Datacolor User to User Support Group.

Thanks for your detailed description of your procedure. I follow
everything exactly as you describe with these exceptions:

1. I have printed the large 13x19 target.
2. I have NOT placed the target on a piece of black blotter paper. I
am not sure how this would help.
3. I have NOT redone the measurements and made a number two
calibration. It seems that if you are careful and precise in your
measurements then this step is not necessary.

My current profile prints the standard test target very accurately. If
I made a landscape print, people would say it looks great and is a
very close screen match. It is just that when I reproduce artwork, the
color matching becomes critical, and it is here that the profile is
not doing its job on certain hues. They are close, but close is not
good enough for this type of work.

I know the printer is working properly with no clogged heads. I have
carefully examined the measurements of the patches on the monitor
screen before building the profile and these look good. In some cases
just to make sure I have remeasured some, but see no difference on the
screen hue for that patch after remeasuring.

If I didn't do the color critical artwork reproductions for artist and
only did my landscape work, I would be very satisfied. Perhaps what I
am seeing are limitations in the PrinFix Pro/ SpyderII Pro calibration
profiling system and I need to consider an alternative. 


--- In colorvision_group@yahoogroups.com, "PJS" <psandham@...> wrote:
>
> Try this:
> 
> Starting with the basics, when you are printing your target patches
to be
> read, be sure the settings in the Epson print driver are correct. I
would
> set them to "Watercolor Paper - Radiant White"; Photo 1440dpi; No High
> Speed; No Edge Smoothing; with the Color Management set to ICM; ICC
profile
> to "No Color Adjustment".
> 
> Then print the target from PrintFix Pro (and I always double-check
from the
> "Select Print Fix Pro Target" page to be sure the settings have
remained the
> same. I also have found that printing the 3-page target makes for easier
> reading than the large 13x19 target the 2200 will print. Be SURE to
use the
> same paper as you set in the Epson driver.
> 
> After setting the white calibration using the white reference block
on the
> base of the PrintFix reader, measure each target. I place the target
pages
> on a piece of black blotter paper to avoid extraneous reflections when
> measuring. After all measurements are complete, I go back over the
on-screen
> pages to be sure that one patch has not been misread - it's pretty
easy to
> see as the square will be "off" in color in relation to surrounding
squares.
> More than once I have mis-measured one or two squares. I have also found
> that using the audible "click" when measuring helps avoid errors.
You should
> hear TWO clicks for EVERY measurement. If you don't, re-measure the
square -
> trust me! These procedures apply for the Black & White calibrations
as well.
> Once measurements are complete, be sure that the "advanced" options in
> PrintFix Pro are all set to neutral (this would be the sliders and B/W
> reference measurements).
> 
> When you have saved your profile, you need to be sure that the
settings in
> the Epson print driver remain the same for any printing. If you use
PS, as I
> recall, use "no color management" for your monitor (this allows your
Spyder
> calibration to be the default viewer), and load your PrintFix Pro
profile to
> the output section of PS. Be sure that all options are OFF. I no
longer use
> PS for printing (Qimage is the only way to go, IMHO), so I'm working
from
> memory, but it is very easy in most programs to either double profile or
> select color options that will alter your prints, especially if you are
> playing with "localized" adjustments. Again, more than once I have left
> something changed that I played around with and should have just
left alone.
> The hazards of too many choices!
> 
> Once all of the above is correct, I would print the PrintFix Pro
calibration
> targets using PS and compare them to the targets printed out of PrintFix
> Pro. The target files can be found at C:\Program
Files\ColorVision\PrintFIX
> PRO\Targets on a PC. For a MAC - ??? If the prints are not the same
as the
> ones printed from PrintFix, I would first check that the printer is not
> clogging and the inks were OK.
> 
> After all of this, I do the whole profiling process again and name the
> calibration file #2. Print a test target or photo on the type of
paper you
> have profiled using both the original calibration and the #2 calibration
> (changing NOTHING ELSE on the computer) - if they are not EXACTLY
the same,
> either you measured wrong or your printer is malfunctioning (and
there are
> probably other obscure reasons, too, but I've not had to go past
this point
> to solve the problem). I've done this procedure for my 3800 for 12
papers at
> this time and my prints are spectacular. I also did it for many
papers on my
> now sold 2200 and was very happy with the results. And even my old
1270 can
> put out a pretty good looking print!
> 
> Hope this helps……
> 
> 
> pjs
> kansas "the flat & happy state"
> "the better the photographer,
> the bigger the wastebasket"
> pjs 1972
>