The scheme contains all the printing parameters, including the color profile and the adjustment of densities. Once all the parameters are configured, it is possible to save this configuration in a scheme. Having the program already configured for different kinds of jobs and materials is easy, and it prevents making mistakes.


Open the Printer scheme manager window, with the button '...' at the upper menu bar on neoStampa's standard view.  At the top of the window, the printer-specific printing scheme can be selected.

  • The 'Browse...' option on the left will direct you to all your saved schemes. With the lock button, you can lock the scheme for further modifications using a password. 
  • The buttons on the right are used to add and remove schemes or save any of them as a copy using another naming. With the 'Refresh...' button you can load remote printing schemes when working with Print Server.
  • You have the possibility to group the schemes. Click on the button 'Save as…' and the dialog to name the duplicated scheme opens. All you need to do is to add "@" in the name, where the name should be split to use the information as a sub-group. Click OK to continue and the new scheme will contain the sub-group.
  • At the bottom of the Printer Scheme manager, there is the 'Backup' button. This is to save any changes made in the scheme. Any time you make changes to a finished scheme they will be stored in a new zip file. This is a very useful function as you may want to use a previous version of the scheme. The first version is saved as a _zip0. cpz file and the following ones will continue the enumeration. When you browse through the schemes list on your computer, you will be able to see all the versions of a scheme. Whenever you want to use any of those copies, press 'Restore' and selected it from the given list.



TABLE OF CONTENTS


Mode

Here you will be able to select the number of inks for every job. If your printer allows it, you will be able to place up to 16 inks. With ceramic jobs, profiles can be created with just 3 inks.  The "K" mode will only print in black, that is to say, in greyscale. Multichannel modes, like CMYK+cmk, allow printers of more than 4 cartridges, to work as if each color was totally independent, paying no attention as to what ink is charged where. For example, in printers having CMYKcmk, it is possible to place special colors in the free cartridges, and the program will use such inks depending on the information given on the color profile. This type of configuration is usually used for textile printing because the use of special colors is required to gain color gamut.


Quality

Here you can select the physical printing mode of the machine. There are printers that allow printing at various resolutions or at various modes, varying the final quality of the printing.

  • Bi-directional Print: It will send a command to the printer telling the printhead to move in one or in both directions. If you activate this function, the printing will speed up, but you could eventually lose some quality.
  • Cut sheet at end: In printers that support cutting the paper once the printing process is over, by not activating this option we allow the printer to do the cutting.
  • Image Interpolation: A method used to enhance print quality for complex images, especially when the source image has a higher resolution than the output. This slower process helps prevent the loss of fine details. The default method is Nearest Neighbor, but during image interpolation, a different method is applied to ensure clarity in the printed output.
  • Print mode options: To access specific configurations of the selected printer's driver, click the button at the lower position of the dialog. The new window is exclusive to each printer. Here, you can configure specific parameters which can normally be configured from the printer's own panel. This window will therefore change depending on the controller you have chosen.


Drop sizes

Here you can customize the drop sizes from kdots to ml to calculate cost control for all inks or individual per ink. The same option you can find in Print Configuration (Quality) in Calibration Wizard.


Dithering Methods

The last configuration parameter of the Print Mode tap is Dithering. This option allows the choice of the dithering type to be generated for the print. The most frequent ones, which are the ones that deliver better results are the ones we indicate in the Calibration Wizard.

Ink

In the second tab Ink of the Printer scheme manager, we can see very precise adjustments of the ink cut.


Ink control

Clicking on the button '...' next to the Linearization file, we get the Ink control window. Changes in its values need to be done from the Calibration Wizard assistant, where adjustments on Ink level, Ink Limit, or Light ink usage are done.

In Ink Level the information included in the printing scheme is shown, and it is related to the ink quantity percentage used for each color with respect to 100%. The ink limit shows the value for the maximum ink quantity admitted by the media. Too high values could cause an ink excess and not dry properly, or print blurry images. Low values could cause vivid colors, composed of 2 or more colors, to be rendered pale. The Ink cut is the individual ink limit for each color channel. It may be inferior to 100% for some color channels, depending on the kind of calibration carried out.


Postlinearization

Clicking on the button '...' next to the Postlinearization file, when the whole color separation process is done, we get the response curves window. Also here, any adjustments must be done in the Calibration Wizard assistant. We can make some adjustments to them so as to improve the result if certain tones aren't like what is expected.


Color balance

This option allows correcting small global color deviations in any of the basic printing channels. Thus, for example, if printing has a magenta dominant, the easiest way to correct it is using this option, therefore reducing only the magenta channel to a determined value, depending on the dominating quantity. This modification can be carried out manually with the controllers, or by entering the value on the inferior box and pressing enter. The Link channels option applies the same modification to all the channels.

Color

In this tab, we can see color management-specific information.


Output ICC profile

An output profile contains the information of the printer's usable color space, and of the behavior of its inks. A wrong output profile will probably render unexpected results in the printed color, so it is very important to select the color profile (or printing outline) according to the combination of material, ink, and resolution to be used. A color profile for a printing mode of 720 may not work with a 360 resolution, that is to say, a profile for vinyl may not work for the paper, etc. We can choose one of the profiles to do the printing, although it is possible to add more by using the '+' button. The button on the left will direct you to already saved ICC profiles.

The '...' button opens the color picker window and shows the color space of the selected profile. You can search for a specific color by values, clicking on the color space, or sliding for color.


Color replacement table

If you have saved a color or a selection of them, you can choose them from the drop-down list available in this section. With the 'Edit' button, you will access a window with the list of special color/s. Here you have the option to import colors to the color table. 

When you select one of the colors, the button becomes active, from which you will access the color information window. Here you can eventually change the input and output color parameters which are explained in Special Colors management.


Rendering Intents

The simulation consists of obtaining in our printer the same results that would be obtained in another printing system. Through several Rendering intents, we specify the color engine what calculations need to be made to transform colors from one color space to another, taking into account both origin and target working spaces. This program offers various interpretation methods which we will briefly describe below.

  • Perceptual: The input range is adapted proportionally to that of the output device. This is the most commonly used method for printing photographs, something that does not require great accuracy in color but does require a good appearance.
  • Saturation: This system aims at obtaining results with more vivid colors, whilst trying not to lose color quality. It works well in vectorial designs that need a certain amount of vividness, or in photographs that are not very saturated, in order to improve their printed appearance. 
  • Relative colorimetric: With this method, if a certain color (CIE L*a*b* value) enters into the range of the device, it is faithfully represented, but with the image still maintains a good overall appearance. To achieve this, a linear relationship is established between the black and white of each of the devices (brightness adaptation). So, for example, the white of a monitor directly corresponds to the white of the paper, although they are different CIE L*a*b values. The colors that remain outside the range of the output device adapt to the nearest ones. This can be used for vector and photographic designs so that the final result "turns out well".
  • Absolute colorimetric: This method works in a similar way to the relative one, but the brightness is not adapted. In this way, we achieve the most exact reproduction of the input colors. The colors that remain outside the range of the output device adapt to the nearest ones. This is the method to use in corporate logos with few colors, where the best possible color accuracy is essential.
  • Clean ink: In case the design contains pure colors, for instance, 100% cyan, this will only be printed with cyan ink so the color profile will not "soil" the original cyan color.
  • Color Matching (Minimize dE): Each color of the design is transformed when we apply the color profile according to the indications of the profile. In this way, the color deviation which will be obtained, according to the color profile can be calculated, and a search for the color which best matches the real color we want to obtain is carried out. Be aware that the exact colors' search is very slow and the time for processing designs can be considerably extended. 
  • Don't use ICC: no modification is carried out on the entry save for the application of the LUT charts of ink balance that may be already selected.

Advanced

The tab is used to manage print page settings, input defaults, dimensions, and scheme logs.


Dimensional Correction

The option allows correcting differences in measurements that may occur during vaporization, cleaning, or drying processes. If, for example, a printed media that we know must exactly have 800 millimeters in length, and the resulting print measures 796 (4 millimeters less), we can make a correction by clicking on the three dots button beside it, and a Compensation calculator pops up.


Full Page and Width

The option Full page mirroring places the out print in mirror mode. It is useful when we transfer an image from sublimation paper to fabric, with the help of an iron plate or similar.

The option of Full-width ripping is used in the following cases:

  1. In the case we have prints of different widths, the printheads will go over all the widths of the media. In this way, the drying time will be the same for all inks.
  2. The other application is used for printers with drivers that generate.TIFF files. Activating this option the dimensions of the files generated will correspond to the media size and not to that of the design.

Information/Log

Here are basically information about the scheme creation, modification, and finish date, so the name of media, ink, and comments that have been added when finishing the scheme.


Override Destination Folder

For file-based drivers which use port setting FILE: in drivers connection, this option is enabled for the user to specify a different output folder.


Legacy Mode Calibration

Information that the scheme is created using the older profiling engine of neoStampa 7. 


Input Defaults

Clicking on it you will access a new window where you will be able to pre-determine parameters, which values will be applied to the new documents associated with the scheme you are working with.

  • Input ICC profiles: RGB, CMYK, GRAY
  • Proofing: ICC and rendering intent
  • Multichannel files: Mixed Colors or Channel Ink
  • Color adjustments: Brightness, Contrast and Saturation
  • Design orientation and mirroring: 0 to 270 degrees
  • Resize: Automatic file resizing when opened

PDF/Postscript

This option is exclusive to documents generated in PDF format.

  • Rendering options:  It indicates the color space where the PDF doc will be rendered before turning it into something printable. Detect the embedded profile and render all the non-spot colors into this color space. All spot colors can be replaced with library values, or we can use the native values with their own profile. Both RGB or CMYK spaces can be selected to configure the output or input parameters. This last option will make color conversions directly to the printer, allowing color substitution rules to take place.
  • Map DeviceGray to CMYK uses the black axis of the CMYK profile for grayscale elements.
  • Antialiasing makes lines smooth
  • Overprint simulates DeviceN multichannel overprint method.
  • Resolution and bpc: The parameters of this function indicate the resolution at which the PDF documents will be rendered. As a general rule, the 1/2 and Higher of print resolution will be used, with a minimum dpi of 72 and a maximum of 360 and bits component.

Spot Colors

This option is exclusive for colorways simulation and production curves.


Color space

Colorways: converts colorway information to printer colorway.

PDF/Postscript: Makes color conversions directly to the printer, allowing color substitution rules to take place.


Spot Color Gradient

Define this gradient calculation for each individual ink replacement.

  • Natural (default) linearises the color to have a smoother transition maintaining the ink tonal characteristics.
  • Natural (Unlinearized) uses the ink’s own behavior, so we’ll have brusque variations of color.
  • Emulate linearises the color and adjusts the tone of the gradient to achieve similar results when printing on different machines. 

Dot gain creates better transitions. By default is 0%. The minimum is -40%, maximum is 40%. 


Curve (input): The way to adjust the curve is to enter the Input and Output values, based on the Photoshop curve, and press Edit… to access the curve dialog. To get the best results, you need to print the image and verify visually if the curve needs more adjustments. This curve can be exported in .csv and .acv formats for further implementations.


Production: The way to adjust the curve is to enter the Input and Output values, based on the Photoshop curve, and press Edit… to access the curve dialog. To get the best results, you need to print the image and verify visually if the curve needs more adjustments. This curve can be exported in .csv and .acv formats for further implementations.

Printer Scheme Configuration