Should the hottest digital proofing also be used

Should digital proofing also be used

ten years ago, when the first set of color digital proofing system valued at 250000 US dollars was born, digital proofing technology and related equipment, products and solutions were spread in full swing in the printing industry ----- printers of all sizes and grades, rip of all types, and various solutions came one after another. When more and more printers began to adopt digital proofing, and more and more manufacturers joined the fierce market competition with different products, people began to think: can digital proofing really replace the traditional analog proofing? Is digital proofing just a simple combination of RIP software and printer? What is the core technology of digital proofing? Is it possible to process foreign East-West sample blanks into samples with a thickness of 20mm and use them directly

the so-called digital proofing is a proofing technology that directly outputs electronic originals after digital processing in electronic publishing. It uses a large format printer to output samples directly through digital mode, so as to replace the traditional lengthy proofing process such as film making and sample drying. Compared with traditional proofing, digital proofing has the following advantages:

1) in terms of quality effect, digital proofing has stable and objective color

2) traditional proofing requires a printing machine equipped with plate printing and printing equipment, plus the required staff and considerable plant investment; Digital proofing only needs to invest in printers, rip and color management software, so the return on investment of digital proofing is much higher than that of traditional proofing

3) digital proofing also has great advantages in performance, mainly in production speed, multiple simulation capabilities and multiple format capabilities. The imaging speed of digital proofing is fast. Ordinary printers on the market can complete a high-quality folio layout in 20 minutes, while traditional proofing generally takes 30-40 minutes. The color gamut expressed by most digital proofing machines (that is, the full range of colors that a device can express) is richer than that of ink. The rich color gamut combined with good color management software enables digital proofing to simulate not only the effect of printed matter, but also other production effects, such as silk printing, digital printing, inkjet posters, etc

in China's printing industry, everyone knows about digital proofing technology, and some people agree, but the traditional analog proofing still dominates the market, and most people still hold a wait-and-see attitude towards digital proofing. The main reason is that customers think the price of digital proofing is too high; Think there is deviation in color; Worry about the color inconsistency between the proofs and the printed matter, and the printing cannot catch up with the digital proofs, resulting in disputes. The essential reason is the application of color management in digital proofing

digital proofing has developed quite mature abroad, but in China, due to the different color reproduction characteristics and color display space of scanners, displays, printers or proofing equipment, color distortion occurs in the process of scanning, display and printing (electronic universal testing machine in use and storage or proofing). It is impossible to make the display color consistent with the printing color (proofing color), and it is impossible to make the proofing color consistent with the printing color. Therefore, we can see the importance of color management technology to digital proofing. Only by using the globally popular color management technology can we unify the above equipment to reproduce the color characteristics, manage the color effect of the whole printing process, and show it to investors to ensure the color unity of the whole printing process. On the other hand, in China, due to the inconsistent standards of many factors in the process of printing and post printing, such as paper, ink, temperature and humidity, printing conditions, production conditions, etc., the effect of digital proofing is also difficult to maintain a stable and normal, and there are often customers' reactions that there are obvious differences between digital proofing and printing in the level and color. This is one of the bottlenecks in the application of digital proofing

therefore, it is difficult for us to imagine the effect of simulated printing only by using RIP software to adjust according to foreign standards. Therefore, the definition of "rip+ printer = digital proofing" in a simple sense abroad cannot be realized in this special market of China. We must combine the unique actual situation of China, carry out secondary development of color management technology, and develop a color management module suitable for China's national conditions, so as to get a real digital proofing system suitable for China. We are opposed to simple fetchism

the core of digital proofing ----- color management technology

the core of digital proofing technology is the application of color management technology. At present, some manufacturers claim that the color gamut of their printers is larger than the printing color gamut, but in fact, almost all inkjet printers have a color gamut larger than the printing color gamut. The key of digital proofing is color management, not the printing gamut that the printer can reproduce. Because only using an appropriate color management system can unify the color reproduction characteristics of the display, proofing machine, printing machine and various equipment in the whole printing process, so as to ensure the color unity in the whole printing process

there is no doubt that color management technology plays an important role in digital proofing, but what kind of color management is the best and most applicable? What criteria do we choose

at this stage, there are many factors in China's printing industry that are not conducive to the development of digital proofing

first of all, the non uniqueness of Printability brings a lot of inconvenience to digital proofing, and there is a lack of unified standards for digital proofing equipment; The color between various printing equipment is unstable, and real color management cannot be realized. The speed, humidity, humidity, ink volume and surrounding environment of the proofing machine here are affected. Secondly, the international digital proofing color matching is based on European standards, which is not suitable for the existing standards of printing plants in China. Thirdly, there is still a mismatch between the management software of digital proofing and the matching of printing machines, imagesetters and other supporting equipment. These factors constitute the bottle strength of the development and promotion of digital proofing in China

based on this situation, China HP Co., Ltd. and Beijing Caihong Dijie Digital Technology Co., Ltd. jointly launched a new "HP Dijie digital proofing system". The system is based on HP large format printer, and combined with the color management data block developed by Caihong Dijie and suitable for China's national conditions, it can adjust the differences between different domestic printing standards and international standards. Specially designed for the field of printing and publishing in China, it has been recognized by many experts from the science and Technology Committee of Beijing Printing Association, and has strong promotion potential. It can be described as a real digital proofing system suitable for China's national conditions

the hardware equipment of HP Dijie digital proofing system is composed of the "photo artist" a3+ format HP Designjet 10ps/20ps/50ps series digital design proofing machine recently launched by HP company and the HP Designjet 5000 large format printer with "speed and quality" of HP company as the output terminal, together with the Rainbow Color Management System CMS developed by Beijing Rainbow Dijie Digital Technology Co., Ltd. This new digital process proofing combination improves the shortcomings of traditional digital proofing products and makes the whole workflow simpler and time-saving

Rainbow Color Management System CMS adopts ICC Standard to manage the color gamut space of different devices in the workflow, which is composed of three parts: first, CIE reference color space unrelated to the device; The second is the ICC characteristic file profile of the device; The third is the color management module CMM in the management process. Among them, the color management module CMM is the core, which uses professional digital proofing software combined with other color management software to carry out fine and correct data integration for color space conversion. These data are collected from the commonly used printing materials and processes in China, and measured by doing a large number of in-depth color space model experiments under different production conditions to simulate the printing and proofing results, so the data are accurate and comprehensive

when the rainbow color management system manages the proofing color, it generally needs to go through the following three basic steps:

1: Chen Haijun, deputy general manager of IOT Business Department of Sheng software Holding Co., Ltd., believes that it is an ICC feature file profile that reflects the proofing or printing characteristics. For the traditional proofing or printing standard ISO it 8.7/3 color block diagram, the rainbow ink control data management standard is adopted, and the ICC profile reflecting the printing suitability is generated by using the software printopen (or profilemaker, colorflow) and the dtp-41 (or GretagMacbeth spectroscan) of the spectrophotometer X-Rite

2: generate ICC profiles that reflect the characteristics of color printers and the printer paper used. To print ISO it 8.7/3 color block diagram for color printer without color management, the same software and the same spectrophotometer are used to generate ICC profile of the printer

3: gamut conversion. In the digital proofing software, the ICC profile of the printability and the ICC profile of the printer are converted into the data of the color space by using the HP Dijie color management module CMM, so that the image graphics printed by the HP printer are consistent with the standard samples printed by the corresponding printability

pre sales training, after-sales service and other technical support

HP company has rich experience and strong technical force in the printing industry. It can be described as an exemplary pioneer in the industry, and can provide perfect and systematic pre-sales training and after-sales service. HP company has strong and incomparable advantages in hardware facilities, software cooperative development, or technical support, which is one of the important reasons why people choose HP

now, we can definitely answer people's questions: digital proofing has many advantages and is attacking the last barrier in the printing field - traditional proofing. With the continuous development and improvement of corresponding product technology and the continuation of market promotion, digital proofing will replace traditional analog proofing with its strong vitality. Digital proofing is a set of emerging technology, which is a constantly improving technology. It is by no means a simple combination of RIP software and printer. The core technology of digital proofing is color management technology, and its key is not the printer's reproducible printing gamut. We must develop the corresponding color management software according to the actual production conditions and the printability of various materials, and choose the appropriate digital proofing system, instead of simply using foreign things. We should use our brains, look out and take it by ourselves