Calibration - Linearize - HP L315 Latex

[J4cko]

Hi Guys

Trying to get my head around colour / profiling, etc
I should know more, with 5x Latex machines, but it used to go on around me, as opposed to with me, historically.

Linearise / Calibrate
Is this independent of the media / ICC ?
When you calibrate or linearize a Printer, is this just the printer that is being calibrated, or is it media specific ?
Am i calibarating the machine ? or am i calibrating the machine, with respect to a certain media ?

Sort of what comes first ? the chicken or the egg

Do i linearise / calibrate the machines first ( and is the this independent of what media is being used , or what profile ? )

Lets say i was starting from scratch with a new machine
Set up, with inks installed, powered on, and i want to only print on 2 different media types, neither of them have a profile

Do i calibate the printers first, dependent on each media, or indepndently of the media ?

Any sage advice appreciated. I've bought the necessary kit to do profiles etc, as the L315 doesnt have an attached spectro
I just want to learn from the ground up, as if i was starting from scratch
With 1 x Printer, 2 x Medias, Onyx RIP on the PC, and an i1 Profiler

Just like to know the order of play

Apologies for ignorance in this , but alot of the words are just words, as this role was historically done by others.
I just need help joining the dots, and understanding the process
I dont want to do things rote fashion, i want to understand what i am doing

Any help, massively appreciated
kind regards
Jack

 

[dypinc]

Specific to HP Latex. Each Media Preset requires it own calibration. That you do first and then you linearize and create a profile for each mode in that media preset. Re-linearize is probably not necessary but can be done if you want.

Not all printers are like that. Some you calibrate to one media, and then you can linearize and create a profile for each media on top of that one. Downside is when you want to recalibrate you have to load that specific media just to do the recalibration.

 

[balstestrat]

Yeah that's right. I'll try to explain it my way but will probably just end up blabbering away...

If you start from scratch, first you create your media on the printer. Then you create your printmode(s) inside that. You will start by selecting the quality (passes) and set up the ink limit. After doing that it will prompt you to do the color calibration which will be done for the media (including all the printmodes). So only once per media BUT for every media separately.
Then after that you will move on to the RIP. You leave your ink limit to 400 because you already set it up on the printer. Rest you can do as normal any other printer.
You repeat this same process for the next media.

Easy way is to download a media preset if there is one, install that on the printer, do the color calibration and you can start profiling from scratch on the RIP if you wish. That way you can skip guessing what the ink limit should be, temperature, optimizer etc.

Well what does color calibration really do? First time color calibration will record the status of your printheads, so it is advised to have good printheads before doing that. Otherwise it can limit your gamut going forwards.
Next time you run it (again it is wise to have good printhead status BEFORE doing it) will again record the status of your printheads but now it will also adjust the channels based on printhead output. So maybe your Cyan is a little worn out, it can increase the drop weight and regain what the output was when you originally ran your first color calibration for the media.
Printer will promt you to repeat the color calibration every once in a while but I'd say if you really want to use it, do it once a week AND run a color sample on your jobs where you can fit it. Just something visual to check the condition daily so you can react to problems promtly.

So color calibration is only on the printer side. RIP will have nothing to do with it and if you relinearize your profile it will not take that into consideration.
However on some cases you can't use it. It will basically only work on white materials, excluding ex. textiles, some papers, transparent etc.

 

[cornholio]

A L315 does the CLC with the line sensor. This is not very accurate. ICC creation isn't possible at all. 36X or 5X0 have a more precise spectrometer for CLC and ICC creation.
CLC is the HP term for density linearisation and density clipping.
The bubble jet printheads are known for changing the drop size over their lifetime.
That's why relinearisation is more important, than with piezo heads.

 

[J4cko]

Specific to HP Latex. Each Media Preset requires it own calibration. That you do first and then you linearize and create a profile for each mode in that media preset. Re-linearize is probably not necessary but can be done if you want.

Not all printers are like that. Some you calibrate to one media, and then you can linearize and create a profile for each media on top of that one. Downside is when you want to recalibrate you have to load that specific media just to do the recalibration.

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated...apologies for the late response, drowning in tedious admin at present !
When we say "each media preset requires its own calibration"
Does that mean each media mode
So if i was printing on my "polyester canvas" media profile
I would need to calibrate for :
10 pass 110 density ink
10 pass 120 density ink
Calibrate for each ?

And do i calibrate for this media preset, using my i1 profiler, and Onyx, as opposed to using the onboard densitometer ?
For each mode/preset of a media

Its things like this that i sort of know about , but dont fully understand !?

 

[dypinc]

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated...apologies for the late response, drowning in tedious admin at present !
When we say "each media preset requires its own calibration"
Does that mean each media mode
So if i was printing on my "polyester canvas" media profile
I would need to calibrate for :
10 pass 110 density ink
10 pass 120 density ink
Calibrate for each ?

And do i calibrate for this media preset, using my i1 profiler, and Onyx, as opposed to using the onboard densitometer ?
For each mode/preset of a media

Its things like this that i sort of know about , but dont fully understand !?

If you use the onboard densitometer you calibrate for each media preset not each mode in that preset. However as some have mentioned about not using the onboard densitometer and re-lineriaze using 1 profiler, and Onyx instead, then you would need to re-lineriaze for each mode in that preset that you created a ICC profile for. Which way you choose really depends on what works best for you and how color critical you need to be.

 

[J4cko]

If you use the onboard densitometer you calibrate for each media preset not each mode in that preset. However as some have mentioned about not using the onboard densitometer and re-lineriaze using 1 profiler, and Onyx instead, then you would need to re-lineriaze for each mode in that preset that you created a ICC profile for. Which way you choose really depends on what works best for you and how color critical you need to be.

Thanks DYP
This is where my ignorance shows ....
2 Questions please ?
1. What is the difference between a mode and a preset !
2. What is the difference ( if any ), between the phrase "Calibrate" , and "linearize"
I should know a lot more, but as my wife will testify to at home, most things have usually been done for me !

All help appreciated, thank you

 

[dypinc]

Thanks DYP
This is where my ignorance shows ....
2 Questions please ?
1. What is the difference between a mode and a preset !
2. What is the difference ( if any ), between the phrase "Calibrate" , and "linearize"
I should know a lot more, but as my wife will testify to at home, most things have usually been done for me !

All help appreciated, thank you

A media preset is a setting for one specific media. Within that media preset you can specify different modes like, how many passes, ink density and various other settings. Once the media is chosen in the RIP then you will have access to those modes. Each one of these modes should have have a linearisation and and ICC profile.

Calibrate as defined with HP latex printers is done with an onboard densitometer or spectrometer depending on which model. Initial calibration sets the ink density of the printer to a state and re-calibration attempts to return it to that know state. Linearisation in the RIP is somewhat the same principle with the added benefit on setting ink levels in the RIP, neutralizing the inks so that the same percentage of all inks would print a neutral gray. This theoretically cuts down the work that the ICC profile has to do. Most printers have no way to calibrate internally so initial linearisation and re-linearisation is a must.