Digital proofing
We are a big printing company in Shenzhen China . We offer all book publications, hardcover book printing, papercover book printing, hardcover notebook, sprial book printing, saddle stiching book printing, booklet printing,packaging box, calendars, all kinds of PVC, product brochures, notes, Children's book, stickers, all kinds of special paper color printing products, game cardand so on.
For more information please visit
http://www.joyful-printing.com. ENG only
http://www.joyful-printing.net
http://www.joyful-printing.org
email: info@joyful-printing.net
The emergence of digital technologies such as computer direct plate (CTP) and computer direct film (CTF) has created a market demand for improved digital processes to replace existing production methods. The digital process involves computer imposition, cost control, production management and other issues, and the scope is very wide. Among them, digital proofing is the most talked about and concerned. The industry has been skeptical about digital proofing at first, and it has gradually accepted and adopted it today, and it has experienced a transition period of several years. In theory, if the quality of the equipment is good, the stability of digital proofing should not be a doubt. However, the factors affecting digital proofing are numerous, so until now, seemingly no longer unfathomable digital proofing, there is still a need to explore again and again.
Is the digital proofing color accurate?
1. As far as people are concerned, digital proofing seems to be accurate in color, but when it is actually used in a printing factory, it will encounter many difficulties. Traditional proofing is affected by many factors such as ink balance, ambient humidity, temperature, etc., so it is really not easy to make a proof of the specifications. If you can't make a stable or compliant proof, it's impossible to make a good ICCProfile. Even if I can do it, because of changes in the environment, or the differences in the skills of the operators, or some of the variables that appear in the plate making and output of the film, ICCProfile can not accurately describe the characteristics of the instrument, which is what our users often encounter. difficult.
2. Stable production conditions are very important for color management. However, color management is only one part of the whole production management. It does not mean color management, and others do not need to pay attention to it. In fact, the company's quality management also includes: Is the stability of consumables? Is the entire production process standardized? What is the density of prints and the value added of outlets? Whether the characteristics of printing have been identified and so on. The printing house must first set a standard and enter into a sample to take a reading from the instrument to gauge how far away it is from the standard. With this standard, it is expected to maintain the stability of the proofing color. When everything is stable, your color management will take effect. Color management covers a wide range, and ICCProfile is the most important part of it. It is a document describing the characteristics of the instrument. If your instrument characteristics are erratic, the description file will be invalid. Because the description file describes the characteristics of the instrument yesterday, and today's characteristics may differ from yesterday's 5-6%, so that the expected accuracy you get will be 5-6%. But how can we stabilize the production process? In fact, it must go through another level of management, including the identification, follow-up and assurance of internal production standards.
3. In addition to CMS (Color Management System), QMS (Quality Management System) is mentioned in the industry. To make a good ICCProfile, you must control the instruments, paper, and ink used. It's easier to make a profile of a printer than to make a press. Because the latter involves ranges such as ink balance, blanket pressure, and the color gamut of each set of paper and ink, these variables must be controlled before an applicable ICC Profile can be expected. If only the first half, such as the quality control of the screen and scanner, and the lower half cannot achieve high standards, the color display of the entire process will be affected.
ICCProfile needs to be updated regularly?
1. Because we sell color, in the daily operation, the biggest difficulty is chasing color. The digital proofing color gamut must be wider than the printing color gamut. Even if the digital files we made are not given to the printing company, we will try our own internal proofing and coloring process, and the process is quite painful. Because the color gamut of digital proofing is too broad, some bright colors are hard to chase, and the level of digital proofing, Highlight and Shadow are also outstanding, and they perform particularly well. Based on the structural problems of printed dots, these levels are not easy to perform well.
2. The two methods currently available are: to simulate the effect of digital manuscripts on the screen; or to simulate the effects of digital presses with digital proofing. Will your customers spend more resources now and make a profile of the printing press for you to follow?
Various measuring instruments on the market help to improve the accuracy of digital proofing.
1. One customer also asked us to do ICCProfile for them, but the problem we encountered was: We did it, and the color was also well followed, but after ICCProfile was given to the printing house, they could not follow. Two months later, we returned to the profile by ourselves, but we couldn't get it. Why? Because time has brought a lot of changes. In those two months, everything has changed a lot. The compromise is to update the ICCProfile almost once a week or every month, otherwise it is not an easy task to chase. Even if the same batch of paper is used, the same batch of ink will be used in different periods, and the same problem will be encountered.
2. There is a standard for ICCProfile to let you chase. If ICCProfile is not given to you, you can only judge by random, even the most basic conditions can not be mastered.
3. In fact, the key lies in the management of the printing press, including temperature and humidity control of the entire printing room, and internal quality control of paper and ink. If the stability control in this area is good and the printing factory has internal printing standards, the printing press should be stable. But of course, the printing factory can also present data to prove its stability. In fact, the plate-making company can check whether the data of the value-added and density of its outlets is stable by regularly printing to the manuscript printing factory. You can even draw a chart on the data, let yourself make a reference, or research with each other to find a coordination plan.
Color correction software helps users build reliable ICCProfiles.
Sometimes we will also find out a virtual press ICCProfile. Whether it's digital or screen proofing, even a press may be chasing virtual printer features. Of course, this is just a transitional phase, not an ideal one. But in actual situations, it may be useful. Of course, this virtual printing machine ICCProfile must also be printed by local or used printing companies, including ink hue, paper physical data and other aspects can be traced.
Does ICCProfile help to expand the color gamut?
Q: If I do the ICCProfile of the press myself, can I describe the status of the press with the canned ICCProfile?
A: The canned ICCProfile should not be used to describe the state of an existing press, because ICC describes a feature such as forcing a change of the profile to distort the characteristics it represents, which should not be ideal.
Q: But if the characteristics of the press are not at their best, there is a certain feature that I can get through the ConvertProfiletoProfile method, so that my press can be produced immediately, isn't it ideal? If I want to adjust the press to the current standard ICCProfile state, the press has to be adjusted to achieve the maximum color gamut, isn't it a lot of time? Is the ultimate color gamut the ultimate goal?
A: 1. The long-term goal is of course to reach the maximum color gamut, but in the short and medium term, for example, in the case of delivery, if the printing press can keep the gamut small but the state is stable for about two weeks, you are at this moment. As a setting standard, ICCProfile is not a problem. The color obtained in the future may not be saturated enough, but if the customer can accept it, it is no problem, because the most important thing is to deliver. Of course, the long-term goal is to do color correction and establish internal standards, and you will be able to win more orders in the future. But how can you achieve the maximum color gamut? It depends on how you correct the press on weekdays and how to maintain the stability of the internal standards. ICCProfile alone is not acceptable. In the process, the most important thing is: don't rely on the naked eye or human judgment, but measure it with the instrument.
2. Can not rely on ICCProfile to expand the color gamut of the printing press, each piece of paper, each set of ink also has its own color gamut. If you want to expand the color gamut, you are advised to buy some higher quality paper and higher purity inks. Make sure that the printing conditions, such as ink balance and blanket pressure, are all in the standard state, and naturally reach a larger color gamut. Then ICCProfile can be used to explain the size of the color gamut that can be given by the combination of a certain type of paper and a certain ink. .
3. If you change the ICCProfile to expand the color gamut, or there will be a color out of the estimate, the situation of the gradient adjustment may not be beneficial.
A profile, 20 presses?
Q: ICCProfile is indeed a confusing issue. In particular, the printing environment involves more than ten kinds of variables. If more than ten machines are added, there are many standards to be determined. There are so many variables, such as ink, rotation speed, ink type, pressure, etc. How to ensure that the ICCProfile used meets the standard?
A: 1. The profile of the printing press does require a lot of time and resources. Unlike printers, it is also possible to use ordinary book paper, glossy paper, photo paper, and ink to go to EPSON ink. There are many variables in the printing press, such as printing machines in Japan or the United States, or paper in the United States, South Korea, and the mainland, plus different purity inks, different printing master operations, etc. All the factors add up, how to ensure each The project is also consistent, but also in line with the standard? It is indeed a challenge. But ICCProfile also has its existence value, and the value is not worth investing in so many resources, depending on the strategy of each company.
The accuracy of digital proofing involves color management, the use of measuring instruments, etc. It is worth investing or not, depending on the company's strategy.
To achieve the maximum color gamut, it should rely on instrumentation and software assistance, and should not be judged by the naked eye.
2. A printing factory may have an internal printing press, but the brand may only have four or five. The third and fourth machines of the same brand must pass the TestForm test at least. TestForm is measured with a spectrophotometer. After the measurement, statistical data can be obtained. Knowing the degree of Deviation of a certain type of paper when using a certain type of paper. Then we can use the internal management to gradually narrow the distance of the deviation, and then make an ICCProfile suitable for a certain brand machine after the average characteristics. Of course, using an ICCProfile for the entire company's internal presses is theoretically possible. However, in the process of printing, it is inevitable to chase the color. Regardless of whether the company has a profile for each press, or a profile to cover the top machine, the effect of digital proofing will be affected by the profile, and the printing should follow the proof. If the profiles of the four brands with the same brand are different, I believe that the accuracy will be quite high. If you use a Profile to represent the press, you will inevitably have some sacrifices, but if you sacrifice the standard, you may be able to make the operation simple and save time. How to choose, depending on the decision of the printing house. .
Q: Will you consider introducing some standard profiles to us, so that we can save more costs?
A: 1. Whether it is EPSON or hp printer, the can profile is attached. Can Profile has informed you of the model's model, how high its color interpretation ability when using certain inks and certain papers. But if it is a printer profile, the difficulty seems to be higher. There are so many printing machines on the market, such as Heidelberg, Manroland, etc., then a variety of paper, ink, so many different operators, how to ensure that the can profile we made must be completely suitable for your production environment? Perhaps your press settings are different from mine, and as long as there are variables in this area, it will basically affect the accuracy of the profile. The proposal to make a canned profile is very good, but in reality it may not be possible to complete a representative profile.
2. There are several canned ICCProfiles in the X-Rite and GretagMacbeth software. To be a representative profile in the local area, the costs involved are not affordable for small companies. These profiles are made by European printing associations and national groups. Of course, Hong Kong can also try to do this work, but even if you make a profile, it will not match the printing press of any printing factory, nor will it describe the characteristics of a certain printing machine. The result is still digital. Proofing and screen soft proofing simulates the so-called national or Hong Kong standards, and then the proof room holds the proof and color. Virtual national standards exist, and the differences can be solved if the printer can catch up.
Is the cost of digital proofing high?
A: 1. Since the rise of the CTP in 1998, we have begun to try to use digital proofing. Why do we start to get that early? Because we use traditional proofing, we can see that the paper and the master will affect the final result of the proofing. Sometimes we need to publish a book with a higher requirement. I tried a color that didn't match. We pointed it out. The result was corrected after the proof was returned, but the film was not modified. In fact, it was only a bit heavy when proofing. In 1998, many customers have digitized the film. If we take the same file to another printer, the color will not match. It is also very important that our requirements are quite high. If we change colors, the cost will be high, but if we change the digital proof, we can reduce the cost.
We started to print CTP books in 2000. In terms of color processing, our level is still quite low. We used four or five years of digital proofing, but now the digital company has given me the digital proofing, and I am blunt, actually there is still a distance from the printing effect. Ordinary prints, we can also adjust the gap according to the gap. However, some cultural relics, murals, etc. require higher printing. We hand over the digital proofs to the original authors such as photographers and museum directors, and most of them are considered to be out of specification. Therefore, when we are dealing with such manuscripts, we will use traditional proofing for the first time. After the comments have been made, we will use digital proofing when we make internal adjustments, or ask the photographer to directly on the screen. Modify, and then make high-demand color separation processing. We are publishing and we can't spend too much resources on color management.
In order to help customers rebuild their confidence, their peers generally share traditional proofing and digital proofing.
2. When customers first use digital proofing, confidence will be lower than before. At the level of our customers, the most important thing is how to promote digital proofing and make it widely accepted by customers. Most of their practices are: a traditional proofing plus a digital proof to show that the two colors are the same, increasing customer confidence. This is a very important issue of confidence. Customers generally think that if you give a proof without a dot, how can you ensure that the effect of printing in the future is within acceptable or compliant range? So now the usual practice is generally both, and then slowly eliminate the traditional proofing, directly using digital proofing. Digital proofing has its stability. If the customer requests to change the color by a few percentage points, the traditional proofing may not be obvious, but the digital proofing is OK, which can enhance the customer's confidence in digital proofing.
3. Digital proofing has developed rapidly in recent years, and the stability has also improved a lot. At present, the speed, practicality, color matching, and even the proof of remote proofing of digital proofing are very mature. Whether it is today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow to give you digital proofing, it must be a stable draft. As for the price issue, the price of digital proofing has been reduced a lot compared to the past.