1. calibrating monitors with printer?
2. Should our files be Gracol with printer (Fiery) converting to Gracol?
3. Should the printer just use the embedded profile?
4. Do we somehow create a custom icc profile for the printer and only use that?
5. Do we convert our files to that icc profile before sending the job to the fiery?
6. How do monitor profiles fit in with printer profiles?
7. How the hell do we sync two different workstations' monitors?
You can do all this step by step, learning along the way, but not all the ideas flying around worth the effort.
1. You can buy a decent monitor calibration package from Xrite (Eye One Display Pro) or a Spyder 5 from Datacolor, and it will do the job, if you follow the instructions precisely. Don't expect good reproduction on cheap office displays, though. A good monitor has an IPS panel, and Adobe RGB class gamut. A good bet something from Dell around 500 USD or more.
2. The Fiery always converts the data. For good results, your input (source) data should match the color space the Fiery emulates (which is something from the offset printing world, in a basic setup). Take a look at the default settings in your Fiery, and if it's Gracol, then you should prepare materials to that exact standard.
3. You can use the embedded profile if the data is coming from a person who knows what he/she is doing, otherwise not. Most of the times the embedded profiles in an image / illustration / page layout assembly is a total mess, eg. you can get a PDF with a Gracol profile, but the images can have SWOP profiles embedded, while the Illustrator drawings again something else. If you want to go that way, you should ask for PDF/X-4 files from the clients, and process them using the APPE option enabled in your Fiery. This way everything fall into place, but your processing time might be longer.
4. Not necessarily. Default profiles can be very usable in a general, day-to-day practice in most setups as they're thoroughly tested. You can churn out the remaining 5-7 percent of quality if you have a decent chart reader spectro like the Xrite iSis. Be sure to test the new profile with special, demanding stuff like fine gradations, grayscale images with a lot of tones etc. Only after these tests should you use a custom profile in production.
5. No, conversion most of the times introduces new problems. Only do that if you have a heavyweight device link conversion software like GMG ColorServer or Colorlogic ZePrA. Fiery (especially with the APPE enabled) has tremendous intelligence built-in, no need to fiddle with the data before the RIP.
6. If your printer+Fiery is calibrated and well-maintained, you can expect a reasonable color match to a properly calibrated (upper class) monitor. Difference is very subjective, which can be handled by using a standardized environment for dealing and approving color. Make a small niche in the office with decent RA>=98, 5000K lamps, paint the walls to mid-gray, shut out light from the outside. You will be surprised how much better match can be achieved in a setup like that.
7. Only expect that if you have two identical monitors, with similar settings (brightness, contrast, gamma). Matching two different displays is a demanding task even using high-end hardware calibrated devices.
Have fun!
Puch
