Hello,
I may be pressed to try to profile a print system that’s new to me - HP Latex ink printed onto fabric. These things are used to make giant murals & signage at trade shows. The fabric in question here is a heavy knit, but I know sometimes they use other fabrics & actually stretch them onto frames (I’m not even gonna ask this, but imagine - how do you profile a fabric that gets stretched?!).
Anyway, I have i1Profiler Publish, an i1iO (first version) and an i1Pro2 stand-alone. I am told the print vendor drives the printers with an Onyx RIP, and am trying to get to the production guy who actually operates it, to see if he can get my CYMK target files output without conversion. But I’m wondering whether my i1iO (or the i1Pro2) can handle reading output on fabric.
Does anyone here have any experience profiling these sorts of beasts? Any tips or guidance will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
John
Hi John,
We profile a lot of fabrics here, but we like to use other measuring equipment that allows us to use a polarizing filter. This kind of filter will direct the light so that the uneven surface of the fabric does not confuse the measurement. What this results in is a measurement that is slightly deeper, and can give better shadow detail, more definition to the blacks when printed. These instruments would include the Barbieri LFP, the Konica Minolta FD-7, the X-Rite eXact and the SpectroScan table.
You don’t have that luxury if you’ve got an i1Pro1 or 2, but you should still be able to get a good profile. Using a stretchy fabric you would just about have to go with measuring by hand using the i1Pro2 and the measuring ruler, since the IO would be likely to snag on the fabric when moving. Stretch the fabric the minimum amount that you have to in order to ensure that it lays flat, but in proportion, so that the target is not skewed. Tape it to a surface all around the edges so it does not move on you. Don’t forget to use white backing (like several sheets of paper) if the fabric will not fit into the regular measuring ruler-board.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for a very helpful reply!
Yeah, haven’t popped for a Barbieri yet 
So if I pursue this, will try the i1Pro2 on manual route. It remains to be seen if I can even get their “pressman” to configure the Onyx RIP to pass thru a CMYK file ‘unmolested’. It’s a challenge to do this remotely.
Anyway, appreciate the good advice.
Regards,
John
