Datacolor User to User Support Group.

Hello. i made a profile with spyderprint. the printer was printer with lots of blacks. after profiling it prints ok, but the blackest black shoul be more powerfull. how to intensify the blacks?? thank you

On Feb 15, 2013, at 5:21 AM, carlosramosdrum <carlosramosdrum@...> wrote:

> Hello. i made a profile with spyderprint. the printer was printer with lots of blacks. after profiling it prints ok, but the blackest black shoul be more powerfull. how to intensify the blacks?? thank you
> 
> 

If you're printed the SpyderPrint target correctly, the black (the first patch in the
target) is already as "powerful" as it can get. Patch 1A in every target is maximum
(full) black, and it is the darkest "full" black that the printer/paper/inks and
your driver settings (for paper type) can produce.

SpyderPrint profiles are designed to make use of that maximum black. If you print
"black" in a real print, through a SpyderPrint profile, it will print the same (full black)
as patch 1A in the target.

So for you to intensify the blacks, you need to understand that the darkness of
your black depends on "you": your printer/paper/ink, and the driver settings you
choose for both printing your target and printing actual images through the profile
you've built. (The driver settings for target prints and "real" image prints must be
the same - paper type setting, output quality/resolution, etc)

Comments:

- Always do a nozzle check before you print a target. Any clogs will throw off your
measurements and result in an incorrect profile - nothing will be "right" after that.
If you have any clogs at all, do a nozzle cleaning, check again, and repeat these
functions in your driver software until the nozzles are working perfectly.

- If you're printing on matte paper, the intensity of black will always be less than
on glossy/luster papers. On a good quality matte paper and using the proper black
ink (see more on this below), you should get a measured "L" value for patch 1A that's
in the 16-22 range (lower is better). Higher than that means you're using the wrong
driver settings, or the wrong kind of black ink (see more below), or you're using a
poor 3rd party inkset, or that you had nozzle clogs when you printed the target.

- If you're printing on glossy/luster paper, you'll have a darker black than on matte.
You should be getting an "L" for the black patch in the 3-7 range (lower is better).
If not, then you're using the wrong kind of black ink, or a poor 3rd party inkset
(manufacturer's inks will always give you a great black), or you have nozzle clogs.

- Important!!! If your printer has both photo black and matte black ink, you MUST use
the right kind of ink for your paper to get the best possible black for it. DO NOT use
photo black ink on matte papers, or matte black ink on photo papers, if you want to
get the proper darkness of black and shadows. Photo black on matte papers produces
a weak black in the output for both targets and prints (for instance, L's in the upper
20's through lower 30's) and there's nothing that can be done to improve this.

- Profiling works within the limits of the colors that you see printed in your target
patches. Those patches include some which represent the outermost limits of what
your printer/paper/ink/driver settings can produce. You can't physically print a black
that's darker than patch 1A in the target - it's physically impossible - and profiling
can do nothing to improve that. The same is true for the other, most saturated "perfect"
colors in the target - those are as fully inked and saturated as the printer/paper/ink/
driver settings can produce, assuming the target is printed correctly (color management
turned off in the driver!), and profiling can't produce colors, later on, any more saturated
than those.


David Miller
Senior Software Developer, Digital Color Solutions
Datacolor