Colour profiles for better art/photo printing - Making profiles with an i1iO and why they work 

Ah, I can tell you that one - with a well matched paper/inks/printer, the differences would be negligible. Almost impossible to [honestly] show on any video ;-) So where do more patches and better kit make a difference? Typically with OBAs and papers where the media settings perhaps don't quite match. Transitions and gradients can be better too. The 'better' kit is easier and quicker to use as well. The 'better' software gives more flexibility in what you can do. In many ways, my building of basic RGB colour profiles does it a bit of a dis-service given all it can do ;-)

Thanks - this was partly to have a video to go with my i1iO review, which pre-dates me making videos Some of that could be done now, but there is no profit in it ;-) If it happened it would be used as a way of locking in customers [in a nice helpful way of course] Also - there are too many papers around - even just here in the UK

@@KeithCooper To true, the locking in of customers🤑🤑🤑

Thanks Ambient [if at a suitable level] is often nowhere near as important as some think. Any 'measurement' functions with calibration kit is largely [imho] a marketing feature ;-) Heresy I know but I used to use ordinary tungsten lights, and now warmish LED lamps. Strict control of lighting is something for pro design studios... ;-) I do have a viewing cabinet, but don't use it nearly as often as I once thought I would. As for profiling, as long as the ambient light is at normal working levels, it makes no difference - none of them measure ambient, it has no part in the process. As I recall, the Canon software for packaging up custom media does this... See the section in my pro-1000 review? www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-1000-printer-review/

@@KeithCooper Thank you, that sorted out my queries! Once more, loving these more in-depth videos (together with the articles) on ICC profile creation.

put them in your ~user/library folder? See here www.permajet.com/icc-profiles/ If the profiles are valid, they should show up in the ColorSync Utility as well

By printing - I use known test images to show potential issues. There is software for such numerical analysis, but I never use it for my photo work. It's much more relevant to commercial print/proofing than photographers printing photos. Some paper reviews like to include lots of graphs and charts, but without a vast amount of context and explanation the charts are essentially meaningless and put there for two reasons 1) to look good and give an air of authority 2) to appeal to photographers with an engineering background who expect to see 'the numbers' ;-)

First up, don't read too much into those gamut volume shapes - I only include them in reviews to look good and impress people who expect to see them ;-) When making profiles I do look for mis-shapen ones with holes/bumps which can indicate measurement errors or even just a slightly blocked nozzle somewhere. I'm afraid if I see lots of charts, tables and 'gamut volumes' in a review, I'm tempted to assume they are just there to look pretty and fill space ;-) :-) So - it may not be a problem at all. The proof is a test image/print... Remember that coatings vary. 'Baryta' covers a lot of papers these days. Characteristics vary. I generally use M2, but save the readings [cxf data] - I occasionally make different versions of 'bright' papers, but not often.

Yes, maybe, no.... ;-) Scanner based profiling software has been around for years - in my experience it is very hit and miss. It can have problems with things like optical brighteners and paper texture. The problem is that the scanner simply does not record sufficient spectral data for good profile making.

@@KeithCooper darn. I was hoping there was a simple option that didn't cost much if any $. I have the Epson ET-8550 to replace my old cannon Pro-10 and have a few remaining boxes of canon pro-luster that I want to use up.

Look up ArgyllCMS - there may be ways of trying it Just beware it is not a package aimed at being quick and simple to get up and running ;-)

Yes, they do age, and should, in a commercial environment, be recalibrated every year. There is diagnostic software which runs basic tests. These have been checked some times when I've been doing testing work for X-rite. I've had an i1 fail after a few years, but it was an obvious failure and it failed the diagnostic software. Give I don't charge for my profiles and I don't offer profiling services commercially, that simply isn't going to happen unless it's offered ;-) - it's more expensive than I can afford.

Most printers [of the inkjet type I'm looking at] ARE RGB devices from a profiling POV if you use the normal printer driver - they are profiled as RGB devices.The icc profiles made in this example are made using the RGB profiling workflow in i1Profiler. The mix of inks used in the printer make no difference whatsoever in this respect. It's also why converting images to CMYK for printing them [on this sort of printer] is almost always a dreadful idea. For such printers, the only time you would perhaps be looking at the mix of inks is if your are setting up a full RIP - not something I'd normally expect viewers of this video to be contemplating in any way

Referring to your edited comment... The printers are treated as RGB devices when profiling. The mix of inks makes no difference whatsoever. It is RGB data which is sent to the printer driver, the profile is an RGB profile - the conversion from RGB to CMYK+ is handled by the driver and printer firmware. The shape of the gamut of the printer icc profile is indeed given partly by the mix of inks, so it is a more complex shape than a working space [A98 etc] but it is still an RGB profile. This applies to all the printers I've reviewed over the last few years if I'm using the basic printer driver - right from basic A4 inkjets, up to the 64" width Epson P20000 Look at the profiling software, such as i1Profiler - You will see that it offers RGB and CMYK workflows. All the profiles I make available for people to use with printers are RGB ones.. It make no difference how the inks are distributed, from the POV of sending image data to the printer driver, you send RGB and RGB profiles are what you use. It is possible, with the right [RIP] software to profile devices as multi-channel devices, but this is not a simple process - more common in commercial print.