InkRIP — colour & ICC concepts (learning depth)
InkRIP-only. Software learning only. Default stance until Eric says otherwise: stay on factory / bundled profiles — do not run full ink-limit → linearisation → custom ICC on Monitor-PC yet.
Why colour looks “wrong” after print
Monitors use light (RGB, additive). Printers use ink (CMYK + optional White / Varnish / spot, subtractive). Vibrant on-screen colours often print duller unless colour-managed. InkRIP’s job includes translating design colour into ink for the selected driver / media.
Training: RGB vs CMYK.
Practical habits (AM design-practices framing)
- Prefer designing for print in CMYK when the artwork is print-bound; converting RGB→CMYK later is possible but often not identical to what you saw.
- Screen vs print calibration is a deep topic — skip deep calibration until Eric asks.
- Extra channels (White / Varnish / spot) are InkRIP colour-channel work — see create-spot-color / spot illustration manuals under
sources/manuals/inkrip/.
What an ICC profile is
ICC = International Color Consortium. Think of a profile as a translation dictionary between devices so colour stays consistent from capture → screen → printer.
Pipeline (AM Color Manager Part 1):
- Input — camera/scanner attaches an input profile.
- PCS (Profile Connection Space, often CIE Lab / XYZ) — device-independent hub.
- Output — printer output profile maps PCS → ink amounts for that printer + ink + media.
Four profile types (training)
| Type | Role |
|---|---|
| Input | How scanners/cameras see colour. |
| Display | How monitors show colour (monitor calibration). |
| Output | Printer capabilities — usually ink + media specific. Main focus for InkRIP Color Manager. |
| Working space | Idealised edit spaces (e.g. sRGB, Adobe RGB) — not tied to one device. |
Why care: brand colour consistency; soft-proof before wasting ink; gamut mapping when a colour is out of printer range.
Training: About ICC profiles · index ICC Color Manager.
Generic (factory) vs custom profiles
| Factory / generic | Custom | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Ships with product / InkRIP Colour Profiles packages on cncu | Built with spectro + charts for this machine + ink + media |
| Good for | Learning, first jobs, many shops | Critical brand colour / problem media |
| Assumes | Every unit is identical (often not true) | Measured reality of this setup |
Learning rule for Vector now: use factory / default profiles attached to the InkRIP printer driver / Colour Profiles leftovers. Full custom ICC series (ink limit, linearisation, spectro) waits until Eric names printer + media + whether a spectrophotometer is available.
Manual deepeners (boxed): Create-ICC-Profile-by-InkRIP-Basic-Steps.pdf under T:\V\sources\manuals\inkrip\ / cncu; Color Manager Parts 2–11 on softwaretraining (spectrophotometer, ink limit, linearisation, import/export, use new profile).
Where ICC shows up in the UI
- Color Manager tool inside InkRIP (ICC mini-series).
- Job Manager Mode column — which colour / ICC mode the job used (Job Manager detailes).
- Printer driver properties / resolutions interact with colour output quality (printer-drivers mini-series).
Software-only drills
- Watch / read RGB vs CMYK + About ICC (Parts above) — no printer needed.
- In InkRIP, locate Color Manager entry points on 7.2.14.0.4; list which factory profiles appear — do not create a new profile yet.
- In Job Manager (empty or sample jobs), note the Mode column concept.
- Pause before ink-limit / linearisation / spectro steps until Eric opens ICC depth.
Updated: 2026-09-05 (SAST).