First, let me apologize for the long delay between nuggets. The launch of ProofPass.com [Virtual] has kept all of us at ColorMetrix quite busy over the last few months. My role in the launch kicked into high gear about mid-April and has not let up since. My involvement in the launch also precipitated posts #53 and #54, both of which resulted in quite a few very positive email responses. For all of you, who took the time to respond, thank you! The positive (and constructive) comments I receive in response to the nuggets are the only “pay” I get for this job and it is greatly appreciated.I have spent a great deal of time over the last several weeks visiting customers and prospective customers. Some of our customers freely admit they do not measure as much of their process or as often as they would like. My response has become three simple words. “Just Measure It!” I have been in the color measurement business for well over 20 years now, and if I have only learned one thing, it is that what is measured gets done.
Simply stated, if you want a press operator to run to a specific density, then the press side measurements need to be stored in a verifiable database. Don’t believe me? Go check if your press side densitometers have been calibrated in the last week, or that they are even charged.
So, my challenge for this week is simple. Pick one measurable part of your color process and start measuring it. For some of you this may mean trying out our new ProofPass.com [Virtual] product to verify your monitor calibration. For others it might be time to start measuring your plates on a more regular basis. If you are not yet measuring your proofs or press product and you are reading this, well I think I have earned the right to say shame on you. By the next time I post a nugget be measuring something in your color process you are not measuring today.
In #53 I listed a bunch of color resources I had found on the web. I was looking because we are putting the finishing touches on the first beta release of our ProofPass.com soft proofing verification module. For me this project has turned out to be about the journey not the destination. Of course the destination which is a viable commercial release of the aforementioned product that we hope to make lots of money on is not a bad place to end up.
The Journey, however, has been like going back to school for a guy so grounded in the color science of the physical ink on paper side of our industry. I have come to the conclusion that a monitor is just another “black box†that creates color from my perspective. Just like a hard copy proofing system, a conventional printing press, or even a digital printing press is. So, that means if it can be measured it can be controlled.
The key to successful soft proofing appears to lie in the color management behind the system(s). I recently had the opportunity to view and measure eight displays powered by the soft proofing technology of three vendors all in one place. All were powered by Macs, but the displays came from two manufacturers. In our quick and dirty technology demo three of these systems (all under the control of one organization) came in with a very tight peak Delta E of only about 3 between the systems.
Monitors using the other vendors soft proofing technologies fell further out (as the software was pre-beta at that time I am going to omit any further numbers). The verification module did, however, catch that one of the monitors had been profiled to the wrong white point (let’s just say I was pretty pleased with the new toy we built!).
Surround lighting and viewing conditions will make any quality soft proofing system work or not work. I have read papers on subject, I have tested it myself, and I have spoken to people who have done extensive testing of the systems. The less surround lighting (other than your 5000K light booth) the better. The surround and viewing conditions should be identical to the ultimate conditions when you make your monitor profile. One of the biggest factors I have seen to making a good or bad monitor profile is surround lighting.
It is clear to me that monitor proofing is here to stay in our industry, and is also highly viable when properly utilized. While I do not see monitor proofing replacing hard copy proofing altogether, I do see it replacing hard copy proofing in some applications very quickly. In other areas I see monitor proofing replacing many of the internal proofing iterations prior to the hard copy “contract proof†used press side. Much of this is going to depend upon how tight the deadlines are for being able to change copy, and the perceived quality level of the work being produced.
