Initial ink load for profiling?

[W. Fisher]

I use both i1 PhotoPro 2 and basICColor for print profiles. The i1 Pro 2 spectrometer works with basICColor dropRGB 2 and their Catch 5 which is there paper profiler combo.

Using either software, once I scan the test sheets you see the little targets with the Before and After colors in the boxes (i1 Profiler shows the two triangles in the box, and basICColor shows two large side-by-side rectangles).

Here's the rub:

The After boxes seem a little light in color which I suspect is due to the Epson 3880 driver setting with Color Management OFF (for profiling) and not laying down enough ink perhaps? I raised the amount by 10% in the driver which made the colors in the test images a little darker and even more bold in color. This was with the basICColor program that I'm sorting through over the i1 Profiler.

So I'm guessing even with Color Management turned off during printing, my 3880 isn't applying enough ink for profiling unless I boost the amount in the driver? No mention of doing this prior to profiling. I did notice one Breathing Color paper (Silverado metallic) automatically assigned a -15% to the manufacture's profile which seemed odd.

Other than using QTR and going through setting up ink loading it (It's a RIP vs Epson's driver.), how does one know how much density to change in the Epson driver for making a profile? Trial and error or maybe try and match the density in the test prints if they appear too light before committing to making a profile off them?

Thanks.

W. FIsher

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm not familiar with the specifics of the 3880 driver settings, but turning off the ICC option would be the normal way. The target colors and actual colors don't need to match at this time, it's the job of the
profile to compensate that. If you think there is not enough ink on the paper, make a target print with the standard settings and one with the settings of your choice, then create the icc-profiles and inspect and compare them with an icc-profile viewer and check whether there are any relevant differences - e.g. a wider, greater gamut with one of the settings, if not it doesn't matter.
There are some issues with the ink density nevertheless - when you print pretty dark colors like a dark brown that would be a mix of almost the max ink of magenta and cyan, and exceed the short term absorption capability of the paper and you get ink puddles, that effect depends very much on the paper type, the coating.
And there is another effect, more ink does not necessarily mean a better color saturation, and even the opposite, less saturation, there is a point on the ink-saturation curve where the saturation may drop again with more ink, that is a saturation reversal effect, so you may not gain anything with more ink.
That's all theory, it all depends on the inks and the paper in combination, so only a look to that ink-saturation curve per color would reveal that. You would look into that in more detail when you run a linearization for a RIP defining the ink limits per channel.

 

[W. Fisher]

Yeah. I just tried adding 10% to the Epson driver with it set to No Color Management and printed out a second set of test targets. I use Qimage Ultimate as the print software as I don't trust PS on managing the printers, and basICColor Catch allows me to load its test charts into it with Qimage and I can let them dry overnight before reading whereas I have to use i1 Profiler for printing their targets.

However, new test with 10% load shows the density did go up a bit, especially in the dark blue, greens, and dark oranges. Didn't do much with the light cyan though which I hoped it would. Maybe too light a mix of the Light Cyan ink (i.e. Cone K3 LC ink)?

I'll see if I can post the basICColor test print without a ink load (Normal way we do it, and with color management OFF.) and one with 10% more ink for profiling. Another image shows the screen capture off Colorthink 3 where you can see the density improvement in the wireframe of the +10% ink load in the dark blue and bit of the orange (red/yellow) where the density did improve. Not too much difference in black Dmax difference though even with +10%.

I might try a 20% ink load and see what becomes of that. More gamut - short of ink puddles and bronzing - is better, no?

W. FIsher

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Yes, you got it, that's the way to get most out of your printer, inks and paper. There is one more pretty simple test - to print some test image with both profiles, and the matching driver settings, and check whether the difference between the gamuts make any difference in actual prints . And try 20% or the maximum, nothing would break. With matte papers it is typically possible to increase the ink density more than on glossy papers - o.k. with those I'm using. Dmax doesn't change - that's the point that more ink does not always makes a difference, but you won't know unless you play with the variables.

 

[W. Fisher]

Funny neither profiling software mentions anything about setting up an "ink load" prior to making a profile.

I always wondered about the little triangles within the small squares in i1 Profiler not matching and blamed it on the gamut and not the initial ink load. Seems they should address that first, maybe just some one page color density test for proper ink loading in the driver setup before making some bad (weak gamut) profiles?

Anyway, back to trying a +20% ink load now and see what ColorThink 3 makes of it.

Fwiw, basICColor Catch is interesting in their charts. They read from bottom right up and not top left down as in i1 Profiler. Plus, they have some black breaker bars between some of the lighter patches where the i1 charts don't. Guess they are there to not bleed over into the adjoining patch while scanning. Plus, the basICColor target row scan is slower (2-3 seconds per pass) too or else you get the red lights on the i1 PhotoPro 2 head.

I like that I can make the basICColor Catch targets via Qimage Ultimate and let them sit overnight to dry and then go back and read them much later. I always left i1 Profiler running and did the hair-dryer thing to keep my place rather than restart i1 Profiler later, re-calibrate, and maybe have some odd readings.

W. Fisher

 

[W. Fisher]

ColorThink 3 shows a bit more darker blues, greens, and brighter reds with a +20% more ink loading. However, the Dmax of the PK black is now reversing and rising from 8.0 to 8.25 so it may be past its peak. Guess maybe 15% is the max for this paper. Too bad there isn't a better and faster means to get to the proper amount of ink loads prior to profiling.

W. Fisher

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

No desktop printer - the A4 size models, and the majority of the typical A3 printers do allow an ink density setting at all, that is an option with the larger scale models, so lots of the users couldn't evern bother about it. And even with the option as you have it with your printer you just can make one global adjustment - better then nothing but still limited. You would have to bypass the driver alltogether and work with a RIP which allows you to control the ink channels individually. And there would be more - an ink limit setting per ink channel, and a total amount of ink when colors are mixed together which is typical for about every color. So you are right - it is a trial and error process to get the most out of the inks, printer and paper as you found out for the black already.