Outputting .pdf to Roland wide-format printer for signage

[Colin Wilson]

I've produced a .pdf file from InDesign CS, and I'm trying to get a sign
company to output it to an 1800mm x 1200mm sign. They use a Roland
wide-format printer (printing onto vinyl).

The signage company is using some common industry signage software (I
don't know the name), and they convert the .pdf into their sign software
before output. They are getting terrible colour shifts (I have tried
output to both CMYK and RGB at their request), problems with font
conversions (I have tried converting all the fonts to curves before
outputting the pdf), and several other issues. I don't know the age of
their software or their printer.

I just want to know:

1. Is this type of conversion often troublesome?
2. Is there any reason they can't just print directly from a .pdf to a
Roland printer, without going through whatever conversion process they
are trying to use? It would seem much simpler.

Any sign printing experts here?

 

[Frank]

I've produced a .pdf file from InDesign CS, and I'm trying to get a sign
company to output it to an 1800mm x 1200mm sign. They use a Roland
wide-format printer (printing onto vinyl).

The signage company is using some common industry signage software (I
don't know the name), and they convert the .pdf into their sign software
before output. They are getting terrible colour shifts (I have tried
output to both CMYK and RGB at their request), problems with font
conversions (I have tried converting all the fonts to curves before
outputting the pdf), and several other issues. I don't know the age of
their software or their printer.

I just want to know:

1. Is this type of conversion often troublesome?
2. Is there any reason they can't just print directly from a .pdf to a
Roland printer, without going through whatever conversion process they
are trying to use? It would seem much simpler.

Any sign printing experts here?

I'm curious to know which file output (extension) do they prefer?

 

[tomm42]

I've produced a .pdf file from InDesign CS, and I'm trying to get a sign
company to output it to an 1800mm x 1200mm sign. They use a Roland
wide-format printer (printing onto vinyl).

The signage company is using some common industry signage software (I
don't know the name), and they convert the .pdf into their sign software
before output. They are getting terrible colour shifts (I have tried
output to both CMYK and RGB at their request), problems with font
conversions (I have tried converting all the fonts to curves before
outputting the pdf), and several other issues. I don't know the age of
their software or their printer.

I just want to know:

1. Is this type of conversion often troublesome?
2. Is there any reason they can't just print directly from a .pdf to a
Roland printer, without going through whatever conversion process they
are trying to use? It would seem much simpler.

Any sign printing experts here?

1) Have you embedded the fonts in the pdf file (option in the pdf
setup)?
2) Are they looking for an eps file? This is a problem because it
means their software is old and you have to have the fonts they have
on their disk, and the have to be postscript fonts.
I had a 2003 version of the Wasatch RIP, which is often used in signs,
and it would take pdf files seemlessly. Have you tried to export the
file to a tif and have them print that? PDF has become the defacto
standard for the printing industry. If I remember correctly older
Roland printers had a RIP that was anything but user friendly around
2000 when I was looking for a printer. There is a possibility that
they never upgraded the RIP.

Tom