Re: [ECI-EN] Ink saving applications
20 Apr
2008
20 Apr
'08
4:42 p.m.
Dear Anand,
I don't know how all existing ink saving software work but GMG Ink
Optimization is actually based on iterative press characterization. So, it's
not possible, in my humble experience, to end up with desaturated colors as
you described. Perhaps using the other packages leads to these questionable
results? I find that susprising.
We recently got an Ink save software from a leading
provider. We processed a
number of pages using the ink saving software, RIPped it and obtained the
percentage coverage area of each ink in the page and compared it with same
pages without processing in the ink save software. The figures are impressive.
From the RIP data we found the software saves 20-30% ink in Cyan, Magenta and
Yellow and around 30% increase in black ink. The ink saving varies with the
settings we feed the software.
But the downside is the more ink save we give, the colors moves more towards
gray. I used an IT8 7.3 target for testing. I had the CMYK target processed
with the application and another without processing. I placed them one above
the other in a page so that the patches will be in same ink zone. The page is
printed in a coldset web offset press. I measured the L*a*b* values of all the
patches of both targets and compared them. Those patches which are modified by
the application showed a Delta E variation from 2 to 7.
I feel anything above 3 Delta E is above tolerance. Please share your views
Regards
Anand
Roger Breton