Single Ink Cut evaluation

When you finish reading Single Ink cut, the Densities and Ink cut dialog will show the result. This dialog shows the measurement results based on LAB measurements per color. The Wizard will perform an automatic ink cut if a peak is detected, based on the values obtained. The user can apply custom ink cuts to save ink, optimize penetration, or other specific applications. If you toggle through the inks with the radio button checked left to the ink name's shortcut, you can view each ink density curve.


Clicking on the '3D...' button the visualization is available with options to compare and validate the curves.


Light inks transition

Light ink is mainly used to reduce the visibility of dots from dark(er) ink. The amount of light ink not only determines the reduction of dark dot visibility but also increases ink consumption, and in a few cases may also lead to lightning and desaturation of the printing gamut. The Light Inks Transition preset should be selected by taking the above points into account. The default is Medium Light Ink and is suitable for most printheads and applications. However, if you wish to save ink or if your printhead has very small drop sizes you can select either Low Light Ink or Very Low Light Ink.


The Advanced… button will take you to another window where other light ink presets can be found. The different light ink behaviors are described in the following list:

  • Very Low Light Ink: Dark starts at 5 %. It works as an improved version of the old "Ink Saving" method and is very similar to the "Dark grey" one.

  • Low Light Ink: Dark starts at 10 %. It's an intermediate level between the old "Ink Saving" and "Less Light Ink" methods.

  • Medium Light Ink: Dark starts at 20 %, identical to the old "Less Light Ink" method.

  • High Light Ink: Dark starts at 35 %, identical to the old "Normal" method.

  • Very High Light Ink: Dark starts at 50%, identical to the old "More Light Ink" method.

 

Without Light inks

Since neoStampa 9 an automatic linearity compensation is applied to the individual inks - even to the combination of dark and light inks - based on the ink cut and Light Inks Transition preset. The previous Shortcut from neoStampa 8 is now always applied even if light inks are present.

Linearization evaluation

Densities and Ink Cut 

When you finish reading Re-Linearization, the linearization performance shows Densities and Ink cut dialog. You will see the density values. You can view all the curves together, or one by one.


Ink control

The next window shows Ink Control curves. It shows the correction curves window. We can make some adjustments to improve the result if the curve behavior is not as expected.


It is possible to modify graphically any of the color channels by adding new points, by pressing on the line in a zone where there is no point, or modify the position of a point by pressing on it and displacing it onto a new position. Toggle between the channels to change the view of the linearization curve to the actually selected ink.

NOTE: Only correct a curve if you really think that a certain point is shifted due to measurement irregularities as shown in the example below.


The Input and Output values of each curve can also be modified manually, from the fields on the right. The option Reset Ink erases all the points of the selected curve, which implies that no linearization will be made. It is recommended not to use it.  The Smooth option enables a 16-bit interpolation between the reference points which we recommend always leaving this button on. 

Related articles:

How to evaluate the Ink Limit test chart

How to make new printer calibration