Make press profile without press profiling kit from Chromix

General Color & Graphics Press Calibration & Profiling
1

Our product does not allow enough space for the target found at www.chromix.com for press profiling.

I was wondering if you could make a profile from a custom “target” of sorts that we use for RIP curve adjustment.

The profile would be used to give to our graphics department to proof with.

The file consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue and Black patches at the following percentages:

2%
4%
5%
6%
8%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%

Also on the image are gray patches from 25% to 75% in 5% increments.

The image is printed to TR001 ink densities and gain.

Alternatively, I could supply Lab* values for each patch in a text file, I would only need to know how to format it.

2

At 7:37 AM -0700 7/12/05, SonyDADC wrote:

Our product does not allow enough space for the target found at www.chromix.com for press profiling.

we should probably talk about that. There are alternatives…

I was wondering if you could make a profile from a custom “target” of sorts that we use for RIP curve adjustment.

not really. You would think so but profiling software really needs a wide range of patches and not just channel ramps.

The profile would be used to give to our graphics department to proof with.

a great use of it.

The file consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue and Black patches at the following percentages:

2%
100%

Also on the image are gray patches from 25% to 75% in 5% increments.

The image is printed to TR001 ink densities and gain.

that’s good to hear

Alternatively, I could supply Lab* values for each patch in a text file, I would only need to know how to format it.

these two ingredients are enough for profiling software to proceed with building a profile but I am certain that you wouldn’t be happy with the results. How the overprints work / look and how black blends with the other inks in the neutrals and shadows are essential information to building a good profile.

We can talk offline or here on the forum about different target options. We’ve profiled narrow label presses, wide screen presses, long strips from photo processors, etc. We have the ability to create targets of just about any size and shape you need.

What are the limitations (dimensions) of your printing process?

Regards,

Steve

o Steve Upton CHROMiX www.chromix.com
o (hueman) 866.CHROMiX

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3

Steve,

I’m comfortable discussing it here, our process is not a secret and perhaps our conversation will assist someone in my situation!

I’ve plotted the ramps to a color list and viewed them with ColorThink, and I can see the lack of information; I’m surprised so many companies will create (and sell) a profile built from only this information!

Our product is a 120mm circle, with a 20mm chunk taken out of the middle. (Sounds suspiciously like a CD doesn’t it?) :wink:

I use an X-Rite instrument (528) with a 2.0mm aperture, and I’m confident that I can get at least 180 patches in the well-controlled area of our print. (The edges and extreme head/tail are poor places for measurement as a result of the limitations of our ink train)

If you can supply an EPS (or PDF) that I can hack apart, I’ll even make the image myself if that saves you the trouble.

about our process

Our proofs were derived from a screen-printing 5-color halftone process, as you can imagine our offset (waterless on a non-absorptive substrate) process had a tough time meeting SID’s and gains!

Our engineering team has made great strides towards standardizing our output to SWOP; and now graphics is on board with a brand new proofer and color management team waiting in the wings. (To take your profile and “ruin” their beautiful proof!)

4

At 9:56 AM -0700 7/12/05, SonyDADC wrote:

Steve,

I’m comfortable discussing it here, our process is not a secret and perhaps our conversation will assist someone in my situation!

cool

I’ve plotted the ramps to a color list and viewed them with ColorThink, and I can see the lack of information; I’m surprised so many companies will create (and sell) a profile built from only this information!

yeah, pretty sparse isn’t it.

Our product is a 120mm circle, with a 20mm chunk taken out of the middle. (Sounds suspiciously like a CD doesn’t it?) :wink:

we’ve profiled such CD-like products in the past and, in fact, have a target set for just such purposes. it is on multiple CD’s so you need to be confident about the consistency between CD’s

I use an X-Rite instrument (528) with a 2.0mm aperture, and I’m confident that I can get at least 180 patches in the well-controlled area of our print. (The edges and extreme head/tail are poor places for measurement as a result of the limitations of our ink train)

well, that would be another way of doing it but rather painful I would think…

If you can supply an EPS (or PDF) that I can hack apart, I’ll even make the image myself if that saves you the trouble.

about our process

Our proofs were derived from a screen-printing 5-color halftone process, as you can imagine our offset (waterless on a non-absorptive substrate) process had a tough time meeting SID’s and gains!

Our engineering team has made great strides towards standardizing our output to SWOP; and now graphics is on board with a brand new proofer and color management team waiting in the wings. (To take your profile and “ruin” their beautiful proof!)

well, If you want me to send the target set over we can use it as part of our press profiling service (in reality it would not be exactly like a press profile as we would not be averaging but the press profiling pricing would apply to this special case)

I assume you have the downloaded Press Profiling kit?

Regards,

Steve

o Steve Upton CHROMiX www.chromix.com
o (hueman) 866.CHROMiX

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5

Consistency between CD’s isn’t really a problem, as long as there are CMYK patches in the image that we can get SID’s from. (Unseparated) Our machines are remarkably consistent from setup to setup and not much of anything will really affect gain unless something is terribly wrong.

My only concern was that your test target (on the website) was obviously designed to be fed into an automated reader of some kind; a disc wouldn’t allow this automation so wherever I could save you time would be best.

I have downloaded the kit, and it all sounds good… are your disc targets including all 875 patches? My only concern is if the design uses the entire surface of the disc, it may be a less than accurate reading at the extreme edges and head/tail.

6

Steve,

I have created a two-disc set that contains all the patches in your “Press Profiling Kit” image.

I am comfortable making the press prints and I am comfortable making the measurements myself as well.

My question is; what kind of information from each patch would you need in order to create the profile? (My manager is uncomfortable letting the discs themselves go out the door, so measurements would be the best I could provide to you…)

I’m not looking for a discount nor is there an ulterior motive in place; the product you would be profiling is not yet available to the industry and we want extremely tight control over it’s distribution at this point.

Any help you can provide in the way of measurement data (Lab*/spectral data/whatever) required by your profiling software is appreciated.