Color shift of profile patch sheets

[Ink stained Fingers]

When you print patch sheets to create a icc-profile you are supposed to let the prints dry for a while - but how much ? There are various different recommendations published in the Internet from 1 hour to 1 day. I did a test with a small patch sheet - 96 patches - on a PE/RC glossy photo paper and measured the color drift over time, I scanned the patch sheet the first time within 10 min after print and then at 1 hour, 3 hours 8 hours and 1 day. The i1 Profile software let you easily measure and calculate color differences between different scans of the same layout, I'm using the deltaE(1976) numbers as the scale for this test - a deltaE of 1 is supposed to be a color variance which an observer can recognize under good/lab viewing conditions. Patch sheets are printed on a 4 color WF2010W with the 106 inks with the matte paper selection

___________________deltaE
10 min to 1h______0.61
10 min to 3h______0,81
10 min to 1d______0,98

These deltaE numbers are the average of all deltaE changes of the 96 patch fields, there are instrument/reading variations combined with actual color shifts, the trend is clear - the most color shifts happen within the first hour of drying time.

If I ask whether I should wait longer than 1 hour I'm getting these numbers

_____________deltaE
1 h to 3 h____0,30
1 h to 8 h____0,52
1 h to 1 d____0,70

It still makes a small difference between the numbers at 1 hour or 1 day but not so much - if you have time to wait just wait to the next day but if you are in a hurry colors have pretty much stabilized and scanning the patch sheet already after one hour will give you a pretty accurate profile, you may do a rescan after 1 day if you want to narrow down the color shift variations.

 

[The Hat]

I wonder how much change or colour difference you’d get in your test sheet if you let it sit around in your print room so it can clematises itself to your environment… would you see any great changes ?..

I hour, 3 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours and the big one, 1 whole week, would there be a change ?, because I don’t reckon that has ever been done before..

P.S. I know the type of paper would play the biggest part..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The paper used for this test was stored in the print room before , and all measurements were done there as well.
I may do another scan in a week from now. keeping it there till then.

P.S. I know the type of paper would play the biggest part.

That's what I'm afraid of - every different paper will play another game

 

[stratman]

Like this experiment.

This comes up from time to time. My thoughts have always been you should wait until the ink dries and is stabilized, about 24 hours, just as with working with any print such as framing.

Just looked this up and Red River agrees with both of us.

https://www.redrivercatalog.com/infocenter/inkjet-print-drying-time-guide.html


The following link states the time is variable depending on several factors.

https://blog.inkjetwholesale.com.au/printer-education/how-long-does-photo-printing-ink-take-to-dry/


While most of the color change may occur in the first hour, the characteristics of light refraction/reflection (spectrophotometer measurement) is different in wet vs dry media. See Page 3 Polarization Filters

www.color.org/ICC_white_paper3measurement.pdf


Yet, Pantone actually scans both wet and dry prints in their production of color guides:

https://www.color.org/events/frankfurt/Lindstrom_ICCFrankfurt2013_Spot_Col_Proofing.pdf

Pantone has a few more tricks up their sleeve than us civilians. Dry is the way to go before pulling out the spectrophotometer. Generally speaking, 24 hours or more if you want the best reading possible for your set up.

Why be in a rush just to shave a few hours? It's not like you have to sit and watch ink dry.

 

[The Hat]

It's not like you have to sit and watch ink dry.

I prefer to watch fly’s walking up a wall than to watch ink dry..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Why be in a rush just to shave a few hours? It's not like you have to sit and watch ink dry.

I had been in that situation actually, somebody came along and asked me to do some prints pretty urgently, he even brought his own paper; I could not just say - hey - wait a minute - we need to wait an hour before I can create a usable profile for that paper. Congruence with some FOGRA/industry standard color consistency methods is not required in a more private environment. So as always - it depends................

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm not a fan of the Datacolor SpyderPrint model, but while scanning for 'drying time before profiling' I got a link to the user guide with this recommendation:

We recommend that you let the target sheets dry for at least 15 minutes after
printing. Depending on the printer, paper, and ink set, you may want to wait
longer. Some inks “develop”, deepen and darken on certain papers more slowly,
and you don’t want to take measurements until (a) the ink is fully dried and won’t
smear during measurements, and (b) the color of the printed patches has locked
in and won’t change further.

This section creates the impression that you can get away with a waiting time of just 15 minutes , the other comments don't help since you are not able to verify if the ink 'has developped' or the ink is 'fully dried'.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I prefer to watch fly’s walking up a wall than to watch ink dry.

Watching the fly walking up is definitely more action than watching ink drying..., but what are you doing if there is no fly - postponing the profiling ?

 

[stratman]

somebody came along and asked me to do some prints pretty urgently

Sure, but that is an exception rather than a rule. You can scan your patches any time you want. Your findings corroborates industry research that color shifts predominate in the first 1 hour post inkjet printing.

 

[stratman]

This section creates the impression that you can get away with a waiting time of just 15 minutes

Another reason to be suspicious of their product.