" cart, the firmware may not be compatible.

So what I mention is just in regards to bulk inks.


----------



## hawaiianphatboy (Apr 28, 2008)

mgparrish said:


> I noticed the new black too. Not been there long. I'm not 100% sure but I think that was in response to some people having issues having to use the Matte setting on the poly fabric profile to get a real dense K black.
> 
> Seem it was laying down a lot of ink and then the paper feed might pick this up as the paper passes and give a "pizza wheel" effect showing black ink "trails" on the paper as if feeds.
> 
> I will send an email to Richard and verify if no one confirms.


Just wondering if there was any update on the new black ink offered by Cobra Ink. I am also having problems with my black being dark enough on polyester as well as my cell phone cases. I am also having bleed problems when doing my cases. I have attached a picture of my first case I did. the black was ok but not great, but my bigger issue and concern is the bleeding into the white areas. Since you mentioned you also use Cobra Ink, is there a better profile to use for the phone cases and the polyester? I used the Polyester settings with the Ultra Premium matt paper I believe and got decent results, but not the kind of results I have seen elsewhere. I seemed to get better results using the same settings for my cell phone cases than I did using the aluminum settings. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. by the way, did I mention that I am new to sublimation? Aloha and Mahalo for your assistance.


----------

