Print of color targets from i1 Profiler extremely heavy on Mac

[hkellogg]

Was working in an educational institution where we had i1 Profiler and the i1io connected to a Windows machine. We were using dual monitors, one cheap and the other a NEC PA301w monitor. Output is a Epson 7880. We then moved and hooked up the NEC monitor to an iMac 2.0 GHz Intel Core i% with 8 GB memory. When I tried to run the targets to create a printer profile, the density of the image was extremely dark. During the input of the color patches, the colors between the actual and the measured patches were very different. The same printer was used in both cases.

Are there some extra things that I need to be aware of during this process? Could it be related to the Mac? We are running OS 10.9.5 on the mac

I am also a bit concerned that I can not turn off CM on the printer driver. Why is that?

Thanks

 

[Castek]

When building output (printer) profiles,iIt is imperative that charts (including the ICC chart itself) be printed without any color correction or profiles applied. Otherwise, you are basing corrections off of other corrections, rather than baseline behaviors.

I am not familiar with that driver for the Epson 7880, so I cannot help you there, but I would assume that there is some setting that allows you to print without color correction applied.

 

[hkellogg]

I understand that the color management needs to be turned off. What I am questioning is if Mac OS 10.9 or the Epson driver for the 7880 could be causing a problem with providing occur. When I print from i1 Profiler using my existing Epson print driver both ColorSync and Epson Color Controls are "greyed out." I assumed that CM was off. I even downloaded Adobe's Color Printer Utility in printing the targets to make sure that CM was off. Again, I assumed that might take care of the problem. It didn't.

That is why I was looking to the Apple OS for a solution.

 

[rich apollo]

You have to have the Color Printer Utility to do this. Kudos on figuring that out. The paper setup on the Epson, or in your printer setup, could be the issue. Each of those paper setups has different ink limiting. Find one that is similar to what you're printing on and stick with it.

Anytime you upgrade the OS, there is the possibility that the printer driver is changed. Windows and Mac won't have the same printer driver performance, nor will different versions of the same OS.

Oh, and you're building an RGB profile.

A proofing RIP gets you around all this.

 

[hkellogg]

Any good resources to assist in the understanding of how the proofing RIP will get around this? I do have access to EFI's XF RIP. Currently I am working with photography, not printing. Would use of the RIP still help?

 

[Correct Color]

What I am questioning is if Mac OS 10.9 or the Epson driver for the 7880 could be causing a problem with providing occur.

Yes. They absolutely can.

In fact, my guess from what you've described is that's most likely your problem.

For several years now, the old tried and true Mac/Photoshop/Epson setup that most serious photographers used for so long has been so suspect that most people have abandoned it.

I've read a bunch about the why's of this over the years, but the only parts that really stick are that Apple is huge and arrogant now, and assumes that no one can know more than them, so they won't admit there's even an issue, which at its core has something to do with how their printer architecture changed from something to something a few versions of OS ago.

What you have to have is no input from Colorsync to the printer, and sometimes that can be pretty problematic to determine. Some versions of some drivers for some Epsons can show Colorsync and vendor grayed out and still work. Others not. Sometimes you can have a workflow that works, do an upgrade, and it will change.

One reason to use a RIP is that a RIP can eliminate the OS from the printing equation. However, these days, there are more than a few inexpensive "RIP's" available for Mac that do not.

If you're making a profile, I'd assume you have Photoshop or some color aware software with which you're going to use it.

And, i1 Profiler will run on either platform, Windows or Mac.

So if I was in your shoes, I'd use ACPU to print some patches, make a profile, and then test print with the profile, all in Windows.

If you're happy with the result, install the profile on your Mac, and with all printer settings the same, test it again. The test prints should match. If they don't, the Mac is likely the culprit.

Oh, and also if I was in your shoes, I'd take the iO table, sell it on eBay, and use the money to hire a color consultant to show you how to do this right (and and maybe not waste money in the future on things like an iO table.) You can read your patches by hand, and you'll get a much truer result; the iO table is a very inconsistent device.

(Edited to add: Fiery XF is a full-bore, top-of-the line RIP. Properly installed and profiled, yes, it will solve any OS related issues, as it will take the OS out of the printing equation.)


Mike Adams
Correct Color