[cmoses]

I am working on a mockup and am doing a gradient in Illustrator. On the monitor the gradient is smooth and flows evenly from one color to the other. When I print them out, some of the gradients remain smooth, while a couple of them look more like just the two colors, with no smooth transition from one to the other. They have a more banded look, a distinct cut off point.

I am sure this has to do with the printing process. The Illustrator file is in CMYK and the printer uses CMYK toners to print. My guess is that the color can be easily displayed on the monitor, but the printer is having a hard time replicating it, hence the abrupt color switch instead of a smooth one. Is there a way to figure this out ahead of time, before I print? Like I said, a few of the gradients look great, while a couple look bad.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. I am sure that there is a way to make this work, without all the trial and error and printing.

Thanks
Clayton

[austin5string]

Originally Posted by cmoses

I am working on a mockup and am doing a gradient in Illustrator. On the monitor the gradient is smooth and flows evenly from one color to the other. When I print them out, some of the gradients remain smooth, while a couple of them look more like just the two colors, with no smooth transition from one to the other. They have a more banded look, a distinct cut off point.

I am sure this has to do with the printing process. The Illustrator file is in CMYK and the printer uses CMYK toners to print. My guess is that the color can be easily displayed on the monitor, but the printer is having a hard time replicating it, hence the abrupt color switch instead of a smooth one. Is there a way to figure this out ahead of time, before I print? Like I said, a few of the gradients look great, while a couple look bad.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. I am sure that there is a way to make this work, without all the trial and error and printing.

Thanks
Clayton

This doesn't really answer your question, but if you want to sent me the .ai file, I'll try printing it out on my printer, just to eliminate your printer as the possible culprit.

My email is austin5stringATcoxDOTnet

~John