How to determine the total & individual ink limit (via measurements)

[marielaljama]

I wanted to maximize (and economize ) the use of inks via ink limiting but I really do not know how to determine the total ink limit and the individual ink limit. How can I determine the "optimal" value of these parameters so that the ink is not wasted beyond its saturation point? (I wanted to do this via measurements since I dont have a keen vision in judging the ink limits via printed swatches )

I have ProfileMaker 5, EFI Colorproof 3.1, i1 spectro and D19C reflective densitometer... where will I start, what specific devices I would use and how will I do it right?

Thanks in advance for the answers

 

[gordo]

I wanted to maximize (and economize ) the use of inks via ink limiting but I really do not know how to determine the total ink limit and the individual ink limit. How can I determine the "optimal" value of these parameters so that the ink is not wasted beyond its saturation point? (I wanted to do this via measurements since I dont have a keen vision in judging the ink limits via printed swatches

The test target for this is highlighted in the attached image (below) taken from the test forms available from here: 8/C 35x50-in Large Format Test Form | Printing Industries of America - Printing.org

You could probably recreate a similar test target yourself.

best, gordo

 

[rich apollo]

Are you trying to find this for a proofer/paper combination or for press?

 

[marielaljama]

Are you trying to find this for a proofer/paper combination or for press?

proofer/paper combination... how do i find the optimum ink limit (via measurement, and will I also use the same i1 spectro?) thanks

 

[TerryWyse]

I wanted to maximize (and economize ) the use of inks via ink limiting but I really do not know how to determine the total ink limit and the individual ink limit. How can I determine the "optimal" value of these parameters so that the ink is not wasted beyond its saturation point? (I wanted to do this via measurements since I dont have a keen vision in judging the ink limits via printed swatches )

I have ProfileMaker 5, EFI Colorproof 3.1, i1 spectro and D19C reflective densitometer... where will I start, what specific devices I would use and how will I do it right?

Must be "put a color management consultant out of work day" since this is about the 3rd inquiry into this that I've answered today. ;-)

In any case, if you know the EFI Colorproof RIP and have been properly trained on it, you should know that there's a "base linearization" calibration process that essentially will do this FOR YOU. In absence of this, the answer is quite long and assumes an understanding of L*a*b* and Lch color models and such.....it ain't exactly rocket science....but it's also not quite as easy as falling off a log either.

How about this:
"set the per-channel ink limits based on peak chroma or min L*, whichever comes first"?

There you have it!

Regards,
Terry

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

Must be "put a color management consultant out of work day" since this is about the 3rd inquiry into this that I've answered today. ;-)

Terry-we all appreciate you 'slitting your own throat' for us. You've been more than generous with your thoughts and advice. I would hope that your presence on The PrintPlanet has been a benefit for your business and not a detriment.

Regards,
Todd

ps-Have you considered the circus!

 

[marielaljama]

...In any case, if you know the EFI Colorproof RIP and have been properly trained on it, you should know that there's a "base linearization" calibration process that essentially will do this FOR YOU.

...
"set the per-channel ink limits based on peak chroma or min L*, whichever comes first"?
...Terry

thanks for that

by the way i was able to find the "base linearization" in EFI... it will print a chart of cmyk separations from light to dark variations

will i be measuring the peak or chroma of this output to determine the ink limit?


PS: i just saw the output preview but i dare not to proceed as our eyeone is yet expected to arrive by next week... so i think there would be measuring involvement of this linearization chart


THANKS for the tips... im slowly getting the bigger picture

 

[TerryWyse]

Terry-we all appreciate you 'slitting your own throat' for us. You've been more than generous with your thoughts and advice. I would hope that your presence on The PrintPlanet has been a benefit for your business and not a detriment.

Hi Todd, I prefer to call it "pulling up my dress" or "dropping my pants" as "slitting your own throat" sounds rather messy. Whether it's dropping-of-pants or pulling-up-of-dress depends on my mood that day.

Thanks for the understanding though.

ps-Have you considered the circus!

Not surprisingly, I have considered the cirucus.....but then somebody reminded me that color management consultants are already "carnies" so I guess I'm already there.

Circus Act Terry

 

[TerryWyse]

thanks for that

by the way i was able to find the "base linearization" in EFI... it will print a chart of cmyk separations from light to dark variations

will i be measuring the peak or chroma of this output to determine the ink limit?

The base lin process will walk you through this....by default, it's going to be looking at the colorimetry of the inks and making the decision for you. You CAN override what it does but unless you know what you're doing, I would advise simply letting it make the decisions....if you want to "out-smart" a process, it's best to be smarter than the process.

PS: i just saw the output preview but i dare not to proceed as our eyeone is yet expected to arrive by next week... so i think there would be measuring involvement of this linearization chart

I just assumed you already had a spectro...but, yea, you'll be asked to measure *several* charts using your i1Pro.....in no particular order, you'll be measuring charts that determine per-channel ink limits, light/dark ink curves and total ink limit...and probably 1-2 more that I've forgotten about. Now that I've started my new job with the circus, I'm trying to put some of that knowledge in the past.

Terry

 

[BeauchampT]

While on this subject, I'll pass on a useful piece of troubleshooting.

When our plant got a new proofer (Epson) we couldn't get our linearization stable for quite some time. We would run it, print a proof, and the proof would fail standard. Later we found that our proofer had the option of bidirectional printing. When we disabled this the problem totally disappeared. Seems that if you want stable colour, trying to maximize the speed of some of these proofers is just a plain bad idea.

 

[tsdomenichelli]

Are there any plugging or desktop software that could show me the Total ink coverage?