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Date Created: 3/24/2008   Date Modified: 6/13/2016

+Creating Print Profiles with ColorMunki - troubleshooter

Creating a new printer and media profile

  1. Select “Create New Profile”

  2. Select the name of the printer you wish to profile from the menu. This menu contains a list of all of the printers that have been installed on your system. ( If the printer you wish to profile is not available in this list, please check that your printer and drivers have been installed properly into your operating system.)

  3. A unique color profile is required for each paper used. In the provided text field, please type the paper name that you are currently using to build this profile

  4. Click “Next” when you are ready to proceed

If you have already created a printer profile and want to increase the color accuracy, select “optimize existing profile”. This process will increase the accuracy of specific spot colors printed with your profile. This kind of optimization is completely safe for all other spot colors and images you may print (will not degrade any part of the profile).

Print 1st Test Chart

ColorMunki uses an iterative profiling method to determine the colors that your printer is capable of producing. This process requires that you print 2 color test charts on your printer and print them as instructed by ColorMunki software. The 1st test chart is always the same combination of color patches. However, the 2nd test is dynamically generated from the color measurements taken from the 1st test chart and is unique every time you repeat this process.

When building a printer profile, it is extremely important to establish a set of repeatable print conditions for each paper type. Every time you print a test chart, you must use consistent settings within your print driver for your printer and paper combination. Below are the steps we recommend to establish a set of repeatable print conditions for building your profile:

  1. Configure the settings in your print driver dialogs to use the correct paper type and print resolution

  2. Make sure any automatic or other color management settings are disabled (if possible ) within all of your print dialogs. For more information about the color settings within your specific printer or print driver, refer to your printer documentation

  3. Record or save your print driver settings so that you may use them in the future. To obtain accurate color results using your new printer profile, you will need to always print using the same settings that you used when printing these color test charts

To print the 1st test chart, click “Print”

If you have already printed your first color test chart and are now returning to the profiling process, click “I have already printed my target” and proceed to the next step.

Be sure to inspect your printed target for any blemishes or printer artifacts before proceeding to the next step. If your print contains any defects, this will affect the accuracy of your resulting profile and we recommend that you reprint the test chart before proceeding.

Print Drying

If your printer does not use inkjet technology, click “Skip Drying Process” and proceed to the next step.

Color on inkjet prints typically changes as the prints dry. This change decreases with time and typically stops 5-10 minutes after printing. If your printer uses inkjet technology, we recommend that you wait the full 10 minutes until the timer has expired before proceeding to the next step.

Print Measurement

It’s now time to measure the ColorMunki test chart. Be sure ColorMunki is not in its protective case for this step. If your paper is very thin, we recommend that you place a few blank sheets of the same paper type underneath your printed target . Next, place ColorMunki on the test chart. Make sure the measurement aperture (indicated by flashing LED) is positioned on the white area of the paper at the beginning of the row. Press and hold the Measure button on ColorMunki. Start scanning the row by gliding along the row using gentle pressure. Release the Measure button in the white area at the end of the measured row. Repeat these steps for all rows.

ColorMunki software will indicate when a row has been successfully measured by changing the colors of the patches in the row and advancing the yellow marquee to the next row. If the yellow marquee flashes to red, this indicates that a measurement error has occurred. Wait for ColorMunki to clear the error and the marquee to return to yellow. This will be your indication that ColorMunki is ready for you to re-scan the row.  When you have finished measuring all rows successfully, click “Next” to continue.

Print 2nd Test Chart

ColorMunki uses an iterative profiling method to determine the colors that your printer is capable of producing. This process requires that you print 2 color test charts on your printer and print them as instructed by ColorMunki software. The 1st test chart is always the same combination of color patches. However, the 2nd test is dynamically generated from the color measurements taken from the 1st test chart and is unique every time you repeat this process.

When building a printer profile, it is extremely important to establish a set of repeatable print conditions for each paper type. You should have either recorded or saved the printer driver settings used to print the 1st test chart. These are the settings you must use to print the 2nd test chart and all subsequent prints using your resulting printer profile. (If you are unable to recall the settings used to print the 1st test chart, you should start over and be sure to record these settings.)

To print the 2nd test chart, click “Print”.

Be sure to inspect your printed target for any blemishes or printer artifacts before proceeding to the next step. If your print contains any defects, this will affect the accuracy of your resulting profile and we recommend that you reprint the test chart before proceeding.

Save Profile

ColorMunki is now ready to build and save your new printer profile. A name for your new profile has been suggested by ColorMunki. If you want, you may change the profile name by clicking in the text field and editing or entering a new name. To build and save your profile, click “Save”. The build and save process will take a few minutes to complete. When ColorMunki indicates that your profile has been successfully saved, click “Next” to continue.

AppSet

To achieve color accurate results, you must use your new custom profile every time you print. AppSet is a ColorMunki technology that can configure popular desktop imaging applications to automatically apply your new profile when you print. However, you must always configure your print driver settings for the media type you are using. This means you must recall the print driver settings you used when building this profile.

To enable the AppSet feature, click on the checkbox in the ColorMunki software application. It is also important to note that AppSet functionality is contained within the ColorMunki Tray application. This means you have easy access to review or change the printer profile that gets applied when you print. These types of quick changes are required if you print using more than one printer and media combination.



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