Better Test Pages for Color Printers? 30
AigariusDebian asks: "I bought a new color laser printer (Lexmark C510), but I am not sure if my driver configuration gets all the best images out of it. I would also like to have some way to brag about it to other laser printer wielding geeks. That means that I'd need to make some kind of repeatable and measurable testing of the printers quality. Are there any good Postscript test files that will allow a non-expert to do a full test of their color laser printer? I am thinking about both resolution, dithering and color matching testing."
How about this (Score:3, Informative)
The page tests all of the colours, as well as a resolution test by drawing lines in a circle 1 degree apart. A standard on most *nix machines, the CUPS page should be well recognized and serve as a good benchmark.
Re:How about this (Score:2, Interesting)
You wan't see much about color accuray etc, seeing that all colors when you see them in the context of the other colors pretty much looks perfect. To get an test that does that, I would guess you would need an hardware color-pick-thingy.
Re:How about this (Score:2)
Use the standard CUPS page with it's colour pinwheel, but also enough circles of 1 deg lines to do a pair of each primary colour. Make the line transition from one primary at the inner point to another primary at the circumference.
A set of colour circles like that would give you an indication of:
- the colour resolution (from the radials expanding, just like normal B/W)
- mixing (from the transition from one primary to another)
- and any problem with colour overlay. (Eg, the ones inv
Drivers? (Score:3, Interesting)
Second of all, what OS is this for? Windows, OSX, Linux? The driver options may allow you to tweak some things that can make a big difference.
I'd recommend you find a nice very high-res photograph. Nothing looks better than a nature seen with a lot of color. It will look better than some test pattern. You could also tweak it in Photoshop or the gimp to bring out the color and contrast. I'm sure there are many resources that professional photographers submit for public use that google could help you out with.
Now I know what I need!! (Score:4, Funny)
Thanks for the idea!
Re:Now I know what I need!! (Score:2)
It's not the size of the print head that matters...
Re:Now I know what I need!! (Score:1)
Re:I have a set of Nose Hair Clippers... (Score:1, Funny)
Try mine... (Score:5, Informative)
I wrote this one: ColorCard.pdf [sf.net] (1.4Mb).
It tests all the characteristics of a printer that I cared about:
Of course, you'll need a reference card by Kodak, etc. to test against, but I've found this is the simplest way short of developing a whole complex spot color sample group of colors closer to the edges of gamut.
Re:Try mine... (Score:1)
I am trying to think of one that would do a good job of it -- perhaps a thin line drawing of 50% C 50% Y etc so that you can see if the colors are off registration.
Re:Try mine... (Score:2)
The resolution lines should work this way. They are composed of all possible base color combinations in the basic angular directions.
Re:Try mine... (Score:4, Funny)
Is there some place I can download that so I can print it?
-Peter
PDF test pages (Score:3, Insightful)
On this page [alotofthings.com] are download links for four PDF files you can use as a printer test:
You should be able to get a decent picture of how well your printer renders colors with those files.
Printer/Monitor Calibration Images (Score:4, Informative)
Here is a test image [comcast.net] that I believe was designed for printer/monitor color calibration (I dredged it up from the data recovered from a hard drive failure a while back). It is 2297x3600x24 at a resolution of 360 pixels per inch for a final image size of 6.381x10 inches. Included on the image are several Kodak color charts, along with a variety of household objects and several faces of varying skin colors.
Here [comcast.net] is another test photo of the same style as the first one. According to the CNET Labs printer page [cnet.com], this is "the industry-accepted PhotoDisc Target document." Not sure about that (especially with the website logo in the corner of the image), but whatever. It works nonetheless.
Following with the previous recommendation of finding a vibrant nature photo, I located a rather beautiful photograph [sxc.hu] (free registration required for download) of the Grand Canyon with a large variety of colors at 1200x1600x24.
I have been thinking about this on and off for a while now (still stuck in lowly inkjet-land). Thanks for finally motivating me to do some research. Hope this aids you in your obsessive-compulsive quest to achieve satisfaction from knowing every little defect in your printer.
Re:Printer/Monitor Calibration Images (Score:2)
I'd personally recommend using just the MacBeth and IT8 charts without all the other bullshit.
"Shirley" (Score:5, Informative)
In that regard, one of my favorite test images is "Ole No Moire" that used to come in versions of Photoshop (I don't think it comes in current versions, I haven't seen it in years). Ole no Moire also has step wedges on the image. The one thing it won't do is test out the fancier PostScript features, it's just a bitmap image. I like to create my own step wedge charts in Adobe Illustrator, so I can test exactly the features I want to see.
There are other sorts of high-tech test images, like the IT8 test pattern. Of course, a printout of this is absolutely unintelligible except to a colorimeter, but if you have a full color calibration system, these are essential. A more general color guide used by photographers is the MacBeth ColorChart, which is a set of 24 basic colors and greys, they're all chosen carefully so that if the color balance is wrong, at least one color will stand out as mismatched when you compare it to the original chart.
Re:"Shirley" (Score:2, Interesting)
>of women, they nicknamed her Shirley for no reason
>I've ever been able to figure out.
There is also the Lenna picture [wikimedia.org], see the wikipedia [wikipedia.org] for the background story.
Re:"Shirley" (Score:2)
It is preferable to use an original continuous-tone slide or photographic print scanned by modern equipment for a test image.
Brag (Score:1, Funny)
Go with a classic.. (Score:4, Interesting)
No matter what your final test image, you'll have to work that one in for the inevitable conversation with your wife.
"Who the hell is this hussy you keep printing nude pictures of and throwing them away?"
Careful buddy (Score:2)
Here are a few that I use (Score:1)
druckerchannel.de, part 2 [druckerchannel.de]
heise.de [heise.de] (those are meant primarily for scanner tests, but they also come in handy for printer comparisons)
heise.de, older version [heise.de] (unfortunately, they offer only a 300 dpi version, not the original)
And while you're at heise.de, check out those [heise.de] cool backgrounds, each available in several resolutions. OK for individual use, no redistribution allowed.
Norman Koren (Score:2)