HP Designjet Z3100 Printer Series - Advanced Profiling Solution

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsPrinterHP Designjet Z3100 44-in Photo Printer

Technical Newsletter:

HP Advanced Profiling Solution

June 10

, 2007

Summary

The HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) powered by X-Rite is an

integrated solution for calibrating and profiling monitors, profiling

HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series and for validating and

optimizing ICC profiles.

A number of profiling solutions are available ranging from the in-the-

box HP Easy Profiling Solution (EPS), over optional software and

hardware bundles like APS, to high end stand-alone software

packages like X-Rite ProfileMaker, Monaco, or Heidelberg

PrintOpen. The features and price points of these solutions vary

widely, from very easy to use and included in the printer purchase price, to quite

sophisticated and expensive.

The HP Advanced Profiling Solution powered by X-Rite represents a reasonable

middle ground with respect to features and price. All solutions provide good

colorimetric accuracy, but especially the details of perceptual rendering intents can

and do vary. As usual, the best advice is to compare carefully and use the most

fitting tool for the job.

In the following pages we describe in detail the HP Advanced Profiling Solution

(page 2-5) and we provide a comparison to other profiling solutions (page 6).

Summary of content (11 pages)

PAGE 1
Technical Newsletter: HP Advanced Profiling Solution June 10th, 2007 Summary The HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) powered by X-Rite is an integrated solution for calibrating and profiling monitors, profiling HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series and for validating and optimizing ICC profiles.
PAGE 2
What is the HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS)? The HP Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) powered by X-Rite is a software and hardware package for generating ICC profiles, with a wizard style user interface. It uses the HP Designjet Z Photo printer series’ Embedded Spectro-Photometer (ESP) for printer profiling, and an in-the-box X-Rite Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter for monitor profiling. Both Mac and Windows versions are available.
PAGE 3
digital color management. A number of options are provided for monitor calibration (white point, gamma, and luminance) and for Z series printer profiling (chart size, profile size, gray axis style, and viewing light source). The printer profiling parameters user interface is shown below. The standard RGB driver print path can be profiled via an on-line workflow (with integrated chart printing), and third party print paths (e.g.
PAGE 4
The printer profile editing user interface is shown below. What does APS not do? APS does not create ICC profiles for scanners, digital cameras, or other kinds of input devices. It does not work with X-Rite Eye-One or other standalone colorimeters or spectrophotometers for printer profiling.
PAGE 5
It does not allow low level editing of render tables or other ICC profile tags (components). Does APS guarantee a perfect match to monitor (WYSIWYG4)? No, it does not, and no profiling package does. A color match implies no perceivable difference (or zero delta-E) between one medium (the monitor) and another (the print), even when seen side by side.
PAGE 6
Printer profiling options • Supported printer profiling charts: o HP Easy RGB 1.2 (45 patches), HP RGB 1.5 (288 patches), HP TC9.18 RGB (1100 patches) o HP Easy CMYK 1.2 (45 patches), HP CMYK 1.
PAGE 7
How does APS compare to other solutions? In general, we distinguish a number of different profiling solutions for the HP Designjet Z Photo printer series, which we will group into levels: A. In the box: Every HP Designjet Z Photo printer series comes with a complete printer calibration and profiling solution in the box, known as the HP Easy Profiling Solution (EPS). It is accessed via the Color Center or Printer Utility, and it uses the Z printers’ built-in spectrophotometer.
PAGE 8
Table: Comparing Easy Profiling Solution (Color Center) and Advanced Profiling Solution features.
PAGE 9
Colorimetric accuracy Color profiles can be evaluated numerically with regards to color accuracy, which is relevant e.g. for proofing applications.
PAGE 10
of images printed, the type of substrate (paper) being used, the viewing environment that prints are seen in, the kind of application or use that prints are meant for, and even who is doing the viewing, their psychological state, and eventually personal preferences.6 Having said all that, we can provide a rough indication of observer preference for a particular test image printed with the Z3100 on HP Hahnemühle Smooth Fine Art paper.
PAGE 11
The rank order of prints made with different profiling packages under the conditions described above, using Perceptual rendering intent, is as follows (from better to worse): 1. Monaco Platinum 2. HP Advanced Profiling Solution powered by X-Rite, X-Rite ProfileMaker 5 3. HP Easy Profiling Solution As indicated above, these results must be taken as indicating a trend for a particular image, paper, and group of observers only. © 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.