Re: New Printer Specs
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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