Why are my spot colours not matching?
I need file integrity in my proofing workflow
PC turns itself on unexpectedly
The PC clock is losing time
What does degaussing do?
Notebook battery life has shortened
Cannot hear some or any sounds
Modem drops the connection
No Power to PC
Power but no display on starting up
The computer seems to be randomly crashing
My iPod wont play any music, what do I do?
When I turn on my Mac I get a flashing question mark, what do I do?
I have just switched on my G5 and all I get is a grey screen, what do I do?
I cannot connect to the Internet, what do I do?
I get a flashing circular cursor when I try to switch from OS 9 to OS X, what do I do?
I have just upgraded to OS X and now I cannot see my printers, what do I do?
Why is my laptop not charging?
My Mac keeps loosing the correct date and time, why is this?
Why won’t my fonts work in OS X, they worked fine on my old Mac?
Q. Why are my spot colours not matching?
A. Most proofing rips will only see the spot colour data if the original PS file is sent as separations not composite. Many customers do not like to send files as seps because of the large files they produce, however a composite file converts all the spots to process so the rip will only output spots according to the instructions given to it by the originating application e.g. QXP.
If the file is sent as separations, the spot colours are identified by their name within the PS file e.g. Pantone 123C and the rip will recognise that spot, take it around the normal colour management process and apply a spot colour look up table which uses the full colour gamut of the proofer/ink/media combination. This generally gives more accurate spot colour reproduction although it cannot cover the complete Pantone range e.g. Pantone 021 Orange is usually dirty.
If the file is sent as composite, the rip will generally only see the process CMYK values and reproduce all colours within process values only.
There is one alternative with the EFI XF rip, you can set the rip up to carry out in-rip separation in which case the EFI XF rip will take the composite file, separate it into the colours that are contained within the PS file and apply any other info. The spot colour information is contained in a composite file as a set of tags which the separation process uses create the individual colours, that why rips such as Fiery’s and Creo’s can deal with spot colours from composite files.
However, it could be considered as a dangerous path to follow in allowing a proofing rip to carry out separation duties when the final file will take a different separation route in the CtP/CtF rip.
Q. I need file integrity in my proofing workflow.
A. Consider a possible workflow, designer creates a masterpiece in QXP, sends a composite PS file to the proofing rip which uses an Adobe PS3 v XYZ CPSI (Configurable PostScript Interface) as it’s core. All the ripping takes place quite happily in CMYK and all the fonts work nicely, out comes a proof.
Customer accepts the proof and the job is resent as a PS file again to Harlequin based core and although it follows the Adobe Red Book for conformance there are some sublte differences, plus the rip also picks up a slightly different version of Helvetica. One word reflows in the text, really bad news if nobody notices until it been on the press for 2 hours.
How do we overcome?
It is possible to send the original PS to the Torrent and let it do all the ripping. It can output a composite TIFF which the proofer will accept and just colour manage, no chance of any text reflow or other little error. However, the Torrent will convert any spot colours into CMYK process again so spot colour reproduction can be very poor, there have also been instances where spot colour trap and overprint data has been lost within the conversion process resulting in elements of the file being hidden. This route is only acceptable if the customer never outputs spot colours.
The bullet proof route is to let the CtP/CtF rip carry out all the ripping and produce the final 1 Bit files, these files tend to be very large as they are TIFF with all the screened dot info, 1 file for each colour. All the proofing rips we sell have the optional ability to take in these 1 Bit TIFFs, merge them back into a single file, colour manage them (1 pixel at a time) and output them as a half tone dot proof. The system depends on having a powerful computer to carry out a great deal of work and a very high quality proofer to reproduce the dots on paper. The only proofers that can realistically do this are the Epson 7600/7800, 9600/9800, 4000/4800 and the lpi limit is about 175 line screen. Alternatively the GMG rip has the ability to take the 1 Bit TIFF and descreen to a contone proof whilst retaining all the other benefits of this workflow.
Q. PC turns itself on unexpectedly
A. Enter CMOS Setup and choose 'Power Management'. Check that 'Power on by modem' and 'Power on by alarm' are set to Disabled.
Q. The PC clock is losing time
A. Try restarting the PC to see if the clock corrects itself. If the time is really erratic then the CMOS battery on the mainboard may need to be replaced.
Q. What does degaussing do?
A. Some monitors may have a manual degaussing button and this should be used if a shadow has developed or the display becomes fuzzy. Degaussing will demagnetise the grill, which allows the electron beams to pass through freely.
Q. Notebook battery life has shortened
A. The battery may need to be calibrated. If the option is not present in the system set up, leave the notebook switched on in the CMOS Setup screen:
Restart the computer. On the first black and white screen as the computer starts you will see a message to press a key to enter Setup. As the setup screen is accessed prior to power management being loaded the system will only shut down when the battery is fully discharged. After doing this, charge the battery completely without interruption. It is good practice to carry out this procedure every month or so.
Some notebooks also have a specific discharge feature, often located on the BIOS exit menu, check the manual of the notebook for confirmation.
Q. Cannot hear some or any sounds
A. Check that the speakers volume control is raised and that there is power to them.
Are the speakers plugged into the speaker / line out socket of the sound card? Try the speakers in all possible sound sockets.
Double click the speaker/mixer symbol next to the clock and check that all volume controls are raised, selected and not muted. Balance controls should all be centered. If the symbol is not present, click Start | Programs | Accessories | Entertainment and choose Volume Control from the list.
Try the speakers from another audio device or from the front of the CD ROM (play an audio CD).
Q. Modem drops the connection
A. Test the connection without any other devices on the line. Close all other running programs- press CTRL-ALT-Delete on the keyboard for a list of currently running programs and End Task all except Systray and Explorer. Additional telecom services enabled on the phone may be interfering with the connection. Check the manufacturers website for a later modem driver. Check with your ISP to see if they automatically disconnect users after set periods.
If you are using a modem on a line that is used for a Burglar alarm (Redcare), the telephone exchange will monitor these lines by sending a
pulse down the line every few seconds to check if the line has not been
tampered with. While this will not have an effect with a telephone, it can
however affect a modems operation and therefore we would not recommend the use of these types of telephone lines.
Poor weather is a common cause Modem cable is too close to a Mains supply cable or equipment. Modem cable is too long, should be limited to approx 2 meters. Poor quality telephone extension cable used. BT has a system that automatically monitors the "Gain" of the telephone line and adjusts this accordingly. Although this should not normally cause any problems, sometimes connection difficulties may be experienced and it might be worth asking them to Switch this function off and manually set it.
Q. No Power to PC
A. Check the fuse in the power cable. Is there power to the monitor? Try the monitor power cable to the PC instead. Try holding the power button in for a number of seconds. Disconnect from the mains for a few minutes and then retry. Try powering up without anything other than the mains connected to the PC. Test the mains supply with another electrical appliance. If the PC runs from an ATX power supply consult the manual on how to clear the CMOS, it is advisable to talk to tech support before attempting this however
Q. Power but no display on starting up
A. Whilst turning on hold down the BIOS bypass key if supported- (for Chaintech motherboards this is the HOME key). If the PC emits a series of beeps on powering up check motherboard information for the alarm explanation. Alarms normally suggest that a component has come loose inside. If an additional component has been added, get the system back to as it was when previously working by removing it and then retry.
Q. The computer seems to be randomly crashing
A. Is there any particular operation that seems to make it crash e.g. printing, using modem, using a certain piece of software, when the PC is inactive? If so, try reinstalling the associated components. Are there any conflicts reported in device manager ? - Click Start | Settings | Control Panel and then double click on the System icon. Choose the Device Manager tab. Conflicts are indicated by coloured symbols next to the device. Run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter by clicking Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools. Are any programs constantly running in the background e.g. virus protectors? - try uninstalling any of these or press CTRL-ALT-Delete on the keyboard for a list of currently running programs. End Task all except Systray and Explorer.
Q. My iPod wont play any music, what do I do?
A. There are various reasons why your iPod may not work play music:
- Check to see if the Hold switch is on. It's located on the top of iPod.
When it's in the on position, you'll see an orange patch. To turn the hold switch off, slide it until you no longer see the orange patch. Then press any button to turn on iPod. - Make sure the battery is charged. if the battery is not charged, a low battery screen appears for about 3 seconds when you try to turn it on.
- If iPod still does not turn on or appears to be "frozen" you may need to reset it. When you reset iPod all your songs and files will be saved. However some customized settings may be lost. To reset the iPod follow the following procedure. Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.) Now press and hold the Menu and Select button for about 6 to 10 seconds until the Apple logo appears. If this fails to work the first time you may need to repeat this step.
- If the device is still inactive It may have a hardware fault and require further repair by one of our Apple trained technicians.
Q. When I turn on my Mac I get a flashing question mark, what do I do?
A. The flashing question mark is a warning to highlight the your Mac cannot locate a valid system, this could be due to a clash of system folders, a corrupt/missing system or a hard disk failure. To establish the fault, try:
- Restart your Mac from your system CD.
- Close any open windows.
- Locate and open the hard disk, if this is missing then your hard disk may have a problem, call our helpline for further assistance.
- Locate the System Folder. You should only have one System Folder. If necessary, rename any other "System Folder" you're not using. Don't rename "System" if Mac OS X is installed.
- Open the System Folder.
- Do one of the following:
i. If Mac OS X is not installed or is installed on a different volume than Mac OS 9, drag the System suitcase and the Finder to your hard disk icon. If you have more than one hard disk, drag the files to the hard disk where the System Folder is.
Ii. If Mac OS X is installed on the same volume or partition as Mac OS 9, create a new folder outside of the System Folder but on the same disk, then drag the System suitcase and the Finder to the new folder. - Close the System Folder.
- Drag the System suitcase and Finder back onto the System Folder icon. You should now see the System Folder has changed in its visual appearance.
- Select the folder in the Startup Disk control panel and restart the computer, your Mac should now restart successfully.
Q. I have just switched on my G5 and all I get is a grey screen, what do I do?
A. Restart the Macintosh holding down the alt key, this will invoke the startup manager and should allow you to select an installed start up system on the Mac. If the system available will not allow the Mac to restart then your only options are as follows
- Reboot from the system disk and run the disk utilities.
- Disconnect all peripheral devices, except for the Apple keyboard and mouse. This includes ADB, serial, USB, FireWire, SCSI, and PCMCIA devices. If this resolves the issue, connect one device at a time, restarting after each one, until you replicate the problem (observe any static handling procedures when handing electronic components) Please note, if the Macintosh is under warranty please contact your local service provider before following this step as you may forfeit any warranty on your product.
- Remove any third-party hardware upgrades such as memory (RAM), PCI cards. If this resolves the issue, add back one item at a time, restarting after each one, until you replicate the problem (observe any static handling procedures when handing electronic components) Please note, if the Macintosh is under warranty please contact your local service provider before following this step as you may forfeit any warranty on your product.
- Start up from your Mac OS X installation disc and perform a clean install from the installer menu. If installing a clean system be aware you may loose data that had been stored on the desktop due to any subsequent account name changes
Q. I cannot connect to the Internet, what do I do?
A. Follow this routine:
- Check your router or modem status.
- Check cables and connections.
- Check your phone line is operational.
- Check your service provider has not got a problem with their service.
- Clarify your Macintosh internal settings have not changed.
- Run any hardware test CD that you may have to check for any hardware failure.
Q. I get a flashing circular cursor when I try to switch from OS 9 to OS X, what do I do?
A. Chances are the Mac cannot find the following "etc" or "var" aliases required for starting in OS X. It’s possible that you may have deleted these files while working in OS 9. if these items were deleted, follow these steps:
- Shut down the computer if it is on.
- Press the power button to start the computer.
- Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and one of the following:
- The "s" key for single-user mode.
- The "v" key for verbose mode.
You have successfully entered single-user or verbose mode when you see white text appear on the screen.
- Type: mount -uw /
- Press Return.
- Type: ln -s /private/etc etc
If this alert appears: "File already exists," execute the following command, then repeat the last step: mv /etc /private/tmp/etc.delete
- Press Return.
- Type: mv /var /var.delete Nb. There is a space between "/var" and "/var.delete".
- Press Return.
If you see the message "No such file or directory," make sure that the spacing and spelling are correct, then repeat the last two steps. If you still see this message after the second attempt, continue to the next step. - Type: ln -s /private/var var
- Press Return.
- Type: ls -l | grep ">"
The character before "grep" is a pipe character ("|"), which is usually located above the Return key. - Press Return.
Look for these two items in the output:
lrwxrwxr-t  1 root  admin  {date} etc -> private/etc
lrwxrwxr-t  1 root  admin  {date} var -> private/var
If any of these are not present, repeat the necessary steps above until they are. - Exit single-user mode by typing: reboot & pressing Return.
Q. I have just upgraded to OS X and now I cannot see my printers, what do I do?
A. The printers are now configured using the Print centre in you system preferences, the chooser is no longer used.
1. For USB printers follow the steps below:
- Make sure the printer is connected to your computer, plugged in, and turned on.
- For Mac OS X 10.2.8 or earlier, from the Printer menu in the print dialog choose Edit Printer List. The Printer List window appears.
- For Mac OS X 10.3 or later, choose Show Printer List from the View menu. The Printer List window appears.
- Click the Add Printer button.
- Choose USB from the first pop-up menu.
- Select your printer from the list.
- Click Add.
- Close the Printer List window.
2. For network printers follow the steps below:
- Adding an AppleTalk or LPR network printer is very similar to adding a USB printer. In Step 4 above, you would choose AppleTalk from the pop-up menu. From there, the setup differs slightly.
- In order to see any Apple talk printers you must first enable AppleTalk option in the Network preferences panel.
- It is advisable to install the most up to date printer description file (PPD) that is available for your printer. These should be placed in the following location Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.proj
Q. Why is my laptop not charging?
A. Try the following steps:
- Verify that the wall socket you're using is working correctly. Plug in a known good appliance, such as a table lamp.
- Unplug the power adapter from the wall, and let it stand for a few minutes.
- Plug the adapter back in.
- If the adapter works after this its possible that the AC adapter's over voltage protection feature has activated. If it continues then get the adaptor checked ny one our service technicians.
- If the adapter still does not power the computer and you are using the AC plug (also known as a "duck head") with the power adapter, swap it for the power lead with the standard 3 pin plug.
- If this now works the adapter is fine, but the adapter's AC plug ("duck head") is faulty, please contact our service department for a replacement.
- If the adapter still fails to provide charge to the computer, it would indicate hardware failure of the unit and it would be advisable to contact our helpline, so that we can arrange for one of our service technicians to check the unit and order a replacement if required.
Q. My Mac keeps loosing the correct date and time, why is this?
A. Macintosh computers have a backup battery to maintain system settings when the computer is turned off, these system settings include the date and time. The battery may last up to five years. However, this varies due to the usage patterns of the computer. The batteries used in Macintosh computers are lithium or alkaline, and are commonly 3.6 V to 4.5 V. Contact our helpline and we can arrange a service technician to replace the battery.
Q. Why won’t my fonts work in OS X, they worked fine on my old Mac?
A. Fonts that are in your Mac OS 9 System Folder may not be available to Mac OS X 10.3 and OS X 10.4 applications until you select the System Folder in Classic preferences or start Classic.
Symptom
▪ Fonts are unexpectedly substituted in a Mac OS X application.
▪ Fonts you expect to be available to a Mac OS X application are not.
This can happen when your Mac OS 9 System Folder is on a different volume than Mac OS X, if there are multiple Mac OS 9 System Folders present, or if the font is a bitmap font or font suitcase that contains only bitmap fonts (please note that bitmap fonts are not available in Mac OS X).
Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 or later
Solution
Either start Classic before using the Mac OS X application, or follow these steps once:
- Quit any open Mac OS X application that needs the font or fonts.
- From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
- In the resulting dialog, click Classic.
- Click the Start/Stop button.
- Select your System Folder in the list of available folders, even if it is the only choice.
- From the System Preferences menu, choose Quit.
- Reopen a Mac OS X application. Your fonts should be available (except for bitmap fonts).
