Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, John Labovitz <
johnl@j...> wrote:
snip
> Way, way, back in the old days (~1998), I used Horses MatchLock (now
> ProfileMaker, I think) to profile MIS quadtones, and the process
actually
> worked fairly well.  However, since MatchLock didn't know that the
...
> The other problem was that Horses eventually "fixed" some
color-profiling
...
Actually Profiler Pro still works for quads, and the the
GretagMacbeth 
software worked well for a test CMYK profile. RGB profiles I've made 
work well for characterization, Profiler Pro CMYK profiles were less 
successful because K generation, total ink, and UCR/GCR issues 
important to normal CMYK profiles are relevant to quads in somewhat 
unrelated ways.
Any of these profiles are only useful for preview, or providing 
valuable characterization information used for developing curves.
THey cannot be used to print through because color management 
presupposes a desired end result of best possible color output given 
the nature of the device.
We have different rules, light tones to light inks, etc.. Nonetheless 
profiles can be invaluable when developing workflows. For example,
all 
of the 1280 VM curves I made for Martin were done with the help of a 
profile.

> I've talked to some color-profiling gurus, and they say that while
it may be
> technically possible to do grayscale profiling using ICC profiles,
there
> just isn't much interest in the professional world.  And the
existing
> measuring methods (IT8 targets, for instance) don't have enough
information
> to do a good job.
Actually Icctools will do it, but I haven't tried it. However they
are 
grayscale profiles, and again not savvy to the desired end result.
It's 
possible to imagine it's usefulness though.
You are quite right about "enough info", however some profiling 
software allows you to design your own measurement chart, so you
could 
get sample your specific areas of interest.

> interpolate.  For a full 6-color, 16-bit LUT that has every value
in it, the
> files should be around 1.5mb each.
Still very interested in software a Mac dummie could use for making
my 
own LUTs.
Tyler