How-To: Achieve Accurate and Consistent Color with Printer Profiles
Date: August 2012
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Foster City, CA 94404
www.efi.com
Color Profiler Suite
How-To
Fiery Color Profile Suite (CPS) is used with the ES-2000 for profile creation in addition to calibration. It can
also be combined with the i2iO Automated Scanning Table.
Feature Overview
Achieving accurate and consistent color output is a key issue for many print production environments. Digital
printers, particularly color copiers, are susceptible to gradual shifts in performance, as a result of changes in
temperature and humidity, fluctuations in CMYK toner levels, and use of various paper stocks. By using Fiery
Color Profiler Suite and the ES-2000 to create a color-managed environment, color accuracy and consistency
for your printers is within reach. All of the devices in the environment are profiled and work together to strive
for the most consistent representation and output. The Printer Profiler Module optimizes the profiling process
automatically for Fiery-driven printers and most other output devices. This process saves time and increases
the color quality of the printer.
Customer Benefits

Saves time by increasing your printers’ accuracy to ensure the right color the first time

Increases productivity through easy-to-use, automated tools

Delivers a fully integrated color workflow by communicating seamlessly with Fiery-driven devices
Objectives of Exercise

Show how the ES-2000 with the optional i1iO Automated Scanning Table is used for profile creation
in addition to calibration

Show users the automated, wizard-based tools used in Printer Profiler for profile creation

Highlight the seamless integration between the Fiery controller and Color Profiler Suite

Inspect and approve measurement settings

Create an ICC profile in accordance with industry standards

View and compare your profile with Fiery Profile Inspector

Save the printer profile
Before you begin

Have an ES-2000 measurement device.

Install and launch Fiery Profiler Suite 4.0

Calibrate the Fiery-driven print engine used for this exercise
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Color Profiler Suite
Creating a Printer Profile
1. Begin creating a printer profile by launching Fiery Color Profiler Suite and clicking Printer to
2. To begin creating a printer profiler, select Print Patches.
3. To print the patches, first select the printer for the printer profile.
4. You can choose a Fiery Server, an EFI XF Server or save the patch pages as a PDF file to create
printer profiles for other printers.
5. If this is the first time that you are creating a printer profile, you will need to add the Fiery Server or XF
server by selecting the plus (+) icon.
6. Add the server by entering the Server name or IP address, or searching for the Fiery Server on the
network.
7. Select the Fiery server or select the magnifying icon to search for a Fiery server on the network.
8. Click OK when you have selected the Fiery Server.
Note: If you are creating a printer profile for a non-EFI driven printer, you can create the
patch pages as PDF files and submit them to the printer.
Using the PDF option allows you to create printer profiles for printers that use
either CMYK or RGB as their default color working space.
9. When you have selected your server, select Next to continue to set the calibration settings.
10. The Calibration Setup dialog will remind you of the importance of calibration in creating printer profiles
for a specific media stock. To use the current calibration set, click Next to continue.
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Color Profiler Suite
Note: If you have not created a custom calibration set for the specific media that you
are creating the printer profile, you should stop now and create the calibration set
11. The next dialog window allows you to assign the measurement patches page settings.
12. First choose the Instrument that will be used to measure the patch pages. This will create the patch
pages optimized for the selected measurement instrument. For this exercise select EFI ES-2000.
Note: Fiery Color Profiler Suite 4.0 supports the EFI ES-1000, the new EFI ES-2000,
the X-Rite i1Pro, the X-Rite i1Pro2, the X-Rite i1iO and i1iO2 tables and the XRite i1iSis spectrophotometer devices.
13. Next you must choose the Patch Layout that will be printed. The default patch layout is 234 color
patches. It is recommended that you choose the 928 (IT8.7/3) layout. The 928 patch layout provides
a good balance between a manageable number of color patches to measure and the quality of the
printer profile created.
14. You will also need to select the paper size used to print the patch pages. If you will be using the EFI
ES-2000 with the included backer board, Letter or A4 paper sizes are the appropriate paper size.
15. To ensure that the printer is printing the measurement pages at optimal performance, you should print
multiple copies of the patch pages. Typically 50 to 100 pages will ensure that the printer is operating
at optimal performance. Use the number of patch pages printed found at the bottom of the Print
Settings window to determine the number of copies to print. For this example changes the number of
copied to 20 patch page sets to print a total of 60 pages.
16. After you have configured the Print settings, click Next to print the patch pages.
17. You will be asked to save the patch page layout settings. This name will be used when you print and
measure the patches for identification purposes. Click Save to save the patches and continue.
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Color Profiler Suite
18. After the patch pages have been saved the Job Properties window will open to allow you to define the
media settings for the paper you are printing the patch pages. This is an important step to ensure
that the print engine is using the correct settings to print on the media to achieve the best color
output.
19. Set the Paper Type, Input Tray, Media Weight and Media Type. You can also use a media that
has been created in the Paper Catalog.
20. You should also check the Color Management settings to ensure that the correct Calibration Set is
being used to create the printer profile.
21. Load the paper should into the selected paper tray on the digital printer and define any media settings
on the printer to match the paper stock. This will ensure that the digital printer uses the appropriate
feed rate, fuser and print settings to match the paper stock.
22. Click Print to print the patches pages with the assigned Job Properties.
23. When the patch pages complete printing you are ready to continue to the next step in creating the
printer profile, Measuring the Patch Pages.
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Color Profiler Suite
Measuring the Patch Pages
1. The next step creating a profile is to measure the patch pages that were just printed. The Fiery
Printer Profiler wizard will automatically continue.
2. Retrieve the patch pages from the digital printer when they have been printed. Use one of the last
sets of patch pages printed for the measurements. Measure the patch pages immediately after they
have been printed to ensure accuracy of the printer profile
3. Place the first patch page into the backer. Position the page at the top of the backer, centering the
page from left to right.
4. Place the EFI ES-2000 in the matched cradle, and select “Next” to calibrate it.
5. When the EFI ES-2000 has been successfully calibrated, remove it from the calibration cradle and
place it into the guide on the backer.
6. Position the EFI ES-2000 on first row on either the far left or the far right of the backer and press and
hold the button on its side. You will be prompted by an audio beep and a visual alert in the Printer
Profiler wizard window to begin reading the first patch strip.
7. When you have completed all the rows on a page, you will be prompted to read the next page.
8. Click “Next” when you are ready to read the next patch page.
9. Repeat the procedure for all the patch pages.
10. When you have successfully measured all the pages, select “Next” to continue creating the custom
printer profile.
11. After reading all the patch pages, you will be prompted to save the measurements. The default
directory is the best location to store the measurements. Name the measurement and select “Save”
to continue creating the printer profile.
12. You may receive a warning that the patch measurements do not match the current calibration.
13. If the measurements do not match the current calibration, this indicates that you have not calibrated
the matching Calibration Set.
14. You should select “Quit” and calibrate the Fiery Controller before continuing to create the best profile.
15. After you have updated the calibration on the Fiery Controller, reprint and re-measure the patch
pages.
16. When the patch page measurements have been saved you are ready to convert the measurements
to the printer profile.
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Color Profiler Suite
Creating the Printer Profile
1. The third step in creating a printer profile is to apply the settings and convert the measurements to the
printer profile.
2. In the Apply Settings step you can apply settings to the Gamut Mapping, Saturation Blending,
Perceptual Mapping and Black Controls.
3. The Settings menu allows you to choose an existing printer profile that is similar to the new printer
profile you are creating selecting the optimal settings for creating the printer. These settings were
defined by the Fiery Color Experts to achieve the best color quality from your Fiery Driven Printer.
Note:
If you are creating a printer and paper profile for a non Fiery Driven Printer, you
may wish to refine the profile using the Gamut Mapping and Separation settings.
4. After you have selected the printer and paper profile to use when creating your new printer profile,
select “Next”.
5. You can choose how to save the new profile. Fiery Color Profiler Suite’s integration with the Fiery
Server allows you to create and install the new profile in one step. This installs and assigns the
profile to the media type, and calibration set without switching to Fiery Command WorkStation.
6. Click “Next” to install the Printer Profile on your Fiery Server and assign the profile settings.
7. When installing the profile you can select how the printer profile will be labeled in the driver, what
media type to associate with the profile and what Calibration set to use with the printer profile.
8. When the profile has been successfully imported, click the OK to close the window.
9. The new printer profile will be installed on the Fiery Server. Before you begin to print jobs using the
new profile, you should verify the printer profile. Click Done to close the Printer Profiler wizard.
10. The profile is ready to be used and can be applied to a job in the Color Settings area of Job
Properties or assigned to a Paper Catalog entry for mixed media.
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