Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Colour Management => Topic started by: narikin on February 06, 2014, 06:58:23 pm
-
At the risk of opening a can of worms: can some of the smart experts here recommend a routine for building my own profiles of metallic papers? I use an iSiS XL, Xrite profiler software, etc.
Only asking because I hear it can be tricky with these papers, so - UV cut measuring or both or ?
Am thinking of Mitsubishi Glossy Pearlescent Photo, not any of the Gold/Silver ones (at least not yet!)
Thanks.
-
Absolutely do a dual measurement, no reason not to with an iSis.
-
Thanks Andrew, of course you are right to do both readings.
I suspected there were more complications to profiling metallics, but maybe that's wrong.
-
I've seen better results with UVcut M2 measurements than the others on metallic papers (especially silver halide papers) and see slightly better results from DTP70 readings than iSis readings for some reason. Since there aren't any OBA's you wouldn't think that M2 measurements would show an improvement but they clearly do. So yes, I'd concur with Andrew that you should move forward with the iSis and, specifically, M2 measurements.
Now measuring prints on brushed aluminum, that's another matter altogether!
-
I'd try it both ways with regards to the UV. Then do a few test prints and see what is going on. I've done some with the OBC test and they actually looked worse than the ones without the UV applied so I tossed out those ICM files. Sometimes even the factory supplied ones look better too. I need to do some ICM housecleaning as it is.
Might step it up to their MA94 head if you got some extra cash laying around, like maybe $20K. :o
SG
-
I'd like some help exploring another way of looking at profiling metallic finish aqueous inkjet
papers.
Suppose you think about the problem this way- if instead of an aqueous inkjet metallic finish paper,
you decided to try to achieve the same result by adhering a clear film to a metal that had the
finish you wanted. Since you are using aqueous pigments that are being used in a reflective
as opposed to transmissive manner, you profile the clear film against a white background.
You coat the metal with an appropriate optically clear adhesive, and attach the clear
film to the metal. You don't include the metallic color in the profiling process.
Is there a way to do the same thing with aqueous inkjet metallic finish paper in the
profiling process by ensuring that the white point matches what would have been
determined in the example I just gave? In other words, is there a way to cause
the 'bizarre' paper white of the metallic finish paper to be disregarded and
replaced with a normal white like what would be used in the clear film against
white background example?
-
The problem with profiling metallic papers is that the reason they exist at all is to create perceptual variation from light being reflected off the particles at different angles. A specular effect that strongly depends on how the print is illuminated and/or possibly held. All profiling equipment is based on eliminating specular effects. As such it is particularly bad at producing profiles that produce the sort of "look" (or perhaps "looks") that is the artistic aspect desired from metallic papers.
This is almost totally in the realm of art, since the science here is scarce. At least with conventional 0/45 profiling devices.
Probably a good starting point would be profiles based on M3 which is uV cut combined with polarized filters that cut out specular reflections. Then one needs a profile editor or Photoshop techniques that produced the desired creative result. M3 spectros tend to be rather pricey, are used mostly in prepress to get readings before the ink dries, and there are no guarantees.
-
Is any one aware of any company/service that provides (or *can* provide) M3 profiles?
I *think* Chromix can but not aware of anyone else.
Now that I know more (well, a little more than I did) about color and the like, I should revisit the
profile I did for Moab Metallic.
-
I know this is a little later than expected from the last post, but our color specialist was able to create profiles for metallic paper with no issues and we use an ISIS 2 and Barbieri readers.
The silver paper may be a little harder with X-Rite, but they can probably do it easier with Barbieri.
IT Supplies
-
Yes Chromix can make profiles using M3 measurements. We have Barbieri LFP's and other M3 instruments.
In a nutshell, metallic papers look bright to the eye, but measured by most instruments, the "paper white" ends up measuring a rather gray tone. It takes a combination of the correct filters and some scaling in software to achieve a good profile that prints and proofs in the correct way.