There are many variables to consider in the area of proofing and, unfortunately, much of it gets forgotten in the busy world of printing. Let's look at the options and the areas of concern.

If you are one of the millions of people that think converting to CMYK simply means going to Image / Mode / CMYK and viola you have a CMYK image ready for press, you may want to think again. The reality is that there are numerous flavours of CMYK, from Web to Sheetfed and coated to uncoated. Simply choosing the default may not be your best choice. The goal is to target your image using the correct flavour of CMYK. But what are the specific printing conditions or flavours? Lets break them down.

We all know the Holy Grail for every printer is to print jobs quickly and efficiently, to match the proof, to use as little ink as possible and to have a minimal amount of wastage, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case. Proofs don’t always match, jobs get pulled off press and clients are asked to wait and are given more bad coffee.

An idea is born and the journey of a pixel begins. A single pixel will take on many forms until it finds its final resting place. Lets follow this pixel throughout its journey and watch the colour transformations it takes along the way.

Our pixel emerges from a dream as light is captured onto the camera’s sensor: R6, G84, B244 is born. For those of you who don’t speak RGB, it’s a beautiful, out-of-this-gamut blue. It’s one of those colours designers dream of and printers long for. This little pixel life has just begun, but it still has a long way to go.

Deciding what RIP software to utilize can be a difficult decision when you consider there are over 40 RIPs available and within the 40 there are a variety of market segments. Finding one RIP that can do it all can be challenging. For many digital imaging users there is the need to print full gamut RGB images from digital captures and also to be able to print CMYK files, as they would appear on an assortment of press conditions.

Many RIPs suggest they can accomplish all the above but often fail in one of the two areas. I have worked with several RIPs and to date very few are able to print both RGB and CMYK files with a high degree of accuracy.

One of the RIPs I keep coming back to is ProofMaster (www. proof master. net). This RIP is easy to use, produces very accurate results, works on a Mac or a PC and can print to two printers simultaneously. Having a Mac RIP is great for digital photographers and graphic designers; no need to figure out Windows networking and file sharing protocols.

Product Overview

ProofMaster exists in 3 levels: Entry-level, Professional-level and Professional-level including I-bit proofing. Within each level, there are different versions of ProofMaster, which can drive printers of different sizes.

Entry Level: OSX Only
Adesso: Desktop Printers, 13" x 19" sheet (A3+). Drives only one printer.
Adesso Plus: Desktop Printers, 17" roll. Drives only one printer.
Pro Level: OS X and PC
Folio: Desktop Printers, 17" roll. Drives two printers. (1) 17" printer and (1) 13"
Mezzo: Wide Format Printers, 24" roll. Drives two printers. (1) 24" printer and (1) < 17"
Grande: Wide Format Printers, >36" roll. Drives two printers. (1) 36" printer and (1) < 24"
Pro Level 1-bit: OS X and PC
Dalmatian: Wide Format Printers, >36" roll. Drives two printers.
Additional options include: PDF export and a Certify Proof option.

Usage Installation and usability is very straightforward, being on a Mac makes the networking and file sharing extremely simple. The one area I found challenging was the naming of the supplied profiles. It was tough to understand how the names applied to various media and resolution options. In most cases, to get the most accurate output it will be necessary to create custom media profiles so the above point may not be an issue with your setup.

The RIP allows for up to 16 different queues per printer. This is usually enough, as most users will have two medias, two resolutions and RGB and CMYK output requirements. When setting up a queue the user is asked if the new queue will be a proofing or a photo queue. The Colour Proofing queue will incorporate a reference profile to reduce the gamut of the inkjet to match the colour capabilities of the press. In a Photo Printing queue the maximum gamut of the media is used in colour reproduction. The Photo option is great for fine art printers and photographers looking to get the maximum colour punch possible.

The rips all offer spot colour matching, nesting (the ability to gang lmages up on a page) and various production tools for rotating and cropping. If your company is sending out for proofs you could consider setting up in-house proofing. The software and printers have matured and the prices have come down in the last few years. It is possible to have extremely accurate proofs for under $5,000.00. The best reasons to bring proofing in-house are: greater control, better turn around times, reduced costs and greater customer satisfaction.

One of the main reasons a company does not want to bring proofing in-house is the extra responsibility. Most do not want to be the one responsible for the proo£ If you're concerned about quality, be sure the RIP has the ability to quickly and easily verifY the proo£ The verification process is usually accomplished by measuring a colour bar with a device such as an Eye-One or a Pulse. The measurements are then compared to a reference and the results are displayed and printed on a label that can be affixed to the proo£

In today's digital workflow it is not enough to give your clients a CD and expect their monitors to match yours and for them to approve a layout from your un-calibrated printer. It is essential that a true reference of the digital file accompany the CD. The best option is to supply an accurate inkjet print and the best way to accomplish that is to invest decent RIP and printer.

Pantone has released a new product for monitor calibration called the huey, developed in conjunction with GretagMacbeth. The interesting part of this story isn’t that we have another monitor calibration program in an already crowded market, but that it costs less than $100 (CDN). This is bottom-of-the-barrel pricing for a monitor calibrator. Previously, the lowest priced unit available was the GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display2 for $265. The purpose of this review is to determine how well this product compares to more expensive calibrators. Is it up to the challenge?

Product Overview and Notable Features:

The first thing that I noticed was that the device is very small, not much bigger than my index finger. It does feel cheap compared to the more robust Monaco or Gretagmacbeth products, mainly due to the thin USB cable and its light weight.

Another interesting feature is the ambient light monitoring option. When the huey is placed in its cradle and connected to the computer via the USB port, the software will compensate for changes in room lighting. I can see this being a positive option for gamers or web shoppers, but not for photographers or graphic designers who need more consistency. A changing component in the process is asking for trouble.

This is the by far the easiest calibration software I’ve ever used to calibrate and profile a monitor. Anyone can calibrate his or her screen with no understanding of colour management. It only takes a total of 5 minutes to complete.

Once the huey software is installed, you can’t use another calibration package. Huey takes over your ICC profiles and will always use one of its own profiles, even if you try to change to another vendor’s profile. The only way to use other profiles is to uninstall the product Testing was limited to the Mac.

You can’t calibrate two monitors on one system—huey can only control one at a time. You can use huey to calibrate another monitor on a separate computer, then disconnect the device and return it to your main display.

Profile quality

This product is not aimed at the high-end user looking to save a few bucks. If you’re serious about your work and the quality of your product, then this isn’t for you. Huey is targeted to the mid-range consumer looking for a quick and easy fix. Consider the cost to regain a client’s confidence and then consider if $300 is too much to spend so you can have confidence in what you sell.

My evaluations have been restricted to LCD monitors, as this is the trend in displays. The first profile was done on a new Dell 17” LCD. I evaluated both Mac and PC platforms. The end result was a profile that I could not use. The area of highest concern was the abrupt transition at the shadows. Posterization is the word that comes to mind. Colour was too green as well.

The second monitor was a three-year-old Mac G4 Powerbook 17”. This one was not as bad as the Dell LCD, but again it was not a profile I could use. The biggest area of concern was that the overall colour was too yellow, as seen in the gray balance.

The last monitor was a 2.5-year-old 23” Cinema Display. On this monitor the huey did a decent job. Colour was similar to the Monaco OPTIX XR Pro. The gamma was a bit higher resulting in a brighter representation on screen. The grays were neutral and it could be used for informal colour-correction work.

Based on the four systems and three monitors tested my, conclusions are that the product works well on a high-end monitor and not so well on less expensive LCD’s. The dilemma with this product is that those owning less expensive monitors will be the ones that purchase – and that may lull those not familiar with colour management into a false sense of security. “I’m calibrated because I have used my huey.”

Sure, it can make your screen look different, but four out of five monitors that I tried looked worse—to the point were I could be making some very inaccurate adjustments. If I wasn’t so involved in colour management (verifying images, evaluating gray scales calibrating over 200 monitors in the last few years) I would give the huey two out of five stars.

I predict that within three years, we’ll be viewing more proofs on press via a flat-screen colour monitor than with a hard copy proof.

Consider these facts: At a recent conference in Hong Kong, TIME, Inc. unveiled their proofing goals – to eliminate hard-copy proofs in Asia in the next year and in the U.S. within the next two years.

Eliminate the hard proof? If that seems difficult for you to believe, you may want to continue reading.

What is soft proofing?

“The idea of soft proofing is to replace the traditional paper-based proofing method in order to create a more effective, full digital workflow. By using the monitor, colour decisions can be made to accurately match what images look like when proofed or when printed on press.” (Shaffer, J. 2005, ‘Instant Gratification’, American Printer, July issue, pp. 40 - 47)

Right now, the major obstacle in the acceptance of monitor proofing is actually the lack of understanding and not the technology. It’s been proven by the GATF via its SWOP Certifications of various soft-proofing systems that the technology works. Currently, 20 of the 60 certified proofing systems are display/monitor-based proofing systems.

What are the advantages of our current LCD monitors?

1) Jitter free, translates into sharper images
2) No RFI interference. Less image degradation.
3) Significantly more luminance/brightness. This translates into increased dynamic range.
4) Less reflection translates into better shadow detail in brighter environments.

What are the reasons to implement Soft Proofing?

1) Deadlines are getting shorter. Offset printing is becoming on-demand printing.
2) To make money today you need to focus on a global market, not just the local market.
3) To be competitive you need to be working efficiently – getting the job delivered faster with fewer steps.

A recent GATF study showed that 70% of print buyers would use soft proofing if it was as accurate as a hard proof.

In a traditional hard proofing workflow, the average approval time is 2 1/2 days.

1) Hard proofs are printed.
2) Proofs are delivered.
3) Client reviews them.
4) Mark up and deliver back to printer.
5) Prepress makes corrections.
6) Then we repeat steps 1-5 again, if required.

In a soft-proofing workflow, approval can be granted in hours.

1) Job is uploaded to an ftp site or a central soft-proofing system.
2) Client reviews and makes annotations.
3) Printer is notified if a change must be made and makes the necessary corrections.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 as required.

Additional benefits to a soft-proofing workflow:

1) Avoids delays due to weather or natural disasters.
2) Ability to track electronically all document changes.
3) Lower costs.
4) Less chance of a substrate mismatch.

What are the negatives to viewing and approving images on screen?

1) Proper monitor calibration at both printer and client is required.
2) Proper viewing environment must be set up for viewing area.
3) High bandwidth required: T1 line required for printer and DSL or cable for client.
4) Initial costs for implementation: new hardware and software.
5) Overcoming psychological need to have a psychical proof in hand.

Soft-proofing options:

1) ICS: Remote Director.
2) KPG: Matchprint Virtual Proofing System.
3) Creo Synapse Insite.
4) Dalim Dialogue.
5) CGS ColorTuner Soft-proof.

The current status of soft proofing can be visualized by the graphic below. With all technological introductions, industries go through phases of acceptance. Soft proofing is currently in between the Early Adopters and Early Majority phase. It should only be another 6-10 months before we’re into the phase where the majority of users are comfortable with this form of proofing,

The hard proof will never go away entirely, but it’s certain that in many workflows soft proofing will be a dominant and viable method of proofing. Don’t hold out and be labeled a traditionalist. Many of the current soft-proofing systems offer demo options to try before you buy. Set up a selected group of customers and test the waters first.

I’ve been reading about this printer for a few months and everything I’ve read has been overwhelmingly positive. So I called HP and asked for a demo to be sent to my office for testing. Upon receiving the printer, I was immediately surprised by the size of the box. Pictures can be deceiving and I was not prepared for how big this printer is. It’s a large desktop model that comes in a box the size of a refrigerator. So be prepared to have a loading dock or lift-gate when receiving it!

Setup

Unpacking and setting things up were fairly straightforward. The manuals covered everything very well. I went straight to the Quick Start Guide -– that was all I needed. One small point is that this printer comes with a USB cable. Thank you HP for this small but appreciated extra step. Take note EPSON.

After setting up the printer, it’s recommended to calibrate all the medias you plan to use. Calibration was very easy. Just launch the Calibrate Utility, select the media you want to calibrate and the printer goes to work, printing and measuring colour bars. The calibration is an extremely useful feature that should be always be activated when you first receive the printer or after replacing a print head.

Specifications

The HP Designjet 130 is able to print up to 24” wide by 50’ with resolutions up to 2400 dpi and a 4-picoliter ink droplet size. The new dye-based inks are redesigned to offer much longer print life/fading than traditional photos. The printer can accept media up to 80 lbs. and offers a roll with an automatic cutter or a standard tray for sheet-sized media. The NR model includes an automatic roll-feed option as well as the Jetdirect 620n internal printer server.

Print Quality

The print quality from the HP Designjet 130 is as good or better than any printer I’ve tested. Where it excels is in its ability to print very dark, rich blacks. The darker blacks translate into more lifelike pictures because of the larger dynamic range. Larger than what, you ask?

I measured various prints using my X-Rite Spectrophotometer and came up with a series of L* measurements (L* is the L in Lab and is now used as a better measurement value than density. The lower the number the darker the black.)

Having a darker black increases the dynamic range of the print, producing a more brilliant and more realistic-looking print. In many images, it makes a big difference. The HP 130 printer produces the blackest black I’ve measured to date.

Epson is going the way of pigmented inks to reach the goal of longevity. But this comes with the price of a more limited color gamut than dye-ink-based solutions and is also limited in the black level you can reach. It’s also known that Epson mainly rules on matte papers while their glossy print show quite a bit of bronzing (this may change with the release of their new 7800 and 9800 and their K3 ink-set). HP decided to stay with dye inks utilizing improved formulas and uses swellable media papers that protect the inks from outside influences.

All this is reason enough to have a closer look at the HP Designjet 30/130 printers. The Designjet 30 can print up to 13 x 19” and costs about $900 (a clear competitor to the Epson 2200). The Designjet 130 can print up to 24” wide and starts at $1,600 (competes with the Epson 4000).

Learning about colour management and how it can help prepare images for large-format printing processes is the only way to avoid these pitfalls.

As I write, I am spending a few hours in an airport, an appropriate place to evaluate the state of today’s signage, with its combination of backlit, vinyl, and paper-based displays. Most of the images are printed very well, but a few have problems with contrast, poor colour reproduction and image resolution.

The biggest surprise is a large backlit ad for a German automotive company, presenting their flagship car. The chassis of the vehicle is a rich black, but the gravel road, normally grey, has taken on a strong green shade.

Grey is one of the strongest ”memory colours” (colours with a preconceived context) for viewers, and must remain neutral. It has very little latitude to be presented in the wrong fashion, compared to other “memory colours”, such as “fire truck” red or “sky” blue. For most people, seeing the car driving along a green gravel road will take away from the intended emotional response: a desire to own and drive the car.

Calibration and profiling

The large-format print must depict what the client wants. Therefore, signmakers must be able to trust what they see on their computer screen to be accurately reproduced when printed, or they run the risk of wasting time, material and ink and losing customers.

The way to achieve this holy grail of print production is the proper calibration and profiling of your monitor, which means setting it to specific industry standards for brightness, contrast, gamma and colour. Accepted values for printing and sign making are: .4 for black, 95 for the brightness of white, a 2.2 gamma and 6500K for the colour temperature of white. Re-calibrating is simply resetting the device to these established values every 30 days or so.

Profiling your monitor measures how your particular monitor interprets colour. Every monitor is different, and applications like Photoshop need a description of how a monitor sees colour so it can transparently compensate for your monitor’s limitations.

Today’s monitor calibration packages, costing from $250-$500, are much more user-friendly than previous editions, and work with all platforms and monitors.

Soft-proofing

With Photoshop’s soft-proofing feature, the on-screen appearance of an image is adjusted to match how it will look when printed, without changing the pixel values within the image.

Frequently an image is viewed on a calibrated and profiled monitor that provides more contrast and a wider colour gamut than the corresponding print media can reproduce. Soft-proofing capabilities allow the image to be ‘dumbed-down’ on-screen to match the narrower gamut of the output device.

Another feature called “paper white” allows the user to match the media’s white point. The ‘catch’ with this option is the need for an accurate International Color Consortium (ICC) profile describing the device to be targeted (see Figures 1 and 2).

Image optimization

There are numerous options available for adding contrast to an image, with the most obvious being the brightness and contrast controls. However, the danger of this feature is it discards highlight and shadow detail. A better option is to use the levels or curves option, which allows images’ tonal range to be maximized without losing any important detail.

This process can be carried out by opening levels and looking at the image’s histogram. If the image is lacking in contrast, the histogram will resemble the image in Figure 3, with gaps at one or both ends of the histogram.

Moving the triangular icons in to meet the black edges will reset the white and black points. If the image’s black point is at 85 per cent, for instance, the image will look flat. Instead, the blackest point in the image should be 100 per cent black.

It is important not to go past the edge of the histogram. Doing so will only darken areas of the image where important detail can be lost.

An alternative method to add contrast involves the “unsharp mask”(USM) filter. Using this with the values shown in Figure 4 will add an additional level of contrast to an image. Increasing the values amplifies the effect, but it is important not to overdo it, to avoid ‘halos’ around images.

Traditional image sharpening with the USM tool is still required and should be performed as a final step. Traditional values for the USM filter are:

Amount: 75 to 150

Radius: 0.7 to 1.5

Threshold: 0 to 5, for a 300 pixel-per-inch (ppi) image

Optimal base resolution for large format printing

Viewing distance plays a major role in determining the required resolution. An alternate method to determine the best image resolution is to first determine how far away the average viewer will be viewing your print. You can reduce the resolution by a third for every 6 feet we move away from a print.

One method to determine the optimal image or base resolution required for an image file in large-format printing is to divide the output resolution by three. For example, if an output device can print at 360 dots per inch (dpi), 120 dpi is the required image or base resolution for your file printing on a device that prints at 360 dpi.

For example, starting with 360 dpi as maximum resolution, an image to be viewed from 1.8 m (6 ft) away could be printed at 240 dpi. If the viewing distance were 3.6 m (12 ft), however, the image’s resolution could be lowered to 120 dpi, because the human eye cannot see 360 ppi of detail from 3.6 m (12 ft) away.

File preparation tips

1. Convert all fonts to curves. Include the fonts with the file, in case a small edit is required later.

2. Using Photoshop’s convert to profile feature, convert bitmapped images (photos) to the U.S. Sheetfed Coated V2.icc profile. Embed the profile when saving.

3. Use the Tag Image File Format (TIFF) with bitmapped images whenever possible.

4. All images must be in the cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) colour mode. Lamda and LightJet devices are exceptions that require a red, green and blue (RGB) colour space.

5. Use vector files whenever possible.

6. Always supply a hard-copy colour proof.

7. All paths should be drawn by hand. Automated path creation options are overly complex and will often cause errors in processing.

8. Specify all solid colours using the Pantone Coated ‘C’ library.

9. Avoid using transparency in Adobe Illustrator.

The holy grail of printing is a visual match from proof-to-press. In a perfect world, the content creator should be able to produce an internal proof that is within 5% of the final print run. This all sounds like a goal only our grandchildren will achieve, but the reality is that with the introduction of new initiatives by IdeAlliance, the introduction of the G7 press calibration process and the GRACoL printing specifications, we just might see this sooner than you think. The truth is, this has been setup in a number of printers within Canada, and more are getting on board.

Here’s the Concept
The presses are calibrated via a method called G7, and plate curves are created with specific goals; colorimetric grey balance at the midtones, image contrast and image weight. Using this system, a visual match is achieved within specific tolerances.

Before starting the G7 calibration method, you need to make sure the device being calibrated, (printing press, proofing system, etc.) is in good working order and operating stably. Like any other calibration method, G7 won’t stabilize an unstable device! An ICC profile is made publicly available and used downstream by the content creators for proofing. This gives the designer a target to aim for and an ICC profile to use in proofing. A connection between creator and printer is made.

The proof:
Sure the concept sounds good, but does it actually work? The answer is, yes, on many fronts. Sina Printing was recently certified as a Master GRACoL Printer. What that means is a qualified consultant conducted an audit of their production workflow, created custom CTP curves targeting the GRACoL specifications and submitted their final press sheets for approval. Once approved, they are listed as a Master Printer and gain respect in the print buying community as a printer that can hit a specific target-GRACoL.

If you are an agency looking to buy printing, it makes sense to look for a printer that has been approved as a GRACoL Master Printer and set up your internal proofing using the GRACoL2006_Coated1v2.icc profile.

Mike Meshkati from Sina Printing says: “Since the G7 calibration and GRACoL setup, we have seen faster make-readies and a significantly closer match to our proof on all our presses.”

The details:
In the past, we have setup presses to target specific dot gains (TVI) and solid ink densities. But, the trouble with this method is that it’s completely different from the more recent colorimetric approach being adopted in colour management. Now that colour management has proven itself, we are able to apply the same concepts to the press.

What we are doing with the G7 calibration method is using grey balance and lab values to ensure that the press is not just matching the numbers, but also matching visually. This is were this system differs from the more traditional approach. When a device is grey balanced, you are establishing a baseline for which all other colours build from. It is not all that different from the days of running a drum scanner. We would set out white point (in this case the paper), then set out black point and lastly, adjust the cast to ensure grey balance. Once those three main variables were locked down, the secondary colours fell in line.

If you want to learn more about the G7 calibration method and the GRACoL specification you can visit www.gracol.com.