User guide

Q: What is the best way to set distance adjustment?
A: There are a few ways of determining the proper distance adjust setting. Here
we will list them from the least preferred to the most. 1) The distance adjust print
from the user menu of the printer. This is the least desirable way to check for a
proper setting. The file itself contains many anomalies which make it hard to
determine the difference between bad adjustment, and what is in the file itself. It
is also a hard encoded file and therefore is not a real world comparison to
everyday out put generated from an external software RIP. 2) The purple patch:
The purple patch was created by Mutoh America to combat the inconsistencies in
the internal test print. It is generated by the RIP software and sent to the printer.
The idea behind the print is to run it in a low resolution high speed mode (usually
360x360 1 pass unidirectional) to simulate a ‘worst case condition’. With
acceptable output at a very low resolution is safe to assume that at higher
resolutions the output will look that much better. The down side to the purple
patch is it very susceptible to a user’s judgment. 3) The final option is the
distance adjustment file included with the MOG. This is a hand written TRL file
which gives very precise dot alignment output, but it is also processed through
the printer as any normal file would be. This file is simply diagonal rows of each
of the four primary ink colors (CMYK). Because it is not a “solid fill” or an image
of any kind, it is not susceptible to scrutiny of the purple as it really is not meant
to look like anything. The only thing to look for is dark overlap lines across all
colors in between passes (indicating the distance adjust is set too low) or white
spaces across all colors in between passes (indicating the distance adjust is set
too high). The MOG can be downloaded from Mutoh’s FTP site
ftp.mutoh.com
.
Q: What is an ICC profile?
A: An ICC profile or International Color Consortium is a standard put in place to
ensure that a color seen on a CPU monitor or a color read by a scanner or the
color produced by a printer all match. There are many types of profiles all
relating to the machine you are working with. In the digital printer world the term
ICC profile has grown to encompass a variety of variables used to output the
correct color. 1) In order to determine how large of a color gamut a given media
can recreate you must first determine the maximum amount of ink the media can
hold without causing excessive bleeding and or drying problems. 2) Once the
maximum amount of ink is determined for each color a linearization table must be
created. This is to ensure that if a certain color requires 25% of a given ink (cyan
for example) the printer actually outputs 25% of the maximum allowed ink for that
particular color. 3) Once the printer is ‘linearized’ a color chart is printed out. This
chart contains colors of known values, once the chart is printed, it is read on a
device called a spectrophotometer (or colorimeter) it then compares the actual
values printed by the printer to the expected values and creates a conversion
that will allow the printer to produce the correct color.