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Re: New Printer Specs
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Re: New Printer Specs


  • Subject: Re: New Printer Specs
  • From: Thomas Holm/pixl <email@hidden>
  • Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:51:37 +0100


On 21/02/2007, at 23.33, J Richter wrote:

I'm in the minority (though not alone) when it comes to wanting to print press-ready CMYK files with spot Pantone colors to your basic wide format Epson, and to expect an accurate proof.

That's proofing in a nutshell Jurgen.

My older Epsons only have CMYK inks and though one would think a CMYK file should print fine, it gets converted twice along the way from RGB in Camera to CMYK in Photoshop (reducing gamut once here) and then converting those CMYK files to its own format, (the printer interprets it as RGB and converts it to its own version of CMYK and other ink combinations) and generates the lousy output we are all getting without custom profiles and letting the specific applications such as Illustrator or InDesign or Quark handle the color management.

You are right but it sounds like you should dig a bit deeper as to why. I'll give you a few hints:
RGB is light (additive colors) , CMYK is an Object (Subtractive colors). You can't print with light, it takes ink and substrate (yes I know about lightjet and lambdas - prints are still Objects not light)
inkjet inks, for technical (and practical) reasons are very different from offset inks, but in regard to color they can't be similar to CMYK offset inks (please bear in mind that there are THOUSANDS of commercial offset ink-sets available that are not at all alike). A certain data will only print correct on the device it is generated for, and even then it's susceptible to several variables. Therefore the data needs to be converted to be able to be simulated (proofed) on a device with different characteristics.

RE: If you want inklimiting you have to go advanced and get a CMYK driver (often postscript is just an added bonus) for the simple reason that you send a different stream of data to the printer - CMYK as opposed to RGB in quickdraw/GDI.

I'm not sure why an alternative data stream such as CMYK data would be so difficult to offer as a 2nd driver to the standard RGB that comes with all printers. The inks are already there, just a matter of turning left or right when sending the file (provided the programming is there. - goes back to point one above, right?

Nope, it would be much more than twice the work of programming the driver. The RGB stream is because that is what's possible within the operation system (s). If you want to sent CMYK to a printer you need to program everything from scratch. AND you need to figure out the separation (distribution) of the inks internally in the printer. So let me ask you this: would it be worth to pay say 50% more for the printer for this possibility? Essentially that is what you do when you buy a RIP...


How many users would want this and is it worth spending the $ on the development of it?)

Well answer the above question...

Running Gutenprint on a Mac does let you do both - it is a RIP sort of printer driver along with many drop-down options that do let you set densities and ink limits. The big problem is no one has publicly posted any settings that are proven to work in any particular combination; and the fathers of Gutenprint are not savvy in color managed printing workflow. I truly wish they were, as that could make that driver a powerful and still free, alternative to commercial RIPs, as it's built into OSX.4 as an Apple default. The combinations of settings is just astronomical.

That's the thing about commercial packages isn't it? The companies you purchase them from (hopefully) are savvy in color and they have done most of the work for you.
Not wanting to discourage anyone but it is really a question of how much you value you own time.


As an analogy in the older days when I did remote profiles I encountered several photographers who would, rather than paying for a printer profile, spend literally hundreds of prints (at 1-2 $ per sheet) and almost as many hours to attempt to build a photoshop set of color corrections that would make their prints come out right - and in the end bought a custom profile anyway.

Now it's a pretty simple equation:
Consider who much your time is worth per hour either commercially or quality-time-with-the-family wise, what the cost per (trial) print is, and then consider when you will have had enough. Then check out the prices on a good commercial package that fit's your neds and put that on the other side of the scale...



Best Regards

Thomas Holm / Pixl Aps

- Colour Management Consultant
- Seminars speaker and tutor on CM and Digital Imaging etc.
- Apple Solutions Expert
- Member, ColorManagementGroup.com

- www.pixl.dk ยท email@hidden
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  • Follow-Ups:
    • Re: New Printer Specs
      • From: "edmund ronald" <email@hidden>
References: 
 >New Printer Specs (From: J Richter <email@hidden>)

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