Two shops with identical printers, identical ink and identical boards can produce different colour, and the difference is not in the hardware. It sits in the software that converts a design file into ink limits and passes, and in the profiles that describe how each substrate behaves. That is why colour repeatability is usually an ownership problem before it is a technical one: the profile library has to belong to somebody.

This guide covers what the RIP does on a flatbed, how white and varnish should be handled in the file, why profiles are per substrate, what file formats and data paths the range supports, how to organise a profile library, and what a software handover should include.

Why does colour consistency depend on the RIP rather than the printer?

Because the RIP holds the decisions, not the printhead.

Profiles, ink limits, channel assignment and pass settings live in the RIP, so the same machine can produce different results in two different workshops.

The printer contributes the mechanical variables: alignment, drop placement and curing. The RIP contributes the translation from a design file to a specific amount of ink on a specific substrate. When a customer asks why a repeat order looks different from the approved sample, the useful first question is which profile was used, not which machine ran it.

That also explains why colour management tends to degrade slowly. A shop adopts a profile for a popular board, then starts using a similar board from a second supplier, and over time several jobs reference profiles that were never intended for the material they are printing on. Nothing fails visibly; the output simply drifts away from the approved sample.

What does a RIP actually do on a flatbed?

It converts files into ink, passes and channel commands.

The published software for this range is a controlling application plus RIP software with ICC-based colour profiles, curves and density adjustment.

Four functions matter commercially. Colour conversion establishes what the ink will actually produce on a given material, which is where ICC profiles come in. Ink limiting prevents over-inking, which shows up as mottling, slow curing or adhesion failure rather than as a colour problem. Channel assignment determines which head prints white, which prints varnish and how the colour channels are arranged. And pass and mode selection controls the trade-off between speed and quality, which is also a cost decision because more passes consume more ink.

The published configurations across this range name the software explicitly: RIIN Print or PhotoPrint on the AJ2130EX, AJ2130G/R and AJ3220EX, and RIIN Print, PhotoPrint and Onyx on the AJ2513G/R and AJ2130Ultra, with colour management described as ICC-based profiles, curves and density adjustment. On the cylinder route, the AJ360i is published with controlling software and RIP software included.

How should white and varnish be handled in the file?

As separate channels, never as part of the colour image.

White underbase and varnish need their own data so that full, selective and spot effects can be controlled independently of the colour layers.

Treating white as a background colour produces the opposite of what most jobs need, because white behaves differently depending on the substrate and the viewing direction. On a transparent substrate the white layer defines where the image is opaque; on a dark substrate it defines whether the colour reads correctly; on a reverse-printed panel it changes the layer order entirely. Varnish adds a further dimension, since the same channel can produce an overall gloss, a spot highlight or a raised effect depending on how the data is built.

The practical consequence is that layering strategy is decided before the designer starts, not after the proof. The channel configuration available depends on the model, and the published configurations differ: the AJ2130G/R is specified with an extended eight-colour system including white and varnish, the AJ3220EX with an extended seven-colour system, the AJ2513G/R with CMYK plus white and optional light inks and varnish, the AJ3220G/R with CMYK plus white and varnish expandable to eight colours, and the cylinder platform with four white channels for dark objects. A design that assumes a white channel must be matched to a configuration that has one.

Why does every substrate need its own profile?

Because the same ink behaves differently on every surface.

Absorption, coating, base colour and gloss differ between materials, so a profile built for one board will not reproduce accurately on another.

Ink limits are the clearest example. A porous, uncoated board absorbs ink and tolerates a heavier film than a coated or non-porous surface, where the same volume sits on top of the material and can pool, fail to cure or lose adhesion. Base colour is the second: the same CMYK values produce different colour on a white liner and on a kraft liner, which is why the profile has to describe the substrate rather than the artwork.

The consequence for production planning is that the number of profiles grows with the number of materials the shop sells, not with the number of printers. That is a manageable burden when materials are standardised and a serious one when every job arrives with an unfamiliar board. The published advice for material-driven applications in this range is consistent: test the actual production substrate, approve it, and record the construction and method so the result can be repeated.

What file formats and data path should the workflow support?

Formats you receive, through a path that carries them.

The flatbed range is published with support for TIFF, JPEG, EPS and PDF, and the cylinder platform additionally lists PNG, AI and PSD.

Format support matters less than it used to, because most professional workflows deliver PDF or TIFF, but the data path still varies by model and can affect throughput. The AJ2130 series and AJ3220EX are published with a fibre optic interface, the AJ3220G/R with USB 3.0, and the AJ1206 with Ethernet and USB 3.0. For a shop sending large multi-layer files with white and varnish data, the connection is part of the workflow performance rather than a specification detail.

The other practical consideration is file preparation discipline. Files that arrive with placed images, unembedded fonts or a mixture of RGB and CMYK sources create avoidable work in the RIP, and that work is billed to somebody. A short file specification issued to designers removes more production cost than most software upgrades.

How do you build and maintain a profile library?

By named material, with an owner and a review date.

A profile library is only useful when a new job can find the profile matching the material it prints on, so it needs naming conventions, a batch record and an owner.

Three conventions make a library work. Name profiles after the material rather than the customer, because the same board appears across many jobs. Record the batch or supplier alongside the profile, because the profile was built on a specific delivery and a change of supplier is a reason to re-test rather than assume. And assign an owner who is responsible for adding profiles when a new material enters the shop and for reviewing the library when an existing material changes.

Verification belongs in the same routine. A profile that produced approved colour last year should be re-checked against a physical reference at intervals, and the check should be the same one used for customer approval so the results are comparable. Where the printed surface is handled or cleaned in service, durability is a separate question from colour: adhesion is assessed with the tape method under ASTM D3359 and wear under ASTM D4060 (ASTM D4060).

What should the software handover cover?

Installation, profiles, a documented method and training.

A handover that installs the software but leaves nobody able to build a profile produces a shop that can only print on the materials that were set up on day one.

The minimum useful handover has four parts: the controlling software and RIP installed and licensed on the shop's own hardware; initial profiles for the substrates actually in use, built and verified on those materials; a documented procedure for building or commissioning a new profile when a material changes; and operator training covering channel setup, job settings and what to do when a colour is out of tolerance. The published support model for this range resolves more than 80 percent of issues remotely, which is a practical route for profile questions, but it does not replace local competence.

Two external references are worth recording alongside the library. The International Color Consortium publishes the specification that defines how profiles describe device behaviour across a production chain (ICC specification), and the consortium's own site is the reference point for profile format and practice (International Color Consortium). For industrial print environments, process control practice is covered by certification and research bodies in the field (Fogra), and the wider trade guidance on print workflow is a useful companion when the business case for a colour-managed workflow is being made (PRINTING United Alliance).

Which models include which software?

Check the published software line for your model.

Software names differ across the range, and the channel configuration that the RIP has to drive differs with it, so both are worth confirming in writing before the order is placed.

What the decision comes down to

Colour repeatability is built from three things: a defined layering strategy for white and varnish, a profile for every substrate in use, and an owner for the library. Software selection matters less than whether those three exist, because the same RIP can produce consistent output or inconsistent output depending on how it is used.

Make the profile library part of the production record, verify it against a physical reference when materials change, and treat the RIP station as a production workstation rather than an accessory. Configuration detail for the models in this range is published in the wide format UV flatbed collection, with the AJ2513G/R described on its product page and support terms on the support page.