Colour management hell....

[John_Vito]

I'm not familiar with Photochrome inks but don't think the inks should be a problem to profile (only Fotonics are problematic with Printfix Pro - actually I remember Andrew had to tweak the profile he built for me...the reds were orangey instead of coke red...he fixed it right up). You might want to check your workflow, test for the best media settings before printing a target.

For Mac users I have a tutorial on using AppleScript to read rows of patches semi-
automatically with Printfix Pro.

http://homepage.mac.com/johnvito/pri...plescript.html

On the Windows side there's an app called AutoHotKeys that will do the same.

[Jerry Skrocki]

I found this possible solution on one of the web forums:

[John_Vito]

If the above is the case test all media settings and find the setting that produces the least amount of pooling. On my 4800 the UltraSmooth media setting laid down the proper amount of ink with the best dMax and with smooth shadow transition...this was for William Turner paper. Also try Textured Art and Watercolor media settings as those settings laid down the least amount of ink but not smooth transition in the shadows.

[John_Vito]

Here's a test I did a while ago...

Epson's black usually comes in hard and fast, less so with the newest printers
but I wanted to find the media setting that has smoothest black from 100% to 90%.

So I recently tested the "best" media setting for William Turner paper on my Epson 4800.

I printed a ten patch gray ramp from 100% to 90% with five media settings.

My Excel results are below for William Turner on an Epson 4800:

http://homepage.mac.com/johnvito/Wil...iaSettings.png

From 100% to 90% only two media settings show linear density loss albeit stepped at
times. While the other three actually have spiked increases in density called "reversals" on some patches. For example Epson's Enhanced has the same density at the following patches: 100%, 99% and 97%. As you can see the 98% patch has a lower density. Another reversal at 94%.

My choice is the UltraSmooth media setting, as it has the most linear path so the custom printer profile doesn't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

[David Hughes]

Just to close the loop, I bit the bullet and got the monitor, printer, paper and inks profiled professionally using equipment and software substantially more expensive than mine! I now have perfect colour and I'm as happy as anything. I used SCS imaging, based in Sheffield (UK) - if you're having problems, I recommend them.

Now I can concentrate on taking pictures again...

Dave

[AndrewRodney]

You get what you pay for. Out of curiosity, what Spectrophotometer was used?

[John_Vito]

> You get what you pay for.

I'm having no problems with the Printfix Pro. Better than my Eye-One Monitor...

More than likely having a pro come in was the ticket. Congrats David!