The first step towards calibrating your printer is to make printer, media,
ink and output settings. You can calibrate many different ink channels.
Before you begin, connect your measuring
device to the computer.
It is not possible to calibrate the Clear ink channel, but you can control the amount of clear
ink by setting an ink limit in a later step.
Note:
EFI provides a separate document that explains how
to create and implement G7 calibration files. For more information, visit the EFI knowledge base.
Note:
You can save any step of the calibration procedure, by selecting . The calibration file is saved to the Working folder. You can load the calibration
file from this folder later to continue with your calibration. The printer calibration tool opens at
the step that was last edited.
You can also load a finished calibration file. In
this case, the printer calibration tool opens at the Summary window to enable
you to view the print conditions under which the calibration file was created.
- Select your printer, printer type and ink
type.
By default, Color Tools creates a generic white calibration for printers that support
white ink. It is applied automatically when you select the printer's white
ink settings in Server Manager. The generic
white calibration usually makes it unnecessary to calibrate the white
channel. However, if you notice too much dot gain when printing white
gradations, you can create a custom white calibration, by selecting a
printer with "White" in its name here.
It is not possible to calibrate the white channel
of all printers. In this case, you can improve the output quality by
applying a visual correction file
Some printer models support more than one ink
type. Make sure that you select the correct ink type.
-
Select your measuring device.
Device-specific settings are available for some measuring devices.
If your printer has an embedded measuring device, select the appropriate check boxes if you want
Color Tools to create a calibration file and go on to create a media
profile automatically.
-
Select a calibration intent
(standard calibration only).
-
Proof—Automatically calculates the ink
limitation, based on the offset color gamut (coated paper).
-
Photo or
production—Automatically calculates the best saturation
value for the largest possible color gamut by adding light ink earlier
and in greater amounts in the full-tone areas.
-
Type a name for the calibration file (optional).
The default name is generated from the printer
model, the resolution, the date, and the time. You can type a custom name by clearing the check box
Generate name from settings.
-
Under Media Settings, do the following:
-
Select the media type that best matches the media in the printer.
-
Select a media name or type in a custom name.
This is the name that you select later in Server Manager.
-
Type the actual values to adjust the media feed
to the target (optional).
Command WorkStation helps you resolve horizontal banding, by
adjusting the output size of your printouts. If you have previously printed and measured the
Lineal_01.ps file provided with the software, you can incorporate the result into the calibration
file.
-
Under Output Settings, do the following:
-
Resolution—Select the
targeted resolution. Higher resolutions lead to improved output quality, but affect processing and
printing performance.
If you want to incorporate a screening file, make sure that you select the same resolution
here.
-
Print mode—The print mode
defines the quality of the output. Print modes are printer-specific and are also dependent on the
selected resolution.
-
Print
direction—Bidirectional printing is faster than
uni-directional printing, as the print head prints in both directions.
However, uni-directional printing achieves more accurate results. Not
all printers support bi-directional printing.
-
Halftoning—For contone
printers, the halftoning method of the printer manufacturer is selected by default.
For non-contone printers, select Error diffusion (SE1) for maximum
quality, or select Stochastic halftoning (SE2) for a faster RIPing speed, or
for a variable dot size.
-
Color mode—Make sure that
the number of inks and the ink colors are correct for your printer.
-
Dot
size—Some printers support two dot sizes:
Fixed means that each dot is one ink droplet
in size. Grayscale means the ink droplets have
variable sizes.
-
Screening—If you have
previously created a screening file using a legacy version of Fiery XF, you can incorporate it into the calibration file. The screening file must be located in the
Screening folder at C:\ProgramData\EFI\EFI XF\Server. Select
Screening as the halftoning method, and then select the screening file.
-
Select Include 'Gray
Balance' step for neutral grays even without color management
(optional) (advanced calibration only).
This setting balances the C, M
and Y curves to produce neutral grays even before the media profile is
created.
-
Select Include
'Quality Control' step for gamut comparisons (optional)
(advanced calibration only).
This setting creates L*a*b*
data for solid colors, and allows you to evaluate the gamut of the
calibration file and compare it to a reference profile, such as GRACoL or
ISOcoated_v2, or to a custom profile before creating a media profile.
-
Click
Advanced (optional) (standard calibration
only).
In the
Advanced window, you can define the percentage of
light inks in the solid colors.
-
Click Next.
Now watch the videos:
For advanced calibrations, click
here.
For CT printer driver calibrations, click here.
For HT printer driver calibrations, click here.
For RGB printer driver calibrations, click here.