HP Designjet 5500mfp User manual

hp cc800ps,
815mfp,
5500mfp,
4200 scanner
color accuracy
in a proofing
workflow
color
reproduction
Color Reproduction
for the HP Large Format Color Copier products family:
cc800ps, 815mfp, 5500mfp and 4200 scanner
Notes about the document
The settings and examples described in this document apply to the HP Large Format Color Copiers family
with HP DesignJet Scan software version 2.6.4 or later.
Please download the latest
Pantone tables from the
technical support section of:
http://www.designjet.hp.com

Color Reproduction for the HP Large Format Color Copiers family: cc800ps, 815mfp, 5500mfp and 4200 scanner 2/2
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCUMENT................................................................... 4
2. COLOR COPYING GUIDELINES ............................................................................ 5
2.1 CHECKPOINTS BEFORE STARTING A JOB ...................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Scanner .....................................................................................................5
2.1.2 Printer........................................................................................................6
2.1.3 Touch Screen..............................................................................................7
2.2 TOUCH SCREEN SETTINGS DECISIONS ........................................................................7
2.3 RUNNING A JOB:OPERATOR SETTINGS.....................................................................10
2.3.1 Scanning ................................................................................................. 11
2.3.1.1 Type of original (1.2).......................................................................... 12
2.3.1.2 Scan Resolution (1.4)..........................................................................17
2.3.2 Printing.................................................................................................... 18
2.3.2.1 Printer and Media Profile (2.1 and 2.2)................................................18
2.3.2.2 Print Quality (2.3), Ink Printer Original (2.4), Enhance gray (2.5)........... 19
2.3.3 Additional operating recommendations ......................................................20
2.4 POST-JOB RECOMMENDATIONS AND TROUBLESHOOTING .............................................22
2.4.1 Post-job recommendations......................................................................... 22
2.4.2 Troubleshooting........................................................................................22
2.4.2.1 The colors of the copy are very different from the original......................23
2.4.2.2 Grays are wrong in a color copied image............................................24
2.4.2.3 The copy is not as shiny as the original ................................................24
2.4.2.4 There is a big difference between right and left sides of the copy............ 24
2.4.2.5 The background results colored when copying newspapers....................24
2.4.2.6 Vertical Bands appear in the copy .......................................................25
2.4.2.7 A B&W image appears greenish (or pinkish, or bluish) .........................25
3. ANNEX............................................................................................................. 26
3.1 COLOR REPRODUCTION:THEORY OF OPERATION .......................................................26
3.1.1 Original................................................................................................... 27
3.1.2 Large Format Scanner ...............................................................................29
3.1.2.1 Light Source.......................................................................................30
3.1.2.2 Paper Movement and glass plate .........................................................30
3.1.2.3 Cameras............................................................................................30
3.1.2.4 Electronics .........................................................................................31
3.1.3 Touch Screen............................................................................................32
3.1.4 Large Format Printer..................................................................................33
3.1.5 Final Image ..............................................................................................34

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3.1.6 Overall system.......................................................................................... 35
3.1.6.1 Color Management ............................................................................ 35
3.1.6.2 Image Enhancement ...........................................................................36
3.2 WHICH COLORS CAN BE REPRODUCED? ...................................................................37
3.3 GUIDELINES TO CREATE OR VALIDATE A MEDIA PROFILE .................................................41
3.3.1 How to create a new media profile............................................................. 41
3.3.2 How to validate an existing media profile ...................................................45
3.4 CREATING A NEW TYPE OF ORIGINAL:COLOR ...........................................................47
3.4.1 Method.................................................................................................... 48
3.4.2 Lightness ..................................................................................................48
3.4.3 Saturation ................................................................................................48
3.4.4 Color Balance...........................................................................................49
3.4.5 Black Enhancement ...................................................................................52
3.4.6 Background cleaning ................................................................................52
3.4.7 Sharpen...................................................................................................52
3.4.8 Blur .........................................................................................................53
3.5 CREATING A NEW TYPE OF ORIGINAL:B&W.............................................................54
3.5.1 Method.................................................................................................... 54
3.5.2 Lightness ..................................................................................................55
3.5.3 Sharpen...................................................................................................55
3.5.4 Blur .........................................................................................................55
3.6 WORKING WITH THICK MEDIA............................................................................... 56
4. GLOSSARY........................................................................................................ 59

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1. INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCUMENT
The aim of this document is to provide customers with a simple guide to getting good
color reproduction when using the HP Large Format Color Copier products. By making
the process of scanning and printing easier to understand, we believe users will be able
to achieve the desired color reproduction results.
This document contains two parts:
•The first part provides a set of guidelines, checkpoints, settings and
troubleshooting cases that will help the owner of an HP Large Format Color
Copier system in the copying experience.
•The second part (Annex) provides an introduction to color copying concepts,
especially those related to the systems under discussion. In addition, the Annex
includes:
oan assessment of which colors can be reproduced,
oa set of guidelines to assist the user in creating or validating media
profiles,
oa set of guidelines to the creation of new types of originals,
oa set of guidelines for reproduction when using thick media originals.
Users who have a good understanding of color copying concepts can use the first part
of this document as a practical guide to perform a color reproduction job and as an aid
to problem solving.
Users who require more detailed information regarding color copying concepts or who
seek assistance for advanced configuration of the system, should instead refer to the
Annex.
This document does not include features that are not color related, such as: rotating,
scaling, nesting, accounting, paneling, tiling, mirroring and alignment. It neither
provides details about scanner and printer maintenance (please refer to the other guides
for questions related to these features).
We hope this document will be useful for you and will help you to succeed in your
business.
Best regards,
HP Designjet printers

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2. COLOR COPYING GUIDELINES
The HP Large Format Color Copiers allow an original image to be reproduced using a
scanner, a printer and a controller (called Touch Screen). The reproduction can be
done:
•as one step (a Copy process);
•in two steps (a Scan process followed by a Print process) with an intermediate
saving of the digitized data into a file.
In this document, we will not differentiate between the two cases: we will describe the
Scan process and the Print process separately. If you are performing a Copy, please
follow both processes consequently.
To reproduce an image accurately, the following steps should be followed:
•Checkpoints before starting a job: you should answer to these points
before starting the job;
•Touch Screen settings decisions: you should take these decisions before
setting up the Touch Screen;
•Running a job: you should configure the Touch Screen according to the
settings decided in the previous step;
•Post-job recommendations and Troubleshooting: you can make some
considerations when the job is finished and, in case the output is not as
expected, you can use this part as a guide to troubleshooting.
2.1 Checkpoints before starting a job
Before starting a color reproduction job, you should answer the following questions to
ensure you are in a correct state to proceed. If any of the answers are negative or
uncertain, please follow the recommended actions.
2
2. .1 1. .1 1 S Sc ca an nn ne er r
Is the glass plate clean and free from dust? If not, or not sure, please
follow the scanner maintenance manual to clean it. Typically, vertical lines
appear in the copy if the glass plate is not clean enough.

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Is the white background element of the loading mechanism
clean? If not, the grays will show a color cast in the copy and the system will
behave erratically (some copies will be acceptable whilst some others won’t).
Has the scanner been on for more than 1 hour? If not the colors may
vary along the scanning.
Does the scanner need to run the scanner maintenance process?
If so, follow the scanner maintenance manual. If unsure, see section 3.1.2.2 of
the Annex. Typically, the scanner maintenance process should be run every
100 scans or once a month, but it depends widely on the type of originals you
are scanning. If you suspect that the scanner may have a problem (colors very
different from the original, grays not neutrals, broken leaned lines), then run
the scanner maintenance process.
Has the original dried-up? If the ink is still fresh, the original may be
damaged and the glass plate of the scanner may be dirtied.
Is the height setting in the loading mechanism adapted to the
thickness of the original? If the original is thicker than 2 mm., please
follow the guidelines in section 3.6 of the Annex and always remember to
handle the original with care.
2
2. .1 1. .2 2 P Pr ri in nt te er r
Is the media properly loaded and with the correct name
appearing in the front panel? If not, change the media name or reload a
new media, or otherwise you risk having a deteriorated Image Quality.
Did you run the Pen Alignment and Color Calibration for the
media loaded and the current set of pens? If not, execute a Pen
Alignment and a Color Calibration as described in section 3.1.4 of the Annex.
Is Color Calibration On? Follow the steps in section 3.1.4 of the Annex.
Has the printer been inactive for more than 6 hours? If so take into
account that the first swaths (ink dropping passes) may show a duller color
(less ink delivered) than the rest. To avoid this, run a small print test from the
printer front panel.
Is there enough ink for the job? You may look at the ink level indication
on the printer front panel. If necessary, replace any empty cartridges; there is
no need to do a Closed Loop Color or Printhead Alignment afterwards.

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2
2. .1 1. .3 3 T To ou uc ch h S Sc cr re ee en n
Do you have a Media Profile adapted to the media currently
loaded into the printer? If not or not known, please follow section 3.3 in
the Annex on how to create or validate the Media Profile. If it is not correct,
the output image may have serious defects: too much ink (dark images,
smearing, bleeding), too little ink (washed out, low contrasted images), wrong
colors.
2.2 Touch Screen settings decisions
You should now decide what kind of scanning, printing or copying you would like to
perform. To do so, you will have to select amongst different options provided in the
Touch Screen.
This section can be used as a reference chart, where you can tick and select options
that later will be used to configure the Touch Screen. The terms in bold are the actual
options’ names that appear in the Touch Screen menus.
1. Scanning options
1.1 Color Mode:
do you want to process the image in Black&White or Color? (even if the
original is a color image the copy could be B&W)
Many settings depend on this decision.
B&W
Color
1.2 Type of content:
what is the content of the original? Select the type of content that matches best
among the followings. This decision will be related to the type of original
defined in the Touch Screen (see section 2.3.1.1). The type of original is
specified between parenthesis (), in black for B&W scanning mode and in
italics for color scanning mode.
Pictorial (B&W Photo; Color Photo )
Cad Drawing with clean white background (Line; Cad )
Text or Line Art with clean white background (Line;
Cad )

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Cad Drawing, Text or Line Art with a background that is difficult to
distinguish from the lines:
Blueprint (blue background) (Blueprint; Cad with advanced
settings)
Sepia background (Sepia; Cad with advanced settings)
Other …..
Document: mixed text (or lines) and pictures (Normal; Brochure )
Map (solid areas and lines) (Normal; Map )
Other: ……..
1.3 Definition of own type of original:
do you need some extra color management or image enhancement applied to
the image? If unsure refer to sections 3.4 and 3.5 of the Annex. Please
remember that if you change any of the predefined values for the settings
below, the final image may not be color consistent with the original or its
image quality could be compromised. The italic items are applicable only
when scanning in Color mode. Default values are 0.
Lightness (-3 to +6): ……..
 Saturation (-6 to +6): …….
Balance. Choose either RGB or CMY values (-6 to +6):
 Red : ………..  Cyan : .….………
 Green : ……...  Magenta : ………
 Blue : ……….  Yellow : ...………
 Background Cleaning (0 to 255): ….
 Black Enhancement (0 to 255): ……
Blur (Color 0 to 12; B&W On/Off): ……..
Sharpen (0 to 6): ………
1.4 Scan Resolution:
Which scanning resolution do you need? High (or Best) gives higher
quality but produces bigger files and has lower throughput; Low (or Fast) gives
higher throughput and smaller files but lower quality. Normal is a compromise
between the previous two cases. If selecting another resolution, it is
recommended to choose a resolution that is a multiple, or sub-multiple, of
600dpi to avoid picture artifacts. See discussion in section 2.3.1.2.
Low (Scan) or Fast (Copy)
Normal
High (Scan) or Best (Copy)
Other: ………….

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2. Printing options
2.1 What is the Printer name in the Touch Screen?
…………………………..
2.2 Which Media Profile are you going to use? (For information see section
3.3 in the Annex)
…………………………..
2.3 Which Print Quality do you need? Best gives higher quality but lower
throughput; Fast gives higher throughput but lower quality. It is recommended
to select Fast for drafts, Normal for non-critical tasks and Best for final
presentations.
Best
Normal
Fast
2.4 Do you know which inking technology has been used to produce the original?
If not known select Non Inkjet:
Inkjet
Non Inkjet (Offset, Traditional Photography, Laser Printer, …)
2.5 (Optional) Do you think you need to enhance grays? If unsure, select No.
For further information, see section 2.3.2.2.
Yes
No

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2.3 Running a job: operator settings
The third step of the process, after having got through the checkpoints in section 2.1
and answered the questions in section 2.2, is to configure the Touch Screen.
Firstly, you should choose the tab corresponding to the action you are about to perform:
•Scan: scan the original and save the digitized image to a file on CD, hard disk,
flexible disk or networked disk. This file may be printed later. We will call this
option Scan to File.
•Print: perform a printout from a previously digitized image file. We will call this
option File to Print.
•Copy:
scan the original and print it immediately (no intermediate file created). In this
case, the settings are a combination of the Scan and Print settings1.
Please beware that different tabs may have settings in common (for example Lightness
in the Copy and Scan tab) and most of them keep their value when you move from one
1If you select Copy you should follow the guidelines to Scan followed by the ones to Print.
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