[Tool] ChromIQ – a macOS and Windows GUI for ArgyllCMS printer profiling (v3.8.0)

[itsab1989]

@pharmacist

I will look at them later. Shall I replace the old ones or keep them?

 

[pharmacist]

I suggest to replace the old ones with these new ones. They are better.

 

[itsab1989]

Noted!

 

[itsab1989]

@pharmacist

Should be online now. Thanks a lot!

 

[Alan G]

-2 page 924 patch target based on the famous Gretag Macbeth TC9.18 target with a few extra black and white patches up to 924 patches in total.


@itsab1989 : I will send you those targets to have a look at and implement them as presets.

Why is this any better of a target than using ArgyllCMS to generate one? If you use a pre-condition profile you can even obtain better results.

 

[pharmacist]

Why is this any better of a target than using ArgyllCMS to generate one? If you use a pre-condition profile you can even obtain better results.

The reason is that standard ArgyllCMS targen cannot know the exact neutral axis (by generating a primary target ArgyllCMS can sample the exact area where the neutral axis is and this information can be used to as a preconditioning profile to exactly sample that area). The TC9.18 (or my slightly modified TC9.24) uses a force sampling of the area around the neutral axis:

Those slightly stained grey ramps (RGB + CMY) allows ArgyllCMS or i1Profiler to "cube" fit the area of the true gray ramp. The SpyderPrint extended grey target is even more detailed.

This way (for most users) the 2 steps with a preconditioning profile is mostly not needed (unless you want really critical quality) when using these type of targets.

Have a look at a standard 918 patch target using i1Profiler:

And compare the above with the TC9.18 target (notice the greys and near neutrals/grey ramps):

Depite the same amount of patch count the TC9.18 will produce better neutral greys without a preconditioning profile.

Most people don't want to use a 2 step system. Print a good targer that also maximizes the sampling rate of the area around the neutral axis and have a very good profile with neutral greys, which keep things simple and easy for most of users. If you want maximum quality: go for the modus operandi with the preconditioning profile.

 

[Alan G]

@pharmacist - Thank you for the answer. I will wait for those targets to get posted. I had a horrible experience last week in trying to use the profile that was posted then. It did not read well at all and I got huge errors. Today, I measured a one page precondition target set with 32 gray patches. I now have three pages of the final profile drying and will measure those tomorrow. This is for Moab Entrada, one of the papers that I regularly print with. I want to use the app in all the different configurations to make sure it performs well. I already have excellent profiles that I created six years ago using the command line manual method and the app is far superior now that all the flags are available. I am using the dense packing of 506 patches per letter sheet.

I don't mind the two step process as I can scan pretty fast with my i1 Pro. I'll give the new target a try.

 

[itsab1989]

@Alan G
The targets are now part of the latest v3.8.3 release

So if there are no big flaws with the app anymore I would consider „the printer profiling is too complicated“ issue solved

 

[itsab1989]

@pharmacist
I received an email from Knut which is for you as it is for me. Maybe you can share some thoughts on this. For whatever reason Knut is banned from this forum and cannot post here himself:

Preset placement:
The sole intention with a preset is to make life easier and more efficient with pre-created and well proven charts, hence all settings in the manual mode are greyed out when selecting a preset. Both these things make it obvious that the preset selection should be under the GUIDED mode. Also, It does not make sense to have all options graded out under manual if one wants to use the manual mode for more advanced activities.


Preset options:
- No preset should probably be called “None”, not default.
- It does not make sense to make tributes to pharmacist in the name of the preset options, even if he made them. The name should instead include quick details about the preset option, and then tributes can instead be added in the mouse-over popup text that describes more in detail the option.
For ex:
- ColorMunki TC3.00 A4 1-page landscape
- ColorMunki 702 ABW-optimized A4 2-pages landscape

I also miss the following options, but they can more easily be introduced with ti1 file only to save space:
- Portrait options for all presets. When I use a drawing board with ruler, such as I have, it is most suitable with portrait pages for reading direction.
- TC9.18 plus Spyder Grays for ColorMunki (I made in the argyll_printer_profiler script versions for many page sizes, number of pages and patch widths)
- Letter, A3, A3+, Tabloid, Ledger (maybe even A2?) and other page sizes


Below are suggestions taken from the argyle_printer_profiler script that could be adapted and used to make presets, otherwise you have to download from github:

Here is the ti1 file I used to make most of the charts with TC9.18 plus Spyder Grays



And here are some examples of the commands for various sizes (most commands should probably be modified to your new knowledge of what is best):
CM-Expert-A3-1168p-2pages-w11.5mm TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p297x420 -a0.88 -M6 name
# Landscape
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p420x297 -a0.85 -M6 name

CM-Interm-A3-1168p-3pages-w14.0mm TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p297x420 -a1.07 -M6 name
# Landscape
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p420x297 -a1.05 -M6 name

CM-Interm-A2-1168p-1page-w12.5mm TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p420x594 -a0.92 -M6 name
# Landscape
printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p594x420 -a0.90 -M6 name

CM-Interm-Tabloid-1168p-3pages-w14.0mm-18x22-portrait_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait

printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p279x432 -a1.076 -M6 name

CM-Interm-A4-1168p-5pages-w12.5mm-15x16_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait

printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -pA4 -a0.93 -M6 name

CM-Interm-Letter-1168p-5pages-w12.0mm-15x16_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Protrait

printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -pLetter -a0.9 -m6 name

CM-Interm-Ledger-1168p-3pages-w13.5mm-29x14-landscape_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
# Landscape

printtarg -v -b -P -iCM -h -T200 -p432x279 -a1.013 -M6 name

i1Pro-Expert-A3-1168p-1page-w8.0mm-47x25-landscape_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
printtarg -v -P -ii1 -T200 -p420x297 -M8 -R161 -a0.98 -A0.6 name

i1Pro-Expert-A3-1168p-2pages-w10.5mm-35x17-landscape_TC918+Spyderprint_grays-randomized
printtarg -v -P -ii1 -T200 -p420x297 -M8 -R161 -a1.36 name

i1Pro-Expert-A4-1168p-3pages-w8.5mm-19x21-portrait_TC918 +Spyderprint_grays-randomized
printtarg -v -P -ii1 -T200 -pA4 -M8 -R367 -a1.125 -A0.6 name

i1Pro-Expert-Letter-1168p-3pages-w8.5mm-20x20-portrait_TC918 +Spyderprint_grays-randomized
printtarg -v -P -ii1 -T200 -pLetter -M8 -R367 -a1.105 -A0.6 name



Then you also have the very good SpyderHighQ.TargetPlusGrays, which I don’t have the printtarg command for, but only files. Change the file ending to zip:
CM-Expert-A4-882p-2pages-w7.5mm-21x21-SpyderHighQ.TargetPlusGrays-Randomized



I hope this is to some help
Great work!

Cheers,
Knut