Equipment you need

Calibration is usually carried out using an external device called a ‘Spectrophotometer’ or ‘Spectro’ for short. We recommend using the X-rite i1Pro2/3 which includes a factory built-in UV filter. The i1Pro2/3 are designed to calibrate and profile all monitor types including LCD, CRT and laptop displays. The instrument is generally supplied with a full kit of accessories necessary for printer and monitor calibration.

It can also calibrate monitors and is able to measure spot colours to add to colour files.

Other printer calibration devices supported in AVA include the X-Rite Pulse, Gretag Spectrolino/Spectroscan and Barbieri LFP. This tutorial covers use of the i1Pro 2 and i1Pro 3 spectrophotometers.

You will need the following parts for calibration

• The i1 Pro instrument
  
• The calibration foot with embedded white tile
  
• The USB cable
  
• The path finder
  

To ensure successful calibration and profiling, you should ensure that:

• All heads in the printer heads are firing correctly. Perform a head test and clean them if necessary.
• Inks and paper are not running low.
• If you are using a generic Mac® OS printer such as Epson, check the correct and current manufacturers printer driver for the model is installed.
• If you use the AVA Digital Print RIP to print to a wide format digital printer, such as a Mimaki, HP or Roland, you should ensure you have at least one ink setting created for your substrate by an AVA technician before you can create a profile.
• Coated Paper is loaded the correct way up. Most quality papers only have one side which can be printed on. The quality and colour of the print will be adversely affected if the wrong side is used.

Printing the target

AVA offers three calibration targets to profile from. The AVARGBTarget855, the AVARGBTarget1748, and the 3012 Target.

• AVARGBTarget855 this target consists of 855 chips, split to 2 sections on a single A3 layout and offers the accuracy many of our customers seek in a printer profile.
• AVARGBTarget1748 (recommended) this target consists of 1748 chips, split to 4 sections over two A3 size layouts and offers increased accuracy in the printer profile.
• 3102 Target this target consists of 3102 chips over several A3 layouts and offers further accuracy in the printer profile over the 1748 option.

As the colour chips within the targets do not constitute every single colour or shade your printer can achieve, AVA Printer Cal has to calculate the colours in between each read in chip. Using a larger target reduces the prediction gap between these chips, hence fine tuning the accuracy some of our customers require.

1. Launch AVA and go to File Menu > Open.
2. In the window that opens, go to Applications / AVA 5.X / AVA Utilities / Profiling / RGB Targets / Eye-One and select your preferred target. Each target file is in AVA format and is already set correctly with the appropriate overprinting method (RGB). It is important not to crop these files, as they will lose the custom settings they are saved with.

If you are printing to a wide substrate it is advisable to embed the multiple pages in the Layout Window in order to fill the width effectively and save media. Open the Layout Window within one of the target files then go to File Menu > Page Setup. Choose or create an appropriate page size from the driver, click OK and embed the target sections onto the layout. The files will still retain the appropriate overprinting method.

You will notice that the targets contain some black lines on the side of certain chips. These black lines are used as reference points when the i1Pro instruments are used in strip reading mode.

3. Go to File Menu > Print.
   
   

4. If you have selected Mac®OSXPrinter, you will be printing directly to your printer and will be able to access the printer driver settings directly through the Print window. The next step explains what driver settings are required to be altered for printer calibration.

If you have selected AVAServerMimaki, please refer to the AVA Digital Print RIP section of AVA Assist or contact Technical Support for details of how to print to the server.

Some printers have their own built-in calibration software which should be turned off. The relevant options are usually found in the Print Window.

5. Make sure the selected printer is the one you want to print to and set the number of copies and pages required.
6. Ensure ‘AVA Manages Colour’ is ticked under the AVA Mac®OSXPrinter menu bar, and a resolution of 180, 360 or 720 is entered. For Canon printers, use either 300 or 600 dpi.
7. Then change the pop up bar from AVA Mac®OSXPrinter to Print Settings.
8. Select the relevant media type, colour and resolution.
   
   
   It is important to use the recommended paper for your specific printer. If you are unsure what to use you should speak to the manufacturer, however most printers list the recommended types in the Print window.
9. Click on the Presets pop up bar and select Save Current Settings as Preset… to save the options you have just set up.
   
   Name the settings as AVA Print or Similar. If you use several types of paper on the same printer, include the paper type in the name you enter to identify the relevant preset for each paper type.
   
   

10. Make sure the paper is loaded the correct way up. Most quality papers only have one side which can be printed on. The quality and colour of the print will be adversely affected if the wrong side is used.
11. If the inks are running low then it may be beneficial to replace them.
12. If you are at the end of the box of paper, use paper from a new box. Click ‘Print’.
13. Check the quality of the printed colour book. If the chips on the print have fine white lines through them, you will need to clean the print heads. Either use the buttons on the printer or the Printer Utility in the System Settings .

Print the colour book again to check if the chips still have lines through them. If they do, clean the heads again. Also check if your chips have blurred edges as this can indicate that the print resolution used was too low.

Reading the target

1. Launch Printer Cal.  This application is found inside Application / AVA 5.xx / AVA Utilities / Profiling.  Alternatively you may have already added this application to your Dock.
   
2. The following window will open.
3. From the ‘Target Type’ drop down menu, select ‘Predefinded ‘Target.’
4. From the ‘Name’ drop down menu, select the target type you printed. In most cases this will be the AVARGBTarget1748.
5. From the ‘Options’ drop down menu, select your smoothing style:
   • Standard: This is a middle ground between the below options.
   • Smooth: This will give you higher accuracy, but may slightly reduce the gamut.
   • No Smoothing: No smoothing gives you a bigger gamut, but slightly less accuracy.
6. Click OK.  The following window will open.
   The coloured frames indicate the colour expected as you read in the target.  As you read the target in, the centres of each chip will be populated with the colour measured in. Although the frames and the measured chips will never match exactly (nor are they meant to), they should be very similar.  If they are not, it could indicate that errors have been made whilst reading the target in.
7. Select Chip Setup from the File Menu, and enter 23 chips across and 19 chips down and click OK.
   
8. Select the instrument you are using from the list located in Measurements > Instrument.
9. Plug the USB cable into the instrument and plug into a spare USB port on the computer.  This must be a powered USB port either to the rear or front of the computer.
10. Launch the AVA CMS Controller and under the Viewing Conditions tab, ensure you have the correct lighting conditions selected. This should match the environment in which you are viewing prints. The default settings in AVA is D65 and 2º which is standard daylight. If you change the lighting conditions in the CMS Controller, you must re-profile your monitor and printer.
    
    If you are in doubt as to what lighting conditions you have, we recommend using D65 and 2º. The 2º and 10º options are referring mainly to the angle at which the colour match would be most accurate, for example in a light box on a shelf. For many, lighting is not confined and is overhead so the 2º is applicable.
11. Go back into Printer Cal and from the Measurements Menu, select Start Measuring.  The following window will open.
    • Instrument Type – indicates the spectrophotometer type.
    • Serial Number – displays the serial number of the attached instrument. This number must match the serial number printed on the bottom of the calibration tile.
    • Last Calibration – a date will be placed here upon successful calibration for that session.
    • Measurement Illumination Condition – specify whether you wish to include any UV into the readings:
        M0 (UV included) includes the UV content in the readings
        M2 (UV-cut) excludes the UV content from the readings
        M1 (D50) enables you to calibrate in D50 lighting conditions
    • Strip reading – the instruments can be used in spot colour or strip reading mode. Ensure this is ticked before calibration the i1 Pro 2 for strip reading.
    • Patch Recognition Mode – Recognition Position is the only.available option during printer calibration.
    • Chips per Strip – this number must correspond to the number of chips in a row on your target. This number is printed on the target.
12. Select your required modes then click Calibrate.
    
    A message should appear saying calibration successful. Click OK, then OK again.
    
    
13. 
    
    
14. Cut the target into the smaller sections following the stitch marks on the printout.
15. Reading in can be done using the back board supplied or straight onto a desk. AVA recommends reading the target backed up with more pieces of the same substrate, especially with more transparent substrates.
16. Position the ruler under the first line of chips with i1Pro 2 placed onto the carriage to the far left. Press and keep the button on the left hand side held down and wait for one sound. Slide the instrument to the right until you have reached the end of the ruler and release the button.
    
    If you have M0 (UV included) mode set, you only need to read each strip once.
    
    
17. 
    
    If you selected M2 (UV-cut) mode, a successful reading will display a glowing blue light on the top of the instrument. Press and hold the button again, and read the same row of chips right to left (in reverse). This dual reading filters out the UV content of the substrate.
    
    
18. 
    
    
19. The black highlight line on the left hand chip of the first row will move down to the next line.
    
20. Repeat the steps above for each row, moving down the target until you have read all the chips on the target.
21. Upon reading the last line of the target, you will be prompted to save the measurements file.  Save them into Home user / Library / Applications Support / AVA / Profiles / Printer.

Saving a profile

Once the measurements file has been saved, a graph window will appear.

If the graph looks nice and smooth, you can proceed and save the profile.  If you have any concerns at all, you should send the measurements file to AVA Technical Support, and we will happily check them for you.

To save profile, select Save ICC profile from the File Menu.  A sheet will open offering you some options.

Best for separated design

This is the default option we would normally use, especially if you are primarily printing tonal spot separated designs.  The output will be virtually identical to the default method in the old versions of Printer Cal.  It now uses a High accuracy separation table to achieve even more accurate colour.

Best for image

If you are printing images (RGB or CMYK), using a profile built with this option can give you nicer results.  It uses different gamut mapping from the option above to try and keep more saturated colours and nicer blends in shadows. This is especially useful when colours in the design are outside of the printer gamut.  It will however be less accurate than other options so if you are printing spot separated files generally we would not use this type of profile.  If you are printing images we would suggest building both profile types and experimenting to see which best suits your work.

Best for flat colour

If you are printing flat designs, this method will help achieve optimum results.

When using the other types of profile colours which are outside of the gamut will shift back into the colour space and maintain their hue. Whereas with the ‘Flat Colour’ option, the colours shift back to the closest colour on the edge of the gamut.

Compatible with AVA 3.4

The other options produce an ICC version 4 profile, this option  makes an ICC version 2 profile.  You may need to use this if you’re sending files to someone with software that does not recognise ICC version 4 profiles.  Generally we would not recommend this option.

Select a suitable option for you, and click OK.  You will be asked to save the file.  We recommend saving this into the same folder you saved the measurements file to, which was Home user / Library / Application Support / AVA / profiles / Printer.  Once saved, a progress window will appear, and depending on which profile options you selected, your profile may take a few minutes to build and save.

Once the profile is saved, you are ready to use it in AVA.  To do this, launch the AVA CMS Controller, and from the Profiles tab, click on the Printer Profile (Output Profile in 5.9 or higher) button.

Navigate to the profile you just saved, click on it, and select Open in the bottom right of the CMS Controller window.

Once the profile has been set, you can view the the colour space using ColourSys by selecting Gamut Window from the Window Menu.

Checking the measurements

After reading the last line of a target, a graph will automatically appear on the screen. It will allow you to see if any mistakes were made during the reading of the colour blocks.

Look at the graph to check the accuracy of the readings by clicking the page up and down arrows bottom right.

A good result

Generally, the various sections of the graph should resemble an evenly cast fishing net, spreading out steadily but remaining fairly weighted to the bottom right corner of the graph. Some substrates such as textiles or textured wallpaper may look bumpy due to the substrate itself or edges wave due to ink bleeding and bad linearisation, but overall the graph transition should be relatively smooth.

A bad result

An uneven/spiky graph or the graph looks as if its being blown upwards could possibly indicate incorrect readings or even a bad print. If the graph is extremely uneven, it maybe just wise to read the target again, to double check. The following can be done to troubleshoot:

Checking the measurements

An uneven/spiky graph or the graph looks as if its being blown upwards could possibly indicate incorrect readings or even a bad print. If the graph is extremely uneven, it maybe just wise to read the target again, to double check. The following can be done to troubleshoot:

Occasional unevenness or spikes caused by reading errors in the graph can be located and re-read individually.

1. Open the saved measurements file into ColourSys.
2. Go to the View Menu and select View Settings. Set the Chip Layout as ‘Colourbook’. Set the number across and down the same as it states at the foot of the printed target. Set chip type to Rectangle, an appropriate size chip for your screen and remove names, outlines and warnings. 
   
3. The measurements will now be laid out in the same fashion as the printed target. Now scan each line of the target starting from page 1. You are just checking that colours are in the right place and there are no reading errors (black misreads or duplicates). Colours will not match the screen at this point, this is just checking colour placement in the readings. The page controls at the top of the measurements colourbook window will allow you to skip to the next page of measurements.
4. Locate any mis readings and count down or up from the layout edge to get the colour line’s number.
5. Reopen the measurements into PrinterCal and navigate to an incorrect line. Click on the ‘left’ chip of the line to highlight it then repeat steps 5 to 10 of the ‘Reading the Target’ section of this tutorial, re-reading each incorrect line.
6. After reading the last incorrect line save the measurements (cmd S) then go to Measurements > Show Graph Window. Check through the graph once more to ensure that errors have been removed.

Double check the printer driver preset settings (Mac® OS X® Printers only)

Graphs which have a tendency to look like they are being blown away by an upward gust of wind may still have colour management set in the driver. Refer back to the section ‘Printing the Colourbook Target’.

Double check the AVA Digital Print RIP has a current and relevant ink setting set in the print queue

If you are printing from a specialist wide format printer, such as Mimaki or HP, your AVA Digital Print RIP will require an ink setting to be created and produced by an AVA Technician. Please contact AVA Technical Support if you are unsure whether you have one.

Please contact AVA Technical Support should you require any further assistance with reading and checking your target