On: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 Giles Stokoe wrote: SNIP
> I totally understand that the only way to get a truly accurate and predictable > result is to have monitor and printer calibrated, as they will all be unique > to a greater or lesser degree (if something can be 'less' unique?). What I > expect from a generic profile is similar to what I would hope for in a proof > print from my own black and white darkroom: black at black, white at white > (after all 0%C 0%M 0%Y 0%K is pretty unambiguous), and everything else roughly > in the right place in between. Then I know whether it is worth spending time > (and money) refining the output... in this case seeing the potential of the > setup and deciding whether to spend money on perfect calibration. > A generic profile is but that - generic. I have never seen a generic profile fully work for anything, whether it be for scanner/monitor/printer. All these devices are analog in operation, and prone to drift or deficiencies in manufacture. Having said that, Epson's generic ColorSync profiles and driver settings work remarkably well on Epson inks and media - albeit in a non discerning kind of way. A custom profile for your 1290 + OEM inks & paper will give a markedly improved result in comparison with whatever the native Epson printer driver is capable of. This is why custom profiling for individual devices is essential for maintaining colour fidelity throughout a digital colour workflow. Otherwise it is not possible to predict white/black points, gamma, and colour balance with any confidence or fidelity. Basic colour management is now a tried and tested entity to deal with, and it is not necessarily expensive. Little or no colour management - or even worse - poorly implemented colour management, is extremely expensive and a complete waste of time/profit/rewards and resources. > Now, results so far, using Mac OS9.0.4, Photoshop 6.0. It would be a good idea to upgrade to MacOS9.1 - much more stable than 9.04 and if you have not done so already, update your version of Photoshop to (and correct me if I am wrong) PS6.01 for further stability and bug fixes. I hope this is of some use to you, as given freely to the subscribers to this list. William Curwen www.william.ws (update imminent:) =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
