Canon USA Digital Solution Forum '01 reviewed
Canon USA Digital Solution Forum '01 reviewed
- Subject: Canon USA Digital Solution Forum '01 reviewed
- From: Scott Olswold <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 22:23:50 -0500
>
>>>>DISCLAIMER<<<<<<
I work for a company that sells Canon USA products, and the post below deals
with Canon-branded products. It is not, however, a sales pitch. I am a
graphics guy/support professional and don't really care where things come
from, so long as they work as expected. This is all FYI.
>
>>>END DISCLAIMER<<<<
I went to the Canon USA "Digital Solution Forum '01" today. Aside from the
run-o-the-mill office automation/productivity stuff, there was some really
nice product involving color.
First on my list of "hope it lives up to expectations" is a profiling
software/hardware package that is being developed by Canon USA (probably
under the auspices of another programming group from another company...I
don't know, but it has the Canon label on it). It uses an automatic
sheet-fed spectro (with UV filtering--wink wink), similar to one I've seen
from Gretag-Macbeth to measure 256 (??-I never counted) patches to profile 2
output devices. Here's its methodology:
Most of us proof on one type of printer, but run production on another. One
component of the software uses the data from the spectro to build profiles
for both devices (in a bizarre naming twist, it creates a "source" profile
for the proofer and a "destination" profile for the final output device).
These profiles are then passed onto another module that runs your print data
(NOTE here: the incoming color data must be untagged and unmanaged--I can
hear the grumbling from the other side already). What happens is the
software runs everything into CIELab, no matter what color space it arrived
in (how this happens, I have no idea). Then, it converts first into the
source space, into a PCS (CIELab?? CIE XYZ??--I'm waiting on an answer
here), and then into the destination space. It does not preserve the black
channel (or so it seems, anyway--the booth operator wasn't sure). And then
it sends it to the proof printer.
The output that I saw, converted to a destination profile for a web offset
press, a CLC 5000, a BJW9000, and an Iris and printed to a CLC 1100, looked
very good; each output came very close to each destination device's output
of the same file. The Canon rep also told me that the source and destination
could be any printer, so long as it used only 4 inks/toners. Hex/HiFi and
CMYKcm wasn't supported. Bummer.
Second was a product from Contex. It's a wide-format scanner/scan
software/software RIP combination. It does a really good job at what it
does, too. Although it has limited application: the wide format bunch. It is
open ICC, and can create both scanner and printer profiles internally
(although printer profiles are scanned via their scanner and not a
third-party spectro, so we're relying on CCD capture with no UV filters). It
is output device independent, not married to a Canon BJW.
Not much else, but the Canon BubbleJet inkjets (the consumer stuff) was
pretty good for a bunch of printers under $200 US. The CanoScans weren't too
bad, either. Both did justice to my little boy's picture.
Scott Olswold
Senior Systems Support Engineer
MCSE, CNA 5, A+, Adobe Expert User (Photoshop and PageMaker)
Danka Office Imaging