Snowy printer calibration ?

[howardm]

Since there is supposed to be an epic snowstorm this week, what better time to look into printer calibration!

And by that I do mean *calibration*.  In looking at some advanced usage of Argyll, I'm interested in
trying the printer calibration (.cal creation and integration to the profile) w/ my 3880.

That brings some questions.........

For a printer like the 3880, will I see real-world differences hard copy differences (vs. numeric/measurbating)?  If so, how would you describe it?

It seems like I can use my existing i1Publish created/saved measurement data, testcharts, .icc/.icm profiles and then just use 'applycal' to the 'stock' profile along w/ the at the end, is that about right?

I assume that I have to print out a calibration chart on a per-paper/media-type basis.  Yes/no?  (It seems like HP/Canon only require a single calibration/linearization for multiple papers but I'm not fully understanding that).

If I go w/ a more Argyll flow, what is the preferred CGATS format (from i1Publish) to save to so that txt2ti3 works well?

Is there a way to get Argyll to produce/read a chart for an i1Pro2 that matches i1Publish patch density (#patches/page)?  It appears Argyll is about 66% or so as 'efficient' as i1Publish.  I can use the -a option to printtag but does anyone know what the correct value (approx) would be so that chartread can still read it all w/o forcing errors or re-reads.

[Rhossydd]

Probably a lot easier to use Epson's Colorbase utility to get the printer completely set up correctly. Then use i1Publsih to generate any paper profiles for the printer.

[howardm]

Thanks.  I think I vaguely recall that software but it doesn't seem available on the Epson USA site. 

Currently downloading from the UK site and I'll check it out.  Thanks!

http://esupport.epson-europe.com/FileDetails.aspx?lng=en-GB&data=qB0qqXe21jF8Esq2M38bGGaeHreHUYr11sXJ+74AdjMU003D&id=379912

[Alan Goldhammer]

What is the goal here?  If I recall correctly calibration is mainly used to get multiple printers to have the same behavior so that a single profile can be used on all with comparable results.  If you have profiled a single printer, it's not clear what advantage you will be getting from going through the calibration process.  I have a 3880 as well and it's behavior has been extremely consistent over the two plus years of ownership.  I occasionally will re-profile to make sure things are the same and see virtually no difference between new and original profile.

[digitaldog]

What is the goal here?  If I recall correctly calibration is mainly used to get multiple printers to have the same behavior so that a single profile can be used on all with comparable results. 

Exactly, at least with the Epson driver. There really is no calibration or linearization per se. You can mess with media settings and ink settings but that's kind of a sledgehammer approach due to the driver itself.

[howardm]

That's why I asked those who know more than I.

If it's not a worthwhile endeavor for a single printer, I'm sure I can find some other color management rabbit hole I can get lost in
for a while

[Alan Goldhammer]

That's why I asked those who know more than I.

If it's not a worthwhile endeavor for a single printer, I'm sure I can find some other color management rabbit hole I can get lost in
for a while

Or you can go out and take snow pictures!  We had a Snowmageddon here in the Washington DC area in 2010 and there were some great opportunities even though I couldn't get more than five feet out my door without doing major shoveling.

[howardm]

Oh, that's definitely on the agenda