Digital Prints

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Mastering Digital Printing
Step 9: Make a Test Print (or Two or Three…)
Whichever workflow I’m following, when I’m satisfied that all the settings are correct, I
am ready to send the file to the printer. (I may want to precede this step with a new Color
Calibration to make sure the printer is in an optimum state. This Designjet 130 printer
is one of the few that offers this option.)
The moment of truth—and an exciting one it is—comes with that first print out of the
printer. This is almost never the final print, but it serves as the reference benchmark for
all subsequent adjustments.
I make one test print with each of the four workflow versions already outlined. Here are
my subjective comments about each:
A. Using the Printer’s Basic Settings: To ease my way into this, I used Same As Source
and the HP ColorSmart III utility. The print is so-so, with the colors weak overall. I
quickly make another one but this time first converting my file to sRGB (remember that
ColorSmart assumes all files are sRGB). That print is better with richer colors, but I know
I can do much better.
B. Using a Built-In ICC Profile: For this print, I used the built-in ICC profile for
the paper/resolution (Best) combination, and it’s excellent. More saturated and with
more contrast.
C. Using an Outside Printer Profile: Using the Eye-One-generated profile is better yet.
Smooth and rich colors.
D. Using the RIP: This also results in an excellent print, but I’m actually leaning more
to a couple of the others.
Left is the first print (Option A) with very basic settings; right is Option B, using the built-in ICC printer profile.