The 3M edition of Flexi is for users who want to print regulation traffic colors on reflective vinyl for road and traffic signs. This version of Flexi comes with special color profiles that are developed by 3M for very specific printers. Following these steps will guarantee that Flexi is setup correctly to produce colors that meet regulation standards.

You can find a downloadable .pdf document at the end of this article.

Step One: Create Printer Setups

Select your HP Printer, then the default setup beneath it, then click the green plus symbol to the left. Name it the same as the 3m reflective material you are printing on. Click Finish. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each 3M reflective material you expect to print on. Do not replace the default HP Latex setup.

4. For each setup you just created, click the little down arrow and select Default Job Properties. At the top, select the corresponding preset. Then verify the following information:

1. Click the third tab, the color profiles tab. Verify that the name of Output Profile and Media match the same 3M Material as the preset.
   • Check for “v3” at the end of each the Output Profile and the Media. Then check that you have the same profile on your HP printer media library. You MUST be using v3 to produce accurate traffic colors with Flexi. If you do not have v3 color profiles loaded on your printer, contact your reseller.
2. Click Color Mapping and verify that there are Traffic colors listed in the resulting window.
3. Close the Color Mapping window and then click OK to confirm and close the default job properties windows.

Step 2: Setting up Flexi

In Flexi, go to Edit > Preferences, then click the Tools tab, find Rip&Print on the left, then select “Always use Production Manager settings, then hit OK.

Step 3: Printing

When you have completed the above steps, you are ready to print. From now on, your workflow will be a little bit different than normal. When you open up the RIP & Print window, simply select the printer set up at the very top left corner and choose which material you are printing on. Flexi and Production manager will automatically select all the settings you will need for that material.

If you wish to print on non-reflective material, just select the default HP Latex option in that list.

Creating a Test Print for Traffic Colors

To create a test print for all the traffic colors, you can either create it in the design with the corresponding traffic spot colors, or you can use the Test Print option in Production Manager.

1. Select the Printer Setup you created earlier with the corresponding material you are printing on.
2. Go to Setup menu > Test Print. This will send to your printer a test print with all the traffic colors.