New Proofer suggestions

[Mark]

We want to go G7 and were told our current Epson9000 with Kodak Matchprint v3.1.5 can't do it.
Any suggestions, or experience for a new inkjet proofer rip that would work with our Brisque v5 (and hopefully a new front end later) Oris, Fiery Xf, another?

Thanks

 

[prepressdork]

Hi Mark. What specific model of Epson do you have? You said 9000. Do you mean a P9000 or do you mean a 9XXX like a 9800, 9890, 9900? Although I am sure the P9000 can do it, I KNOW that the 9800, 9890, and 9900 can all do it.

pd

 

[Mark]

Oops my bad, Epson 9800 (the old 9000 was recently donated and was on my mind i guess)

 

[prepressdork]

As I used to own two 9800's, I can tell you that they can do G7 as I did it for several years. Your proofing rip just needs the GRACoL profile set as your destination profile and as long as your proofer is in good condition, you should have no problem doing G7 proofs. Assuming your aiming for the 2006 G7 spec, you need the GRACoL2006_Coated1v2 profile.

Cheers,
pd

 

[Alith7]

I have a 9800 sitting less than 2 feet from me that passes G7 better than my 7880 did before it died.

So which sales rep is telling you this, and what are they trying to sell you?

 

[Mark]

I thought there was a lot of hemming and hawing on their part about the 9800 being able to be G7. I felt it should be a quick look up on a sheet and fast answer.
I guess the answer is they are full of crap. Thanks for the clarification.

Anyone using Fiery XF or Oris Color tuner? We are on ye olde Matchprint inkjet 3.1 proofing from a ye olde Brisque

 

[Alith7]

We use Xitron Sierra in a ROOM proof type setup with my Epson and my plates, and Fuji Colorsync to test & verify the proofs and color manage the presses.
Sierra is basically Fuji XMF only about a version behind. (there's a really long story behind this)
But i'm also really good at "making things work" and so cobble together a couple different programs to produce an ICC profile.

My understanding from my Fuji rep is that Fuji's colorsync & oris work really well together. much more automated than the process I have.

 

[Mark]

Were those Epsons 9800s or 9880s (with the vivid magenta)?

 

[Alith7]

my current is a 9800, but before that I had a 7880 (same as a 9880 only smaller). The 7880 died about 2 weeks after Epson discontinued the 7900 line, and my RIP software didn't support the new Colorsure models yet, and they weren't sure when they would. In a mad scramble for a proofer then, a local reseller happened to have a used 9800 that they had JUST finished refurbishing, got it for a steal with a full set of almost full ink cartridges. The 7880 had been a headache machine for most of it's life I had a replaced a few parts 2 and 3 times before one of the circuit boards went. The funny part is we still have an old 7600 that we use for non-color critical prints that's STILL going strong, I've never put a part in it. And originally, the only reason we had bought the 7880 was because the 7600 had had it's life meter reset for the 2nd time and I wasn't sure how much longer it was going to be functional. Didn't want to get stuck scrambling for a proofer if it died. Just goes to show you that they are cheaping out on the construction of things as time goes on.

 

[SZmetana]

Hi Mark,

Kodak Matchprint Inkjet (MPI) v3.1.5 is almost 10 years old, dating from just before G7 was released to the general market. We are now on v8.0 of MPI proofing software, and have bundled support for the latest GRACoL color aims. (MPI 8.0 additionally supports the Epson SureColor P-Series 6000, 7000, 8000, and 9000.)

Setting GRACoL 2013 as your destination ICC profile will target your proofer at the GRACoL color target, which is aligned with G7 aims for commercial printing on number 1 grade coated stock. Within the scope of normal G7-based press-proof setup, you may find for your particular printing condition that it is more appropriate to use one of the other G7-aligned color targets from the CRPC family defined in CGATS.21 or ISO 15339, of which GRACoL 2013 is just one. For example, if you are printing primarily on publication stock, SWOP 2013 is more appropriate. The choice of proofing paper also impacts what you can actually do with your proofer. For example, you probably don't want to use a publication proofing paper to try to and reproduce GRACoL 2013.

Keep in mind that G7 certification is something that you do for your printing shop, as part of becoming a G7 Master Printer. In practice, this means aligning your printing and printing practices with G7, then ensuring that your proofing represents a print condition which you can hit reliably and easily. You may find, for example, that you want to apply substrate correction adjustment (SCA) to one of the standard profiles (like GRACoL 2013 or SWOP 2013) in order to get a color target more closely aligned with your press paper. The SCA technique is widely practiced in the industry in conjunction with G7 implementations, and is supported by G7-certified Kodak ColorFlow Software.

Stephen Zmetana
Kodak Product Specialist

 

[Puch]

EFI Fiery XF will drive that engine and you will achieve G7 for sure (using proper proofing paper). On the other hand, the license cost (because of the large engine) will cost a fortune. I would investigate the possibility of buying a 4900 and an entry-level RIP like EFI Fiery Satellite. With that setup you could simulate a much wider range of spot colors (if that's important for you).