Today’s Question: I was in a workshop and the leader was discussing your Printer Tonal Range Target. I can’t find the Range Target download anywhere on your website. Can you help me please?
Tim’s Quick Answer: My Printer Tonal Range Target image can be used to determine the compensation required to achieve full shadow (and highlight) detail with your specific printer, ink, and paper combination. I have published a brief article about the use of my Printer Tonal Range Target image on the GreyLearning blog here:
http://greylearningblog.com/printer-tonal-range-correction/
More Detail: Even with proper use of color management in your workflow, it is possible that some detail in your image will not be visible in the final print. This generally means that details in the darkest shadow areas of an image will appear entirely black in the print, but it is also possible for detail to be lost in the brightest highlight areas of a print.
Fortunately, it is possible to test the behavior of a specific printer, ink, and paper combination using a printer target image I created. The basic process involves printing the target image with your normal color-managed workflow, and then evaluating the print.
What you want to determine is which tonal value is the darkest (or lightest) before you can no longer see detail. You can then use those values to apply an adjustment to the image before printing. That adjustment will compensate for the behavior of the printer, ink, and paper combination you are using, so you can maximize detail in the final print.
You can download my Printer Tonal Range Target image (and get additional instructions about the use of this image) on the GreyLearning blog here: