• PhotoPRINT 

Server‐PRO v6 
1. How to create a good ICC profile?

The task we have assigned ourselfs today is rather easy, at least for most of us. For those
who have problems creating good ICC profiles in PhotoPRINT, this is what you need to
know.

2. Lets start.
3. First of all open PhotoPRINT v6 Server-PRO, and go to the color profiler under the printer
you just created. (see screenshot).

• What is COLOR MANAGEMENT?

Earlier we noted that there are as many RGB color spaces as there are monitors, and as
many CMYK color spaces as there are printers. This situation creates a great deal of
ambiguity and guesswork for designers who create and proof colors on their desktop
devices. Scanned colors don’t look the same when they are displayed on a monitor; on-
screen colors do not match the printed proof; and the colors in image files display and 4. A new window will open where you can choose out of different options. One of these
output differently at each production site (design studio, service bureau, printer). Color options is to create a new profile.
management systems (CMS) help solve these problems at the desktop level, and in turn
provide solutions “downstream,” as well.

A color management system identifies the RGB and CMYK color spaces that are crucial to
your work— those belonging to your scanner, monitor, and printer.
PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  
Descriptions of these devices are appropriately named profiles, or also referred to as
characterizations. Utilizing your CMS, CMS-compatible software utilities and Plug-Ins, and
color measurement instrumentation, you can achieve desktop color consistency in two
major steps— device calibration and device characterization.

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5. Once you click on the icon, you will be guided through different steps that are more or less
all explained what to do, but in order to make it even easier on you, I’ll give you some tricks 6. INK LIMIT
and tips, what to look for in order to create stunning ICC profiles. A new tab will open. This tab is called “INK LIMIT”. The purpose of this test is to determine
the amount of ink the substrate can hold and dry within a reasonable amount of time.
You will also notice that the amount of tabs on top of the Color Profiler will vary
depending if you are using 4 or 6 colors.

Should your printer be equipped with 2x CMYK this will also be considered as a 4 color
configuration.

The first tab within the color Profiler is where we will enter all relevant information
regarding the output device we are going to make a profile for.

Here we need to define (if possible) what Media we are going to work with, the Color
mode (CMYK / CMYK LcLm / CMYL LcLm OG), the resolution, Dithering method and if we
want to use the default driver parameters.

In the driver option you can select some specific options for your printer, if you do set
some options these will be used for every job, unless you override them manually in the
Default Job Parameters

A very important box is the File name. Because this file name is the name that your final
ICC profile will have when generated. Please try to give as much information in here as
possible in order to find the correct ICC profile later from within a list of available profiles.
When we click “PRINT INK LIMIT TEST” a file will be outputted on your printer similar to
You will also notice that there is a tick box to enable the Gray Balance. The Gray balance what you see below.
distorts the Colorspace in favor of the neutral axis. If you will use the profile for grayscale
printing only, then you can select the option “Enable Gray Balance”. If you would create a
profile for Color printing then please leave this option unchecked.

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  
Once the file printed we will start to inspect the file visually. The aim is to stay as close to
100 on all 4 colors, BUT there are some things to look out for, the patch not only needs to
be dry, but it also needs to be crisp clear. So when the white lines are starting to be
unsharp or you should notice some “Matting” (Matt slightly undried ink on the surface)
you should go down in value.

NOTE: Do not go to low (<85 – dependant on the media used), because you will be
Once all the relevant information filled in please click Next >. limiting your total Color Gamut that you will try to reach. If the ink is still not dry below 85

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 try to increase the temperature of your pre-heater, and or post heater. (In order to have the
exact heater settings please consult your printer / media manufacturer).

Once you have decide the correct INK LIMIT values fill them in next to the ink color. You
can now choose to print either a verification target, (this is an identical chart but with your
selected values set to maximum) or you can go to the next step.

It would be good in an initial stage to print the verification target, to understand the
principle, but after a while you will skip this verification stage, because you’ll become so
confident that the software does what it is supposed to do.

Once all the relevant information filled in please click Next >.
The aim should be to have a nice and smooth stepped wedge (middle section of the test
chart). The top gradient are the light inks, the bottom part are the dark inks.
If you have selected a CMYK printing mode you will go directly to the Linearization
tab. Let’s explain this more in detail:

We have the ability to change the way the output device is handling the split between
7. INK SPLIT light and dark inks. As you will see on the screenshot below we can alter the place and the
A new tab will open. This tab is called “INK SPLIT” The purpose of this test is to determine behavior of every point on this curves.
where the software will change from Light inks into Dark inks. This test will only appear if
your are working in a 6, 7 or more color mode, and if you’re using Light and Dark inks By clicking the “ROUND BLUE ” handles we can alter the starting and ending position of
(CMYK LcLm). every color, we can also add extra points by double clicking on the curve. (see next
screenshot – Black rectangle)

If we want to smoothen the curve click on the “YELLOW SQUARE” handles and extend the
curve in order to increase the smoothing. (See next Screenshot)

NOTE: You have to make the changes for every Light color manually. In our example we
only showed the Cyan, you need to do the same thing for the other Light colors.

This is not done automatically, and may be different for every light color used.

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  
If we click on the button “Print ink Split test” the Rip will output following test chart. (see
below).

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 Again on this tab we need to supply some information regarding the spectrophotometer
we are going to use, in our case we will use an i1 on a USB connection. So this is what we
will set under option 1 “Measuring device”.

Next step is to calibrate our i1 so we will have a correct reading.

Second step is to print a test strip that is going to be read in afterwards by the i1. If we click
on Print Target a test wedge will be printed. (see below)

So our next step is to read this test strip with our i1. At the end we can click on the icon to
display the graph to show the linearization.

Once you think you have the right setting, you can print a verification test file. If this is
satisfying click next to go to the next stage.

8. LINEARIZATION
A new tab will open. This tab is called “LINEARIZATION” The purpose of this test is to
Linearize your output.

What is linearization?
The process of measuring and correcting for a device's inability to see or reproduce a straight
line of tones from white (0%) to black (100%).

The process of Linearization is most commonly used to ensure an output device reproduces the
same halftone dot values predicted by the imaging or RIP software.

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  
NOTE: It is important to see in this graph that our curve is not reaching it’s limit too early
and that it’s nice and smooth. In the screenshot below you’ll notice that the Black Curve is
reaching Maximum density too early.

There should not be any major breaks in the curve, because they would be very hard to
correct afterwards.

When the curve reaches it’s limit before, most of the time it’s a sign that there still is too
much ink on the substrate, therefore you need to go back to the INK LIMIT and reduce the
amount of ink slightly.

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 If the linearization curve is nice and smooth, you can go to the next step.

9. MULTI INK LIMIT

A new tab will open. This tab is called “MULTI INK LIMIT”. This is identical to the initial Ink
limit test with the only difference that we don’t work with 1 single color but are trying to As mentioned before, once the file printed we will start to inspect the printed file visually.
put different ink layer on top of each other. The aim is to stay as close to 100 on all colors, BUT there are some things to look out for,
the patch not only needs to be dry, but it also needs to be crisp clear. So when the white
Again the aim is to determine how much of composed (Multi Layers) ink the substrate can lines are starting to be unsharp or you should notice some “Matting” (Matt slightly undried
hold. ink on the surface) you should go down in value. On top of this there is another aspect that
should be observed.

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008   Imagine these patches, and let’s assume they are all dry - I removed the numbers in order
to avoid confusion – If you visually don’t see any density difference go for the lowest
number (this will save ink for your customer in the long run), If you see color difference go
for the highest number, because otherwise you will limit the total color gamut you’ll be
able to achieve.
Again we start by printing a test pattern, that after printing we will need to visually inspect Once you have determined the correct value of every row of patches, fill the values in in
similar to the ink limit test we did before. The printed test pattern will look like this. the software, and proceed by clicking next.

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10. CHARACTERISATION:
Another new tab will open. This tab will print a big color test pattern that is needed to
reference a number of standard predefined color patches (ECI 2002 – 1485 patches / IT 8.7
– 928 patches / TC 3.5 – 432 patches) to the printers color space we just created by doing
the previous tests.

This means that a LUT table (LUT = Look Up Table) will be generated that defines the
original color values, and the values that the printer is capable of achieving, after
measurement with the i1, or any other spectrophotometer.

This LUT table is very important because it will allow the RIP and software to know later
how a color needs to be converted in order to be as close as possible to the original.

The only selection we need to make here is how many patches we are going to print.
A rule of thumb is that the more patches you print the more precise your LUT table will be,
but also the longer time you will need in order to read all these patches with your i1.

We will now read every single line with our i1, thus creating the LUT table.

Once this done we click on next to go to the last Tab.

11. ICC GENERATION:

The last tab will open. This tab is where you will enter your final information before we will
generate the output ICC profile.

So when we click on Print Target, this is what the output will look like.
PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

Very important here is that first of all “YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF
INK”. Because the value mentioned here is derived from calculations when you set the

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 maximum ink calculations in the initial “INK LIMIT” on the 4 primary colors, and with the
“MULTI INK LIMIT”. On all colors up to 400%. • UCR

The only other option you need to make is if you are going to use UCR (Under Color
Removal)or GCR (Gray component Replacement), and where the black needs to kick in.

In order for you to make a good choise let’s try to explain the difference between UCR and
GCR.

• Black replacement?
In printing, the three primary colors are cyan, magenta and yellow and, theoretically at
least, any color can be achieved using these three primary colors. So why do we speak of Under Color Removal of the Gray component works on neutral colors only. The Gray
four color printing, involving a fourth black channel or a “K” ? component of CMY is indicated as a light gray in this diagram.

One of the reasons for using a fourth black channel is to reduce ink costs. Although it is The part of this Gray component that is converted to black, is indicated as a dark gray.
possible to print grays and black using cyan, magenta and yellow, doing so means using all
three inks at the same time, on the same part of the image, which is expensive. What’s As you can see from these samples is GCR for large format printing the best option. So
more, black created with a combination of other colors, a 3-color black, appears “muddy ” - therefore we will also select GCR as Black generation in order to save some ink
a phenomenon linked to the impurity of inks- and printing 3-color blacks can result in a consumption at the customers place.
build-up of ink that impairs drying.
The value of 40% shown in our screenshot is an average of Medium GCR, and should be a
Using black ink insures sharper black in your output. (For the curious, the “K” used to good reference value for you to use.
designate black comes from the photographic world’s use of “key” to enhance shadows)
The last step remaining in order to generate your ICC profile is to click on the button
Two techniques are used in color replacement: undercolor removal (UCR) and gray “Generate”.
component replacement (GCR). UCR uses black ink to replace the other process colors in
the shadow areas of an image and in neutral shades. GCR involves a more general Your ICC profile will now be created and is ready for use afterwards in your default
replacement with black being substituted over a greater color range (for neutral tones and preferences of the printer.
for gray components of desaturated colors).

• GCR

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  

PhotoPRINT v6 Color Management | 12/5/2008  
The Gray component of CMY is indicated as a light gray in this diagram. In different
settings of GCR, different portions of this Gray component (indicated as dark gray) are
converted to black.

The effect of reducing ink costs is visualised when looking at the CMY curves in the
diagram on the right.

The lower the CMY curves drop, the less ink you are printing.

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