Colors are not consistent from one job to the next.  How do I calibrate color? (CX1200)

Solid color blocks are not consistently the same from one job to the next.  It is especially noticeable on certain colors such as bright greens and oranges.  It is generally not something that occurs on multicolor graphics or photographs.  The reason the printer is not printing consistent color is because color calibration is performed automatically every 500 pages or when new cartridges are installed, a new ITU has been installed or when the printer has been idle for 8 or more hours.  The color calibration prints color bars on the ITU and analyzes density and adjusts color accordingly.  When this occurs you will see “Calibrating” displayed on the control panel of the printer.

Because the calibration requires that the printer is in an idle state with no paper installed, the calibration can be delayed until the end of a large job.  Also, depending on how quickly you print the next job after finishing a large job, the calibration may not automatically occur between jobs.  Depending on when you print your image, right after calibrating, at page 499 or after calibration has been delayed by a long job, you may see different shades of the same solid color. 

Solutions:  

1. Manually start the Color Calibration by going to the Settings Menu – Quality Menu – Color Adjust.  The calibration will immediately begin.  This should be done before any color sensitive job where you will have to consistently match colors from one job to the next where the jobs may be separated by weeks, months, or years.   

2. To avoid inconsistencies within the same large job (over 500 pages) we recommend that you split these jobs into smaller, less than 500 page increments.  Manually start the color calibration mentioned above before each job.

3. Try a new ITU.  As the ITU ages, colors may not be as consistent.

4. Try a new cartridge.  If the inconsistency is exclusive to one particular color, try replacing that color.

5. Adjust CMY percentages in your eps file to get the correct color.  If you are trying to match the color of a previous print job, it is possible that the previous print job was printed when the printer color was out of calibration.  If this is the case, it is possible that even after performing a manual color calibration, you will not be able to match that color.  The only way to solve the problem is to adjust the color in your source image.