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Advertising and fashion photographer, Miquel González, believes in using the right proofing equipment, as he demonstrated in a recent job when he shot a series of 11 photographs for a fashion publication. After the shoot, Miquel retouched the images digitally, accentuating the lighting before producing proof prints to show his client.
The prints were produced on the 12-ink HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer, which uses HP Vivera pigment inks, including HP 73 chromatic red ink.
Miquel said: "The HP Designjet Z3200 gives excellent image quality. I was surprised at the wide colour gamut of the printer. It produces very smooth colour transitions, which is important in reproducing skin tones and the red was incredibly powerful and vivid. Normally, a red such as this armchair would come out dull, but we managed to reproduce this vibrant red."
The range of photo and fine art papers were also a bonus, allowing Miquel to choose papers that complemented the images, giving them more personality and character. He said: "I like to experiment with unusual papers such as metallic finishes or pronounced textures. A huge advantage of the HP Designjet Z3200 is that it creates customised colour profiles for new papers in about 20 minutes, whether they're from HP or from other paper manufacturers and without the human error that frequently shows up in manual measurements."
Reliable inkjet proofing
Although photography is one area where the right proofing equipment is essential, selecting the right kit is important for every job.
According to independent colour management expert, Dan Wilson, that's not as difficult as it seems.
Dan implements prepress proofing and pressroom calibration solutions so that customers can take control of their colour printing workflow. He said: "Customers are not concerned about the technology used, as long as the proof is press-accurate, easy to use and cost effective. High-end systems costing around $100,000 demand careful calibration, require special staff training and their inks and media are high cost.
"In contrast, the HP Designjet Z Photo Printer series gives high-end proofing quality with typeset-like text, combined with ease of use. The built-in spectrophotometer means 98 per cent of the battle for customer satisfaction is won, without special training. In the past most inkjet technology couldn't deliver the image quality or colour stability demanded in prepress proofing, but with a GMG RIP and GMG proofing paper, this system delivers a proof certified to ISO 12647-2 at much lower costs than high-end systems."
Colour stability, the other critical challenge in the proof printing lifecycle when using inkjet technology, is also no longer an issue. Dan explained: "Dye-based inks evaporate on the media, making them less stable and less durable, whereas HP Vivera pigment inks integrate better with the media and give greater colour stability. With the HP Designjet Z series, HP Vivera inks and GMG semi matt, HP semi-gloss contract proofing paper or 270gsm HP matte lithorealistic paper, results are a known quantity and are completely stable in a short time."
Running remote proofs
Dan's company, Press I.T. was recently commissioned to implement an integrated prepress proofing system for several customers: a print broker, an advertising agency and a commercial printer. The solution proved to be a remote proofing network between these businesses, incorporating a 42in HP Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer at the commercial printer, a 24in version at the print brokers and a 24in Z3100 and an additional HP Designjet Z2100 Photo Printer at the advertising agency.
All sites ran GMG's ColorProof RIPs and GMG ProofControl. Files were exchanged by ftp and the network was producing press accurate proofs from day one. In addition the printers were set up so that they automatically calibrate at 5am once every three days so production schedules are not disrupted by complicated manual calibration routines.
The commercial printer delivers production printing on two five-colour B1 presses and one five-colour B2 press. Prior to installation of the GMG/HP Designjet Z3100 Photo Printer solution, in conjunction with the G7 Press to Proof calibration, they were offering refunds or discounts on 1.5 jobs per month in situations where the customer would not accept a colour print job due to expectations not being met. Over the last fourteen months they have not had one complaint about colour."
Cut manual calibration
Another name to look out for in the proofing market is Epson and now that EFI's Colorproof XF RIP has gained Fogra certification for end users of Epson's new 7900 printer, users can take full advantage of this range of machines.
During certification, Fogra found that the Epson 7900 printer, when driven by EFI's Colorproof XF RIP, offered full compatibility with the SpectroProofer measuring device for linearisation and media profiling without user interaction. In addition, it offers colour optimisation for lowest Delta E and automatic calibration and colour verification of single jobs thanks to the embedded SpectroProofer's inline measuring of media wedges.
The Epson 7900 and 9900 printers have an embedded measuring device that supports remote proofing and remote calibration and with the EFI RIPs, the two companies claim certification print quality is achievable not only in the lab, but at any end user location.
And finally
It isn't the machinery you use, but what you do with it, that makes the difference. With this type of proofing technology on the market, there is no excuse for shoddy workmanship. By investing some time and money into the right equipment it is possible to save a lot of wasted effort - time which can be better spent on seeking out new business.
How many of your customers have asked about the carbon footprint of your printing service?
