Black Point Architect

Black Point Architect

The Ergosoft Black Point Architect lets you alter the black value of your profile after the profile has been created. By either visually identifying a suitable black value from a printed chart or manually entering a desired CMYK value for your black point, you have absolute control over your black values and how they are printed.                    


Video Tutorial


Requirements

In order to use the Black Point Architect feature, you will need:

A Print Environment with density linearization and a printer profile created in ColorGPS.

A saved ColorGPS session (.cpd) for the printer profile, saved after measuring the color chart.

The printer for which the profile was created is working condition and ready to print.

Select Black Value Visually

With this method, we’ll print out a chart of several black values and visually select the black value we want to use for our profile.

To get started, select the Print Environment containing the profile you want to adjust in the JobComposer and start ColorGPS. In ColorGPS, load the .cpd file, then go to Options > Black Point Architect.

With the dialog open, click Select chart for printing. You’ll be able to choose from three different types of black point guide charts:

Black_Point_Guide_A_large.gds

Black_Point_Guide_A_small.gds

Black_Point_Guide_A_wide.gds

The main difference between the three is the size of the individual black color patches, so simply choose the one that best suits you.

When you have selected a chart, switch over to the JobComposer (you can leave the Black Point Architect and ColorGPS open), and you’ll find a new Job with the chart you selected. Print the chart using your regular print workflow. Take the chart and have a look at the different patches to identify which black value you like best.

In the Black Point Architect window, go to the drop-down menu Patch ID for black and enter the ID for the black patch you want to use.

You may also select a rendering intent to be applied to that black at this point. When you are done, click Ok to confirm your selection. Then click Next in ColorGPS to get to the Color Settings window. Click the Generate Profile button to generate a new profile with the new black point.

Note that the profile will overwrite the existing one, so you might want to make a backup before clicking generate if you want to keep the original state.

Enter Black Value Manually (User Defined Black)

In some cases, you might already have a specific value in mind for your black tone. If you have a CMYK value, you can enter it directly into the Black Point Architect to have it set black to that value.

To get started, select the Print Environment containing the profile you want to adjust in the JobComposer and start ColorGPS. In ColorGPS, load the .cpd file, then go to Options > Black Point Architect.

With the dialog open, select User-defined black and enter your CMYK value (in 0-100 scale) separated by spaces. Alternatively, you can click on the ... button on the right side and use the sliders to configure the CMYK value.

You may also select a rendering intent to be applied to that black at this point. When you are done, click Ok to confirm your selection. Then click Next in ColorGPS to get to the Color Settings window. Click the Generate Profile button to generate a new profile with the new black point.

Note that the profile will overwrite the existing one, so you might want to make a backup before clicking generate if you want to keep the original state.


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