Suggestions Color Management Education

[Charles@TheSignDude]

Having only been in the print industry about a year and a half I'm still learning almost daily.
What id like is to get some info and suggestions on digital print Color management. Preferably focused on UV, Latex and Onyx RIP. I have tried to get my manager to send me to the Onyx classes they holdbut yet to have any luck.
What do you recommend for self learning/training? any online courses you recomend or maybe DVD's (if anyone uses those anymore) I need to get a better foundation on color management and how to keep our (3 HP latex, 2 Hp FB5XX, epson and Mimaki UCJV-300) dialed in tight and when not, get them back.

Thanks for the suggestions. Color management is a bit mind boggling and frustraiting at times when your mainly on your own to figure it out.

Charles

 

[ColoPrinthead]

Here is some fun light reading for you
https://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Color-Management-2nd/dp/0321267222

 

[Joe House]

Hey Charles,
It's too bad that your boss doesn't see the value in strong color management skills. They will easily pay for the cost of training - especially since you're trying to manage 4 printers. If they're all running off of Onyx, then you're a step ahead. I would check out Onyx's youtube channel and learn about the device link feature that they came out with in version 19. Also, sign up for a My Onyx account and you'll have access to more resources.
All that said, having someone explain in real life what's going on, printing examples with you and running through the steps is really much more productive. Keep pushing for real training. Keep an eye out for training classes that come to your area - SGIA presents classes around the US - their color management boot camp is a well done program.
I would also start logging the amount of time that you spend fighting color management issues - color matching, color shifts in prints, matching color between printers, etc (multiply this by your shop rate). Keep track of how much media you throw away because of color management issues. I think if you can show your boss the true cost in real dollars of not having proper color management in your shop, he will be more likely to pony up for some classes.

Good Luck,

 

[P Wagner]

Color management skills are learned, and are universal across printer brands, ink chemistry and RIPs. This program is a great place to gain a foundational understanding of the process:

https://connect.idealliance.org/g7/education/colortrainingcmp

The book referenced above (Real World Color Management) is another terrific resource

In addition, there are instructor-led courses available from several color management practitioners who offer periodic training classes in cities across the country.

 

[greysquirrel]

Xrite usually lists a few workshops a year...if you have a solid reseller, purchase an eye1 from them and make sure it includes training. That should give you a base...your reseller for the latex printers should have covered some basic color management when installing those printers for you as well.

You will want a standalone device to measure color having multiple platforms. Profiling in Onyx does make that process easier.

getting color dialed in could start with a canned profile(if available) and re-linearizing that profile to start...then if she gets a little wonkie, re-linearize again(recalibrate) to reset your color back to its original reference.

Even with my 560/365 I use Onyx to create my color profile. I am able to utilize more swatches and still use the onboard spectro to simplify the workflow.

 

[Asuma01]

Just got this in my inbox this morning.
https://www.wideformatimpressions.c...utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=2020-01-07

 

[Asuma01]

Even with my 560/365 I use Onyx to create my color profile. I am able to utilize more swatches and still use the onboard spectro to simplify the workflow.

How do you do that? Those are contone printers. HP doesnt allow color profiles to be created outside their system. At least that was my understanding.

 

[P Wagner]

How do you do that? Those are contone printers. HP doesnt allow color profiles to be created outside their system. At least that was my understanding.

Your understanding is not wholly accurate. In addition to the internal procedure, several RIPs offer support for Latex 36x and 500 Series printer to directly address the on-board i1 spectrophotometer in the printer. This allows the software RIPs color engine to be used for profile creation. This allows for greater control over internal ICC settings such as black start and GCR, among others.

Products from SAI, Onyx, and Caldera all support this capability, among others.

 

[ColorCrest]

Having only been in the print industry about a year and a half I'm still learning almost daily.

Question; Are you already familiar with the color wheel of additive primary colors (RGB) and subtractive primary colors (CMY) to the degree of instantly knowing the direct opposite of each color on a routine basis?

Gotta know where you might be to give more advice.

 

[Charles@TheSignDude]

Color management skills are learned, and are universal across printer brands, ink chemistry and RIPs. This program is a great place to gain a foundational understanding of the process:

https://connect.idealliance.org/g7/education/colortrainingcmp

The book referenced above (Real World Color Management) is another terrific resource

In addition, there are instructor-led courses available from several color management practitioners who offer periodic training classes in cities across the country.

Have you taken this course?

 

[P Wagner]

Yes I have, a number of years ago. It is a great foundation to help PSPs learn the science of color management.