Proofing roundtrip 1984 - 2001 (1)
Proofing roundtrip 1984 - 2001 (1)
- Subject: Proofing roundtrip 1984 - 2001 (1)
- From: Henrik Holmegaard <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 13:01:34 +0200
A quick morning coffee and a quick scrap on the List before the day's work -:).
What is a proof? Well, a proof is a prediction of what will come off
the press. The closest prediction is a wet proof, meaning a short
press run using actual process parameters. Otherwise, we must
simulate, and that leads into questions about the simulation pros and
cons of all sorts of printing systems ... and monitor systems, for
that matter.
The question is how many and how large trade-offs will each choice of
simulation system whittle off the predicability we are looking for?
Since the introduction of PostScript and the LaserWriter, discussions
have rolled this way and that over simulation on the desktop (: as
the desktop rules, there is no opposite, but never mind -:)).
a. the early approach was to outsource captures and separations from
scanner firmware device link conversions, try to print black and
white separation proofs inhouse on the LaserWriter as a simple form
of preflighting, and outsource photo laminate proofs at high cost and
long turnaround time, but the LaserWriter prints weren't color and
the photo laminate proofs weren't the right color,
b. the interim approach was to outsource captures and separations
from scanner firmware device link conversions, print color composites
on desktop printing systems with three types of substrate (often
called photo base, commercial base and publication base, intended
roughly to simulate high gamut offset, medium gamut offset and low
gamut offset), and use the Photoshop 4 concept of proofing which is
to send the CMYK for the simulation space into Lab and make the CRD
in the desktop printer separate to the full space of the desktop
color printer (as limited by the media and the CRD that corresponds
to that media combination),
c. the current approach is to have inhouse captures and stay
composite, using an on-they-fly conversion with modular device
profiles from a source RGB space via the simulation space to the
destination proofer space which has a gamut volume capable of holding
the simulation space and using a transform which does not displace
the colors to be rendered in facsimile (: if we don't change the Lab
to CMYK leg of the simulation profile -:)).