In recent years, the sales of flatbed printers have been the champion of the printer market, and even laser printers with the highest speed and text printing quality cannot compete with them. This is, of course, due to the fact that inkjet printers can provide high-quality colour printing at lower prices.
If users want to get as close to the photo-level and “authentic” printing effect as possible, in addition to purchasing higher-grade inkjet printers and related accessories such as ink cartridges and paper, they must also pay attention to printers, monitors, scanners, and Application software’s colour management system settings. To this end, we might as well listen to the views of major inkjet printer manufacturers.
HP: The best choice is sRGB
sRGB is a colour management system developed by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard for two years. It was launched at the same time as the PhotoREt II technology of HP inkjet printers. ICM (Image Colour Management) 1.0 and 2.0 are the built-in colour management systems of Windows 95 and 9,8 respectively.
According to HP, the effect of ICM is not as obvious as that of sRGB. After using sRGB, the colour of the monitor and the color inkjet printer are relatively consistent. HP’s new printers and scanners have already made sRGB settings after installing the drivers, and users do not need to adjust them themselves.
However, sRGB needs the cooperation and support of hardware, operating systems, and application software to be effective. Therefore, it is not enough to have a colour inkjet printer that supports sRGB. If it is used with Windows 95, it still cannot achieve the effect of sRGB (because Windows 95 does not support sRGB). This also happens to application software.
Therefore, HP recommends that in order to achieve a more consistent colour effect for colour printers, scanners, and monitors, in addition to the hardware itself supporting sRGB, it should also cooperate with Windows 98 and newer application software, such as Adobe Photoshop 5.0 or above, CorelDraw 8.0 or above, Microsoft Picture It 99 or above, etc.
As for users of HP inkjet printers, if you use monitors of individual brands such as Sony, NEC, and Hitachi, you should select Trinitron Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm, NEC Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm when setting in Windows 98, Hitachi Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm, or sRGB Colour Space Profile.icm? HP said that from their standpoint, users would be advised to choose the sRGB Colour Space Profile.icm.
Epson: Choose as needed
For Epson, the colour inkjet printers launched in the past two years already support the ICM colour management system. The latest Stylus Photo 870 supports both ICM and sRGB, as well as Epson’s own colour management technology – PhotoEnhance4.
PhotoEnhance4 is mainly designed to allow users to easily create special image effects, including effects such as nostalgia, oil painting, parchment, and soft focus. Users can use it with just one click. In addition, it has a “magic trimming function” designed to improve the quality of low-resolution pictures – Digital Camera Correction (Digital Camera Correction), which can slightly enlarge the small low-resolution pictures on the Internet before printing. Of course, if the resolution of the photo is high enough, the contrast, tone, and brightness are ideal, and the user does not need any special effects, then there is no need to use the PhotoEnhance4 function.
Taking the same print sample as an example, the images printed by Epson’s own colour management technology, or ICM, sRGB, etc., sometimes have slight differences. So how should users choose? Epson said it is difficult to generalise which colour management technology is best and should be based on user requirements. Because the print closest to the display is not necessarily the best, and vice versa, it is not necessarily possible to have both at the same time. The reality may be that one colour management technology provides a print that is closer to the display, while another colour management technology provides a better print (such as higher contrast, etc.). Users can choose according to their own requirements.
As for Epson’s scanners, Epson’s own colour management technology is used. When setting up Windows 98, users of Sony, NEC, and Hitachi should select the ICM files of Trinitron, NEC, and Hitachi, respectively. Users of other brands can choose the sRGB Colour Space Profile.icm.
How to set up a colour management system？
Based on the opinions of the above parties, computer users should pay attention to the following points:
1. Select hardware that supports ICM (preferably ICM 2.0) or sRGB, including printers, monitors, scanners, etc.
2. Use Windows 98 and newer application software to support ICM or sRGB as much as possible.
3. In Windows 98, when setting the colour management settings associated with the monitor, Sony and Mitsubishi users should choose “Trinitron Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm”; while NEC should choose “NEC Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm”; Hitachi chooses “Hitachi Compatible 9300K G2.2.icm”; users of other brands should choose “sRGB Colour Space Profile.icm”.
4. Users of Sony and Mitsubishi monitors should adjust the Colour Temperature to 9300K.
Other considerations
1. If the print head is on the ink tank, a test page should be printed (selected in the driver) after each replacement of the ink tank, and the number should be entered in the driver for correction. Otherwise, the printed lines may not be straight.
2. Some inkjet printers, such as HP DeskJet 970Cx, have the function of Automatic Cartridge Alignment after replacing the ink tank, which can automatically print a test page for calibration without inputting any numbers. Because this type of printer shoots some light onto the paper and bounces the light back, it corrects itself automatically. Therefore, be sure to use brand-new white paper to print the test page.
3. Epson’s colour inkjet printers use permanent print heads, which do not need to be calibrated after replacing the ink tank. But in terms of maintenance, you should be more careful, and you should perform “Nozzle Check” (selected in the driver) every two to four weeks to see if the printed test page is “broken”. If so, the print head should be cleaned (selected in the driver). If the printing effect is still unsatisfactory after cleaning once, you can repeat the above steps.
4. The print heads of other brands of colour inkjet printers are mostly on the ink cartridges. If you feel that the printing effect is unacceptable, you can replace it with a new one.
5. When the printer is not in use, the paper should not be exposed for a long time. Otherwise, the print head will collect dust as it passes over the paper, blocking it. This particularly affects Epson’s colour inkjet printers, which use permanent printheads.
6. It is best to use the original ink because the alternative inks introduced by other manufacturers are more likely to cause the print head to block, which has the greatest impact on Epson colour inkjet printers that use permanent print heads. No
7. If you don’t mind the price, it is best to use the original special printing paper because the special paper developed by some manufacturers is not suitable for all brands of colour inkjet printers.
8. Do not take out the ink tank casually. If it is really necessary, it should also be stored in a plastic box to prevent the ink from drying out.
9. Avoid crumpled paper as it is easier to jam. If you do encounter it, you should turn off the printer first and then try to remove the paper, so as not to damage the motor that feeds the paper.
10. Since the inkjet printer is a line printer, the data transmission speed is not as high as that of the laser printer.
Therefore, many users think that the USB interface only affects the startup time of the inkjet printer, and once the printing starts, the USB does not help to improve the printing speed. Actually, this is not necessarily the case. Taking HP DeskJet 970Cxi as an example, if you print a large file, the speed is obviously faster and smoother when using the USB interface; while when using the parallel interface, the ink cartridge will “stay” at one end after completing a round-trip printing. Therefore, if the printer has a USB interface, it is, of course, better to use a USB connection than a parallel port.
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