Colorgate 10 has just been released. They did a lot of work for the HP 300 and 500 series driver by adding much more robust control panels and capabilities. They also added APPE 4.3 which is a huge production boost as it rips more file types across all the available processor cores. For example, a large tiff file that took just over 3 minutes to rip in V9 takes only 42 seconds in V10 on quad core i7 from a few years back. New error diffusion screen option for slightly better small text rendering. Lots of other useful stuff, many bug fixes. Just started digging in, but really like the massive speed improvement of ripping huge files.
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Colorgate 10 is out
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dypinc
New Member
I have used ColorGate a number of times over the years and I really like the RIP. The thing that has always frustrated me is the linearization or should say re-linearization, and profile creation. I have never really been able to get a satisfying profile from ColorGate. They always seem to have a washed out look, and I think I have tried most of the profile creation settings without seeing much change. I always created profiles in other software for when I used Colorgate, but that has always led to the problem of re-linearization/media synchronization. Just wonder if I am missing something as there does not seem to be a way to do a re-linearization which only changes the linearization and would give a report of the differences. And media synchronization requires that you create the profile from Colorgates profile engine and seams to do the adjustment on the profile side on things. I have gone through the documentation lots of times and can't seem to find any answers to this. I am very familiar with other RIPs implementation of re-linearization or re-calibration as some call it, so it just seams strange to me the way ColorGate goes about it.
The L300 series of HP's printer has made the use of Colorgate quite interesting especially with the onboard calibration. I get wonderful results with profiles create with Fiery Color Profiler built on top of the printers calibration, or for media settings that do not allow onboard calibration I can build on top of the ColorGates linearization. I just cannot figure out a good way to re-linearization/media synchronization with ColorGate unless I use ColorGates anemic profiles.
Any insight from for your experience with ColorGate?
The L300 series of HP's printer has made the use of Colorgate quite interesting especially with the onboard calibration. I get wonderful results with profiles create with Fiery Color Profiler built on top of the printers calibration, or for media settings that do not allow onboard calibration I can build on top of the ColorGates linearization. I just cannot figure out a good way to re-linearization/media synchronization with ColorGate unless I use ColorGates anemic profiles.
Any insight from for your experience with ColorGate?
Here are some quick responses to some of the issues you present. In Colorgate speak, "MIM" means Media Ink Metadata and is a file that contains all the settings and linearizations / profiles for a given media:
1. Linearizing in Colorgate is very easy. After printing the linearizing target and reading with your spectro, Colorgate will analyze and pick the correct patch for setting your max ink. This works fairly well for high quality materials but Colorgate makes it easy to select any patch you want as the max ink for that channel by simply clicking on it. The help section in Colorgate has been improved to explain in detail what every setting does and what settings are recommended. You can view curves for each channel to better see where the ink develops full color. After you finish selecting your linearization patches, you print another linearization target and read it. This will let you confirm that your linearization is correct. If you have a perfect linearization, the curves will be straight lines from 0-100 percent. Fool proof. There is no way in hell to have a bad linearization with this. If for some reason your first linearization was off, you can go back and read the chart again or print a new one. Just save the linearization with a name / date and update your MIM to use it.
2. A washed out look is simply a reduced gamut due to insufficient ink lay down. Each material you print on has a maximum amount of ink it can hold. Anything below 225% total ink results in a perceptible reduction in gamut. For materials that have lower ink limits, you need to make adjustments in your ink splits, linearization and profile settings to compromise your gamut in some areas to improve others. Severely restricting light inks will help eliminate the washed out look at the expense of a grainier print. Using an input profile with an expanded gamut helps also.
3. You re-linearize in Colorgate by starting the profile creation process but stopping after you have linearized. The linearization is saved in its own file, so I find it makes sense to use the same name with a unique date for each linearization. Update the MIM / hotfolder to use the new linearization and away you go.
4. There is a derived profile module that allows you to quickly make a variation on an existing MIM and this saves appreciable time.
5. Colorgate has quality control module that lets you "re calibrate" your printer to match a previous condition. As the printer ages, as environmental factors change and as different medial lots affect color, you have the option to compare how the printer is doing to a previous state. Using an iterative process that is very simple to use, you will print and read charts until the printer matches the previous condition. This allows for the matching of a new job to an old job. Colorgate makes a new profile for the printer to synchronize to the past baseline profile.
6. The 300 and 500 series latex have a special module to deal with profile management and creation and media management. It looks to be very well composed and is the second or third major update to the module.
7. Appe 4.3 is absolutely fast and I believe it now handles all file types (no more Jaws needed). I deal with very large and complicated PDF files the most and APPE handles them without surprises. The only issue I have come across was due to a client using a third-party PDF generator and providing me with a faulty file. I was able to use Acrobat to fix the pdf and APPE then worked flawlessly. So if a client uses Adobe to create the PDF, you will have zero issues printing it (assuming they embed fonts and all that sort of stuff).
dypinc
New Member
Had a chance to try Colorgate 10. Looks like they have changed the profiler engine because the profiles seem much better, in fact really good. Also my be my black settings as the profile generator uses different values than what I have been used to with other packages.
Two question.
When setting Pure Primaries it looks like it is all or nothing. For example when having 100%K and other elements of less that 100%K I can't specify or find how I would get it to print pure K on the 100% only and have the gray print with CMY especially light grays with lc and lm. Other RIPs can specify a percentage of K.
The other is when setting printer marks how do you view that on screen before printing?
Two question.
When setting Pure Primaries it looks like it is all or nothing. For example when having 100%K and other elements of less that 100%K I can't specify or find how I would get it to print pure K on the 100% only and have the gray print with CMY especially light grays with lc and lm. Other RIPs can specify a percentage of K.
The other is when setting printer marks how do you view that on screen before printing?
Printer and cutter marks aren't not shown in the preview. I have requested this from Colorgate but so far it is not implemented. They are responsive and have added nearly every function I have requested so I would expect it to happen if people ask for it en masse.
To have CMY grays with 0-0-0-100 black, you would make black a spot color that you replace in the rip and then make your black start a high % in your profile creation. The G7 module would be worthwhile.
dypinc
New Member
Unless I am missing something I found a huge issue with ColorGate with the inability to set margins at least with the L360. I need to set up 100 decals to contour cut. they should be 8 across so I have enough room for the pinch rollers on the cutter. I can't find anyway to force or set it to 8 across or set margins to force it to 8 across. Very frustrating. Good I have another RIP I can run this job from. Container doesn't work either, as it appears there is a bug and it want's to invoke continuous printing even though those boxes are unchecked. No real way to control the gap between targets that way. Container shows up correctly on the screen but on the printer it show up a one row.
There are two ways to control the layout to force 8 across. First option is to set the print to right or left justified and increase the offset until you get 8 across. The second option is to increase the gap between decals. Either way can work and sometimes a combination of both is best. Check the layout in the media preview to make sure the print is far enough from both sides of the media for the pinch rollers.