jwreed50 Loc: Manassas, VA

For those of you who do your own printing, does anyone still create their own printer/paper profiles, or do you just download the ICC profile from the paper manufacturer?

For those who download the ICC profiles from the manufacturer, do you find them to be fairly accurate for your printer?

Electric Gnome Loc: Norwich UK

I use x-rite i1 studio and find it really good and get great prints that look exactly as they do on screen. I waste absolutely no ink or paper on trial and error. I have a canon printer and the ICC profiles I have downloaded are also very good, but on occasion I have had trouble finding a profile and the x-rite system comes in to its own. You can also calibrate your screen, projector etc with the same bit of kit.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Right On!

Photec

I have and use the Xrite Colormunki and found it to be excellent. I profile both of my monitors and the Epson Stylus Pro 4800 printer. I usually print most of my images on Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster with my custom ICC profile, and sometime use other papers as well. I have also tested the results of Epson ICC profiles and have compared them to my own profiles and can not see any differences on my personal photo profile. I always use my own profiles, but also check my profile against Epson's from time to time to see if they have updated theirs. This extra testing also runs some ink thru the heads to keep everything running with a minimum of head cleanings.

MikeT9

With the right equipment you can produce your own custom ICC profile but this tends to be a lot more expensive than the basic monitor profiling equipment.
Yes, you can download ICC profiles from your printer paper suppliers but these will be generic, based on their own setup and may not match your printer setup which may then lead to differences in results.
The other way is for you to supply your printer paper supplier with a print of a test image, which they will supply or specify and send them the details of paper, ink and some basic settings used and they will supply a custom ICC profile based on your printer setup. In my experience so long as you are using their paper and the ink is OEM or ink supplied by them then the profile is foc. If not they make a nominal charge. This way you get a profile customised to your individual printer rather than a generic one and gives the best results for next to no cost.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

1. Download from manufacturer.
2. Spot on.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I use an Epson P800 and paper from Red River Paper. I use icc profiles from the Red River site with great results. Please read the color information on the Red River Paper site before printing. Best of luck.

jefflane

I had had good luck using the profiles from Epson. However, I discovered a couple of years ago, that IT Supplies (previously Atlex) will send you targets. You can print them with your printer on the specified paper, send them the prints, and they will send you a custom ICC profile for that paper for your specific printer. No charge. Their paper and ink prices are also very good.

jwreed50 Loc: Manassas, VA

Thanks for the feedback folks.