Neil Barstow - Profiling Inkjet Printers

Do your prints look as good as they could? Any printer can differ from those originally tested when producing a manufacturer's generic icc profiles, this means that even with original materials users who have custom profiles built are likely to see an improvement in colour fidelity and sometimes even in tonal range. The printer can really come into it's own when using a specially produced custom icc profile. That means an icc profile made for their own individual machine, with the specific ink and paper they use. If those inks and paper stock are from the printer manufacturer and the paper is listed by name in the print driver software's "paper" options then the procedure is very straightforward. Read on for info about non-original consumables and their impact on printer performace / profiling.

You can download the image at right from our downloads page to test your printer.

click here to get the colourmanagement.net RGB profiling kit v5,3 (.zip file 2.9MB)

About our remote (postal) printer profiling service:

A write-up from Steve Upton,
ColourManagement guru, Chromix, Seattle USA:

The best piece of advice I can offer is to say that custom profiling is a service, NOT a product/commodity.

We've been building custom profiles for people for many years and have found that the pre and post-sales support and documentation can contribute to the success of profiling as much as equipment and technique. Now that I bring it up, equipment and technique also play a significant role. We have wanted to lower our price a number of times but find we cannot pay for the quality tech support that's required to get good profiles.

It's pretty easy to buy and i1 Photo and start building profiles. Having a longer track record experiencing the piftalls and problems of inksets, paper types, RIPs, drivers, gray balance, operating systems, humidity, dry-down, lighting and metamerism, graphics applications, monitor calibration, and so forth can make the difference between "ok" and true professional-level results. Those who have invested in the professional-level equipment (like the Spectrolino, ICColor, ProfileMaker Pro, etc) will also have a longer list of variations they can apply to profile building (along with their experience level).

I'm not pushing the Chromix profiling service, in fact I would recommend that if you want someone in Europe who has a long track record of building profiles you should consider Neil Barstow's service. There are others in Europe building profiles and I don't want to knock them, but not with the track record of these guys.

Think of it in terms of hiring a person to do a job. While you can find a really cheap haircut is it the cut you want?

If you're in the UK and you need help with any of this colour stuff then Neil Barstow's the guy. Nice guy, he knows his stuff and he's not afraid to tell you what will work and what won't. Also his background is as a photographer so he speaks the language.

Steve Upton

click here to visit the Chromix web–site

What we do, what we recommend:

Even with original inks and papers from the printer manufacturer the machine can behave quite unpredictably, they are definitely not all made the same. So, we feel that a custom profile (i.e. of your own printer) is imperative to release the full potential.

If you're using non Original inks, or perhaps a type of paper not specifically listed by name in the printer's software driver, please see: Setting up the printer correctly for non - driver listed papers. below. Also our Lyson section, below.

A printer profile is made by accurately measuring multi coloured test-charts which are printed out on your own machine on the specific paper you want to use. We measure your charts using a professional automated spectrophotometer and high end profiling software. Next, a table is built which references measured results to the actual image data which was sent to the printer - thus the icc profile is made. That profile now accurately describes the characteristics of your own printer, ink and paper combination.

Remote profiles are uniquely made here from 2 sets of printed testcharts, we like to rule out printer idiosyncracies which can produce large differences between prints done one after the other. Thus we feel it's essential to report back if the difference is too great, in these circumstances we often produce 2 profiles so that you can test them both. If your printer is very inconsistent when measured then your prints are likely to be too, measuring a single set of charts cannot reveal this potential problem.
With testcharts that are close (they are never absolutely identical), we find that the printer performance is better characterised by reading the 2 sets of charts and, after analysis, averaging them. All this measuring and comparison takes time, of course. But experience in making hundreds of profiles has shown that it gives better results, so we think it's very worthwhile, and we have a lot of very happy customers who would agree. Please click here to read client feedback (opens in a new page). We use professional level auto scanning equipment and high end software because we don't think a hand held spectrophotometer and amateur software gives the accuracy or provides the options we need to make great profiles. It seems our clients agree.

Using the profile: imagine having a Photoshop expert on call to look at every image on screen and anticipate your printed result? Then she'd quickly apply a set of curves and alterations to ensure the printer uses it's full capabilities to reproduce your image as well as it can? That's what the profile does - in the background - in seconds. It can seem like magic to those who have struggled with manual adjustments.

When ink and paper works right, in combination with a good quality profile, it's fantastic. For the portfolio - or for client prints or those offered for sale, ultimate quality will let the photographer's vision shine through.

Setting up the printer correctly for non - driver listed papers.

Very Important: When profiling a printer for a paper not listed in the printer driver software, or one using non-original inks, the user must first set the printer up correctly by selecting the paper type and printer settings from the driver's options. These options were formulated very carefully, but only for the printer manufacturer's own driver listed papers and OEM inks.
We have no idea what options to recommend users of non original papers or inks to select in the print driver for really great imaging. (During testing we have observed that optimum driver settings seem to differ between even same model printers, perhaps from different batches.) To get the best results from a profile you must eventually print the profiling test charts with the printer in as near to a neutral and calibrated (perfectly set up) state as possible. We all want the best blacks and colour range we can have, right?
Therefore, you will need to discover the best settings in the printers driver software for the paper and ink you want to use, if we don't do this then the profile may have to do too much work (i.e. the corrections needed become too extreme) and this can actually damage images. Testcharts produced on an incorrectly set-up printer often result in an unsuccessful profile or perhaps even with a visually successful profile, an increase the risk of posterization (where tonal stepping like contour lines stepping in areas which used to show a smooth gradation) in printed images. This means that every user wanting optimum performance will ideally test (by printing) every combination of usable paper choice and settings available in the printer's driver to discover which settings allow the best non profiled print - optimising the printer for the particular paper stock.

The solution (the easy way):
Of course we are happy to come on site and do this work for you, we often do this for busy clients who want to spend their time on profitable photography rather than complex testing. However, for those who'd like to do the testing themselves, we have produced a kit of manual and image files on a CD to make printer testing simpler for users - and much quicker. Each layered A4 grayscale step wedge file has multiple, titled, copies of a grayscale step wedge to print. The files allow the whole testing session to be completed in a timely manner and on only 3 or 4 sheets of A4 paper.
This is achieved by printing only one grayscale and title at a time - and re-feeding the paper. The images are titled to guide the printer setting choices and thus expedite the process.
We now offer a further service to actually measure printed grayscales from your machine with a spectrophotometer, this can often give even better black density since measurement can detect very small shifts in the printouts which may otherwise have been rejected for blocking up shadows.

The test files are too large to download (150+MB), but are available on a CD including a detailed manual, for 30.00UKPounds plus VAT (35.25) including mail or $55.00 for US customers.
A discount is offered to our testing CD users who have profiles made in the UK to offset the cost of the CD.
We mail out the CD ROMs and can accept payment by cheque, made payable to Neil Barstow. Please send to TestCD, CMnet, 93 Holland Road, Hove, BN3 1JP.

Third party inks include the highly rated Lyson Fotonic inksets from Marrutt Digital.Fotonic inks are highly respected in imaging circles for their wide gamut (extended colour range) on certain printers when compared to some original inks, especially the 6 colour Epsons like 1270, 1290. There are good reasons to consider third party inks and we particularly favour Lyson's Fotonic bulk inks for the 1160/1270/1290 A3+ Epsons. However, for a 2100/2200, although there are cost advantages there are drawbacks too - so you should talk to us about the choice before going that way. Those inkjet printer users with 4 or 6 colour printers, for whom a wide colour range is important, should definitely consider Lyson's Fotonic inkset. An added bonus is that the inks are now available in bulk (bottles 125ml to 1000ml) for use with a Continuous Ink Supply system - for massive savings on ink costs. Please click here to request our essential instructions on cleaning even a brand new printer before installing third party inksets.

Papers from the printer manufacturer but not listed in the printers driver media options AND third party Inks and/or paper can behave quite unpredictably, our tests reveal that a profile of your own printer is imperative to release the full potential.
John Read, MD at Marrutt Digital (Lyson distributor) tells me that he receives the bulk of his ink and paper orders from those who have had a custom profile made by us - since a well crafted profile really does help realize full performance from the printer some of those users are apparently selling prints by the hundred. As an example, those struggling along with no profiles, or ready made profiles, seem to soon give up on the potential of Lyson inks, it's a shame.
A printer profile is made by accurately measuring multi coloured test-charts which are printed out on your own machine. We measure your charts using an automated professional spectrophotometer and high end profiling software. Next, measured results are compared to the actual data which was sent to the printer. A table of differences is calculated - and from this the profile is made. That profile now accurately describes the characteristics of your own printer / ink paper combination.
Imagine having a Photoshop expert on call who can look at every image on screen and anticipate your printed result? Then she'd quickly apply a set of curves and alterations to ensure the printer uses it's full gamut to reproduce your image as well as it can? That's what the profile does - in the background - in seconds.

We'll make you a profile for 95 pounds using the specially formulated 918 patch RGB inkjet target. The above "RGB profiling kit - - - " is the package you should download if you would like Neil Barstow at colourmanagement.net to generate a profile for your RGB printer. All is explained in detail in the enclosed manual, but, basically, any printer which requires or prefers RGB data can be profiled with the contents of this package. That means most printers which do not use a RIP. You'll find detailed instructions for setting up various versions of Photoshop and various printers.

When profiling a printer for Lyson's Fotonic or Small gamut inks, or for that matter, for any other non original inkset or for a paper not listed in the printer driver, the user must first set the printer up correctly by selecting the paper type and printer settings from the driver's options, which were formulated only for the printer manufacturer's own listed paper and OEM inks.
We have no idea what options to recommend users of non original consumables to select in the print driver for really great imaging. (During testing we have observed that optimum driver settings seem to differ between even same model printers, perhaps from different batches.) To get the best results from a profile you must eventually print the profiling test charts with the printer in as near to a neutral and calibrated (perfectly set up) state as possible. We all want the best blacks we can have, right?
Therefore, you will need to discover the best settings in the printers driver software for the paper and ink you want to use, otherwise the profile has to do too much work. Testcharts produced on an incorrectly setup printer can result in an unsuccessful profile or perhaps even increase the risk of posterization (where tonal stepping like contour lines stepping in areas which used to show a smooth gradation) in printed images. This means that every user wanting optimum performance needs to test (by printing) every combination of usable paper choice and settings available in the printer's driver to discover which settings allow the best non profiled print - thus optimising the printer for each particular ink and paper combination.

Lyson's Small Gamut inkset was conceived by the respected US fine art landscape photographer Joseph Holmes. It seems that Joe's mission was to design a long life fine art inkset with, if desired, just enough colour to simulate the traditional monochrome darkroom processes, which the Lyson SG inkset does with great success, all on a humble inkjet printer like an Epson 1160.
Note that it is well worthwhile profiling a printer to use the SG inks since the toning and subtle colour shifts available are better controlled within a proper colour managed workflow. It seems to me imperative to have a good match from screen to print and this can be achieved with the right working methods, this is an area of specialist training for us.