Adding a Custom Calibration Set

Before you can set up a calibration set, you need to create a printer calibration for your printer-medium and print mode combination. For more information on custom printer calibrations, please see our printer-specific Starter Kit tutorials.

You need to set up one calibration set for each printer-medium combination and hardware parameter (such as the ink set) that directly affects the colors you are going to use. You can create a new calibration set by duplicating and modifying an existing calibration set or create a calibration set from scratch. In this chapter, you will learn how to create a new calibration set from scratch.

How to add a custom calibration set

1. On the Database menu, point to Calibration Sets, and click Add > Choose Add a custom calibration set
   
2. In the New Calibration Set dialog define a name for the calibration set.
3. Enter a version number. The version number serves as a unique identifier if you have several versions of the same set. It is advisable to use a naming convention, for example, V1, V2, V3.
4. Select an ICC Printer Profile if you want to use an ICC based color management. The Printer ICC Profile has been included for an optional ICC based color management, defining the conversion from the intermediate Lab color space to the printer color space.
5. Move to the Print Settings tab and click the + button to add new print settings.
   
6. Select the Printer you want to use from the drop-down list on the right side.
7. In the tree view on the left, click the next node < undefined > to bring up the Medium drop-down list and select the print medium you want to use. The default Print Settings for the printer-medium combination are displayed as end node.
8. In the tree view, click the Print Settings node to show the properties of the printer-medium combination on the right side. Adjust the default properties (e.g. the print mode) as required. Add as many Print Settings as you like and choose a Reference Print Mode for calibration. Due to this functionality, you can use the same printer calibration file for multiple color modes or media with similar properties.
9. On the Measurement tab click the + button to add a measuring device and the corresponding printer calibration and gamut file. Select the measuring device that you will use for this printer from the list. In the Initial Calibration column, click the browse button, browse your folders, and select the printer calibration file.
   In the Gamut column, click the browse button, browse your folders, and select the corresponding gamut (CSC) file. (Do not select the full gamut file.)
10. To set up more measuring devices, repeat the previous step.
11. On the Quality Criteria tab select the quality criteria for this calibration set. If the quality criteria are not met anymore, print jobs using this calibration set will be put on hold until the printer is successfully recalibrated. If you are calibrating a color mode with White for printing a white undercoat, activate the option Add Coating Channel. When calibrating a printer, the coating is always printed in Full Frame mode.