I'm interpreting your message to mean that you want to profile the scanner device's response for calibration of the scanner itself. As far as I know, typically there's no commonly easy way to generate a sufficiently accurate "print it yourself" test chart suitable for this purpose. Certainly one could use targen to create a good RGB test patch chart with known colors, however your ability to accurately print those RGB spot colors is only as good as your printer's ability to create precisely accurate colors. Certainly a common color calibrated printer will generate "reasonably" accurate color patches, but still there's bound to be some inaccuracy and I assume that the magnitude of those inaccuracies would be greater than the magnitude of error one might wish to achieve in one's scanner calibration. Of course if you have an extremely accurate printer that can generate good spot colors then perhaps it's worthwhile to try to profile a scanner using an "ad hoc" open-loop printed target. Read the following and note the reference to an IT8 reference chart http://www.argyllcms.com/doc7/scanin.html > When no special argument is given scanin is assumed to be scanning an input device characterization chart > (ie. an IT8.7/2 chart), for the purpose of creating a .ti3 data file containing the CIE test values and the corresponding > RGB scanner values. The .ti3 file can then be used for creating an input profile using profile. > The file arguments are: The TIFF file that is to be processed, the image recognition template file, the CIE reference > value definitions for the test chart (sometimes labeled a ".q60" file), and an optional name for the image recognition > diagnostic output. The resulting .ti3 file will have the same base name as the input TIFF file. It is my understanding that one would usually just buy an IT8.7/2 target which has been printed by a reasonably good printer, but furthermore that printout is then profiled with an accurate colorimeter so that that specific IT8 chart (or its identically made production run lot, perhaps) is accompanied by a digital data file of the precise optically determined RGB and/or LAB color values that were actually printed on that chart. Then one may calibrate a scanner using that IT8 chart and its accompanying data file with the ArgyllCMS scanin program as above. I've seen several sites (which I may only presume to be reputable) commending the relative value and quality of the coloraid.de's (by Wolf Faust) commercially produced IT8 test charts intended for scanner and possibly camera calibration. q.v. the comparisons given here for what they're worth: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/it8cal/it8_page_1.htm I have no direct experience or past business relationship with any IT8 chart supplier, though I'm planning to order a reflective chart probably from coloraid soon to calibrate my own scanner / camera. http://targets.coloraid.de/ I've seen other pre-manufactured IT8 charts offered for sale indirectly from Kodak through places like Adorama / B&H, et. al. http://www.adorama.com/IKKIT857.html?sid=11976125721896446 I've also seen that packages like Profile Prism include a calibrated IT8 chart. http://www.ddisoftware.com/prism/ And also that some outfit called LaserSoft apparently sells them too: http://www.silverfast.com/show/it8/en.html Given a sufficiently accurate reflective colorimeter there's no reason one couldn't use targen print your own IT8 style chart and then validate its actual profile yourself, though most of the instruments that can do that precisely are much more expensive than just buying the certified IT8 target is likely to be if you have no recurring need for such an instrument for uses other than scanner calibration. Though if you did have such an instrument you could use it to profile a printer (and possibly other devices) or check printed spot colors e.g. to achieve a printer profile that's reportedly better than a common scanner derived printer profile is likely to be (even if you use a well profiled/calibrated but common sort of scanner). N.B. that IT8 targets and their production considerations differ depending on whether one is generating a film (transmissive) target or a printed reflective target. Roger Breton wrote:
I'm not sure which targen options to use since this is a RGB 'device' but it's not a 'Print' RGB or CMY device. Is it 'Video RGB'? For sure it isn'tCMYK.Also, when looking at profile options, I fail to find an option to not create the B2A tables since an input profile only has A2B tables. Kindest regards,Roger Breton