Epson P6000 and Color Proofing

[mbruce]

Hoping somebody out there can shed some light on state-of-the-art print engines and color calibration technology.

Over 10 years ago, I owned an Epson 24" printer. And if my memory serves me, I also had a RIP (Image Print) that allowed you to see the color rendering with a variety of media options. That printer has since bitten the dust, and I'm looking to buy an Epson P6000. I see Epson offers an optional spectro color proofer, but it is quite expensive.

Is there a recommendation out there on what to use that is not going to break the bank and is accurate?

[Lessbones]

Are you looking to make physical hard-copy proofs of different CMYK printing conditions, or do you just want to see them displayed on screen?  Soft-proofing (onscreen) can get you quite far-- if you want to be able to generate physical proofs you'll need a RIP and a spectrophotometer at the minimum.  There are a lot of different options in that field, and it can definitely be done for less than what you'll pay for the inline spectro from Epson, but it completely depends on your desire to learn the ins-and-outs.  Basically you can pay a lot and get a turnkey system, or pay considerably less for a more manual solution that requires lots of research and attention.

[Doug Gray]

I'll echo Lessbones' comment. They are both options. My preference is to use a separate Spectro like i1pro2 or 3. These work with any printer. Epson's built in spectro addon is good and uses the I1Pro technology. Having a separate spectro lets you change printers and calibrate the new one w/o spending more money.

[mbruce]

Lessbones,

Thanks for the response.  I am only looking to see the rendering on the screen.  I'm sure Epson has them built in for their own media types, but I need something for other media manufacturers.

[Doug Gray]

Lessbones,

Thanks for the response.  I am only looking to see the rendering on the screen.  I'm sure Epson has them built in for their own media types, but I need something for other media manufacturers.

Spectros, whether Epson's builtin or a separate instrument, will work just fine on different media types. Screen (monitor) calibration does require a separate instrument. Spectros do both while a colorimeter will only calibrate screens though it can do a better job with screens than a spectro.

Calibration of paper with a printer is a completely separate thing than calibration of a screen. Digitialdog has some very good videos explaining the differences. Highly recommend.