Can I view the gamut of an Epson 3880 printer by itself, or only with a paper profile?
Asked 8/11/2014
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2 answers
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I’m trying to understand whether my Epson 3880 is the limiting factor for some very vivid flower images, or whether the paper choice is. When soft-proofing with different Epson paper ICC profiles, a significant amount of yellow and blue appears out of gamut.
Is there a way to view the printer’s theoretical gamut on its own, independent of paper? Or is gamut always defined by the printer, ink, and paper together? If so, what’s the best way to compare options and improve printability for highly saturated colors?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
1
But I can't find an easy way to view the gamut of my printer. For paper, I can get ICC profiles.
The gamut is always a combination of a printer and a substrate on which it is printed.
I checked with different ICC profiles in color sync and can see that almost none of the paper from Epson is able to accommodating this image. A significant portion of the image (in yellow or blue) is out of gamut.
Glossier papers tend to have larger gamut, Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster is among the best.
If you have out of gamut colors (can be previewed for example in Photoshop, Lightroom or ColorThink), consider using Perceptive Rendering Intent as opposed to Relative. It should adjust all colors so that none are out of gamut.
Originally by user27944. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27944
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A printer does not really have a standalone gamut. In practice, gamut is the result of the printer/ink/paper combination, so the useful gamut is always tied to a specific paper profile.
That means the ICC profiles you’re checking are the right place to look. If you want the most accurate answer, print a profiling target on the paper you care about and measure it with a spectrometer/colorimeter to build or verify a custom ICC profile. Published ICC profiles for common paper/ink combinations are the next best option.
For improving vivid-color prints, glossy or luster papers usually offer a larger gamut than matte papers. Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster was specifically mentioned as being among the better options.
Also, if many colors are out of gamut, try Perceptual rendering intent instead of Relative Colorimetric when printing or soft-proofing. Perceptual compresses colors to fit the printable gamut more smoothly, which can help with highly saturated flowers.
You can inspect ICC gamut volumes in profiling/viewing software, but remember those gamut tags are not always perfectly accurate.
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