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wolverine@MSU
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« on: December 14, 2009, 12:08:27 PM » |
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After creating a printer profile, PP supplies several parameters about the profile:
Exposure: 241.
Note: 2 patches marked with "X" are at minimum/maximum brightness.
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Printer/paper/ink dynamic range: 76.9
Printer/paper/ink coverage of Lab space: 11.6%
Smoothing required: 2 passes
Printer profile usable range: 0-255, 26-255, 0-255
Which of these is most important to optimize? For instance, another profile gave the following:
Exposure: 241.
Note: 3 patches marked with "X" are at minimum/maximum brightness.
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Printer/paper/ink dynamic range: 88.9
Printer/paper/ink coverage of Lab space: 15.9%
Smoothing required: 2 passes
Printer profile usable range: 51-255, 64-255, 51-255
The dynamic range and coverage of Lab space are higher in the second one, but the usable range is smaller. So which parameter(s) would one rely on in judging the quality of the profile?
As a side question, what does it mean in the second one that the lower limit of the usable range is only a minimum of 51? Is it that the original scan is lacking shadow detail? Can I improve on it by tweaking the scanner settings to bring out more shadow detail?
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Steve W
Newbie
Posts: 15
Philadelphia, PA area
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« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2009, 10:20:00 PM » |
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In my opinion the Printer Profile Usable Range is the most important given your values for the other items. The PP directions state that ranges between 0-255 and 26-255 are the most typical. In your second profile the values are considerably out of that range limiting the range of printed colors. All my profiles, as best I can remember, have a range of 0-255 for all three values. Also I like to get the Printer/paper/ink coverage of Lab Space at least 15% if possible. For glossy papers it usually runs 15-16% but for matte paper it is around 14%.
For your limited Printer Profile Usable Range you may be laying down too heavy ink when doing your printer target. What kind of values are you getting on the prism target. If they are real good then the problem must be with printing the target. What brand of printer and scanner? I am using both/either a Canon LiDE 200 or, more recently, an Epson V500. My printers are Canon - ip4200, ip4500, ip6000D. All my profiles with any combo of scanner/printer have good usable ranges (0-255).
Maybe Mike can give his opinion on what parameters are most important.
Steve W.
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admin
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« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2009, 11:23:30 PM » |
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Depends on a lot of factors. If I had to pick just one parameter, I'd probably pick the lab space coverage as being the best single indicator. When the values start getting below about 15%, it's usually an indication that either: (a) you are using matte paper or (2) there is a problem with the print or the scan. What type of scanner are you using and what printer/paper?
Regards,
Mike
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wolverine@MSU
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« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2009, 12:17:24 PM » |
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I'm using an Epson Perfection 1250 scanner, Epson R1800 printer with Injetfly inks printed on HP Glossy Roll paper (leftovers from a large-format HP printer). With other papers I have been able to get the usable range to 0-255 for all three colors (RGB). With the settings I use, the scanner is able to detect differences between 21, 22, and "23" on the IT-8 grayscale, and the profiler tells me I have "excellent shadow detail". It also tells me that I have only 3 boxes at Max/Min on the printer target. Could it be, as Steve W suggested, that there is too much ink? Would using the "bright" target improve things? I normally use gloss optimizer on my prints, so I printed the target with it; would it help to profile without the optimizer?
The profile actually prints quite nicely with a little tweaking in the editor, and with additional grayscale tweaks with AMS Color Darkroom, I can get a blackpoint of around 15 and a whitepoint of about 250.
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admin
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« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2009, 01:07:17 PM » |
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With that information, I would recommend trying to tweak the ink delivery. Yes, there could be too much ink. Since you are not using Epson paper, you might have to experiment with different paper types in the driver until you find one that works the best with that paper. Hopefully that will do it and you won't have to adjust ink intensities.
Mike
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wolverine@MSU
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« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2009, 02:00:07 PM » |
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Thanks Mike. I'll give it a try. I'm somewhat limited in my paper type choices because I want to print in "Photo RPM" resolution. I've chosen Premium Photo Paper Glossy, but my other choices for Photo RPM are:
Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster
Premium Photo Paper Semi-Gloss
Velvet Fine Art Paper
Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper
Any suggestions on which might work best?
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wolverine@MSU
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« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2009, 11:54:07 AM » |
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I printed the "InkDensity.tif" pattern with three different paper settings (Premium Photo Paper Glossy,Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster, and Premium Photo Paper Semi-Gloss) and they all printed exactly the same. I've checked "ICM" and "Off" in the printer driver, and turned color management off in Qimage (no profile selected). I tried reinstalling the R1800 printer driver, but that made no difference; all three gradients looked axactly the same. I'm stumped.
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