Activity 12: Use a color setup to align a press or proofer directly to an industry specification

Background

A previous activity showed you how to align a printing device to an industry specification by adding an offset press device as the PCO and selecting an industry specification as the PCO Simulation Target.

You can also align a device to an industry specification by making the industry specification the PCO, and adding the device as an SCO to align with the PCO. Presses and proofers will both be created as SCOs with this method. 

A potential caveat to this method is that many proofers have larger gamuts than offset presses, so a Proofer SCO may produce a proof that looks cleaner and more saturated than the actual press results.

Tasks

Goal
Create a new color setup that creates a CMYK reference device as the PCO, and a proofer created in a previous activity as the SCO. 

Task 1: Create a new color setup and add a CMYK Reference as the PCO 

1. In ColorFlow, click the Color Setups tab and click the Add button in the bottom left-hand corner of the Color Setups list.
2. If the Devices dialog box is not open, open it manually by selecting View > Devices or by double-clicking anywhere in the Color Setup viewer panel.
3. From the Devices dialog box, drag CMYK Reference into the viewer window and it will become the PCO.
4. In the Color Setups table, double-click the default name of the color setup you created and rename it XX Proofer to Industry PCO (where XX = your initials). Press enter to set the name.
5. In the CMYK Reference in the viewer window, click the Properties icon .
6. From the Name list, select GRACoL 2006 Coated 1 and click OK.
7. If a Device Condition profile has never been generated for GRACoL 2006 Coated 1 previously, you will need to generate one: 
   
   1. Click the Device Condition profile icon .
   2. Click ColorFlow Generated and keep all the default settings.
   3. Click OK.
8. If a Device Condition profile has previously been generated for GRACoL 2006 Coated 1, you will get a message to Use existing device condition
   1. Click OK

Task 2: Add a proofer as the SCO

In this activity, we will use the existing device condition for the proofer.

1. Double-click the in the color setup viewer to open the Devices dialog.
2. In the Devices dialog box, Drag Proofer A to the SCO position under the PCO in the viewer window.
3. In the SCO tile in the viewer window, click the Properties icon .
4. In the Resolution list, select 1440x720.
5. In the Substrate list, select SM240.
6. Leave Process Inks and Other as default.
7. Click OK.

Task 3: Complete the color setup

1. Click the Conversion icon  in the connector link between the PCO and the SCO.
2. Leave DeviceLink Method as Full Reseparation and change Rendering Intent: to Absolute Colorimetric
3. Keep all other default settings and click OK. The DeviceLink will take a minute to generate.
4. When complete, check the Show in Prinergy check box beside the Color Setup name.

Task 4: Output a page using the color setup in Prinergy

1. In Prinergy, create a new job, and name it as XX Proofer to Industry Spec (where XX = your initials).
2. Refine GrayBalanceTestFile.pdf with 1stRef-Normz.
3. Create a new Loose Page Output Process Template and name it VPS - Proofer to GRACoL 2006 PCO
   1. In the Output To list, select Virtual Proof.
   2. Select the ColorFlow Color Relationship Management check box.
   3. For Halftone Output Mode, select Print Production.
   4. Check Allow unassigned color setup or color setup mismatch
   5. In the Snapshot list, select Current State.
   6. In the Color Setup list, select XX Proofer to Industry PCO
   7. Ensure that the Show all print devices checkbox is checked
   8. In the Device list, select Proofer A.
   9. The Device Condition will be automatically populated.
   10. In the ColorConvert settings, make sure that the Match Colors In Page Content check box is selected.
   11. Save the process template.
4. Select the refined file and output using the process template VPS - Proofer to GRACoL PCO. You will be able to see in Process Info that the DeviceLink has been applied.

Outcome

You have created a color setup with a CMYK reference PCO and aligned an SCO proofer to that industry specification PCO with a DVL.