Almost all of the current printers made by Epson and Canon are very well
behaved and depending on the type of printing one does, calibration may be of
only marginal utility. I print with an Epson 3880 and Epson have had a
ColorBase calibration software utility available for a number of years. My
printer does not have a built in sensor so one must print out the patch set and
read it manually. The software compares the output to what is expected using
factory calibration settings and then adjusts the print driver to account for
any drift changes that might be observed. I assume the Canon utility (the new
line of Epson printers have a similar sensor/utility set up) does the same
thing. The key advantage to calibration is that it negates the need to
reprofile papers to account for color drift. The advantage of the built in
sensor/software utility setup is that it is easier to implement than the
ArgyllCMS system as everything is 'automated.' Are the results better than
what can be achieved using ArgyllCMS? Only you will be able to answer that
question.
I've not seen any need to calibrate my Epson 3880. I've been doing all my
profiling over the past six years using ArgyllCMS and see very low dE readings
in patch sets. I've not visually observed color drift/changes in prints that I
have made. Certainly, the new calibration tools in these printers are easy to
use and you wouldn't lose much work time in carrying out a calibration. This
is just one person's opinion.
Alan
-----Original Message-----
From: argyllcms-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:argyllcms-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Henrik Olsen
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2017 5:25 AM
To: argyllcms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [argyllcms] Printer Color Calibration and effects on profiling
Hi
I’m wondering what effects built-in printer calibration has on custom profiling.
For instance the inkjet Canon Pro-x000 series has the ability to make what they
call Color Calibration as discussed in the manual here:
http://ugp01.c-ij.com/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-1000%20series/EN/CNT/cnt_color_management.html
and here
http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2016/ipf-pro1000/color-calibration-tool.shtml
It can be a common calibration used across several paper types, or unique
calibrations for specific papers.
The idea, I think, is to get (and keep) the printer into a well known /
controlled condition regarding how ink density ends up on paper, taking into
account ink/paper/environment. I guess the feature is similar to printcal from
ArgyllCMS, where recalibration avoids reprofiling - right?
If using OEM or 3rd party profiles, and those profiles have been made after
such a calibration, that will of course offer good consistency.
But when doing my own profiling and only needing that profile for my own
printer (not needing to reuse my custom profiles across several printers from
the series), do you see any benefit from doing this Canon Color Calibration?
Would it “only” help maintain consistency over time if
ink/paper/printhead/environment changes slightly (recalibrating printer, not
reprofiling), or could it also improve the resulting individual ArgyllCMS
profile even if those factors would keep constant over time?
What’s the recommendation? Use common, unique or neither of the printer’s
calibration options.
Regards
Henrik
