Anyone using CorelDraw X3 for making Silkscreen masters?

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Don't know if this is the area to post it but I am having a problem with some of my client's files of their logos. When I bring it into X3 and size it, an EPS file, and then export it as an EPS and email it to my Silkscreen vendor, they tell me it is not 100% black when they output it to the film. I guess you can see hatching on it when it comes out but when I print it, it looks 100% black to me. I spoke to Jeff McDaniels about it and tried looking at the separation tab on the print out to make sure there was no other color selected in the CMYK and only black shows up for the page to print. Any one have any ideas on what the best format is to save as an EPS file or what I have to do to make it 100% black?

Thanks and ...

[Joe Pelonio]

That's odd, I've done it going back to Corel 5.0 with no such problems. Most of the time though, with larger signs, I make a film with black vinyl on acetate and save a few dollars on the setup.

Can your printer use .ai or pdf? Try sending all 3 in a zip and see if it makes any difference.

[Mike Null]

Michael

How about trying the RGB black to see if it'll work?

[Darryl Hazen]

Michael,

Try setting CMYK all to 100. That may produce a blacker black since the default CMYK black is actually 0,0,0,100. Try it by creating 2 rectangles in Corel, overlap them slightly, make one black and the other C100M100Y100K100 and see what you think. Your screen printer should also be using a toner darkening spray like Ultimate Black on the vellums.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks Guys,
What I had to do is ungroup the EPS file the client sent me. Then using the object manager I selected each group and made sure the fill was the same black. I used the CMYK one that was 100/100/100. My vendor said it worked but I guess all EPS files are not created equal. Even thought they look black, and they print out black on a laser printer, if you hold it up to the light you can see a slight hatching in the fill. I can only assume that this is what happens when you have 2 or more blacks in the same file. I did finally get it right but boy what a pain. Everyone does not build their graphics/logos in the same manner and if they start out as multi color and then get converted down to a B&W, we must verify that it is the same black in the group. Thanks again for your assistance