[Tool] ChromIQ – a macOS and Windows GUI for ArgyllCMS printer profiling (v3.9.0)

[Alan G]

@pharmacist - the 429 patches are with the standard size patches as recommended in the documents. As I said these were measured in 2018 well before this app and before using the denser patch set. These cards are scored and fold in half so the image size is much smaller. Using standard ArgyllCMS distribution is just fine for that use case.

 

[itsab1989]

Some more updates:

 

[pkk]

What size are your RR cards? I profiled Museo Artist Cards some years ago (they are no longer in business). these are matte 5x7 inch cards that are scored so they are folded in half. Since the image size is small, you just want a decent profile that gives accurate colors. I just did a single profile without preconditioning. I did 3 cards of patches (429 total) and got a nice profile for that use case.

They are 4.5 x 5.5 when folded so the blank sheet is 5.5 x 9. 468 patches fit on two sheets. I'm redoing the profile using 4 white, 4 black & 32 grey patches. I just printed the targets, will read them tomorrow and report back.

 

[itsab1989]

I just got an answer from Canon regarding the driver issue. Correct me if I am wrong but this reads like it is not my fault but a macOS issue - right? Then again Epson seems to work better in this regard as for the Epson driver colormanagement seems to stay disabled.

Good afternoon Mr Reiprich,


thank you for your reply and for the detailed and technically precise error description.


This is a reproducible issue in the macOS printing architecture in combination with the classic CUPS driver. Since the more recent macOS versions, the operating system frequently blocks the direct passing through of raw data when standard programs such as Photoshop or the Adobe Utility are used. This causes cache errors in the background, as a result of which old colour profile IDs are incorrectly attached to other media types. The greyed out ColorSync field is also a direct result of these macOS restrictions.


Because the Apple printing system no longer synchronises the variables reliably, the error unfortunately cannot be permanently corrected via the normal macOS print dialog. There is, however, an alternative solution that allows you to bypass the macOS colour management and print your test charts colour neutral.


For printing your profiling charts, please use the free Canon software Professional Print & Layout. This software communicates directly with the PRO 300 and completely overrides the faulty colour assignment of the operating system. Please proceed as follows:


Download the current version of Canon Professional Print & Layout for macOS from the Canon website and install it.


Open your test chart directly in this program, or transfer it from Photoshop via the menu File, then Automate, then Canon Professional Print & Layout.


In the settings on the right hand side, select your desired media type.


In the Colour Management section, set the colour mode strictly to No Colour Management.


This setting allows the ColorSync engine of macOS to be bypassed. The RGB values of your test chart thus reach the printer unchanged, so that you can create error free and precise ICC profiles.


In addition, you can check in the macOS System Settings under Printers & Scanners whether your printer is set up as a CUPS printer and not incorrectly as an AirPrint printer, since AirPrint additionally amplifies this faulty behaviour.


Please feel free to try this approach and let us know how it goes.


Kind regards,




I asked Claude about what it thinks about this and told it to flag it‘s assessment as an opinion:


From my point of view, there are several indications that the cause of the problem may lie more in the Canon driver than in the operating system. I cannot judge this conclusively, but I would like to describe the observations that lead me to this impression.

First, CNIJProfileID appears to be a driver internal variable rather than a macOS object. If that is correct, the fact that this value is not reliably carried over when switching media types would presumably originate in the driver logic.

Second, I have noticed that the settings revert in particular when I close the settings window with Cancel instead of OK. To me this seems like behaviour of the Canon dialog rather than a restriction of the Apple printing system.

Third, in my experience the issue occurs across applications, that is in Print-Tool, Photoshop, ACPU and in my own software. To me this points more towards a shared layer such as the driver than towards a fault in a single application.

In addition, I would like to mention that with my Epson ET-8550, under an identical macOS version, colour management can be disabled considerably more reliably. This is of course only a single point of comparison, but it leads me to suspect that the operating system alone is not the decisive factor.

The suggested route via Professional Print & Layout works as a workaround, for which I am grateful. My impression, however, is that it bypasses the actual behaviour rather than resolving it.


Edit - follow up:

Your arguments are completely understandable.

However, Canon relies heavily on its own Professional Print & Layout software for this printer in order to work around the limitations of the older CUPS driver under macOS.

As your support partner, we unfortunately have no influence over driver development. We are unable to modify the software or engage directly with Apple regarding this matter.

That said, your observations are very valuable, and we would be happy to forward your feedback directly to Canon’s manufacturer support team. However, we cannot guarantee whether or when Canon will make any changes to the driver.

We are pleased to hear that printing via Professional Print & Layout is at least working as a stable workaround for you. If you have any questions regarding the settings in this software, we will be happy to assist you.

Kind regards,


—> sounds to me like is the driver indeed and not Apple

 

[pkk]

I redid the profile on the Red River greeting cards. I did not use a preset this time but 4 black, 4 white, 32 grey and 468 total patches. The Quality Assessment and the profile are attached. I'll be learning soon how to reread individual patches and improve this profile.

 

[itsab1989]

I just had a look at the profile and the neutrals are really off for this one. Do you maybe have a screenshot from the testchart you have used? Or a photo of the printed chart maybe?
You said that you have made better experiences with other testcharts before. Do you notice anything special about this one?

It reminds me of this post from @pharmacist :

https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/tool-chromiq-–-a-macos-and-windows-gui-for-argyllcms-printer-profiling-v3-9-0.17593/post-148457


His screenshot look similar except that the neutrals are magenta there instead of green.
That was the moment we realized that Argyll (and because of this ChromIQ as well) does not like non-randomized targets.

So NO to this:

But YES to this:

Those are the exact same patches in both pictures but the second one is randomized and should read better. But then again I don't know of course whether this is the issue here.
Note that I am not good in designing charts. I just put this together real fast to illustrate what I mean.

 

[pharmacist]

The most likely reason is reading errors: this is the 3D projection of the profile and you can see very irregular indentations in the profile

Try to read the target again with slower pace and always test the quality of softproofing with relative colorimetric intent (no BPC) to see if the profile is legit or not.

 

[pharmacist]

I just have finished a new 3 sheet target (A4 and Letter) with 1944 patches using the latest ChromIQ smart patch generator to get an even better sampling of the RGB color space than the TC9.18. I hope this target will result in better prints than the TC9.18, especially in skin tones/foliage/blues and even better grey separation and more neutral greys.

The targets are now drying for scanning tomorrow and I will report back. If the test is succesful, I will ask @itsab1989 to integrate this as a preset in the upcoming versions of ChromIQ.

 

[itsab1989]

I am really looking forward to see the results and your final verdict!

 

[pharmacist]

@pkk can you give me your ti1 file you uses for your 468 patch target so I check whether it is a configuration error or reading problems ?