color test suite.book - Kodak

KODAK VERSAMARK Color Test Suite
User’s Guide
Version 2.0

KODAK VERSAMARK
Color Test Suite
User’s Guide
Version 2.0

KODAK VERSAMARK Color Test Suite User’s Guide, Version 2.0
Part Number Medium Revision Date Description ECN
0114108-603
Print
PDF
001 06/2005 Color toolkit v. 2.0 release K5259
Previous Releases
Part Number Revision Date Description ECN
0114108-001 001 11/2001 Initial release; version 1.0 SDP106
© Eastman Kodak Company, 2005.All rights reserved.
This document contains proprietary information of Kodak Versamark, Inc. or its licensors and is their exclusive
property. It may not be reproduced without a written agreement from Kodak Versamark, Inc. No patent or other license
is granted to this information.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may not be used or
copied except as provided in the license agreement.
Kodak Versamark, Inc. makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the contents of this document, including, but not
limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Kodak Versamark shall not be
liable for any errors or for compensatory, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing,
performance, or use of this document or the examples contained herein. Information concerning products not
manufactured by Kodak Versamark, Inc. is provided without warranty or representation of any kind, and Kodak
Versamark, Inc. will not be liable for any damages resulting from the use of such information.
Kodak and Versamark are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.
0114108-603 06/2005 Printed in U.S.A.

Scope
This document describes a suite of test patterns created for KODAK
VERSAMARK Printing Systems. You can find these test patterns on the
KODAK VERSAMARK Color Toolkit CD-ROM in PDF format.
You should be familiar with the software (including the Color Toolkit) being
used to create the job data and the printing system being used to print the
job.
For information on Color Toolkit features, see the Color Toolkit User’s
Guide or Color Toolkit help.
User’s Guide v

Scope
Text Notations
Text Notations
This manual uses the following typographical conventions.
This style
Ready
go
ENTER
[NEXT]
Save
File → Open
ALT+F1
ALT, TAB
xx,yy
jobfile.dat
Refers to
Text displayed by the software.
Anything you type, exactly as it appears, whether referenced in
text or at a prompt.
Special keys on the keyboard, such as enter, alt, and spacebar.
Buttons and lights on the printer operator panel.
Software command buttons and sections of dialog boxes, such
as group boxes, text boxes, and text fields.
A menu and a specific menu command.
Pressing more than one key at the same time.
Pressing more than one key in sequence.
Variable in error messages and text.
File names.
Safety Notations
Note:
Caution:
The following definitions indicate safety precautions to the operator.
Information that needs to be brought to the reader’s attention.
A situation where a mistake could result in the destruction of data or
system-type damage.
! WARNING
A potential hazard that could result in serious injury or death.
! DANGER
An imminent hazard that will result in serious injury or death.
vi
Color Test Suite

Scope
Service and Support
Service and
Support
Technical equipment support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Software and applications support is available 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
EST/EDT, Monday through Friday.
Call for telephone or on-site technical support; to order parts or supplies;
to request documentation or product information.
U.S.A., Canada, and
worldwide
Phone
(+1-800-472-4839)
+1-937-259-3739
Fax
+1-937-259-3808
Europe +41-22-354-1400 +41-22-354-1480
Asia/Pacific Rim +65-6744-6400 +65-6744-6700
Japan +81-3-5621-2220 +81-3-5621-2221
Updated service
information
Customer support
http://www.kodakversamark.com
customer@kodakversamark.com
User’s Guide
vii

Contents
Linearization......................................................................................... 1-2
Registration .......................................................................................... 1-2
Spider Plot............................................................................................ 1-4
Bleed .................................................................................................... 1-4
8000 Patches ....................................................................................... 1-5
ISO Images .......................................................................................... 1-5
Paper Quality Comparison Guide ........................................................ 1-6
0-255 Patches ...................................................................................... 1-7
Sample Text ......................................................................................... 1-7
User’s Guide ix

Color Test Suite
The Color Toolkit CD contains several test patterns that you can print and
use to determine if you need to make adjustments to your printing system
or to your job input data. This document contains a description of the
following test patterns:
• Linearization
• Registration
• Spider Plot
• Bleed
• 8000 Patches
• ISO Images
• Paper Quality Comparison Guide
• 0-255 Patches
• Sample Text.
User’s Guide 1

Color Test Suite
Linearization
Linearization
Use one of two versions of this test pattern with the linearization
feature in the Color Toolkit to determine the characteristics of a
particular printing system environment. Use one version if you
use two-drop (300x600 dpi) print mode or the other version if you
use four-drop (300x1200 dpi) print mode. Print the test pattern on
your printing system using the same paper, ink, and printing
speed used on the actual job. Then scan the printed copy using a
spectrophotometer. Use the linearization feature of the Color
Toolkit to analyze the output of the spectrophotometer. This
process requires your subjective evaluation. Using the
spectrophotometer output and your input, the program generates
linearization curves, which are used to adjust the image data in
the data prep phase, prior to being input to the RIP.
The six different sections of the test pattern analyze different
characteristics of paper and ink interaction. These sections
include linearization tables, text samples, continuous tone image
representation, bleed patterns, and cockle and curl evaluators.
Registration
Use this single-page test pattern to register the printing system.
This test pattern contains horizontal and vertical markings that
make it easy to determine how far the printing system is out of
registration in both the web direction and across the web. The
test pattern also contains markings and patterns to detect
incorrect printhead skew and other printhead problems. Print this
test pattern on your printing system before each new print job.
The registration test pattern contains two scales, marked in
English and metric units, to measure printing system registration
errors in the direction of web movement. The two vertical scales
are identical and located on each side of the center image. Each
scale is printed in cyan and displays the measurements units. A
small hash mark prints for each of the other colors. If the printing
system is properly registered, the magenta, yellow, and black
hash marks fall directly on top of the cyan mark at the zero
position. If this does not happen, determine where the mark for a
particular color does fall on the cyan mark and note the number
2 Color Test Suite

Color Test Suite
Registration
on the scale for that position. Enter this number into the system
controller to change the timing for that printhead. Because the
two vertical scales are on opposite sides of the pattern, they also
provide an indication of printhead skew.
A third scale, also marked in metric and English units, is located
just above the center image. This scale checks the horizontal
position of the printheads. If the magenta, yellow, and black
marks do not fall on the cyan mark at the zero position, note the
number on the scale where they do fall, and use this information
to adjust the horizontal position of the printhead over the
transport.
The center image prints with an average ink loading. You can
evaluate the image for its effect on the paper. Use the four bars
printed just below the center image to detect defects across the
width of the printhead. The lines should contain no breaks or
lines. One bar each of cyan, magenta, black, and yellow exist,
and each bar prints with 50 percent density. The text below these
bars prints with 100 percent black on the left side and rich text on
the right side. Rich text prints using all of the CMYK colors. If the
printing system is not registered correctly, the text on the right
shows the misregistration.
Use the cyan lines printed at the top and bottom of the pattern to
check skewing of the printheads. Look from side to side for each
color to see if a difference in alignment with the cyan line exists. If
a skew exists for a color, adjust the skew control for that
printhead. An experienced operator also can use the four target
registration marks, printed with all four colors, at the corners of
the pattern to detect and correct registration problems.
User’s Guide 3

Color Test Suite
Spider Plot
Spider Plot
This single-page test pattern contains the correct ink levels to plot
the spider pattern of the gamut. Each line in this pattern starts
with cyan and walks through yellow and magenta to return to
cyan. The line for level 100 starts at 100 percent cyan. The line
for level 10 starts with 10 percent cyan.
Scan this test pattern with a spectrophotometer. The automated
spectrophotometer sends the results of the scan to a text file. You
can input the text file to an Excel file formulated by Kodak
Versamark that is included on the Color Toolkit CD, to plot the
gamut for a specific paper. You can compare these spider plots to
SWOP to evaluate how well a certain paper/ink interaction can
cover the SWOP gamut.
Bleed
This single-page test pattern shows causes for bleed, including
color-to-color bleed and black-to-color bleed. This pattern
provides a much more thorough evaluation of bleed than the
linearization pattern.
Using this pattern, you can see how well text prints on a colored
background and in what situation bleed becomes a problem.
When a job contains this type of text, the upper ink limit entered in
the linearization procedure is determined by this pattern and not
the linearization pattern.
4 Color Test Suite

Color Test Suite
8000 Patches
8000 Patches
This test pattern contains 10 pages of patches that show samples
of all useful CMYK ink combinations. Though it is far from a
complete sampling of all possible combinations, the test pattern is
intended to provide enough data to produce fairly accurate
estimates of all possible colors. The patches are labeled A-Z
horizontally and 1-304 vertically and you can use them in
combination with the color matching feature of the Color Toolkit to
determine the exact ink recipe used to create that patch.
Scan this test pattern with a spectrophotometer. The automated
spectrophotometer sends the results of the scan to a text file. You
can input the text file to the Color Toolkit to produce a gamut data
file. The program uses the gamut data file to determine if a
particular color, identified by L*a*b* values or CMYK recipe, is
within the color gamut of your paper/ink combination.
ISO Images
This eight-page pattern contains the eight major ISO images that
are widely used to evaluate color from one type of printing system
to another. Use these continuous tone images to test daily
printing system performance. Input the job to the RIP with the
appropriate ink levels for the paper being used to prevent
saturating or breaking the paper.
An ISO readme file, included in the ISO images folder, explains
the ISO restrictions for using these images.
User’s Guide 5

Color Test Suite
Paper Quality Comparison Guide
Paper Quality Comparison Guide
This 28-page pattern evaluates paper and ink interactions without
generating specific linearization curves for that paper. The test
pattern consists of four different generic curve shapes (linear to
steeply curved) at each of the seven different ink limits (30 to 90
percent).
Print this pattern without linearization curves, in its entirety. Then
evaluate the pattern according to the properties of show-through,
cockle, curl, bleed, and saturation. Choose the page that looks
the best without violating any of these properties and note the
label at the top of the page to determine how it was created. The
label identifies the curve number and ink limit of the linearization
files that you should use for the print job.
The linearization files identified in the labels are located in Color
Toolkit installation directory (...\Sample Files\Linearization\Paper
Guide Curves). The program supplies 80 linearization files and
each set consists of 2 files for a total of 40 sets. Each set contains
one CMY linearization file and one K linearization file that keeps
text at 100 percent. The linearization files are divided into Curves
and Levels. Each level (ink limit) consists of four curves
numbered 0 to 3. Curve 0 is perfectly linear while Curve 3 has a
strong curve. An example of the names for a set of linearization
files follows:
60_Curve1_CMY.lut
60_Curve1_K100.lut.
The CMY LUT is used for the cyan, magenta, and yellow planes.
6 Color Test Suite

Color Test Suite
0-255 Patches
0-255 Patches
These five pages of patches are arranged in an order that starts
at 0 percent CMYK and progresses by one percent until reaching
100 percent. This arrangement is the equivalent in RBG of
starting at a level of 255 and counting down to a level of 0. One
page exists for each of the CMYK colors. A fifth page uses CMY
to produce a gray scale.
Use this pattern when choosing dither patterns. Certain
intensities of color sometimes produce undesirable effects when
you apply error diffusion. By examining these printed patterns,
you can find the bad patches and avoid using those intensities in
your job. The patches that look bad in one color should
correspond to bad patches in the other colors. However, when
two or more colors are combined, expect different unacceptable
patches.
Sample Text
This 16-page pattern provides examples of how some text would
print on the printing system. This visual test pattern determines
what point size, color, or font to use on a job. The pattern covers
five point sizes, seven basic colors, and three fonts. The point
sizes range from 6 to 10. The pattern uses cyan, magenta,
yellow, black, red, green, and blue and Times, Arial, and Courier
fonts. The pattern uses no background colors for the text.
User’s Guide 7

0114108-603