PRO-1000: Common Calibration vs. Unique Calibration

[TheNinth]

Hi,

I am wondering about the workings of the Unique Calibration in combination with custom media types. If I create a custom media type and create a Calibration Target for it, the media type will then support Unique Calibration.

My question now is:

When I then run calibration on this media type, will it set adjustment values that take the printer to the state when the Calibration Target was created? Or in other words: if I have created the Calibration Target right AFTER I've created the ICC profiles, will the calibration for this media type help to keep the print results stable and true to the ICC profile?

I understand that for Common Calibration it is different, the adjustment values bring the printer to a standardized „factory“ state. So when using Common Calibration, a calibration would have to be run BEFORE the creation of ICC profiles and then further calibrations can be used to keep the output stable.

Regards, Robert
 

[Doug Gray]

Hi,

I am wondering about the workings of the Unique Calibration in combination with custom media types. If I create a custom media type and create a Calibration Target for it, the media type will then support Unique Calibration.

My question now is:

When I then run calibration on this media type, will it set adjustment values that take the printer to the state when the Calibration Target was created? Or in other words: if I have created the Calibration Target right AFTER I've created the ICC profiles, will the calibration for this media type help to keep the print results stable and true to the ICC profile?

I understand that for Common Calibration it is different, the adjustment values bring the printer to a standardized „factory“ state. So when using Common Calibration, a calibration would have to be run BEFORE the creation of ICC profiles and then further calibrations can be used to keep the output stable.

Regards, Robert

Always profile the printer/paper combo AFTER you calibrate the printer. Once you do that if the printer drifts calibrating it should return it to the same state where the profile was made. Calibration is most useful using the OEM paper and profiles if you don't make your own profiles. But if you make your own profiles always do so right after calibration.

[TheNinth]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your response!

Always profile the printer/paper combo AFTER you calibrate the printer. Once you do that if the printer drifts calibrating it should return it to the same state where the profile was made. Calibration is most useful using the OEM paper and profiles if you don't make your own profiles. But if you make your own profiles always do so right after calibration.

While I understand why this would be the case for Common Calibration, run on papers that are a known entity to the printer, but I am wondering about the Unique Calibration for custom media types for third party papers. These are an unknown entity to the printer, and it does not have any reference of what the print result should look like. So I thought that creating the Calibration Target with the Media Configuration Tool is actually creating this reference, and any calibration then run on this custom media type will set adjustment values for only this media type to adjust the print result to the Calibration Target created.

What do you think?

Regards, Robert

[Doug Gray]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your response!

While I understand why this would be the case for Common Calibration, run on papers that are a known entity to the printer, but I am wondering about the Unique Calibration for custom media types for third party papers. These are an unknown entity to the printer, and it does not have any reference of what the print result should look like. So I thought that creating the Calibration Target with the Media Configuration Tool is actually creating this reference, and any calibration then run on this custom media type will set adjustment values for only this media type to adjust the print result to the Calibration Target created.

What do you think?

Regards, Robert

I think that is correct but I haven't tested the effects of calibration with a unique media. I would expect successive calibration would only affect that paper selection. That said, just make sure you print and make a profile after you initially do the unique calibration

[TheNinth]

I think that is correct but I haven't tested the effects of calibration with a unique media. I would expect successive calibration would only affect that paper selection.

Yes, this is certainly the case, according to Canon, Unique Calibration only sets adjustment values for the media type the calibration is performed with.

https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-4000/EN/LBGB/tp000883.html

That said, just make sure you print and make a profile after you initially do the unique calibration

So what I did is first get an ICC profile done, immediately after that create the Calibration Target for the custom media type and since then run calibrations for this media type. From my understanding that approach should work to have the calibrations set adjustment values to bring the output in line with the Calibration Target/ICC profile, but Canon documentation is not really clear enough for me to be sure.

Maybe I'd have been on the safe side to first create the Calibration Target and then the ICC profile, but I cannot easily correct that, since I am using an external service for creating ICC profiles.