DTF colour management
Colour is the reason a job gets sent back. The RIP's colour suite puts profiling, curves and verification of the printed result in one place.
What ΔE < 2.0 means
ΔE is the distance between two colours measured the way the eye perceives it. Below 2 the difference is small enough that you need them side by side to notice; above 5 anybody sees it.
That is the target of the colour workflow: keeping the customer's brand colour and the printed result inside that margin. And to know whether you are, you measure — you do not look.
Spectrophotometer profiling
The wizard generates the chart, reads it with the spectrophotometer and builds the machine's ICC profile, with a ΔE quality report at the end.
It works with the X-Rite i1Pro 2 in strip mode, and also lets you measure single patches to check one colour against its target value.
The tools
DeltaE Profiler
Four-step profiling wizard: chart, print, read and ICC, with a ΔE report.
Color Checker
Compares the printed colour with the target and gives the ΔE of each, colour-coded.
Black Generation
GCR and black boost control, which is what gives depth to shadows and cleanliness to neutrals.
Curves editor
A per-channel curve on top of linearisation, to fix one tone without rebuilding the profile.
Gamut viewer
The cloud of colour your machine can reproduce, in three dimensions, so you know which colour will not make it.
ICC manager
Import, list and activate profiles per machine, without copying files around by hand.
The input profile counts too
A common failure that is hard to spot: if the RIP assumes everything coming in is sRGB, an Adobe RGB file loses precisely the most saturated greens and cyans — where it shows most.
That is why the colour path is colorimetric end to end, from the input profile through to the printer's space.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a spectrophotometer?
To profile your own machine, yes. The software ships with starting profiles and works with them, but every machine, ink and film behaves differently: your own profile is what brings ΔE down.
Will my i1Pro 2 work?
Yes, that is the instrument it is integrated with, both for single patches and for charts in strip mode.
Can I use an ICC profile I already have?
Yes. Import it from the ICC manager and activate it per machine profile.
Can I fix a single colour without rebuilding the profile?
Yes, that is what the curves editor is for: it acts per channel on top of linearisation.