Hi-Fi 6 color on the cheap?

[Mark]

Is there anyway to get into hi-fi color on a budget to test the waters?
Pantone hexachrome software is no longer available that I could find and ICISS looks expensive.
What are those of you doing hi-fi 6 color using?

Thanks

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

For the few times that hexachrome is requested(about 1 job every 18 months) I have been using a Hexachrome profile that I built from press data from years back. I create the separations in Photoshop CS5.1 using the profile and then convert the multi-channel image to 4 color and treat the hex green & orange as touch plates, this allows me to edit the images with all the edit functions enabled. The customer is told that the proof isn't accurate to the results at press, but these jobs are normally above and beyond anyway, and the customers come away happy.

What I have been advising our customers who want expanded gamut printing to do is utilize TOYO's Kaleido inkset at press. Kaleido gives you a larger color gamut than Hexachrome, and you only need four inks to do it. Kaleido gives exceptional results(especially on uncoated papers) and performs very well.

Best,
Todd

 

[gordo]

Here's a list and description of eight hi-fi printing methods:
The Print Guide: Hi-Fi color - 8 strategies to implementation

best, gordo

 

[Mark]

Thanks Gordo, I printed that out and have been referring to it.

We have tried method 1, 2 and 3 already. Management wanted to try hexachrome unfortunately that ship has sailed.
I was wondering if anyone has a lead on some old hexachrome software, or an alternative that won't break the bank since we are only testing this and may not even use it in production.

thanks, Mark

 

[gordo]

When I was involved with developing the Creo/Kodak Spotless printing system, we experimented with hex colors and found that they had little value for most images and generated unnatural candy-floss looking pictures. Most printers that I know create bump plates manually in PhotoShop to add vibrancy to images.
The easiest way to test it is to use a hexachrome profile and take an image and compare that image to your current print profile against the hex profile. You can use an application like ColorThink to do that. You'll see whether any image colors are out of gamut for your current print profile but in gamut for the hex profile.

Something like this:

The original image (a snapshot I took in San Francisco):

Its pixels plotted in ColorThink:

Its pixels compared with a standard sheetfed profile - note the out of gamut reds, oranges and blues.

Its pixels compared with a Hex profile. Note that some reds are still out of gamut. The blues are still out of gamut.

Now, are those few bits of color worth achieving on press relative to the cost and hassles of a six color process which uses non-standard CMY inks in addition to the extra Orange and Green?

For most people the answer is no.

I have a hex profile for you to play with. PM me if you want it.

best, gordo