correcting the configuration
if you have image quality problems the first place you should go is to check the configuration setup.
using the image quality print
the image quality print is a diagnostic print designed to highlight for you the root cause of your image quality problems. follow the procedures step-by-step.
color accuracy
this section helps you to solve color problems you may have with the printer. more help on this subject is available from the hp web site which you can access with hp designjet webaccess.
printhead recovery procedure
recovering the printhead(s) means that the printer automatically cleans and tests the printhead(s).
accuracy calibration
this procedure details how to re-calibrate your printer for the media you are using. this should not normally be necessary, however if your working under significantly different environmental conditions, use this procedure.
aligning the printheads
the printhead alignment selection causes the printer to align the printheads immediately. if you are having image quality problems and you suspect the root cause to be the printhead(s), use this procedure.
calibrating the color output
color calibration improves color consistency between prints, and from one printer to another.
correcting the configuration
1. to achieve the best performance from your printer, only use genuine hp accessories and supplies, whose reliability and performance have been thoroughly tested to give trouble-free performance and best-quality prints. for details of hp media, see physical characteristics of media types. you can also look at the web page http:// www.hp.com/go/designjet for the most up to date information.
2. make sure that the type of media selected in the front-panel is the same type of media loaded into the printer. to check this go to the roll or sheet menu in the front-panel and press enter.
3. make sure that the print mode (max quality, productivity, max. speed) is correct. check it in the front-panel and the driver.
4. select max quality print mode for maximum print quality.
5. for non-hp drivers, set media settings to match the media type loaded in the printer. see the documentation that came with your software for information.
6. if your image quality problem is color accuracy related, go to color accuracy configuration for further configuration help.
using the image quality print
the image quality print helps you determine if you have image quality problems, and if you do, what the cause of the problem is and how to resolve it. the print contains patterns which are designed to highlight any image quality problems.
before printing and analyzing the image quality print, it is recommended that you check the following:
printhead status check
check the printhead status in the front-panel, using the and down keys select the printhead icon, the frontpanel will then display the printhead status.
replacing
if the printhead needs replacing, go to printhead removal and replace the printhead.
recovering
if the printhead needs recovering, go to printhead recovery procedure.
how to print the image quality print
before you print the image quality print you must ensure that you have a2 or c size media (or larger) loaded into the printer.
to print the image quality print use the front-panel. go to utilities]test prints]print quality and press the enter key.
how to use the image quality print
1. use the same media type and image quality setting as you were using when you discovered the image quality problem.
2. study each of the test patterns in the order that they are shown, that is,1 through 4
shown here is what the image quality print looks like:
analyzing the image quality print
test pattern 1: primary colors
the purpose of the particular part of the image quality print is to test the overall quality of the document with regards to dense colors.
the colored stripes are in the same order as they appear on the printer as if you are facing it, that is, light cyan first and black last.
each pair of colors is printed by only one printhead. so it's easy to find the root cause of the image quality problem.
this array of colored stripes is designed to check for certain defects with the printer. it should not be used to check for color consistency or accuracy.
if your printer is functioning correctly this part of the print will have no problems. there is no banding in any of the colors.
however, if you do see problems with this print and the image quality is not acceptable, you will need to perform some corrective actions.
banding
banding is when you see repetitive horizontal bands within the printed image. they can appear as light or dark bands.
banding is caused by problems with:
· the printhead(s).
· media advance.
problems with the printhead(s)
banding caused by problems with the printhead(s) will be highlighted in the image quality print because the banding is not in all of the colors, the colored strip that has banding was caused by the same colored printhead. the colored stripes are in the same order as they appear on the printer as if you are facing it, that is, light cyan first and black last.
for example, the image quality print shown below was printed with a printer that has a cyan printhead problem.
corrective action
1. perform the printhead recovery procedure if you have not already done so.
2. if there is no improvement in print quality, replace the printhead with a problem.
problems with media advance
if the printer has media advance problems you will see banding in all the colors.
for example, the image quality print shown below was printed with a printer that has a media advance. problem.
the bands appear light because the roller has advanced too much. the opposite could also be true, the bands could appear dark because the media has not advanced sufficiently.
in high quality modes, media advance problems may not appear as lines of banding, they may appear grainy instead. the banding or graininess will appear in all the colors.
corrective action
1. if the image is grainy, this could also be a symptom of problems with the bi-directional alignment. refer to test pattern 3: bi-directional alignment if this pattern is ok, go to step 2.
2. perform the accuracy calibration with the same media you were experiencing unacceptable image quality.
3. if there is no improvement in print quality, contact hewlett packard.
it is also possible that this kind of banding was caused because you were using non-hp supported media. the performance can only be guaranteed if you use supported hp media.
test pattern 2: color-to-color alignment
if the printer has color-to-color alignment problems then the image quality print in test pattern 2 (shown below) has misaligned colors.
corrective action
1. perform the aligning the printheads with the same media you were experiencing unacceptable image quality.
2. if there is no improvement in print quality, contact hewlett packard.
test pattern 3: bi-directional alignment
if a printer has bi-directional alignment problems, lines are not straight and/or fuzzy. the pattern seen below is designed to highlight this kind of problem. check the lines on this test pattern, if they have any defects like the ones described above perform the corrective action.
corrective action
1. perform the aligning the printheads with the same media you were experiencing unacceptable image quality.
2. if there is no improvement in print quality, contact hewlett-packard.
test pattern 4: vertical line straightness
if a printer has vertical line straightness problems, lines are not straight or are fuzzy. the pattern seen below is designed to highlight this kind of problem.
check the lines on this test pattern, if they have any defects like the ones described above perform the corrective action.
corrective action
1. perform the aligning the printheads with the same media you were experiencing unacceptable image quality.
2. if there is no improvement in print quality, contact hewlett-packard.
no defects found in the image quality print
if the entire image quality print contains no defects and you still experience image quality problems, listed below are some things to check:
· the print mode in the printer is incorrect see changing the print mode.
· check the driver you are using to print with, if it is a non-hp driver, go to http://www.hp.com/go/designjet and download the correct hp driver.
· the settings in the non-hp rip are incorrect. refer to the documentation which came with the rip.
· the software applications you are using have the wrong settings.
color accuracy
these are two areas you should review when troubleshooting a color accuracy problem:
configuration
check the color emulation selected in the driver. make sure the color information is adjusted for the current color setup. see color accuracy configuration.
printing color with postscript (hp designjet 5000ps)
most graphic design applications can define color using three methods:
· cmyk.
· rgb.
· pantone.
cmyk workflows
traditional workflows define the color in the cmyk space. to obtain optimal results, cmyk must be adapted to the target printer which receives the data, different printers will produce different color from the same cmyk data.
in some situations the cmyk data in your document will not be suited to your printer. two typical situations are:
· the document was optimized for a certain printer, and now it has to be produced on a different printing device.
· the document is being optimized for a printing press, but it is necessary to produce a check print using a less-expensive printing device.
to process cmyk data which is not intended for the printer, the hp designjet printers provide color emulation modes. the emulation must be enabled in the postscript driver, in the "printer color management" dialog box:
standard emulations:
- swop (united states),
- euroscale (europe),
- dic (japan) and
- toyo (japan).
cmyk data is frequently designed for these standards.
if there is no information as to how the cmyk data was defined, these standards are a good assumption.
custom emulation
this mode can emulate any cmyk printer. you will need the icc profile for the printer for which the cmyk data is intended. the icc profile is a standard which defines which color would come out of that printer. the hp designjet uses this information to produce the same color.
rgb workflows
rgb is a device-independent definition of color. being device-independent implies that rgb has to be converted to the printer-centric cmyk data which drives the printer. and this transformation depends on the target printer.
the transformation from rgb to cmyk requires an icc profile for the printer. the profile describes which cmyk is a good reproduction of a certain rgb.
because the color which comes out of the printer depends on the printer setup-such as the type of paper and the quality level-you must select the icc profile for the intended printing conditions.
hp designjet printers come with icc profiles for multiple types of paper.
even if rgb is printer-centric, rgb data does not always produce the same color. there are a few frequently used types of rgb color such as srgb, apple rgb, adobe rgb, or colormatch rgb. an rgb profile describes what an rgb color looks like.
your printing application should be set up with the correct icc profiles for the rgb and cmyk data.
newer applications such as photoshop 5 and illustrator 8 allow you to do this. your application will use these icc profiles to convert rgb to cmyk.
if your design application does not support icc profiles, you don't have control over the conversion from rgb to cmyk. so, always convert data into cmyk before putting it into the application. make sure that the cmyk has been optimized for the printer which is going to handle the data-see the recommendations in the previous section.
some applications send unidentified rgb data instead of cmyk. in such case, the printer will carry out the conversion from rgb to cmyk. you must select the type of rgb data in the postscript driver, in the "printer color management/rgb emulation" option.
for applications such as adobe photoshop which do identify the rgb they are using, this setting will have no effect.
pantone workflow
pantone colors are identified by their name, and the appearance for the color is defined by pantone.
pantone calibrates hp designjet printers so that they can produce the best match of a pantone color.
when an application sends a pantone color to the printer, it can use two methods
· pantone colors as spot are defined with their name, so that the printer can select how to best emulate that pantone color.
· pantone colors as composite colors are defined with a cmyk value.
since cmyk values are device-dependent, the cmyk for the pantone composite color must be adapted to the target printer. most applications contain cmyk definitions of pantone colors optimized for the swop or euroscale standards. if the application does not allow selection of this cmyk, and the printer cmyk does not emulate these standards, the output will not match well with the pantone colors.
if the pantone colors are defined as spot colors, the hp designjet printer will produce the best match through the automatic pantone calibration mechanism. if the best cmyk for the pantone is not known, it is recommended that pantone colors are defined as spot.
only pantone coated colors are reproduced in an hp designjet.
using icc profiles
the international color consortium (icc) color profiles that are provided with the hp designjet 5000ps are identical to the color profiles that the internal ps rip uses, although the latter converts them to postscript color rendering dictionaries internally. to use the icc profiles outside of the internal ps rip, the application and the driver must be configured correctly for good results. make sure the icc profile for the correct printer model (dj 5000ps), ink type (imaging or uv), media, and print quality is selected in your application, and that it is being used to convert rgb or cielab images to cmyk. choose the correct rendering intent for your type of job: perceptual for photographic type images, colorimetric for logos and proofing, and saturation for computer graphics type images. make sure the application is sending device cmyk colors to the printer, not calibrated color. for instance when printing from photoshop 5.x, select the profile and rendering intent in the cymk setup, select "cmyk" as the output color space, and un-select the "postscript color management" check box. in the printer driver, make sure that automatic black replacement is disabled [insert reference], and that no cmyk emulations are being used [insert reference]. if all of these conditions are met, the results of using a provided icc profile externally or internally will be very similar.
creating icc profiles
if you want to create your own icc profiles for use with the hp designjet 5000ps (using any of the commercially available profiling software packages), the most important thing is to make sure that you use exactly the same configuration of application(s) and driver to print and measure the calibration target(s) as you will use later on when applying the profile. hp recommends using native mode without automatic black replacement, making sure that the application is sending device cmyk colors without any further conversions being applied. black generation is one of the most important aspects of printer profile generation, but differs considerable from one profiling tool to another. if possible, hp recommends using the following black generation parameters for the hp designjet 5000ps: k ink start 35%; maximum k ink 100%; gcr type curve; total area coverage 280%.
good results can also be obtained with other settings, depending on the profiling software used. six ink printers with light cyan and light magenta colorants in general require the start of k ink to be delayed compared to traditional four color printers, in order to avoid the grainy appearance caused by black dots in highlights and midtones.
automatic black replacement will do this for colors defined as device cmyk, but should not be used in conjunction with a profile that is itself already defining k ink start and other black generation parameters. when using the internal profiles with abr enabled, the internal ps rip will not apply abr to colors generated by the profile (defined by the application as rgb or cielab), but will apply abr to colors defined by the application as device cmyk. for externally applied profiles the internal rip cannot make this distinction, hence abr should be disabled in this case.
color consistency problems
· some media may discolor or change with age.
check that your media is fresh and has been stored correctly.
· check to make sure that color calibration is turned on. refer to calibrating the color output
· if the environmental conditions you are printing in change rapidly, you may see changes in color consistency. by reducing the time the print stays in extreme environmental conditions after being printed (especially very high humidity) you can reduce color consistency problems.
long term color bleeding (glossy papers)
if you see the colors are bleeding into the paper, that is, the color is soaking into the paper making the lines fuzzy and bleary. this is because of the humidity conditions that you are working under:
· change the paper that you are printing with.
or
· remove the printer from the high humidity conditions.
or
· do not cover or stack the printed images after printing.
color accuracy configuration
the configurations of the printer, the driver, and rips define how ink is applied to each type of media. use the information in the following table to configure your printer and software for best color accuracy.
where to find additional information
the means of accurately managing the colors printed by your printer vary with the software application and driver being used. refer to the following documentation:
· there is a tutorial available from the hp web site, use the hp designjet webaccess to go there.
· on-line documentation in the drivers shipped with your printer.
non-postscript
1、additionally, remember that for your printer may be configured to use one of its internal pen palettes instead of your software's palette (which is the default).
2、see the section starting on pen widths and colors in the internal palettes.
printhead recovery procedure
recovering the printhead(s) means that the printer automatically cleans and tests the printhead(s).
if you are not sure which printhead to recover select "all printheads".
click on
this icon to run the animation sequence.a printable version of the sequence is also available so that you can take the key illustrations to the printer, if it is remote from your computer.
accuracy calibration
your printer was calibrated at the factory to ensure that it operates with the greatest accuracy in normal environmental conditions. if you are operating under significantly different conditions, you should recalibrate the printer as explained here. the printer's environmental specifications are given on environmental specifications. you may also need to recalibrate the printer if you have image quality problems. before recalibrating the printer, you should always use the image quality print to verify that you do actually have image quality problems caused by media advance problems.
click on
this icon to run the animation sequence.
a printable version of the sequence is also available so that you can take the key illustrations to the printer, if it is remote from your computer.
to restore the factory's calibration
if you notice that after the calibration the results are worse than before, return the setting of the media back to the original setting. go to utilities/calibrations/accuracy/ restore factory.
aligning the printheads
the printhead alignment selection causes the printer to align the printheads immediately, or if an image is being printed, as soon as the current print job is finished. the alignment procedure requires a minimum media size of a1/d-size (24 inches).
the printer will automatically perform an alignment when printheads are replaced. you can use this feature if the print quality print indicates an alignment error. refer to image quality problems.
click on
this icon to run the animation sequence.a printable version of the sequence is also available so that you can take the key illustrations to the printer, if it is remote from your computer.
calibrating the color output
color calibration improves color consistency between prints, and from one printer to another. the printer calibrates the color by printing a "calibration strip" and then scanning the strip with a built-in optical sensor.
the printer will then calculate the color correction required, which is then applied to all the subsequent prints. the color calibration is performed whenever a printhead is replaced, for each newly introduced media type that has not previously been calibrated for the current set of printheads. this can be turned off however and a default color correction is used for each of the media that is known.
the menu settings for color calibration are:
go to menu setup/internal rip settings/color calibration. refer to internal rip settings menu to see the menu.