Colorimetric characterization of printing systems using targets compensated for tonal value increase

This research investigated the efficacy of calibrating printing systems for specified levels of tonal value increase (TVI) prior to the press characterization in order to enhance the accuracy of subsequent profiles. The objective was to determine whether or not the compensation for TVI would result in a more uniform sampling of the colorimetric printing gamut, particularly in regard to the highlights, and whether or not a more uniform sampling would provide profiles that would be more accurate in terms of color reproduction. Of particular interest were printing systems with relatively high TVI, such as flexography and inkjet systems, that tend to print relatively few highlight values due to TVI.; Three printing systems were employed in this study, inkjet, flexography and offset lithography. Compensation curves were applied to the characterization targets such that there was 17% mid-tone TVI and 0% mid-tone TVI, and characterizations were also conducted with no compensation applied as a control. It was found that while the 17% mid-tone TVI calibration typically did result in a more uniform distribution of the colorimetric data than the uncompensated or 0% mid-tone TVI calibration, the profiles generated from the characterizations did not provide significantly enhanced color reproduction for either the inkjet, flexography, or offset lithography printing systems.