[argyllcms] Re: guideline for targen + printarg

  • From: Graeme Gill <graeme@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: argyllcms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:50:06 +1000

Michael Schulz wrote:

would be a great help to get some advice using targen/printarg. I want to
make a target for an inkjet printer (CMYK + CM light) with a larger number
of test patches.
I thought that -d5 must be the right option in targen. But the printer RIP
obviously can not work with more than 4 channels. The most of the patches in
the .ps file are almost black and the .tif files are not accepted because of
their alpha channels. Using the -f or -N option doesn't change anything.
Other questions are: should one include a preliminary profile either an
older printer profile or a profile created with a smaller number of test
patches, does it make sense to use more than the default white color test
patches and should one use single channels and Gray axes steps?
I would be pleased to get examples of reasonable command lines for targen
and printarg to save me from my confusion

Hi,
        two things: 1) Argyll won't create ICC profiles for more than 4 inks
(ie. CMYK). 2) There's no point in trying to profile more inks than your RIP
handles as output. An often used technique for light inks is that they
are in fact combined into the dark ink channels, meaning that the RIP
thinks it is working with a CMYK device.

A key question is whether you are attempting to create a profile to install
in your RIP, or whether you are attempting to color manage in front of your
RIP. If it is the former, then you need to figure out how profile charts are
to be printed so that they bypass the RIPs color management. Although I don't
have any detailed knowledge about specific RIPs, other people might, so it
would help if you would tell us what RIP and printer you are dealing with.

Graeme Gill.

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