Today the owner picked up a brand new printer for the graphics area for
printing out proofs, an Epson Stylus Photo R1800 printer, capable of doing
up to 13" wide paper with a length capability of 44". After setting it up
and running a test print page from within Windows XP, I was satisfied that
it was set up properly. But an hour later the first proof off of it was met
with displeasure ... GREAT displeasure!

The old proofing printer, an HP 1120C, used to print these proofs using
"Best" quality ink flow onto a heavyweight matte paper and would lay down a
thick coating of ink that made subtle reds really red and subtle blues
really blue! Now with this new printer he's claiming that "something is not
right" or "is not working" because the new one looks nothing like the old.
I tried to explain that the old used far too much ink far too heavily and
that these prints were closer to what an actual printshop would produce
using the same paper and the Pantone system of colors. He won't buy that
excuse. He says that the new printer is "garbage" and that the old one, a
dinosaur that used to take up to 5 minutes in "best" mode to print an 11x17
black-n-white floor plan, was better.

How can I show that this is closer to "reality" and that the old dinosaur
was giving out an untrue representation? He now wants to add a "brighter
red" to all the red outputs. But as I explained, if the graphics area
increases the "red" on the paper proof then it will be a shocking red when
it comes out from the printhouse on a glossy stock!

I'm totaly lost on this one! I did find something on the Epson website
about Premium ICC Printer Profiles
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/E...oid=5 9082650
and wondered if this might have something to do with it? I need some help
and need to find a way to make my case by tomorrow at 10am when he gets in
and is settled after doing his morning stock buying and selling. He's so
difficult to make understand, especially now that the printshop person we
used to have is no longer with us and could explain this stuff far more
easily than I can since this was his specialty.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

BTW ... there was some kind of program also included that would do some kind
of "matching" of the printer, scanner and monitor so that colors were
accurately matched between these three devices (it began with an "M" or an
"N" and is some kind of a freebie with the printer). Could this have
anything to do with it at all? I just don't understand how an old printer
"appears" to make things better in his mind and to his eye just because it
throws down a lot of ink.

--
Kyle )

Reply address is fake. Don't ask for the real one, a troll named Lookout
sent enough spam and viruses that I shut it down.




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"Kyle )" <GoSensGo@BringHomeTheCup.com> wrote in message
news:VOGdnUifQvjp-r7ZnZ2dnUVZ_vmdnZ2d@adelphia.com...

Snip



Hi Kyle

My first reaction to your post is "don't sweat it" ie let it slide.

Unless you were personally responsible for the choice of printer then it's
'their' problem not yours.

And don't forget colour is like clothes & music 'all in the eye of the
beholder'.

I learned this lesson the hard way years ago when I was told I set TV's with
too much colour.
I veheminently rejected this as I could 'see' I was setting them right.
Only after getting my first pair of spectacles (astigmatism as it so
happens) did I sheepishly realise how 'wrong' I had been.

This may explain why the 'Owners' colour perception is so different to
your's.

May I ask if the 'bright' proofs produced by the previous printer ended up
OK on the final print.
If they did then there is a good chance the printer makes 'adjustments' to
suit the 'Owner'

Colour correction/calibration

I think you may mean 'Displaymate'
http://www.displaymate.com/prtcal2.html

Others:
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/color...al_printer.htm
http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html

Cheers
Paul.

"Kyle )" <GoSensGo@BringHomeTheCup.com> wrote in message
...
Hi Kyle,

Try the Yahoo tinyurl for any info: http://tinyurl.com/kqxtp

Good Luck x@y

Kyle ) wrote:
<SNIP>

It's a proofer! It is used to match the output of the final printing
device. If he is proofing artwork that is to be run on a 4 colour press,
then get him to proof a file that has already been run on the press and
compare the prints. If it is a proofer, the prints will be very close.

If he is proofing content only (the print isn't meant to be colour
accurate) then tweak the colours for him to make him happy.

If it is a proofer that is meant to match a certain standard (SWOP, DIC,
Euro, etc) than go to the relevant committee and get the test file.
Print the test file and then submit it for approval by the committee. If
he is proofing to, for example, 3DAP and the 3DAP committee certify
that the proofer meets their requirements, then it is a 3DAP proofer and
he can't argue about that.

As far as Pantone's go, if it is a Pantone Certified printer, get the
Pantone process guide and compare his spot colours with those in the
guide. If it isn't Pantone Certified, then the printer doesn't know
anything about Pantone, and the printed version of Pantone is controlled
by the application that creates the artwork. That comes back to his
operators.

It doesn't matter how pretty the print looks if it is a proofer. It only
matters how closely it matches the colours of the prints done on
whatever machine he is proofing against.
If he is proofing content only, then colour isn't important and he may
as well have a black and white printer.

If you have the tools (Spectrolino and GM's Profile Maker, for example)
you could measure the difference between the prints off the new printer,
and the prints off the old printer, and the prints off whatever he's
proofing against, and prove (with absolute figures) how more or less
accurate the new printer is.

As for using ICC profiles...
You MUST use ICC profiles in a proofing workflow. It is just way to
difficult and time consuming to do otherwise.

HTH