Creating and Using Custom ICC/ICM Color Profiles

inkjetart.com Custom Profiling Service

Qimage and Epson Desktop Printers

The first step in using profiles is setting up your color managment settings. Go into the Edit Menu, select Preferences and finally Color Management (ICC)...

In the Color Settings window click on the little printer icon there on the far right. This tells Qimage to leave the color managment alone and let the printer driver manage color (and we will later be telling the driver to not do any color managment too so we get a good profile target). If your version of Qimage does not have this button you should really update to a newer version - or you can also try uncecking the "Enabled" box there on the far left.

On the far right is an information box that shows the current settings. Select "Original size" from the paper size menu to prevent qimage from resizing the targets. If the "selected size is larger than one page" message shows up, click "no." You'll get a cleaner set of targets if you set Sharpen to 0 and Interp to 0. Be certain that Prtr ICC says either Printer RGB (P) or OFF.

We need to setup the printer. Go to the File menu and select Printer/Page Setup.

Select the printer you wish to use. In the screen capture we are selecting the Epson 2200, but you will likely be using a different one.

Selecting the right paper type

Use the "Density" files to help you decide which paper type to select if you are not sure which to use. If you know what setting to use, skip ahead and ignore the rest of this text. If you do need to use them, stop where you are, close out of the Printer configuration and download the Density file. There are two versions, one for Epson and one for HP, Canon and other printers (the Epson is 360ppi and the Other is 300ppi) - be sure you use the right one for your printer and do not change the resolution or size. When you print out the file using the instructions below (you print it just like you would one of the target files, without any color adjustment) you should be able to see all of the cross-hairs in the black area and some separation between the #5 and #10 in the greyscale ramp. If you cannot see both, you may want to try a different paper setting. You should be able to get 3 or 4 prints on a page so you can try a few different settings to get it right.

Once you have decided on the paper setting that you want, go back to the profile targets and print them (once again, following the instructions below, same as you did on the density page)

This happens to be the driver for the Epson 2200 printer, yours will look a little different but mostly it's all the same for the desktop printers.

Click the Advanced button, it may come up and warn you about going to the advanced window but just disregard it (you'll probably want to click the "don't show this again" box).

Select the Media type you want to use for this profile. For most matte, watercolor and canvases, the Enhanced Matte setting works best. Luster papers will use a luster one, glossy uses glossy etc... The most important thing is to make sure you select the same setting when creating and when using the profile.
Next select the Print Quality. The decision is your as to what resolution to use. Many people use 1440, some use 2880. Also you should decide if you want to use High Speed or not. Be sure to turn off Finest Detail and Edge Smoothing.
Select the paper size
Select "ICM"
Select "Off (No Color Management)"
now save your settings with a name that's easy to remember. Personally I use things like "Watercolor Custom" and "Luster Custom". Saving the settings allows you to not have to worry about remembering to select all the same settings when you go to use the profile. Also if you are creating multiple profiles for the same general type of paper (watercolor papers for instance) you can again use the saved settings.
DO NOT USE BORDERLESS this will change the size of the print by a few percent but make the patches unreadable. If you use borderless your prints will be rejected and you'll have to print and mail them again.

Before we go anywhere, head over to the "Maintenance" tab and

Do a nozzle check (if any of the heads are dirty do a cleaning cycle) Some printers like the R1800 and 4800 have an automatic nozzle check option that will do cleanings for you if there is a clog, cool!
Do a print head alignment. In general you should be diong alignments every month or more. If the heads are not aligned properly you will have noise in smooth areas of your prints. This happens because the printer thinks it's laying down dots between eachother creating a nice, smooth tone - instead it's putting them on top of eachother so you have dark areas with overlapping dots surrounded by empty areas with the paper showing through (this is bad). Most printers that have an auto nozzle check also will do an auto head alignment, cool again!

Click the "OK" button and Print the target, follow the same procedure for the remaining target(s) - there are a total of 3 targets for thin paper and 2 for thick paper. Once the targets have printed, look them over to make sure they came out correctly. The most commmon mistake is forgetting to set the driver to "No Color Adjustment" The easiest way to tell if you did it correctly is to look at the inkjetart.com logo:

Correct	Wrong
This is roughly what it looks like if you do it right, the cyan looks blue, the magenta is more red and overall it's darker	This is roughly what it looks like if you do it wrong, the printer is trying to match how the colors look on screen which is not what we want when making a profile

The second most common problem is banding or dirty heads if you look closely at the prints, the color patches should have consistant color in each patch. The slightest banding will cause major color problems for the profile and make it unusable. We check the targets before we build a profile to see if any obvious problems are present. If there are any we will email you and you will need to send in a new set of targets.

Complete the Check List and mail off the targets.