Re: UCR/GCR revisited
Re: UCR/GCR revisited
- Subject: Re: UCR/GCR revisited
- From: Todd Shirley <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:57:07 -0400
On Jun 8, 2008, at 9:33 PM, email@hidden wrote:
Today's robust Profile Generation Apps give the user complete control
in defining neutral axis inkings (i. K start; ii) max K; iii) TAC;
iv. K curve shape) as well as control of off-axis K generation
(typically a slider between "Light" and "Heavy"). These controls
completely define and embody an overall Black Generation Strategy.
There is no need to invoke terms whose days have come and gone.
Although "Today's robust Profile Generation Apps" give users a VARIETY
of different black generation controls, my experience is that
"complete control" is rather elusive. Specifically, I've had
difficulty creating profiles for 4/C black & white images (quadtones),
where I want an extraordinarily strong black.
I've spent a lot of time with 3 profiling apps: Monaco Profiler,
ProfileMaker Pro and basiCColor. Of the 3, only Monaco Profiler allows
the user to create a totally custom curve shape for black generation,
however it doesn't seem to always correspond to how the final profile
creates separations. For both PM Pro and basiCColor, "max black"
appears to mean a perfectly linear black generation (straight line
from 0 to 100), and really when I try to create a "convex" black
generation in Monaco the resulting profile behaves pretty similar to
this "linear black" as well. In all three apps, once you have picked
the "max black" option, any kind of slider for "black width" or "GCR"
does essentially nothing, I assume because it can't really add more
black at that point.
I understand that these options are more than adequate for any kind of
color images, and I also understand that software makers might not
want to include options for even more extreme black generation because
it would just provide users with a way to make profiles that don't
work for color images, but it does make it rather difficult to create
an ICC profile for 4/C black & white images.
Just to be clear, I'm talking about an RGB image where all three
channels are equal or very nearly equal to create a neutral or near
neutral image. I'm trying to create a profile that brings that into
the GRACoL_coated1 CMYK gamut and has a ridiculously strong black
generation. Ideally, if the image is totally neutral I would like
black to be the ONLY channel up to about 20-25% and then CMY could
start. I cannot create such a profile with any of the three apps I've
tried. I've gotten the best results from Monaco by creating what
appears to be a freakishly strong black curve, but then I get strange
results where M & Y lead cyan when the CMY does come in.
Does anybody know of a better way to create quadtone profiles? Am I
crazy to want a quadtone option in my profiling application?
-Todd Shirley
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