Gmg Productionsuite Qsg

Transcript

GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide Imprint © 2011-2013 GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG GMG GmbH & Co. KG Moempelgarder Weg 10 72072 Tuebingen Germany This documentation and described products are subject to change without notice. GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG makes no guaranty as to the accuracy of any and all information and procedures described in this documentation. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG or the author be liable for any special, incidental, direct, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, injuries, damages for data loss, loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software or this documentation or the provision of or failure to provide Support Services, even if GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Reprinting and copying, as well as other duplication including excerpts of this document, are prohibited without the written permission of GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG. This also applies to electronic copies. GMG, the GMG Logo, and GMG product names and logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks owned by GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG. All brand names and trademarks are the property of the respective owner and are expressly recognized as such. If brand names, trademarks, or other material are used without the permission of the respective owners, we request appropriate notification. We will immediately stop use of said items. PANTONE® colors displayed in the software application or in the user documentation may not match PANTONE identified standards. Consult current PANTONE color publications for accurate color. PANTONE®, PANTONE® Goe™ and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc., © Pantone, Inc., 2007. Pantone, Inc. is the copyright owner of color data and/or software which are licensed to GMG Color GmbH & Co. KG to distribute for use only in combination with GMG ProductionSuite, GMG ColorServer, GMG InkOptimizer, GMG OpenColor, GMG ColorProof, GMG DotProof® and GMG FlexoProof. PANTONE color data and/or software shall not be copied onto another medium or hard disk unless as part of the licensed products. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. X-Rite is a registered trademark of X-Rite, Incorporated. HP, Hewlett-Packard, and Designjet are registered trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Company. Epson, Epson Stylus, and Epson Stylus Pro are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. UltraChrome is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. Nexus is a trademark of Esko. Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. Last update of this documentation: 02.05.2013 This documentation refers to the GMG software version No. 2.0. GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide 1. First Use 5 1.1 About the Quick Start Guide 5 1.2 Welcome to GMG ProductionSuite 5 1.3 System Requirements 6 1.4 Installation 6 1.4.1 Installation Overview 6 1.4.2 Installing the Software 7 1.4.3 Activating Licenses 7 2. Getting Started 2.1 9 Printing with GMG ProductionSuite—How Does It Work? 9 2.2 Setting up a Printer in the RIP 9 2.3 Defining the Media Size in the RIP 10 2.4 Setting up Color Management Preferences 11 3. Creating a Printer-Media-Mode (PMM) 12 3.1 Defining the PMM Settings 12 3.2 Defining the Ink Splitting 13 3.3 Evaluating the Ink Restriction 13 3.4 Calculating the Printer Color Space 14 Finishing the PMM 15 3.5 4. How to Use PMMs 16 4.1 Managing PMMs in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler 16 4.2 Selecting and Using PMMs in the Editor 16 4.3 Setting up a Queue in the RIP 17 5. About Spot Colors 5.1 Tuning Spot Colors 18 18 3 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide 1. First Use 1.1 About the Quick Start Guide The Quick Start Guide helps you get to know GMG ProductionSuite. In this tutorial, you will learn to do the following: Install the software Activate your license(s) Set up a printer in the RIP Define the color management for your printer and media Tune spot colors Tip The RIP and Editor module contain Help documents available via the Help menu providing you with all important information on the software and its basic features. The GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler Create PMM and Recalibrate wizards have supportive info texts which can be brought up by clicking the Help button on a page ( ). 1.2 Welcome to GMG ProductionSuite GMG ProductionSuite is the most complete and comprehensive solution for the wide format printing market. It targets both quality-oriented users as well as those who put strong emphasis on maximum productivity. United in a single application, GMG offers the entire range of functions required in a modern wide-format production environment, comprising the modules Editor, RIP, SmartProfiler, and PrintStation. The job preparation can be done in the Editor, which provides highly professional job preparation tools, and can be installed separately on a Mac, so that all files can be prepared and edited in a familiar environment. To keep the printers running at top capacity, the solution includes the easy-to-use calibration software SmartProfiler. The RIP runs in the background, entirely independent of the work steps in the Editor. Print jobs requiring full computing power can thus be prepared while others are being processed in the RIP, thus streamlining the production. Fig. 1 Interplay of the GMG ProductionSuite modules. 5 / 18 1. First Use A flexible licensing model permits custom installation: From a simple configuration on one computer with only one RIP, one Editor, and functions for driving one or two output devices, all the way to an extensive decentralized configuration with several editors that can send jobs to over ten printers and cutters. GMG ProductionSuite advantages: One integrated solution to cover pre-press, print and finishing Standardized and streamlined pre-press workflow, saving up to 50% in job preparation time Superior color management resulting in predictable, repeatable high quality colors, equal on all devices Full automation reducing time spent per job, reducing errors, reducing costs Repeatability of print jobs guarantees constant quality and customer satisfaction Perfect spot color matching Remote calibration and profiling right next to the machine 1.3 System Requirements Our recommendations and minimum system requirements are meant to provide general guidelines for running GMG ProductionSuite. We recommend systems that meet or exceed the following requirements. Mac OS® 10.5.0 - 10.8.x Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Memory: 4 GB Hard Disk: SATA 160 GB DVD-ROM drive Windows® XP Professional SP2, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit) Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 650, 3.2 GHz (no AMD support) Memory: 4 GB Hard Disk: SATA 160 GB DVD-ROM drive Network interface: Integrated Gigabit LAN I/O port: USB 2.0 Maximum processing performance For maximum processing performance, we recommend the following computer configuration. Processing power: 4 CPU cores (2 GHz or higher) Memory: fast HDD RAID or SSD with 6-8 GB RAM When using a RAID system, that is, combining separate hard disk drives into a system, we recommend to divide the data transfer according to the following scheme. Disk drive for GMG ProductionSuite + RAID for Work Folder (RIP > Edit menu: Preferences) 1.4 Installation 1.4.1 Installation Overview GMG ProductionSuite comes with several components you can select in the feature list of the installation wizard. All components can either be installed on one system and used just locally or distributed across several computers, allowing for a networked, but centrally controllable cross-platform production solution. 6 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide Feature/Component Description GMG ProductionSuite Editor Full-fledged editor with PDF engine for the job preparation. In the Editor, you can set up and edit production jobs and define color settings and finishing procedures such as grommets or contour cutting. You can monitor every single detail of the end result prior to actual printing and edit your jobs with just a few mouse clicks. GMG ProductionSuite RIP File interpretation and rasterization module. Though the RIP is the center of the system, it can run in the background, as it primarily represents the connected printers or cutters. To avoid productivity and stability issues in the rip processing, we recommend no more than three printers running per one RIP instance. GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler Calibration and profiling wizard ensuring reproducible colors and a standardized print production. Creates and manages printer-media-print mode combinations (PMMs) which are used in the Editor and RIP module for the color management. SmartProfiler can also be installed as a client component on a different computer for information exchange with GMG ProductionSuite via your local network. GMG ProductionSuite PrintStation Print controller for pre-ripped jobs providing basic job placement functionalities such as nesting, multicopy prints, and a visual overview of all jobs which are ready to be printed. 1.4.2 Installing the Software GMG ProductionSuite comes with cross-platform installers for all components—there is one installer for Mac OS X and one installer for Windows. Tip A more detailed installation instruction and information on printer drivers can be found in the ProductionSuite RIP Help (Help menu > Help). 1. You can install GMG ProductionSuite directly from the DVD. If you downloaded the program, extract all compressed files and double-click the executable file to start the installation. 2. Follow the instructions of the installation wizard. 3. Optional: Under Setup Type, you can select the Custom mode to decide which component(s) you want to install on your PC or Mac or to define the installation path. (Per default, all components except PrintStation will be installed.) 4. Please wait while the installer is running. The installer needs to extract the installation package, install the program, and copy application data to the hard disk. These actions may take a while. 5. When the installation is complete, click the Finish button to exit the wizard. 1.4.3 Activating Licenses To license GMG ProductionSuite, you will need to: Create a user account on "productionsuite.gmgcolor.com". Enter the activation code. Activate the license(s) in the software. How to register and activate a GMG ProductionSuite license 1. Click on the following link and create a user account: productionsuite.gmgcolor.com. 2. Activate the user account by following the instructions in the welcome e-mail. 3. After successfully activating the user account, log in to your account and click on the Register Your License link. A registration dialog is displayed. 4. Enter the 12-digit activation code from the license voucher and click the Register button. 5. Start GMG ProductionSuite RIP. 7 / 18 1. First Use 6. On the Help menu, click License Info. The License Info dialog is displayed. 7. Click the Activate button. An activation dialog is displayed. 8. Enter the 12-digit activation code from the license voucher and click the OK button. The License Info dialog shows the activated license options. The software is now ready to use. 8 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide 2. Getting Started 2.1 Printing with GMG ProductionSuite—How Does It Work? Working with fixed combinations of printer, media, and (print) mode (PMMs) which are characterized by a printer calibration and color profiles, the software sets up your printer for an optimum output on the used print media, maximizing the color accuracy and print quality. PMMs are created as color management bases to set up automated file processing queues in the RIP or jobs in the Editor. If no profile is available in a PMM to print a specific job, the profile is calculated onthe-fly, using the file output intent as the reference color space. Let's find out where and how to use PMMs. Try to follow the basic steps in the software. If you get lost in one of the steps or just want more information, click on the respective See also link. Step What to do How to do it See also 1 Set up your printer Start the RIP module and use the File menu to set up a new printer. Select your "Setting up a printer from the drop-down list and define the required settings. Printer in the RIP" on page 9 2 Connect a measuring device Start GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler and click on the Preferences button on the toolbar. On the Measuring Device Settings tab, select the measuring device you want to use for profiling your printer. 3 Create a PMM In GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler, select the printer you set up. Click on the Create PMM button on the toolbar to start the profiling wizard which will guide you through the process step by step. 4 Print your file with Now that the printer is set up with a PMM, you can load the file you want to the created PMM print via the Editor (File menu > Open). Select the created PMM and the profile variant in the Quick Production bar directly above the displayed file preview. Submit the job to the Layout tool (File menu > Submit Job) for final adjustments. Click the Submit button in the top right corner to send the job to the RIP for printing. "Creating a Printer-MediaMode (PMM)" on page 12 "Selecting and Using PMMs in the Editor" on page 16 "Setting up a Queue in the RIP" on page 17 2.2 Setting up a Printer in the RIP In the RIP component of GMG ProductionSuite, you can set up your printers and cutting devices. Every output device is represented by a separate window displayed on the main page. For performance reasons, we recommend no more than three printers per RIP instance. Tip Some printers have special needs for connecting. For further information, please click: http://productionsuite.gmgcolor.com/drivers.asp. How to set up a new printer 1. Start GMG ProductionSuite RIP. 2. On the File menu, point to Printer and select New. The Properties dialog box is displayed. 3. Enter a Name for the printer. (The name helps you to easily identify the printer later on, especially if you have two or more printers of the same model.) 4. Select the Printer Manufacturer and Model from the drop-down list. 9 / 18 2. Getting Started 5. Define the Connection settings: For USB connections, select a printer Port. For TCP/IP connections, enter the IP address of the printer. Instead of driving the printer directly from the RIP, you can alternatively choose a ROOM Queue folder (Rip Once Output More), where the ripped files will be placed, and then define the number of copies, nesting, positioning and so on in GMG ProductionSuite PrintStation. 6. Click OK to confirm your choice. The printer is displayed in the main view. 2.3 Defining the Media Size in the RIP The next step after setting up a printer is to define the size of the media you are using with the printer. This way, all test charts you need to print for creating a PMM will be automatically rotated and placed so to ensure they optimally fit on the media. How to define the media size 1. On the File menu, point to Printer, and then click Change Media. The Change Media dialog box is displayed. 2. From the Media Size list, select the width of the media. If you want to use a custom width and length, select Custom Size and enter the dimensions into the text boxes. 3. Click OK to confirm your choice. Fig. 2 Defining the size of the media loaded in the printer. 10 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide 2.4 Setting up Color Management Preferences Fig. 3 Selecting color management defaults in GMG ProductionSuite Editor. Though the color management is primarily based on PMMs, it is recommended to define general preferences for your files in GMG ProductionSuite Editor (Edit menu > Preferences). On the Standard tab, you can select the Print Standard you mostly use (for example ISO Coated v2 or GRACol). Selecting a Print Standard is a useful color management default for files that do not contain any output intent (reference profile). In this case, the selected Print Standard is assigned to the file as output intent when it is opened. If you also activate the option Use PDF/X Output Intent, the embedded output intent of the PDF is used as reference profile instead of the selected Print Standard. The PDF is first converted to the color space of the output intent (including all transparency and overprint effects) and then printed according to the selected profile variant of the PMM (see "Selecting and Using PMMs in the Editor"). Example: 1. Select ISO Coated v2 as Print Standard. 2. Activate the option Use PDF/X Output Intent. 3. Load a PDF with the output intent ISO Uncoated Yellowish. What happens? First, the software checks whether the PDF has an output intent or not. As the PDF in this case does have an output intent (ISO Uncoated Yellowish), the Print Standard does not apply and the software uses the embedded Output Intent of the file. On the Output tab (Window menu > Output), the Output Intent is visible. You can decide wether you want to calculate a profile variant for this Output Intent or if you want to change the reference profile to e.g. ISO Coated V2 (on the Output tab). Preview settings Note If you choose No Softproof as Preview option, the Input/Output palette (Window menu > Input/Output) and the Generate White tool (Extra menu > Generate White) will not be available. For a color accurate Preview, you can either select the Print Standard or the Printer Output. Using PMMs (with GMG DeviceLink profiles), it is recommended to select the option Printer Output, as this will render a preview based on the created DeviceLink profiles. 11 / 18 3. Creating a Printer-Media-Mode (PMM) 3. Creating a Printer-Media-Mode (PMM) Note Per default, GMG ProductionSuite is set to create PMMs based on MX DeviceLink profiles. If you want to create PMMs with ICC profiles, you need to switch the Profile Type in the Preferences of SmartProfiler. Please note that creating a PMM with ICC profiles slightly deviates from the procedure described in this chapter. The following checklist gives you a good overview on all required and recommended steps involved in creating a PMM. Please follow the See also links for detailed instructions safely guiding you through the process. Creating a new PMM—Checklist Step What to do How to do it 1 Define the PMM Settings Start GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler and click the Create PMM but- "Defining the PMM Setton on the toolbar. Define the PMM Settings by selecting the printer, tings" on page 12 media and print settings and entering a name for the PMM. 2 Define the Ink Restriction Print and measure a linearization test chart to determine the ideal balance of your inks. You can manually fine-tune the automatically calculated ink splitting. Print an ink limit test chart for visual control and modify the ink amount if you are not satisfied with the test print. 3 Measure the printer color The printer color space is a fingerprint of the PMM you selected. To determine the printer color space of your PMM, you need to print and space measure a test chart. 4 Print a quality check test document Optional step: Select a reference color space such as ISO Coated v2 (39L) and print a test document to check if you are satisfied with the print quality. 5 Upload PMM to RIP Accept the PMM or go back and change settings to edit the PMM. Accept and upload the PMM to the RIP by clicking the Finish button. See also "Defining the Ink Splitting" on page 13 "Evaluating the Ink Restriction" on page 13 "Calculating the Printer Color Space" on page 14 "Finishing the PMM" on page 15 3.1 Defining the PMM Settings In GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler, click the Create PMM button on the toolbar to start the wizard for creating a new PMM with a printer calibration for a specific printer, media and print mode. Fig. 4 Starting the Create PMM wizard in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. 12 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide How to create a New PMM—PMM Settings 1. Start GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. 2. Click the Create PMM button. The Create PMM wizard is started. 3. Select the printer you want to profile. 4. Select the media name or type in a new one. 5. Click the Next button. 6. Define the print mode settings, for example the resolution you want to print with. (The print settings are directly read from the printer driver of the printer manufacturer. For further information on the print settings, please see the manual provided by the printer manufacturer.) 7. Enter a name for the PMM. 8. Click Next to start profiling. Tip The GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler Create PMM and Recalibrate wizards have supportive info texts which can be brought up by clicking the Help button on a page ( ). 3.2 Defining the Ink Splitting Fig. 5 Defining the ink splitting and single ink limits. After printing and measuring the linearization test chart, GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler calculates optimal ink restriction values for your printer, media type, and print mode. For printers with light inks, you can select a quality level. The quality levels have been designed to meet specific requirements and include preset values for the amount of light ink printed in solids, the total amount of light inks, the start of the dark inks and the end of the light inks. You will notice how the start of the dark inks below the quality level list changes with each choice. 3.3 Evaluating the Ink Restriction A visual check of the printed test chart allows confirming or modifying the calculated total ink limit on the Evaluate page. If you see any effects of too much ink such as bleeding or gloss banding on the test chart, reduce the ink limit. If you notice undesired effects in the single ink gradations, it can also be necessary to go back and modify the ink splitting settings in the previous step. 13 / 18 3. Creating a Printer-Media-Mode (PMM) How do I evaluate the test chart? Fig. 6 Evaluating the ink gradations. First examine the ink gradations (Visual Gradation Check). The gradations should be printed homogeneously across the test chart. If you notice overinking, breaks or raster artifacts, it is rather recommended to go back and modify the ink splitting settings of the previous step instead of changing the total ink limit. After changing the settings, print and evaluate the test chart again until the results are acceptable. Fig. 7 Evaluating the total ink limit. Then examine the patches on the lower part of the chart (Visual Ink Limit Check). Enter the highest Total Ink Limit value not showing overinking effects to keep the printer color space as large as possible. Tip If you notice an early overinking in a particular area, for example, blue, countercheck the respective single gradations to find out which ink causes the problem (in our example: Cyan or Magenta). 3.4 Calculating the Printer Color Space The printer color space is a fingerprint of the printer-media-mode you selected and forms the calculation basis for creating printer calibrations and color profiles. To create this fingerprint, you need to print and measure a specific test chart. 14 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide 3.5 Finishing the PMM Fig. 8 Finishing the PMM creation. After calculating the printer color space or after printing the quality check, you can check the PMM summary and upload the PMM to the RIP. With the upload of the files, your PMM is ready to use and can be viewed in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. For using the PMM in the Editor and RIP components, please see the following chapters. 15 / 18 4. How to Use PMMs 4. How to Use PMMs 4.1 Managing PMMs in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler Finished and unfinished PMMs are equally stored and listed in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. Unfinished PMMs are marked with a blue circle. You can rename the created PMMs, assign already created PMMs to other media, edit spot colors, and import / export PMMs. The profile variants created for the respective PMM are listed under Variants and are marked by an MX prefix. Fig. 9 Overview on all PMMs in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. Note Unfinished PMMs are locally saved and can only be seen and edited on the computer they have been started. 4.2 Selecting and Using PMMs in the Editor You can print from the Editor to any configured PMM without pre-configuring queues in the RIP. To send a job to a printer, you need to select a PMM and a profile variant (2) on the Quick Production bar (1). Fig. 10 Selecting a PMM in the Editor. Depending on the selected PMM and the reference color space, you can choose between different profile variants for special requirements. The reference color space can be viewed on the Output tab (Window menu > Output). The following table lists all profile variants and delivers a short description. 16 / 18 GMG ProductionSuite Quick Start Guide Profile variants Profile variants Input color space Short description Default CMYK / RGB Standard profiling variant, covering most requirements. EcoSave CMYK / RGB In EcoSave mode, GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler calculates profiles with optimized TAC and UCR/GCR settings leading to an ink save in between 10– 25%. Validation Print CMYK Adapts the white point of the print media creating a profile with a relative colorimetric gamut mapping strategy. In–gamut colors are color–accurately reproduced and out–of–gamut colors are clipped. Note: Validation prints are prints which are produced directly from digital data early in the production chain representative of the concept for the final product. Validation print requirements are specified in the ISO 12647–8 standard. Pure Colors CMYK The color purity can be an important issue, for example, when dealing with graphical objects with deep saturated colors which after a conversion may print slightly different (though color accurate). With Pure Colors, the purity of Magenta, Yellow and Reds is preserved and not "contaminated" with other colors. 4.3 Setting up a Queue in the RIP Alternatively to printing single jobs in the Editor, you can create automated file processing queues (with a hotfolder) in the RIP. To be able to create a queue, you need a PMM for your printer. Each printer (1) in GMG ProductionSuite RIP can have several file processing queues (2). Fig. 11 Setting up a printer with automated file processing queues in GMG ProductionSuite RIP. On the Layout tab of the Queue Properties, you can add a Job Label to include job-specific information, for example which color profile has been used, or you can print a job control strip. To assemble your own job labels, use the Job Label dialog in the File menu (> Generate Job Label). On the Input tab (3), you can set up the color management settings. These settings will be used when the input files are directly added to the queue. On the Output tab, you can select the media and the print mode for your printer. Furthermore, you can define the spot color handling by selecting the spot color libraries you want to apply in the queue. Tip For detailed information on the queue configuration, please see the ProductionSuite RIP Help (> Help menu). 17 / 18 5. About Spot Colors 5. About Spot Colors All spot colors are stored in spot color libraries which provide the Lab target values. These Lab target values are used to calculate the CMYK output values on-the-fly for the printer color space of the used PMM. For flexibility and special needs, you also have the possibility to edit spot colors. You can adjust the opacity and the Lab values. Furthermore, you can tune spot colors to improve the visual match by means of printing a visual chart with several variations of a selected spot color and then decide which patch fits best. 5.1 Tuning Spot Colors Spot colors can be manually fine-tuned to meet special requirements or to improve the visual match. The spot color tuning is performed by means of a visual chart which displays several variations of a selected spot color. After printing the chart, you can decide which patch fits best, select the patch and have the software adjust the spot color values automatically. Fig. 12 Printing a spot color tuning chart in GMG ProductionSuite SmartProfiler. How to tune a spot color 1. Select a spot color from the Spot color pane and click the Tune button. 2. Move the slider from Fine to Coarse to increase the patch variations. 3. Click Print to print the displayed patches. A job named "SpotColors" is added to the print queue. 4. Check the printed patches and decide which patch matches your reference spot color best. 5. Select this patch on the displayed patch field and click OK. The values of the spot color are automatically updated. 6. Click the Save button on the toolbar above the Spot color pane to submit the changes. Tip When tuning spot colors for a PMM with White ink, you can also apply White to the tuning chart with the same methods available in the Generate White dialog of the Editor. 18 / 18