What are "profiles"? Why do you need them, where do you get them?

[Jim Chinn]

Every time I go to a web site discussing inkjet printing, various profiles are mentioned and seem to be a requirement to get any kind of decent results. What is the skinny on profiles?

Thanks for any and all replies in advance.

[Digidurst]

In a nutshell, printer profiles tell your printer how you want your print to look and they also assist in making sure the image you see on your screen will match your print as closely as possible.

So, are you considering doing to home printing? Do you have a printer yet?

[Baxter Bradford]

Profiles are the files which adjust your monitor, scanner, digital camera and printer to bring these devices into line with a common benchmark. Or more accurately, a series of benchmarks - as there are several options for some devices. Such as Gamma, Colour temperature and Luminance of a monitor.

This enables your 'system' to be colour managed, the outcome of which is that you can 'soft proof' - view a simulation of the print on your monitor to see what the print will look like. At this stage you can choose a number of options to fine tune the way it is rendered to meet your preferences - or choose the best compromise if colours are out of Gamut.

It also enables you to send files to a 3rd party and know that they will print as you would wish and as you see the image on your own monitor.

There are Generic profiles provided by manufacturers and others which may get you into the correct ball park. Custom profiles are made specifically for your devices - they can be significantly better. However it depends on the skill of the operator!

You can buy the gear yourself and it is getting cheaper, or pay someone to do the work for you. A monitor calibrator is cheap and ought to be done a least every 4 weeks. To calibrate other devices, they oughtn't drift and if you don't use many paper types, is cheaper to get this done for you.

I cannot stress enough how I consider this to be an essential part of incorporating a digital element in your imaging process. To not do this causes endless testing and other headaches. I've had them!!

Consider it as the equivalent of a Band/Orchestra tuning up before a performance. You want your prints to sing!

[Jim Chinn]

So to get more specific you would need to know the printer I am going to use in order to provide profile suggestions?

Also, does type or make of scanner play a part in the profile equation?

[Baxter Bradford]

Not only for the printer type, it depends on the inks you are using, the media settings etc and then you need to have a separate profile for each paper type you use......! Some paper manufacturers have generic profiles on their website.

Scanner needs to do a scan of a test target (IT8 or similar) with the software in specific settings. It makes a big difference to the performance of the scanner and makes post scan adjustments much simpler.

This is a huge subject Jim. I know but the tiniest fraction.

[Jack_Flesher]

The question is indeed a subject an entire book could be written about -- and probably already has

Suffice it to say the above answers are all good. To get to the base of it, the "profile" is a calibration tag that brings all color-managed devices to the same specification; so they are speaking not only the same language, but speaking it with identical accents if you will.

As such, My Epson 7800 printer really needs a separate profile from Jim's 7800 to render identical prints, even if we are using identical inks and papers from the same manufacturing batch. Moreover, the modifications from each profile may be very close, especially if the printers, inks and paper are of consistent, high quality. To use the above metaphore, with a generic profile for the 7800 you'd be able to tell we were both from Texas, but not necessarily from the same city

[Greg_E]

http://www.colorremedies.com/realworldcolor/
http://books.elsevier.com/us/focalbo...GA5G1HXXND7GJE

Two books for you to read.

I make my own profiles, sometimes using different software for different needs. The monitor really is the first place to start (after reading one of the above books). I use the following hardware/software:
Xrite OptixXR monitor calibrator
Xrite/Monaco Profiler Platinum software
Xrite DTP20UV spectrophotometer (Pulse)
Xrite/Gretag Macbeth i1 pro and i1 pro UV cut spectrophotometers
Heidelberg Printopen 4
and an old GMB Spectrolino/Spectroscan