Simulate Lightjet output with inkjet prints

[drgonzo]

I have a number of files (about a hundred) originally mastered for printing on a Lightjet with Fuji CA paper, and now I want to print them on my Canon ipf8400 with Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta, with as close a match as possible to the Lightjet prints.

Test prints on the Canon are printing more saturated than the Lightjet prints. When I compare the profile I made for Photo Rag Baryta to the Lightjet profile in Colorthink, the Photo Rag Baryta profile has a much larger gamut than the Lightjet. They also have more contrast, since the dMax with Canon/Photo Rag Baryta is greater than the Lightjet prints.

I think the smaller gamut of the Lightjet was clipping or compressing the colors in the image, and the larger gamut of the Canon allows the images to print without clipping or compressing.

Is there a way to "dumb down" the Canon's output to more closely resemble the gamut of the Lightjet? Perhaps with an output profile that more closely resembles the Lightjet's saturation and black point?

One consultant recommended making a device link profile linking the Lightjet profile to the Hahnemuhle profile. They recommended using DLP over cross-rendering. It made a slight but not huge difference.

The only other solution I can think of is creating a profile in Monaco Profiler with the saturation slider set to decrease saturation.

We are printing through Mirage RIP, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta paper, using a custom profile made with Basiccolor DropRGB. We have Monaco Profiler and PM5 available to create profiles as well.

[digitaldog]

Is there a way to "dumb down" the Canon's output to more closely resemble the gamut of the Lightjet?

Cross rendering!
Convert from working space to Lightjet. Then convert from Lightjet to Canon (and maybe use an Absolute Colorimetric intent to match paper white).

[drgonzo]

Thank you Andrew for the suggestions. I tried the following with a few images:

1.Convert from working space (Adobe RGB) to Lightjet profile using relative colormetric intent
2. Convert from Lightjet profile to Canon profile with ab color intent
3. Print with no color adjustment

Some images will need further editing after step 3...but the files have been converted to the Canon output profile. Now I usually don't think of making edits to the file at this point, since it's been converted to profile for printing.

With cross rendering, should further edits be performed with the file converted to the Canon output profile? Or should the file be converted again to Adobe RGB before making further edits, since Adobe RGB is a gray balanced working space and more predictable for editing?

[digitaldog]

Cross rendering isn't usually prefect in terms of a match. In the old days, one would edit the 2nd profile to force a closer match with some colors. But this should get you in the ballpark. You might need an adjustment layer instead of a profile edit. In theory, you could drag and drop just that layer from image to image.

[Wayne Fox]

Just curious, is there a reason you have to match the Lightjet output?  Seems most of us are more than happy to move to higher quality output devices and love the improvement we get. I print the same files on Fuji Flex and Epson 9900 all the time depending on the final presentation option (face mount, matted and framed).  I almost always prefer the inkjet, and they don’t look the same, but both look great as a finished piece. I’ve never thought about making the inkjet prints look “worse” so they would match the chromgenic prints.

[drgonzo]

Excellent question Wayne. The reason we are trying to match the Lightjet output is because of our client's request to match the Lightjet guides as close as possible.

The improved dMax and greater saturation with inkjet output has richer blacks and greater saturation than the Lightjet output, and the results are a bit too far from the subtleties of the Lightjet guide prints for the artist's approval.