how to set up colour management for prepress

[beermonster]

ok - lets have a shot at this - since we might be searchable at some point, lets get some nuts and bolts info going

detail how best to set up colour management for a pre-press environment.

what profiles should/shouldn't be used? how to allow for dot gain? how do you profile a press? could this set up be used for ctf and ctp?

what do you do if you have more than one press and print on several substrates?

how can you apply these methods into proofing?

[kermit]

Beer, it's too early for such serious topics yet. We need more time and more people. Unless you want to start...
and tell us what do you have in your place?

[ddbray]

Be for warned I'm not a Color Management Guru but I have had alot os success in Color Management.

With that said...

First you need to establish a Color standard ie. will you profile your best press and manage everything to match it, or profile every single press and come up with an average or use an established data set such as GRACOL or SWOP.
Having done this many different ways I choose to use the GRACOL data set as my standard, this is because there is no press that is producing paying jobs that is kept up to standards. So even if you get a perfect profile for your press on that day odds are the press will never be in that same condition on and other day.  So this takes cares of the Presses.

Now you must profile your proofers. The first step regardless of what soft ware you use is to establish a known standard that is repeatable day in and day out. This usually is establishing ink limits and curves to linearize the proofer. Keep in mind you must have some way of checking this every day to insure you are at your known standard.(Proofers are easier to control that Presses). Now you run profile patches and record your color gamut with an ICC Profile.

If you have a Digital color device ie. Nexpress, Indigo... you need to learn how keep the color to a standard. Most of these devices have some sort of Spetrophotometer and built in software that prints and reads patches designed for the equipment to keep it in a known printable condition.

Now you just use some sort of software that will tell the proofer or digital press to match your press using ICC profiles or ICC data sets.

I thing GMG is the best solution for Color Management though it is difficult for most end users to use so I ecommend to hire a Color Guru like Terry Wyse of Don Hutchensen to get thinks setup for you and teach you how to maintain the system.

Now monitor profileing. Simple I do not do it. Why? I have yet to see a Monitor that has reliable color from day to day. So if you get a good profile today it will be different tomorow. I rely on my skill knowing what percentages of CMYK should look like when printed. Now I have seen one ot two HIGH end SOFT proofing systems that seem to work but they usually go though several monitors just to find a couple that match one another and have repeatable color day to day.

Well that my 2¢ worth.

[beermonster]

haa stargate i got fek all dude - shit in shit out - my motto

[kermit]

I wish it was that easy - shit in shit out. At some point we would all want that "to give them a lesson" but in the end it only would work against you as the client would be upset, the sales guy, the boss etc. In the worst case scenario you would loose a client. What I learned is that it is better to fix it and make it right at the first place, when you have time and less stress. If the job comes back wrong - there is always somebody upset  breathing on your neck. It will come down the chain of command to the bottom anyway. Color management is a complex issue and it has to be implemented as a whole to really work. From matching some kind of targets (your own or some kind of standards) on the press, proofers, scanners and monitors. It can be done but there are so many variables that it is hard to tell what's is the best way to do it. It depends on the workflow you are using.

I use GMG: http://www.eliteukforces.info/weapons/GMG/ for inkjet proofers and I love it. Why? I think gmg is the best? Because I did lots of work testing many systems during 6 months of my research and this was the best system. You can get cheaper systems based on ICC technology, but I just wanted the best as we sell color. Besides gmg I use Fuji FinalProof, Monaco and Gretag software/hardware for monitors and my ctp uses curves in Rampage (my rip). Some people also use some kind of proof verification system - otherwise - how would you know if it is working? You basically scan some kind of a color bar and software will tell you - Passed or Failed. The good thing if passes you will get a label.

[beermonster]

err yes - my <lack of> wit didn't come across there - sorry.

yes we have things in place here - proofers profiled to presses etc, cromanet, cromalin, we didnt go for icert tho - too expensive for what it is.

building press curves is tricky - we print on so many boards it really varies a great deal - we get really good results though - few issues even though we are still film based - except spotting out.....

[Sparky]

I prefer to take the opposite approach. I start with a calibrated monitor in desktop and select a test file that best represents the average coverage and color range of the jobs we do most. Then create a standard test file to RIP to the Press and Proofer, in our case it's ROOM. then I burn set of plates of the test file on the Presstek and run the job to get color bars to match given densities. Cyan=1.40 Mag=1.45 Yel = .95, and black around 1.65. then adjust the curves on the press end to match my test file. also the same is done to the Epson 7000 and calibrated with ICC profiling and kept in a library reference, for future use. This is done to evaluate coated, Matt or Dull) , and uncoated stock as well as a paper called Yuco which is a synthetic plastic paper (and a bitch to run). once set up I can get a press make-ready in about 30 sheets of paper to match the Epson proof and then go for the run, with minimal tweaking of the ink keys to maintain color balance, and when the job is done I can store the ink data in a file that can be accessed later to match the original run.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

Hey Sparky, dumb question, just wondering if you got a new job?

I won't ask again, sorry if I'm anoying ya!