Re: Kodak Approval and ICC
Re: Kodak Approval and ICC
- Subject: Re: Kodak Approval and ICC
- From: "joe borne" <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2000 17:13:04 -0500
I cannot speak to the issue of Kodak's overall attitude towards ICC from a
perspective of inside information. I can however speculate that it is simply
another example of a company grown so large that the left and right hands
are rare bedfellows.
I have also gone through the laborious process of working with the Approval
and I must sadly confirm the rep's answer about profiling. As a device that
uses a halftone dot, linescreen etc in a way that is meant to simulate
press, profiling can introduce unwanted factors. Most clients who demand an
Approval do so in order to actually check dot density and structure. If you
introduce a profile, it will modify the arrangement of color laydown in such
a way to invalidate the Approval's best feature. It is indeed better to work
the device the old fashioned way until you nail it down. The good news is
that it is very stable. You may need to re-linearize after new donor rolls
or servicing, but that is pretty simple.
The bad news is that spot colors (special recipe colors in Kodak-speak) are
a real nightmare, requiring hours of chart printing/reading/adjusting and
guesswork. The new "Lab-to-Kodak Density Clicks" converter tool makes it
easier, but it still sucks.
My advice is to establish the Kodak as the cornerstone of proofing in your
environment and then print out a profiling target on it. You can then create
a profile, not for use on the Kodak, but as a reference for other devices
like Epson printers to use for simulation.
One word of warning, in a flexographic environment, the Kodak Approval can
produce some very misleading results. This is a result of the opacity of the
dots the Kodak lays down in relation to the opacity of flexo press dots
using certain inks. I do not recommend this device in that environment.
--
Joe Borne
Color Consultant
(859) 282-0393
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Subject: Kodak Approval and ICC
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We just got an older "2-up" Approval model in and was trained on it by a
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Kodak rep. I watched as he set-up the SADs and ripped a benchmark file
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and entered in the target file info. The software on the RIP then looks
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at the two files and creates a dot-gain compensation file. He then
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ripped the file with the adjustments applied and it still needed quite a
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bit of tweaking to match our target. He then laboriously goes back into
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the target file and starts moving the curves in each channel rips
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another proof and does this all over again.
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I finally decided to ask him, "if we have the densities correct and the
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machine set-up where it should be, why couldn't we profile the Approval
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and be done?" (we have the equipment already to do this). His reply was
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that it needs the dot gain applied before you can profile it and
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recommended to stay away from ICC profiling with the Approval.
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My question is, have any of you used a Kodak Approval system and
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profiled it? Can you not build in dot gain in the profile? I was
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surprised with Kodak's (a major player in color) attitude towards ICC
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profiling and color management in general.
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Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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Randy Perkins
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Paramount Printing