Application Notes

Printing Dark Blacks

Printing Dark Blacks
ErgoSoft AG
Moosgrabenstr. 13
CH-8595 Altnau, Switzerland

© 2013 ErgoSoft AG, All rights reserved.

The information contained in this manual is based on information available at the time of publication and is
subject to change without notice. Accuracy and completeness are not warranted or guaranteed.
No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic
medium or machine-readable form, without the expressed written permission of ErgoSoft AG.

Brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

The ErgoSoft RIP is available in different editions. Therefore the description of available features in this document
does not necessarily reflect the license details of your edition of the ErgoSoft RIP. For information on the features
included in your edition of the ErgoSoft RIPs refer to the ErgoSoft website or contact your dealer.

Rev. 1.1

Printing Dark Blacks i

 Contents

Influencing Black during the Calibration Process .......................................................................................... 1

Ink Limit ...................................................................................................................................................................1
Creating the Profile .............................................................................................................................................2
Recommended Color Management Settings for Darker Blacks .............................................................. 4
Color Management Settings for Raster Data Files (TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP) ...................................5
Color Management Settings for PostScript and PDF Files (EPS, PS, PDF, AI) ............................... 6
Darker Black through Color Replacement........................................................................................................7
Automatic Spot Color Replacement in PostScript and PDF Files ...................................................... 7
Finding the CMYK Values for Printing ...................................................................................................... 11
Manual Color Replacement for Raster Data Files ................................................................................. 14

Printing Dark Blacks i

Influencing Black during the Calibration Process
The basis for achieving a good black value for printing is the density linearization and the
printer profile. Creating the printer profile with the black values in mind and adjusting the
parameters accordingly will result in a profile that allows for the best possible black values,
but of course the profile alone cannot change the achievable black point of the inks and the
medium. There are other parameters that can influence printing of black areas and some that
can enhance the effect of an already good printer profile and density linearization, but these
will be dealt with in later chapters. For now, let’s focus on the profiling process and how to
get the best possible black out of it.

Ink Limit
As with any calibration process, an important step should be creating a density linearization
and determining exactly how much ink we can apply to the material without having the inks
bleed. This is especially true if we want to achieve nice dark blacks.

After completing the density linearization process as explained in detail in the Application
Note “Density Linearization” (which is available for download on www.ergosoft.net), it is time
to determine the maximum amount of ink for mixed colors that our medium can take without
bleeding.

For this purpose, go to menu Tools > Linearization & Profile Tools > Test Images and import
one of the available test charts (we generally recommend “TotalInkLimit_A4Gold.pdf”) and
print it using the print environment and density linearization you created. (Please note that
you need to deactivate the Apply Total InkLimit checkbox in Print Settings/Quality before
doing this, so the actual maximum ink application is used to print the chart.) On the printed
chart, look for the earliest percentage where the colors start to bleed and the edges are not
clean anymore. The percentage value just before that will be your ink limit, as it is the
maximum amount of ink that the medium can take of this ink without starting to bleed.

Now open your Print Environment Settings, go to Quality and check the box that says
Apply Total Ink Limit. Now enter the percentage value from the chart to limit the maximum
amount of ink and confirm the Print Environment Settings dialog with Ok.

For a more thorough explanation of the Ink Limit, check the Application Note “ErgoSoft Total
Ink Limit and Bleed Chart”.

Printing Dark Blacks 1

Creating the Profile
Once we have set the appropriate
ink limit, we can move on to
creating the profile. Launch
ColorGPS from menu Tools >
Options > Linearization & Profile
Tools > ColorGPS. In the first
window, select the print
environment you want to create
the profile for. This should be the
one we used to set the ink limit
earlier.

Next, go to menu Options > ICC

Black Point. This dialog allows you
to set the focus of how black
should be mixed in the profile.

The Blackest Black setting mixes black using as much colored ink as possible, under
certain circumstances this can result in a color shift in the darkest black tones.
Darkest Neutral mixes the black focusing on the neutrality of the black. This may result in
a dark black that is not as brilliant as the one mixed with Blackest Black but might avoid
the color shift in the darkest black tones.
Which mode you use is up to your personal preference and if you’d rather have a darker
black or a more neutral black.

Once it is selected confirm the dialog with ok, then click Next to go on.

In the next dialog, you’ll see that you

can enter a Total Ink Limit again. In
general we recommend using the same
ink limit here as you did in the print
environment, as it will ensure that an
ink limitation is used even if the profile
is used without having an ink limit set in
the print settings.

Next, select the Black Generation

method you want to use. The Black
Generation determines how neutral
gray is mixed using CMY and black.

Printing Dark Blacks 2

 When using variable dots and/or light black ink, GCR3 is a good choice as it gives good
results in most situations. In case you notice black dots appearing in light colors with this
setting, we recommend using GCR2 instead.
When using fix dot and no light black ink, we recommend using either GCR2 or GCR1 for
the best results.

After setting the desired Black

Generation method (GCR), select
the color chart precision Fine(5)
using the dropdown-menu next to
Precision of calibration chart. This
will result in more patches to
measure, but also increased color
accuracy in the profile, as it has
more measurement values for
different hues.

Next, click the Calculate Chart

button. This will generate a
calibration chart and output an
initial number of patches to print.

The slider for Size of Calibration

chart can be used to reduce the number of patches in the chart, but it should not be set to a
value lower than 60, as this will also decrease the precision of the profile. As a rule of thumb,
you should measure between 800 and 1500 patches to get a good profile. If you still have
too many patches at a Size of Calibration chart value of 60, do not go lower with the value
but instead set the Color Chart Precision to a lower setting (e.g. Medium(4)) and recalculate
the chart. If your number of patches is too low, select a higher setting for the Color Chart
Precision.

Once you are satisfied with the settings, click the Print button to print out your color chart. If
you are using a sublimation printing method, transfer the printed chart onto the fabric
according to your heater and timing settings. When the chart is printed and transferred (If
necessary), click the Measure button to start the measurement and complete the process
according to the Application Note “Creating Printer Profiles with ColorGPS”.

Once the measurement is completed and you have confirmed the Measurement dialog, the
Generate Profile button should be available in the ColorGPS window. Proceed to generate
the profile and wait until the process is completed.

Printing Dark Blacks 3

After the profile generation is complete, a
confirmation screen with a description of
the profile settings will be shown. Click
the Copy button to include this
description into your profile description
(or check Automatically append up-to-
date summary to the description), so
you can check which settings you used for
the profile at any time. You can of course
add your own comments to the
description simply by writing into it.

Once you are done with the description, confirm the dialog and save the profile.

Recommended Color Management Settings for Darker Blacks

Another important part of achieving the best possible black output is the color management
settings. Since color management differs between raster images (Tiff, jpeg, png, bmp, etc)
and PostScript images (Eps, pdf, ps, ai), their settings need to be done individually. In this
segment, we will look at how to set appropriate parameters for printing “good” black for
raster and postscript files.

Printing Dark Blacks 4

Color Management Settings for Raster Data Files (TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP)
These settings affect only raster data files. They will not have any impact on Postscript files
such as EPS, PDF, PS or AI files.

To set the Color Management settings for raster images, go to menu Tools > Options and
open the Color Management > Input Profiles segment

1
2
3
4
1
2
5
6

Check Ask on missing embedded Profile only if all raster data files should come
1
with embedded profiles; otherwise do not check.

Always check Use profiles embedded in image data files. An embedded profile
2
has priority on the external profile of point 3 resp. 5.

Select the RGB profile that is to be used as input profile when the image does not
3
contain an embedded profile. The selected profile depends on your resp. your
customer´s preferences.

Select the rendering intent that is used to print RGB raster data images. Rel. col.
4
black point compensation is a good choice here, but Perceptual can also lead to
very good results. Which one is better depends on your application and your preferences.

Select the CMYK profile that is to be used as input profile when the image should
5
come without embedded profile. The selected profile depends on your resp. your
customer´s preferences.

Rel. col. black point compensation is a good (safe) rendering intent for CMYK
6
images.

Printing Dark Blacks 5

Color Management Settings for PostScript and PDF Files (EPS, PS, PDF,
AI)
These settings are specific to postscript files; however they do also affect raster data that is
embedded into a postscript file.

To set the Color Management settings for PostScript files, go to Tools > Options and open
the Color Management > Postscript/PDF tab.

1 2

5
3 4

Select the CMYK profile that is to be used as the input profile if an image does not
1
contain an embedded profile. Which profile to select depends on your preferences.

Rel. col. black point compensation is a good (safe) rendering intent for CMYK images
2
and was designed to provide good black values.

Select the RGB profile that is to be used as the input profile if an image does not
3
contain an embedded profile. Which profile to select depends on your preferences.

Select the Rendering Intent that is used to print RGB data. Rel. col. black point
4
compensation is a good choice here as well, but Perceptual can also lead to very
good results. Which is better depends on your application and your preferences.

In order to have control on the Rendering Intent do not check Use embedded –
5
otherwise the embedded rendering intent will be used together with the embedded
profile.

Printing Dark Blacks 6

Darker Black through Color Replacement
In some cases you might find that you want more control over how blacks are mixed to try
out different tones or you want a specific black mixture that has proven to yield good results
with a certain media/ink combination. In such cases, there are several color replacement
options that allow you to specifically replace a color with a different color value for printing,
enabling you to specifically replace your black tone with a different black mixture to get the
best result. The different kinds of color replacement that are available for different file types
are detailed below.

Automatic Spot Color Replacement in PostScript and PDF Files

Automatic Spot Color Replacement allows defining spot colors in a PostScript or PDF file that
are automatically replaced with a different color value in every file they appear in. In order to
use Spot Color Replacement, there are certain requirements that need to be met both in the
file as well as the software. If you want to use Spot Color Replacement, follow the steps
below.

Set up the spot colors in the image file (EPS, PS, PDF or AI) by selecting them from a spot
color library (e.g. Pantone) or from custom spot color swatches.

As an example, we’ll look at how to define a spot color in your image file using Adobe
Illustrator.

First, go to the menu Window > Swatches. In the Swatches window, click on the little arrow
at the top right and select New Swatch.

Printing Dark Blacks 7

 In the New Swatch dialog, enter a name for the Swatch. This is the name that will be used
for the Automatic Spot Color Replacement. Keep in mind that the replacement function is
case sensitive when setting a name.

Next, set the default color mixture that is to be used

when Automatic Spot Color Replacement is not used.
The color mode should be the same as in your image
file.
Confirm the dialog with Ok to add the spot color to
your color swatches (You’ll notice the spot color is
marked by a dot in the lower right corner).

Then define the areas you would like to be replaced with this spot color later. Once you
are done, save the file as PDF 1.4 or higher.

Note: We do not recommend saving the file as EPS, PDF 1.3 or PDF/X3 as these file
formats do not support automatic spot color replacement for gradients.

See the application note “PostScript and PDF Color Management” for more information on
PDF settings.

Printing Dark Blacks 8

 Make sure the Named Colors Profile of the print environment contains an entry for the
used spot color and an output value.

To set up a Named Colors Profile for an image file, first make sure that the currently
active print environment is the one you want to use for printing, as the Named Colors
Profile will be saved into the currently active print environment. Open the Named Colors
dialog using either the appropriate button in the Job Composer or open it through menu
Tools > Options > Colors & Special Features > Named Colors…”.

Next, click the Add Color with ColorPicker button.

Enter the Lab values 0-0-0 for

black into the appropriate fields
as marked in the image and click
the “Apply” -button.

Enter the name you have set up

for your spot color in the file
(e.g. “Deep Black”) and click the
OK button.

When naming the color, make

sure that you use exactly the
same name as the one you set up in the file for the spot color (remember: It’s also case
sensitive).

Printing Dark Blacks 9

 In the Print Color Value
segment, change the CMYK
values to the values that you
want to use for printing. If you
do not have an existing recipe
for black that you want to use,
you can also determine a color
mixture for your black using the
Print Similar Colors function.

Printing Dark Blacks 10

Finding the CMYK Values for Printing
The Print Similar Colors function in Named Colors allows you to easily create color patches
with different ink configurations in which the ink amounts per color channel vary.

You can use Print Similar Colors with your own values to print your own sample charts.

The Print Similar Colors function in Named Colors varies the ink mixtures starting from the
given value by decreasing and increasing values.

First, enter your CMYK start value (the base color that the variations are derived from) into
the Print Color Value field.

Then click the Print Similar Colors button.

Clicking the Settings button allows you to configure the parameters for Number of colors
and Color Steps. In most cases this should not be necessary.

Printing Dark Blacks 11

Now adjust the settings in the Print Similar Colors dialog according to your requirements.

2 3

Select the color channels for which the values should be varied. In this case, the Print
1
similar Colors chart will contain shades of black with variations in the CMY channels,
but will leave the black value the same.

Select how many color variations you want to have on your chart.
2

Select the steps between the colors: Fine will show colors with little variation between
3
each other, which is good if you are close to the color you want, but need to alter the
shades a bit. Medium and Wide will show progressively bigger steps between the values.

In this example we have:

Start color: 60-60-60-100
Color variation: C-M-Y
Number of colors: 2
Color steps: 5
Color patches created: 125
50-50-50-100, 55-50-50-100. 60-50-50-100, 65-50-50-100, 70-50-50-100
50-55-50-100, 55-55-50-100, 60-55-50-100, 65-55-50-100, 70-55-50-100
… 70-70-70-100

Once you are satisfied with the settings, click the Create job button to create the job
for printing. The job containing different black patches and their color mixture will
appear in the JobComposer and can be printed using the regular Print command.

Once the chart is printed, you can determine which of the printed color patches represents
the black that you want, and then use the color values for that black for color replacement as
you now know how that value will look printed.

For Named Color Replacement, you can now simply enter the values for the black you want
into the Print Color Value segment of the respective color. Now whenever a file that
contains a spot color with the same name is printed with that Print Environment, it will
automatically be replaced and printed with this value.

Printing Dark Blacks 12

 Make sure that Named Color Replacement for spot colors is activated either globally in
Tools > Options > Image > Color Management > PostScript/PDF or image specific in Image
Properties > ColorManagement”.

To activate Named Color Replacement in the Postscript Color Management dialog,

check Use Named Colors Profile for Spot color replacement as well as Use Named
Colors Profile to interpret DeviceN color spaces.

Once these are activated, the RIP will automatically replace all spot colors that are both
used in the image and contained in the Named Color Profile.
Please note that the preview in the Job window will not show the automatic color
replacement, as that is done during the rastering process.

Printing Dark Blacks 13

Manual Color Replacement for Raster Data Files
Manual color replacement is only possible for areas with solid color tones that can be
selected from the image preview. It works similar to using the “Magic Wand Tool” in
Photoshop with the “Tolerance” being set to 0. Areas containing many different shades of
colors such as gradients cannot be replaced using manual color replacement. Again, the idea
in this case is to take the black value present in the image and replace it with a different
mixture of black according to your requirements.

To replace a color manually, select the image and then select the command Replace Color in
the Image Properties window.

To display the color replacements on the go, you need 2 or 4 preview windows; these can be
set at the top of the preview window with the corresponding buttons (1 window, 2 windows,
4 windows).

Select the area with the color tone that is to be replaced using the eyedropper tool so it
appears in the list of the replace colors dialog.

Select the replacement color using one of the available tools, e.g. Named Colors Profile or
Color Picker.

Once the replacement color is set, click Apply to take over the replacement to the image. The
preview window should now show the color being replaced.

Please note that all pixels with the selected color value in the image are replaced, not only
the one you picked the color from.

Printing Dark Blacks 14