Kodak 8670 PS - CALIBRATION GUIDE, Getting Started Manual

Page 1: ...ity output When a printer is properly calibrated it generates the correct density for each given data value Calibration considers only a single primary color at a time and measures the density for the primary color Density is one color aspect that can be easily and reliably measured so calibrating the Kodak Professional 8670 PS printer 8670 printer is easy and straightforward The calibration utili...

Page 2: ...bration procedure Minimum System Configuration 68030 processor Apple Operating System 7 1 8 MB of RAM standard color or black and white monitor minimum resolution 640 x 400 pixels export module for the 8670 printer densitometer if you will be doing the densitometer calibration NOTE The export module software for Macintosh systems is included on the software CD that came with your printer Windows S...

Page 3: ...on 386 processor MS DOS version 5 0 or later Microsoft Windows 3 1 Windows for workgroups 3 11 or Windows 95 software 8 MB of RAM 4 MB or hard disk space standard color or black and white monitor standard VGA minimum resolution 640 x 480 pixels NOTE The export module software for Windows systems is included on the software CD that came with your printer Installing the Software for the Calibration ...

Page 4: ...rate your printer whenever the density or color balance of the prints do not look correct You may also want to calibrate your printer after it has been serviced Be sure that you calibrate for the correct media installed Calibrating your printer means calibrating the printing system printer and media Calibration Methods The visual calibration components of the calibration utility include Easy Cal V...

Page 5: ...ctions on running a Visual Gray Balance calibration Visual Linearity calibrates your printer for the correct lightness darkness Visual Linearity ensures that your printer produces an accurate representation of the requested density values over the entire tonal range Use the Visual Linearity calibration if the color balance is correct but the density is too dark or light Refer to Visual Linearity f...

Page 6: ...ations in this chapter show Macintosh system dialog boxes The dialog boxes for Windows are similar and have identical functionality 1 Double click on the icon for the calibration utility The calibration utility selection box opens 2 Do one of the following Click on Begin Easy Cal to launch Easy Cal or Click on Launch Normal Utility to use the other calibration procedures For information about the ...

Page 7: ...nt When you click on Launch Normal Utility in the Calibration Utility selection box the Normal Utility calibration procedure starts up and the Printer Calibration Utility window opens NOTE If this is the first time you have run the calibration utility or there are no printers on the Select Printer menu or the Preferences files have been deleted you must select and open the export module For inform...

Page 8: ...s to guide you through the process of calibrating your printer based on a Visual Gray Balance calibration NOTE You cannot use Easy Cal to calibrate a printer with a black only ribbon For a description of the dialog boxes used in Easy Cal refer to Option Descriptions When you click on Begin Easy Cal in the Calibration Utility selection dialog box the Easy Cal calibration procedure starts up The Eas...

Page 9: ... you to select the printer model you wish to calibrate and locate the folder containing the export module 1 Select the printer from the Printer Model drop down list NOTE If the printer you want to calibrate does not appear on the menu you must locate and select the export module for that printer 2 Click on Locate Export Modules Folder 3 In the file selection box that appears locate and open the fo...

Page 10: ...tems use the path C Windows Kodak Plugins Printing 4 Select the export module and click on Open You are returned to the Easy Cal Step 1 of 5 dialog box 5 Click on Next Easy Cal Step 2 The Easy Cal Step 2 of 5 dialog box appears 1 If you want to calibrate a different printer than the one that appears in the Printer box go to Step 2 in this procedure If you do not need to select a new printer click ...

Page 11: ...og box appears that allows you to select the printer you wish to calibrate Macintosh systems If the 8670 printer has a network connection click on Network in the Select a Kodak Professional 8670 thermal printer dialog box In the selection box that opens choose the correct 8670 printer Click on OK to return to the Select a Kodak Professional 8670 thermal printer dialog box has a SCSI connection cli...

Page 12: ... for the correct 8670 printer has a network connection click on Network Click on Browse Locate the correct printer in the Browse for Printer dialog box that opens has a parallel connection click on the radio button for either LPT1 or LPT2 to select the printer Click on OK in the Select a Printer dialog box NOTE If your computer has more than one SCSI host adapter pull down the SCSI Host Adapter li...

Page 13: ...ences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Easy Cal Step 3 The Easy Cal Step 3 of 5 dialog box appears 1 Make sure that the ribbon and paper type information is correct NOTE If you do not need to change the setup click on Next 2 Click on Change Setup ...

Page 14: ...s Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The Printer Setup for Calibration dialog box appears NOTE Your Printer Setup dialog box may be different depending on your printer export module 3 Make the necessary changes in the Printer Setup dialog box 4 Click on OK 5 Click on Next in the Easy Cal Step 3 of 5 dialog box ...

Page 15: ...alibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Easy Cal Step 4 The Easy Cal Step 4of 5 dialog box appears 1 Make sure that the Printer and Printer Setup information are correct IMPORTANT Clicking on Next sends the default calibration table to the printer and overwrites the previous table ...

Page 16: ...lance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide 2 Click on Next The default table is sent to the printer and the previous table is overwritten The Send and Print dialog box appears NOTE The Send and Print dialog box may be different depending on your printer s export module 3 Click on Print The calibration test print is printed on the specified printer ...

Page 17: ...ng Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Easy Cal Step 5 The Easy Cal Step 5 of 5 dialog box appears 1 Use the test print to calibrate your printer in the Easy Cal Step 5 of 5 dialog box Look at the test print and decide which grayscale cluster appears the most neutral gray ...

Page 18: ...twork Interface Guide 2 Enter the number of the most neutral grayscale cluster in the Cluster Number text box NOTE If you want to print an updated test print you can click on Back to return to the Easy Cal Step 4 of 5 dialog box If cluster number 225 on the updated test print is the most neutral gray then the calibration is successful Type 225 in the Cluster Number text box and go to Step 3 of thi...

Page 19: ...Calibration Getting Started Easy Cal Setting Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The printer calibration begins When calibration completes the Easy Cal dialog box appears 4 Click on Quit ...

Page 20: ...ing Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Using the Preferences Dialog Box You can specify the folders that contain the export and import modules used for densitometer settings in the Preferences dialog box 1 Pull down the File menu and select Preferences The Preferences dialog box appears 2 Click on Select and use the file selection box that appears to locate the folders containing the export ...

Page 21: ... a Printer 1 Pull down the Printer menu and highlight Select Printer 2 Select 8670 Thermal Printer Macintosh systems If the 8670 printer has a network connection click on Network in the Select a Kodak Professional 8670 thermal printer dialog box In the selection box that opens chose the correct 8670 printer Click on OK to return to the Select a Kodak Professional 8670 thermal printer dialog box ha...

Page 22: ...rrect 8670 printer Click on OK has a network connection click on Network Click on Browse and locate the correct printer in the Browse for Printer dialog box that opens Click on OK in the Network Printer dialog box to return to the Select a Printer dialog box Click on OK again has a parallel connection click on the radio button for LPT1 or LPT2 Click on OK NOTE If your host computer has more than o...

Page 23: ... Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide 3 Pull down the Printer menu and select Printer Setup The Printer Setup dialog box appears NOTE The configuration of the Printer Setup dialog box may be different depending on the selected printer 4 Select the ribbon and paper type for which you are calibrating 5 Click on OK ...

Page 24: ...ork Interface Guide Creating a New Calibration Document The following steps describe how to create a new calibration document to use as a starting point for your calibration 1 Pull down the File menu and select New The Calibration Table dialog box appears NOTE If the correct paper and ribbon do not appear click on Change Setup to change the paper and ribbon you wish to calibrate for Refer to Selec...

Page 25: ... s current table as the starting point NOTE The Read Current Table from Printer starting point is not available with Windows systems Use Printer s Default Table uses the printer s default table Copy Table from File uses a previously created and saved calibration table Click on Select File and a file selection dialog box appears which allows you to find and open the folder that contains the calibra...

Page 26: ...ion Document window appears 4 Make sure that the information in the Printer Setup Information box is correct and that you are creating a calibration table for the correct ribbon and paper You can now calibrate your printer by running the Visual Gray Balance and Visual Linearity calibration procedures If you have a densitometer you can run just the Densitometer calibration procedure You do not need...

Page 27: ...ibbon you cannot use the Visual Gray Balance calibration procedure Go directly to the Visual Linearity calibration procedure Using an Existing Calibration Table as the Starting Point Follow the steps below only if you have previously created and saved a calibration table If the table you select as a starting point does not contain printer setup information refer to Selecting and Setting Up a Print...

Page 28: ...ance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide An open file dialog box appears 3 Find and open the folder that contains the calibration document you want to use as the starting point for your new document NOTE The data in the document selected as a starting point is specific to the ribbon and paper selected when the document was created 4 Click on Open ...

Page 29: ...ting Started Easy Cal Setting Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The file selection dialog box closes The selected calibration document appears after the Copy Table from File radio button 5 Click on OK ...

Page 30: ... Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide A Calibration Document window appears Opening an Existing Calibration Table 1 Pull down the File menu and select Open 2 Find and open the folder that contains the calibration table you want to use in the file selection box that appears 3 Click on Open A Calibration Document window appears ...

Page 31: ...terface Guide Using the Calibration Document Window Use the Calibration Document window to set up and run Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity and Densitometer calibrations 1 Make sure that the information in the Printer Setup Information box is correct and that you are creating a calibration table for the ribbon and paper you want to use 2 Enter the information for the printer you are calibrating...

Page 32: ...n the Media Description text box NOTE Entries in the Printer Description and Media Description text boxes are optional and do not appear on the test print Calibrating Your Printer If you have a densitometer you can run the Densitometer Calibration procedure If you run the Densitometer Calibration procedure you do not have to do Visual Gray Balance and Visual Linearity calibrations If you do not ha...

Page 33: ...gray The calibration utility allows you to select from three Visual Gray Balance calibration prints Each of these prints presents 49 numbered grayscale clusters Each cluster is made up of four boxes of varying densities A Visual Gray Balance calibration print looks similar to the following example The clusters on the three prints include a range of colors Clusters in the upper left corner have a g...

Page 34: ...al calibration print For example you printed a normal print and find that the most neutral looking clusters are next to each other but one still looks slightly green while the other still looks slightly magenta You can print a fine calibration print to get more choices within a smaller range of colors Normal offers a moderate degree of difference between clusters The amount of correction in this p...

Page 35: ...ometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Running a Visual Gray Balance Calibration 1 Pull down the Calibration menu and select Visual Gray Balance and then Setup Visual Gray Balance The Calibration Setup Visual Gray Balance dialog box appears NOTE For a description of the dialog boxes used in the Visual Gray Balance Calibration refer to Option Descriptions 2 Select the amount of correction Click...

Page 36: ...e Color Management Calibration Getting Started Easy Cal Setting Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide You return to the Calibration Document window 3 Click on Send Print ...

Page 37: ...ity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The Send and Print dialog box appears NOTE The Send and Print dialog box may be different depending on your printer s export module 4 Click on Print You return to the Calibration Document window The calibration test print is printed on the specified printer 5 View the calibration test print and determine which cluster appears the most neutral ...

Page 38: ...bration Network Interface Guide If the number of the cluster that appears to be the most neutral ends in 25 the printer is already calibrated Do a Visual Linearity calibration If the number of the most neutral cluster does not end in 25 recalibrate your printer to the most neutral cluster number 6 Click on Input The Input Test Print Values dialog box appears 7 Enter the number of the most neutral ...

Page 39: ...face Guide NOTE If you enter a value that ends in 25 the calibration table does not change 8 Click on Recompute the Table The calibration table data is updated and the Calibration Table window appears 9 Click on Send in the Calibration Table window if you are satisfied with the neutral in the cluster you selected and you do not want to look at another calibration print A confirmation box appears 1...

Page 40: ...nearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The recomputed table is sent to the printer and the following message appears 11 Click on OK The calibration table is computed using the specified values and you return to the Calibration Document window You should now perform a Visual Linearity calibration NOTE You should make another test print to verify your input value adjustments ...

Page 41: ...sual Linearity Visual Linearity calibrates your printer so that it produces the correct density Use the Kodak Digital Science Calibration Utility Reference Card reference card included with the calibration utility to select a cluster for each of the six density ranges Visual Linearity calibration prints look similar to the following examples NOTE For best results do a Visual Gray Balance calibrati...

Page 42: ...lowing steps describe how to use the reference card 1 Lay the reference card with the name at the top on the first row of the calibration test print 2 Slide the reference card across each path in the row and determine which of the nine patches in the row most closely matches the darkness on the reference card NOTE It may not be possible to find a cluster in which all six gray levels exactly match ...

Page 43: ...inearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Running a Visual Linearity Calibration After you have run a Visual Gray Balance calibration run the Visual Linearity calibration to recompute the current calibration table using values from the test print 1 Pull down the Calibration menu and select Visual Linearity You return to the Calibration Document window 2 Click on Send Print ...

Page 44: ...Interface Guide The Send and Print dialog box appears NOTE Your Send and Print dialog box may be different depending on your printer s export module For a description of the dialog boxes used in the Visual Linearity Calibration refer to Option Descriptions 3 Click on Print You return to the Calibration Document window The calibration test print is printed on the specified printer 4 Click on Input ...

Page 45: ...ty value columns appear in the Input Test Print Values dialog box depending upon the ribbon that is in the printer 5 Use the calibration utility reference card to select a box number If all of the Visual Linearity numbers on the test print are box number 5 the printer is already calibrated If the Visual Linearity numbers on the test print are not all box number 5 you must recalibrate the printer G...

Page 46: ... Started Easy Cal Setting Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The calibration table is computed using the specified values and the Calibration window appears 7 Click on Send to send the table to the printer ...

Page 47: ...Visual Linearity calibrations You only need to do a Densitometer Calibration With the Densitometer Calibration procedure you make a test print and measure the density values for each of the patches on the test print with the densitometer You then enter the density results for each of the patches in the Densitometer Input Test Print Values dialog box The printer can print either a 15 or a 38 step t...

Page 48: ...and set up according to the manufacturer s instructions 2 Pull down the Calibration menu and select Densitometer 3 Pull down the Calibration menu and select Setup Densitometer The Calibration Setup Densitometer dialog box appears NOTE For a description of the dialog boxes used in the Densitometer Calibration refer to Option Descriptions 4 Select a densitometer status in the Densitometer box 5 Pull...

Page 49: ...uide Color Management Calibration Getting Started Easy Cal Setting Preferences and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The Calibration Document window appears 7 Click on Send Print ...

Page 50: ...ion Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide The Send and Print dialog box appears NOTE Your Send and Print dialog box may be different depending on your printer s export module 8 Click on Print You return to the Calibration Document window The specified printer prints the test print 9 Click on Input ...

Page 51: ...ues dialog box appears One three or four density value columns appear depending upon the ribbon that is in the printer For manual densitometers only valid characters in this dialog box include numbers from 0 to 9 and decimal points The valid range is 0 to 3 000 Move from cell to cell using the arrow keys You can copy and paste any group of contiguous fields in a rectangular pattern 10 Type the tes...

Page 52: ...de NOTE You can import data from a densitometer automatically with an import module If your densitometer has an associated import module the densitometer readings are imported directly into the dialog box If your densitometer does not have an import module refer to Using the Kodak Digital Science File Reader 11 Click on Recompute the Table The calibration table is computed using the specified valu...

Page 53: ...erface Guide Option Descriptions This section describes the calibration utility menus and dialog box options File Menu This section describes the options on the File pulldown menu New accesses the Calibration Document window so that you can select options for the current printer setup Open accesses a file open dialog box so you can select an existing calibration table from which to start Close clo...

Page 54: ... to select it later to use as a starting point for a new calibration document Save As accesses a dialog box in which you can specify a new name and location for the current calibration settings When you name a calibration document you may want to include characters that indicate the selected paper type Naming a document in this way allows you to select it later to use as a starting point for a cal...

Page 55: ... the following default paths for locating the folder containing the export module On Macintosh systems System Folder Applications Support Kodak Plug ins Printing On Windows systems C Windows Kodak Plug ins Printing Use the following default paths for locating the folder containing the import modules On Macintosh systems Kodak DS Calibration Utility Densitometer Import Modules On Windows systems C ...

Page 56: ...nterface Guide Edit Menu The Edit menu is enabled only when the Calibration Table window is open NOTE The options in the Edit menu are enabled only when you enter text in the Printer Description and Media Description boxes Calibration Menu The Calibration menu is enabled when the Calibration Table window is open You can choose to calibrate based on your input to the Visual Gray Balance Visual Line...

Page 57: ... Amount of Correction The Amount of Correction buttons allow you to specify what degree of difference between the neutrals in the calibration print Fine the calibration print offers the least degree of difference in neutrals between the cluster in the upper left corner and the cluster in the lower right corner The cluster in the upper left corner is only slightly green and the cluster in the lower...

Page 58: ...e cluster in the lower right corner is somewhat magenta Select Normal to get a larger hue range than Fine This means that the hue differences between clusters are slightly larger and that adjacent clusters are less similar Coarse the calibration print offers the greatest degree of difference in neutrals between the cluster in the upper left corner and the cluster in the lower right corner The clus...

Page 59: ... densitometer is calibrated before you try to calibrate your printer with the densitometer values Densitometer This setting allows you to specify what type of density data Status A or Status T your densitometer provides The Calibration Utility calculates the table data using the density type that the export module needs for the current calibration slot Test Print Number of Squares The Number of Sq...

Page 60: ...Select Printer a menu with the printer types that you can select from appears Selecting a printer type opens a dialog box that allows you to choose the specific printer you wish to calibrate Printer Setup the Printer Setup for Calibration dialog box appears so that you can select the ribbon and paper installed in the printer Easy Cal Menu The Easy Cal menu allows you to start the Easy Cal calibrat...

Page 61: ...t time the Calibration Utility dialog box appears You can click on Begin Easy Cal to start up Easy Cal or you can click on Launch Normal Utility to go to the Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity or Densitometer calibration procedures NOTE If you want to go directly to the Normal Utility without this dialog box opening each time you start the Calibration Utility select At start up launch normal uti...

Page 62: ...bles Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Calibration Table Dialog Box Pull down the File menu and select New to access a dialog box that allows you to create a new calibration table Printer Setup The Printer Setup box lists information about the ribbon and paper type for which the printer will be calibrated ...

Page 63: ...s and Using Calibration Tables Visual Gray Balance Visual Linearity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Click on Change Setup to change the ribbon and paper settings Change Setup accesses the Printer Setup for Calibration dialog box so that you can select options that match the paper in the printer you are calibrating ...

Page 64: ...ieve and begin with the table currently in the printer After the table is loaded you can edit it and recalibrate the printer This option is not always available as a starting point NOTE The Read Current Table From Printer is not available if the printer cannot return this information For example many printers with a parallel connection have this item deselected Use Printer s Default Table default ...

Page 65: ...arity Densitometer Calibration Network Interface Guide Select File opens a file open box so you can choose an existing calibration document from which to start OK The OK button closes the dialog box and opens the Calibration Table window Refer to Refer to Calibration Document Window for more information Cancel The Cancel button closes the dialog box without creating a new calibration document ...

Page 66: ...etwork Interface Guide Calibration Document Window The Calibration Document window allows you to specify information about the calibration table Printer Description The Printer Description text box allows you to enter information that describes the printer you are calibrating The text you enter is used to describe the specifics of a particular calibration table This text is not printed on the test...

Page 67: ...ribe the specifics of a particular calibration table This text is not printed on the test print An entry is optional Calibration Tools Calibration Tools offers handling options for the calibration table Send Print sends the current calibration table to the printer A calibration print is generated so you can evaluate the results Input accesses the Input Test Print Values dialog box so you can enter...

Page 68: ...ues screen from a densitometer To use the file reader you need the following software a utility to capture the values from the densitometer If software is not provided with your densitometer you may use a terminal program NOTE The values from the densitometer should have no more than 3 decimal places an application such as Microsoft Excel or SimpleText to save the data as a text file The following...

Page 69: ...r densitometer file space comma tab CR carriage return CR LF carriage return line feed LF line feed and Semi colon 5 Specify the end of record character used in your densitometer file space comma tab CR carriage return CR LF carriage return line feed LF line feed and Semi colon 6 Click on Open Locate the document you wish to use to capture the data from your densitometer When the file opens the da...