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Posted on by Adam Hannig Posted in Tips & Tricks
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No Inkjet Media Profile? No Problem

Depending on the combination of the printer and media that you use, a custom profile may not be available. Do not fear; all is not lost. If, for instance, you are printing to Sunset Velvet Rag 315g and a profile is not available, you will want to follow the steps below. First, understand what settings will make what changes in the printer driver or plug-in and Photoshop.

The Media Type selected in the printer software will control ink levels (saturation), media feed, vacuum (or suction) level and head height. The screen captures below show where you can find the Media Type in the Epson driver, Canon driver and in the Canon Print Plug-In for Photoshop…

Creating profiles for an inkjet printer
Media Type in the Epson driver. Click on the image for a larger version.
Creating profiles for an inkjet printer
Media Type in the Canon driver. Click on the image for a larger version.
Finding the media type and profile in Photoshop
Media Type and Profile in the Canon Print Plug-In for Photoshop. Click on the image for a larger version.

The ICC profile selected in Photoshop will control color accuracy. The images below show where to select profiles for the Epson and Canon drivers…

Profiling inkjet media
Here's the Profile in the Photoshop print dialog for the Espon driver. Click on the image for a larger version.

Here's the Profile in the Photoshop print dialog for the Canon driver. Click on the image for a larger version.

Next, decide on at least a couple of options to perform a test print. Think about the type of material to which you are printing. Is it polypropylene, polyester, polycarbonate, paper, canvas, etc.? Is the finish of the material gloss, satin, or matte? Once you have made these determinations, find a media type/profile combination that most closely resembles the media that you are printing to.

For example, if you want to print to Sunset Velvet Rag but don’t have a custom profile, you know two things: it’s a fine-art paper with a matte finish. If you are printing to an Epson printer, the papers that most closely resemble Sunset Velvet Rag are likely Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper, Water Color Radiant White and Textured Fine Art Paper. You would want to select those profiles in Photoshop and the same Epson media types in the Epson driver when making test prints.

You may need to test several media type/profile combinations before you find the one that works best. Be sure to use a known image when making your test prints. Finally, compare the results and choose the best option.

Printing Through a RIP (Onyx)
If you are printing through Onyx, a great option for determining the best settings to use with a particular media is the clone tool. This allows you to select multiple profiles that most closely resemble your media and perform a test print. Like above, be sure to print a known file for comparison purposes.

In case you want to learn how to use the clone tool, we have created a short two-minute video for you that is embedded below…

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products
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A Second Opinion: Sunset Fibre Rag Reviewed at Shutterbug

Inkjet photo paper reviewIf you’re looking for an in-depth review on LexJet’s latest fine art/photographic paper, Sunset Fibre Rag, and how it might fit into your workflow check out George Schaub’s post at Shutterbug. Schaub tested 17″ x 22″ sheets of Sunset Fibre Rag on an Epson 4900, putting the paper through its paces in both color and black-and-white images.

“I tested the paper on monochrome, color and low saturation images, and worked with Photoshop CS6 Beta software on a MacBook Pro V6.2. The monochrome images displayed a deep, rich black with fine repro of the mid-tone values. When an image had a range of bright highlights, the slightly warm base added to their reproduction while not muting their place in the image. This encouraged me to work with numerous images that often came out too contrasty on pure gloss or metallic base papers (and too flat on purely matte surfaces) and I found that they had newfound life on the LexJet surface,” wrote Schaub.

Schaub’s review covers the entire process, from print preparation to the characteristics the paper brought out of the images Schaub printed, and all the details in between. As an example, Schaub writes: “And when you rub your finger across the surface of the paper you get that satisfying sound that only a medium to heavyweight fine art paper delivers. That is what could count as a ‘feel the material’ type of qualification, but I often use that as part of how I judge a paper. The weight of the paper makes it easy to work with when matting and mounting, and the durability is a strong factor in paper choice.”

To read the entire review of Sunset Fibre Rag, click here. And, for more information about Sunset Fibre Rag, the Sunset line of fine art and photo papers, or anything else in the inkjet printing workflow, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Technology & Products
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More Great Inkjet Canvas Options from LexJet

Printing canvasBuilding on more than 15 years of researching, developing and bringing award-winning inkjet printable canvas products to the fine art, photography and graphics markets, LexJet introduces Sunset Reserve Matte Canvas and Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas.

Both canvas products are now available and shipping from one of LexJet’s ten nationwide distribution centers and, like all LexJet products, come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Sunset Reserve Matte Canvas and Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas round out a diverse portfolio of LexJet inkjet canvas products that include the award-winning Sunset Select Matte Canvas and Sunset Select Gloss Canvas, the solvent and UV curable compatible Sunset Select Satin Canvas SUV, and Instant Dry Satin Canvas.

“Both versions of the Sunset Reserve Canvas have a nice subtle texture for true artistic color-critical canvas reproduction,” explains Alex Ried, LexJet product manager. “And, since some customers prefer a bright white base to a more neutral white tone and vice-versa it was important to offer that option with the same performance, quality, consistency and color gamut.”

Compatible with aqueous printers from Canon, Epson and HP – and specially engineered to take advantage of the wider color gamuts provided by the latest generation of their printers – both canvas products are perfect for a variety of applications, from commercial and corporate graphics to gallery and museum wraps and other fine art and photographic output. Both are optimized for LexJet’s Sunset Coatings – Gloss and Satin – and work well with other spray and roll-on protective coatings.

Canvas printing
Mark Lakey, Art Warehouse, Chattanooga, Tenn., printed this black-and-white photo by Nashville photographer Ed Rode on Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas.

“It prints great. I love it because when I profiled the canvas, I could amp up the sharpness with photography and get more detail out of it. And, the coating allows for a high ink load, so if someone wants to produce high-quality prints they can do it with this canvas,” says Mark Lakey, owner and president of Art Warehouse, Chattanooga, Tenn., who prints for renowned photographers and artists. “You see more vibrancy with this canvas in color prints and for black and white printing I can hit the tonality marks I’m after.”

Stretching and wrapping canvas
Lakey stretches and wraps Beach at Sunset, photographed by Jim Begley, Corbin, Ky., and printed on Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas.

Sunset Reserve Matte Canvas has a neutral-white finish that produces a wide color gamut without optical brighteners. Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas features a bright white base. Both are a water resistant, acid-free and pH-neutral with a poly/cotton blend so they’re easily stretched for gallery and museum wraps.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Tips & Tricks
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How to Find the Right Rendering Intent

Many people who print see the Rendering Intent option and are not exactly sure what it is and how it works. They usually select a Rendering Intent option a friend or colleague tells them to use and then think nothing more of it. It turns out that this selection can have a huge effect on how your image appears, and should therefore be understood fully.

Rendering Intents are mathematical rules on how to deal with out-of-gamut colors when moving from one color space to another. In other words, chances are that when you print an image there will be colors that your camera captured that are impossible for your printer to reproduce.

The printer driver can’t just delete the sections of the images it can’t reproduce or you would get images with large sections of nothing. Therefore, the driver changes those out-of-gamut colors to colors it can actually hit. The method it uses to do this is a Rendering Intent.

Rendering Intents in Photoshop CS3.

You may or may not have noticed that every time you hit print, there’s a Rendering Intent option. You can see it in the Photoshop CS3 print window (see the accompanying image sample). If you open up that drop-down menu you will see there are four options…

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