Color management
The following sections provide details for this topic.
Introduction
Color management is performed using a set of software tools that allow you to reproduce a color as accurately as possible on any display or printing device.
In addition, your printer has been engineered with advanced hardware and software features to ensure predictable and dependable results.
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Color calibration for consistent colors
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The Photo Black ink provides pure blacks when printing on photo papers
How colors are represented
Color is usually represented as an array of numbers: three numbers in the RGB color model or four in the CMYK color model. These numbers are a measure of the base colors used in a mixture to create a given color. RGB means that we are using a mixture of Red, Green, and Blue to create any specific color. In the case of CMYK, the mixture is of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (where Key means black, for historical reasons).
Most monitors use the RGB color model, while most printers use the CMYK color model.
An image can be converted from one color model to another, but in general the conversion is not perfect. Your printer uses the RGB color model: the same color model that is used by your monitor.
This simplifies but does not completely solve the problem of matching colors. Each device represents colors a little differently from another device, even if they use the same color model. However, color management software can adjust the colors in an image according to the characteristics of the particular device, using a color profile of the device, in order to achieve correct colors.
A summary of the color management process
The following steps provide the complete procedure for this topic.
To get the accurate and consistent colors that you want, you should follow these steps for each paper type that you use.
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Color-calibrate the paper type, for consistent colors. Calibration should be repeated every now and then (see Color calibration). In addition, you may wish to calibrate immediately before a particularly important print job for which color consistency is vital.
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When printing, select the correct paper preset for the paper type you are using. The paper preset contains the color profile* as well as various other characteristics of the paper. See Paper presets.
*A color profile is a description of a printer, ink, and paper combination, that contains all the information required for these color conversions.
Color calibration
The following steps provide the complete procedure for this topic.
Color calibration enables your printer to produce consistent colors with the particular printheads, inks and paper type that you are using, and under your particular environmental conditions. After color calibration, you can expect to get similar prints from any two different printers situated in different geographical locations.
Some paper types cannot be calibrated. For all other paper types, calibration should be done in any of the following circumstances:
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Whenever a printhead is replaced
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Whenever a new paper type is introduced that has not yet been calibrated with the current set of printheads
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Whenever the environmental conditions (temperature and humidity) change significantly
You can check the color calibration status of the currently loaded paper at any time by going to the front panel and tapping
, then
, then
, then Color calibration status. The status may be one of the following:
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Recommended: The paper has not been calibrated.
Note:Whenever you update the printer's firmware, the color calibration status of all papers is reset to Recommended.
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Obsolete: The paper has been calibrated, but the calibration is now out of date because a printhead has been replaced, and should be repeated.
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Done: The paper has been calibrated, and the calibration is up to date.
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Disabled: This paper cannot be calibrated.
Note:Color calibration cannot be performed on plain paper, nor on any kind of transparent material.
You can start color calibration from the front panel: tap , then Color calibration, and press Continue. Choose the paper and press OK.
The calibration process is fully automatic and can be performed unattended after you have loaded paper of the type you wish to calibrate—which should be wider than 355 mm14 in. If you have more than one roll loaded, the printer will ask which roll you want to use for the calibration.
The process takes about 3–5 minutes and consists of the following steps:
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A calibration chart is printed, which contains patches of each ink used in your printer.
Color management from printer drivers
Color management options
The aim of color management is to reproduce colors as accurately as possible on all devices: so that, when you print an image, you see very similar colors as when you view the same image on your monitor.
There are two basic approaches to color management for your printer:
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Printer-Managed Colors: In this case your application program sends your image to the printer without any color conversion, and the printer converts the colors to its own color space. The details of this process depend on the graphics language that you are using. HP recommends this setting for the best experience and results.
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PostScript: The PostScript and PDF interpreter modules perform the color conversion using the profiles stored in the printer and any additional ICC color profiles sent with the PostScript job. This kind of color management is done when you are using the PostScript or PDF driver.
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Non-PostScript (PCL3, CALS/G4): The color management is done using a set of stored color tables. ICC profiles are not used. This method is somewhat less versatile than the alternatives, but is a little simpler and faster, and can produce good results with standard HP paper types.
Note:In non-PostScript printing, the printer can convert to sRGB if you are using Windows, or to Adobe RGB if you are using Mac OS X.
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Application-Managed Colors: In this case your application program must convert the colors of your image to the color space of your printer and paper type, using the ICC profile embedded in the image and the ICC profile of your printer and paper type.
Important:
Make sure to select matching settings in the driver and in the application.
You are recommended to consult the HP Support Center (see HP Support Center) to see how to use the color management options of your particular application. See also Print a document with the correct colors.
To choose between Application-Managed Colors and Printer-Managed Colors:
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In the Windows driver dialog: Select the Color tab.
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In some applications: You can make this choice in the application.
Color options
Printing in color
The printer prints in color by default.
You can select color printing explicitly in the following ways:
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In your application program: Many programs provide this option.
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In the Windows driver dialog: Go to the Color tab and look at the Output Color or Color Options section (whichever is available in your driver). Select Print in color.
Printing in grayscale
This topic explains the concepts involved in this subject.
You can convert all colors in your image to shades of gray in the following ways:
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In your application program: Many programs provide this option.
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In the Windows driver dialog: Go to the Color tab and look at the Output Color or Color Options section (whichever is available in your driver). Select Print in grayscale.
Printing in pure black and white
This topic explains the concepts involved in this subject.
You can convert all colors in your image to pure black and pure white in the following way:
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In the Windows driver dialog: Go to the Color tab and look at the Output Color or Color Options section (whichever is available in your driver). Select Print in pure black and white.
HP Professional PANTONE Emulation
When you use a named PANTONE color in an image, your application will normally send to the printer a CMYK or RGB approximation to that color. But the application does not take the printer or the paper type into account, it merely produces a generic approximation of the PANTONE color, which will look different on different printers and on different papers.
HP Professional PANTONE Emulation can do a much better job by taking into account the characteristics of the printer and the paper type. The results look as similar to the original PANTONE colors as is possible on a given printer using a given paper type. This technology is designed to produce emulations similar to those set up manually by prepress professionals.
To use HP Professional PANTONE Emulation, all you have to do is to turn it on. In fact, it is normally on by default.
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In the Windows PostScript/PDF driver dialog: Go to the Color tab and select HP Professional PANTONE Emulation.
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From the front panel: Tap
, then Default printing configuration > Color options > HP Pantone Emulation.
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In the Embedded Web Server: From the main menu, select the Color tab.
HP Professional PANTONE Emulation not only provides the closest match that can be achieved on your printer; it also gives clear information on how close the emulation is to the original spot color.
Default color spaces
When a document or image does not specify the working color space in which the content is originally described, the user can choose among different standards. That is, the user can determine how data should be interpreted by the color management system during the rendering process.
You can set source profiles in the following ways:
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In the Windows PostScript/PDF driver dialog: Select the Color tab, and Printer Managed Colors.
The standard way of encapsulating such information is in ICC profiles. As part of the solution, we provide the most common standards for the different devices.
The options are as follows.
Default RGB source profiles
This topic explains the concepts involved in this subject.
Your printer is provided with the following color profiles:
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None (Native): No imitation, for use when the color conversion is done by the application or operating system, and therefore the data arrive at the printer already color-managed. Available for PostScript and PDF drivers only.
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sRGB IEC61966-2.1 imitates the characteristics of the average PC monitor. This standard space is endorsed by many hardware and software manufacturers, and is becoming the default color space for many scanners, printers and software applications.
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Adobe RGB (1998) provides a fairly large gamut of RGB colors. Use this space if you need to do print production work with a broad range of colors.
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ColorMatch RGB imitates the native color space of Radius Pressview monitors. This space provides a smaller gamut alternative to Adobe RGB (1998) for print production work. Available for PostScript and PDF drivers only.
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Apple RGB imitates the characteristics of the average Apple monitor, and is used by a variety of desktop publishing applications. Use this space for files that you plan to display on Apple monitors, or for working with old desktop publishing files. Available for PostScript and PDF drivers only.
Default CMYK source profiles
You can choose from a selection of CMYK source profiles recognized by the printer. The default CMYK profile is Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647 - 2:2004), available for PostScript drivers only.
Color management from the front panel
You can color-calibrate the loaded paper type from the front panel by tapping > Color calibration > Continue, and choose paper.
See Color calibration.
The other color options in the front panel can all be found by tapping > Default printing configuration >
Color options, (they can also be found under Advanced printing preferences).
Color/Grayscale
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Print in color
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Print in grayscale
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Print in pure black and white
RGB source profile
You can choose from a selection of RGB source profiles recognized by the printer. Default: sRGB IEC 1966-2.1.
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Select CMYK source profile: You can choose from a selection of CMYK source profiles recognized by the printer. Default: Coated FOFRA39 (ISO12647-2:2004).
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Select rendering intent: You can select the rendering intent. Default: Perceptual.
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Black point compensation: You can turn black point compensation on or off. Default: On.
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HP Professional PANTONE Emulation: You can turn HP Professional PANTONE Emulation on or off. Default: On (PostScript and PDF jobs only).
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