colour profiles?

[h0ughy (David)]

http://www.eci.org/eci/en/060_downloads.php

I came across this when looking for colour profiles and testing strips. Would this be applicable to us (the astroimagers)?

[gary]

Hi hOughy,

Not really. These test suites are used to calibrate and validate high-end
digital printers, such as digital offset printers, used for printing books, magazines,
newspapers and the like.

For example, the Max Factor advertising copy for lip gloss might need to be
run in a European edition of Vogue. How do the people who created the
original digital imagery in the advertising house in Manhatten ensure that
the printed version of the advertisment will have matching colors when printed
in Germany? The answer is a "test suite kit", which consists of reference
prints and process color solids (color samples) that the printer in Germany
can use to calibrate his printer against the 'gold standard' printer that produced the
reference prints.

Remember when I mentioned about the color technicians matching the
color chip chart on Earth against that imaged on the side of the Viking lander?
Exactly the same thing. Low-tech, but that is the nature of this wonderful
trait of visual perception we humans refer to as 'color'.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Mt. Kuring-Gai NSW Australia

[h0ughy (David)]

thanks Gary,

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

You could try these guys http://www.imagescience.com.au/index.html I have used them to calibrate my printer (so the print matches the monitor image). They are quite helpful and don't charge an arm and a leg.
Geoff

[DJDD]

or you could use a monitor calibration tool:
http://www.colorvision.com
(Spyder2express)
I think about US$80


It works like this:
- set monitor to factory defaults
- place sensor in front of monitor
- special software cycles through a range of
colours and intensities.
- sensor reads actual monitor output and
builds a profile that describes the response
of the monitor.

Once the monitor is calibrated, the easiest way to get matching prints is to:

- Use paper and ink made by the printer manufacturer.
- Download a printer calibration profile from the manufacturer
for the particular printer/paper/ink combination you're using.


The monitor profile is used by the OS.
It causes everything displayed on the monitor to confirm to a global standard.

The printer calibration is based on the same global standard, so once you have a calibrated monitor and a calibrated printer you have WYSIWYG (ish).

The "ish" comes down to inherent limitations of the printer, i.e. printers are typically not capable of displaying as wide a colour range as monitors.

hope that helps.

cheers,
DJDD

[RB (Andrew)]

Yeah I was going to suggest the same thing as DJDD, the Spyder2 system to calibrate your monitor etc.
Is that what you're talking about Dave?

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

Actually, to do things properly, you really need to go to the Syder2Pro http://www.colorvision.com/product-mc.php which is not cheap ($US250), but in the end is worth the money. Having calibrated your monitor, you will get the best results by having your personal printing setup profiled, rather than relying on the manufacturer's canned profiles. Individual printers vary quite considerably, so the canned profile is at best an average and may not be a good fit for your printer, although the test is to suck it and see.

If the canned profile works, well and good. If not, you could invest in the hardware to profile your printer, but it is hugely expensive. Colorvision sells one of the bottom of the range setups for $US550 (above website) The alternative is to print off a test print supplied by one of the companies that do printer profiling. You then post it to them and based on the differences between what you have printed and what should have been printed, they email you a printer profile, which you use in Photoshop (The "Profile" pulldown menue in the "Print with Preview" option) or other systems supporting cloour management.

There is a very good book "Color Management" by Fraser, Murphy and Bunting http://www.colorremedies.com/realworldcolor/ which tells you everything you need to know about colour management.

Hope this rave helps.
Geoff

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Rocket Boy

Yeah I was going to suggest the same thing as DJDD, the Spyder2 system to calibrate your monitor etc.
Is that what you're talking about Dave?

LOL actually no. NOw I realise that I cant do what I thought - nearly everything is post processing wasthinking I could set the canon up so that the white would be white but I realise i will always have the hydrogen red unless i have a uv/ir filter. but I appreciate the other information