ZePrA | Global Settings | Profile Assignments

Profile Assignments

Create and manage SmartLink settings

Profile Assignments function 

Profile assignments can customize ZePrA’s SmartLink function. Standard DeviceLinks, house standards, or custom profiles can be assigned to configurations automatically and used for conversions.

Create and manage profile assignments

Activating the SmartLink function

  1. Activate the Apply SmartLink checkbox in the Images/Vectors tab or select the SmartLink entry from the drop-down menu Conversion Method in the Document/Target tab.

    or

  2. Activate the Apply Profile Assignments checkbox in the Profile Assignments dialog to use the assignments defined in the table.

  3. The SmartLink function can be used to create configurations with Auto Setup. SmartLink primarily uses profiles from the table of the Profile Assignments tool. If no suitable profiles are found in the table, a DeviceLink calculation is automatically performed on-the-fly based on the selected source/target/document profiles.

Create or edit profile assignments

To create or edit SmartLink profile assignments, use existing Device Links or standard profiles. 

To add new profile assignments, click New at the bottom of the window and select the DeviceLink profile directly from the DeviceLink Profile drop-down menu.

To edit existing profile assignments, open the Edit Profile Assignment window by double-clicking the particular assignment.

Change profile assignment settings

If the DeviceLink profile contains a PSID tag (e.g., ColorLogic profiles), the source and target profiles are automatically displayed in the Source and Target Profile drop-down menus. Alternatively, select a combination of Source and Target Profile and a Rendering Intent. The DeviceLink Profile matching this combination of color spaces can be selected from the drop-down menu.

To ensure that the selected DeviceLink profile is used, both the source and target profiles of the DeviceLink and the rendering intent must comply with the settings under Configurations. If the DeviceLink profile is to be a priority, regardless of the rendering intent selected under Configurations, then select the entry All in the Rendering Intent drop-down menu under Edit Profile Assignment. The DeviceLink will be used with all rendering intents.

Apply to specifies whether a DeviceLink is to be applied to vectors and images, only to vectors, or only to images. This allows a vector DeviceLink profile to be selected for a color conversion (e.g., AdobeRGB to ISO Coated V2) that converts primary and secondary colors to 100% of the corresponding CMYK values, while a different DeviceLink can be selected for images for which such a conversion is not desired.

Delete removes individual profile assignments, Delete All removes all table entries.

Note: When jobs are being processed, ZePrA displays in the status bar of the jobs and queues Overview whether DeviceLink profiles are calculated via SmartLink in the background. In the Job Properties, you can also view the color spaces and whether a DeviceLink profile was derived from the Profile Assignments or whether SmartLink created it on-the-fly.

ZePrA | Overview

Overview

View Queues, Pending Jobs and Processed Jobs

Jobs and Queues Overview

The Overview window is divided into three sections: Queues, Pending Jobs and Processed Jobs.

Queues

ZePrA Configurations are associated with queues, however, the queue and its configuration are managed separately. Configurations can be assigned to Queues or changed anytime. The configuration assigned to a queue is displayed in the Configuration column.

To quickly access a queue’s hot folder, right-click a queue and select Open Folder in the context menu.

Stop or Start a queue via right clicking.

The priority order for queues can be controlled for file processing. Change the Priority of any queue by right-clicking on the queue to change the default setting Normal to High or Low.

Queues that are inactive or invalid are highlighted in orange. Incorrectly configured queues may be highlighted due to incomplete entries or missing profiles.

The job lists in the lower panes of the window show which jobs are still pending and which have been processed.

If errors occur when processing files, or if ZePrA detects non-supported file types, they are highlighted in red in the list Processed Jobs. If warnings occur during processing, file processing continues and the job is highlighted in yellow and labeled with a warning. Warnings show what action to take.

The Queues list can be sorted by ID, file Name, Configuration, Jobs  and Status. Clicking on the ID column places the most recently processed job at the top, while clicking on the Status column sorts the files according to their Priority.

The Notes entered in the Configurations and Queues dialogs are displayed in ZePrA’s main window in the Queues list. The Notes column allows to quickly find queues based on cleverly selected keywords, such as customers, printers, media types, or other special properties.

Processing of queues can be started or stopped with the Start and Stop buttons on the bottom right of the window. The buttons are grayed out appropriately based on the queues status being active or inactive, e.g. they are grayed out for inactive queues.

Right-clicking on jobs under Queues opens a context menu where the following options can be chosen:

Start
Starts the selected queue.

Stop
Stops the selected queue.

Priority
Changes the Priority of the jobs to be processed. Change the setting to Normal, High or Low.

Edit Configuration
Change the selected configuration settings.

Edit Queue
Edit the queue settings.

DeviceLink Iteration
Starts the DeviceLink Iteration Wizard for the selected configuration.

Open Folder
Opens the queue’s folder (hot folder).

Add File to Queue
Select the file to be processed, it will be imported directly into the Input hot folder of the queue and processed immediately.

Add File(s) to Queue and hold
Allows you to add files to the selected queue and hold a job, e.g., to temporarily edit the configuration settings without permanently changing the configuration, or to add Job Control Files (XML or JSON) with the processing parameters for the selected job. Several files can be added at once. For more information, see Temporary Change of the Job-specific configuration settings.

Delete
Opens the Delete Queues dialog.

Delete Configurations: Deletes the Configuration associated with the queue.

Delete Folders: Deletes all subfolders associated with the queue. The Base Folder of the queue is not deleted.

Delete empty Parent Folders: Deletes all subfolders and the Base Folder of the queue.

The table shows the files and folders which were selected for deletion.

Type: Indicates whether it is a queue, a configuration or a folder. For folders, the number of files contained is also displayed.

Name: Shows the names of queues, configurations and folders. For folders, the whole path is displayed.

If all checkboxes are unchecked only the queue will be deleted. In that case, the configuration and all folders will remain on the hard drive.

Temporary change of the Job-specific configuration settings

Configuration settings can be changed temporarily on a job-by-job basis. Add File(s) to Queue and hold allows you to load and hold a job and temporarily edit the configuration settings without permanently changing the configuration.

Example: You are printing various jobs on a digital printer and most of the jobs are to be printed on cardboard, with your configuration in ZePrA defined for this purpose, but one job is to be printed on a different substrate. In both cases, the same configuration is used, but with different target ICC profiles. Instead of creating a copy of the existing configuration for this one job, you can use this feature to temporarily edit the configuration settings without permanently changing the configuration.

Note: Several files can be selected at once.

Procedure

Right-click on the queue and select Add File(s) to Queue and hold from the context menu and select your file(s).

Processing of the selected file is paused in the Pending Jobs section. Right-click on the job and select an option from the context menu:

  • Hold Job pauses this one job without stopping the queue
  • Release Job starts processing the job with the given configuration, including a temporarily modified configuration or a Job Control File that has been attached to the job.
  • Modify Configuration for this Job opens the Edit Job Configuration window. Here, the configuration to be used can be selected and modified. All modifications apply for this job only.
  • Attach Job Control File allows to associate an XML or JSON file with the processing parameters for the selected job. In contrast to the typical behavior of the Job Control File, a possible job listed in the file is not taken into account and the file is directly applied to the job, which makes this option especially interesting for manual work.

Modify Configuration for this Job: Allows changing the base configuration to be used for the processing the selected job. By default, the configuration associated with the selected Queue is preselected. Select the checkbox Modify Configuration for this Job if additional changes in the configuration are required and click OK.

Modify Configuration for this Job: Opens a temporary copy of the selected Configuration in a separate dialog. Name shows the currently used configuration. The text in brackets indicates that this configuration is temporarily modified for the selected job.

Change the desired settings and optionally change the name of this customized job-specific configuration to make it easier to recognize later on.

Once you are done with your edits click Apply to confirm or Back to return to the original settings. In both cases the dialog will close and ZePrA will revert back to the
Overview dialog.

Release Job: Starts processing the job with the modified settings. Keep in mind that the edits will be applied to this one job only.

DeviceLink Iteration

Overview

Iteration can be necessary to achieve the best possible color match, especially when proofing. To apply an iteration, a special test chart must be converted with the desired color management settings of a given configuration, printed and measured. Based on the measurements the DeviceLink profile can then be optimized. After one to three iteration cycles, a closer match in terms of DeltaE values is achieved. This process is error-prone if done manually, however, it is easy to accomplish with the help of the DeviceLink Iteration Wizard, which guides you through each step.

Video Tutorial

Overview of the DeviceLink Iteration Wizard in ZePrA.

Procedure

The iteration starts by selecting the configuration containing the DeviceLink to be iterated. This can be done in three different ways:

  1. In the Queues section of the Overview, select the queue and configuration you want to iterate. Open the context menu with a right click and select DeviceLink Iteration.

  2. Select DeviceLink Iteration from the Tools menu and search for the desired configuration in the Configuration drop-down menu of the appearing DeviceLink Iteration Wizard. You can use the same search and sort functions that you are familiar with from the Configuration drop-down menus elsewhere in ZePrA to find the configuration you are looking for.

  3. Open the desired Configuration in the Document/Target tab and click on the Iterate button at the bottom of the Conversion section.

The DeviceLink Iteration Wizard dialog consists of two tabs, the Current Iteration and the Archive tabs. The Current Iteration tab contains the actual iteration wizard and typically, if a configuration is selected that has not yet been iterated, the wizard is started directly there. The Archive tab contains all the iteration steps that have been carried out, including all the evaluation details.

Current Iteration

The wizard guides the user through the iteration process in these four steps:

  1. Create test chart to be printed
  2. Print and measure test chart
  3. View Evaluation Results
  4. Continue or end the iteration

Step One: Create the test chart to be printed

There are two possibilities to create the test chart. Either you use the included Default Iteration Chart, which of course is always optimized for the color space of the given configuration. Or, select your own reference file (TXT, CXF3, XML) of a custom chart under Custom Iteration Chart.

After that, define your measurement Instrument Settings. Various settings for the supported measurement equipment can be selected from the drop-down menu in the Measure Tool (the Measure Tool is included in ZePrA).

Note: ColorLogic ColorAnt users can create their own instrument settings optimized for their specific requirements in the Export Chart tool.

Click Save and choose a file format (PDF, TIFF or PSD) to create the test chart in the selected location. All color management settings of the configuration will be applied automatically.

Note: In some cases the creation of the chart may take some time, for example if the Conversion settings SmartLink or Device Profile are used in the configuration, as the wizard will then need to create a DeviceLink profile first.

After you successfully created the chart and the associated reference file, a message and a green check mark indicate that you can now proceed to the next step by clicking the Continue button.

Step Two: Print and measure test chart

The second step consists of two operations. First, the chart created in step 1 must be printed on the printer without color management settings. Then, after drying, the print must be measured. If the Measure Tool is to be used, simply click on the Measure button. You do not need to worry about the reference file and layout, as this is already preselected within the Measure Tool. Instructions on how to select your device and make measurements using the Measure Tool can be found here.

Note: Alternatively, you can use the previously exported reference file and measure your printed chart with a different measurement tool. Make sure that the measurements are saved in standard file formats that can be read by ZePrA, such as CGATS TXT, XML or CXF3. The external measurement files can be loaded using the Load button.

Once the measurement data has been transmitted from Measure Tool or loaded from external sources and it conforms to the printed chart a green check mark indicates a match and you can proceed by clicking Continue.

Note: When loading measurement data that does not match the chart layout or the corresponding patches in the reference file, you are alerted by a warning message and proceeding to the next step is not possible.

Step Three: View Evaluation Results

The third step shows the Evaluation Results of the measurements compared to the desired color conversion.

If all categories such as substrate, the maximum and average deltaE for all patches, etc. are within their limits they are marked green and the overall result is marked all right.

In a proofing case, e.g if an absolute colorimetric rendering intent was used in the configuration, the proof print is compatible with a Contract Proof according to ISO12647-7 and the wizard indicates this by a green check mark and a corresponding note text. A further iteration is then not required, hence the Don’t apply Optimization radio button is preselected.

However, the preselection can be overridden and another iteration cycle applied if the results are to be improved even further. To do this, select the Optimize DeviceLink and apply radio button and click Continue. Alternatively, apply the iteration later via the Archive tab.

If only a single category is displayed in orange or red in the table of Evaluation Results, the proof print is considered to be not okay and the validation has failed. In this case, a warning is displayed and it is suggested to apply an iteration to improve the result. The corresponding radio button Optimize DeviceLink and apply is then preselected.

By selecting Optimize DeviceLink and apply and clicking on Continue, an iterated DeviceLink is created on-the-fly and automatically entered in the configuration.

ZePrA checks for out-of-gamut colors and evaluates whether those colors can be improved. Color values that are displayed in red in the Evaluation Results and Report are considered to be out-of-gamut and their deltaE00 values can most likely not be improved. Nevertheless, an iteration can slightly change the rendering of out-of-gamut colors, for example, to correct hue errors when colors are far from the desired hue. Color values that are displayed in orange, however, can be improved with further iteration. If there are only red values left, ZePrA informs, that further iterations are of no use and preselects the Don’t apply Optimization radio button. If, however, there are orange values left, these can be further optimized and ZePrA suggests Optimize DeviceLink and apply.

Step Four: Continue or end the iteration

The fourth step concludes the iteration cycle. Here, there are three options to choose from. Based on the previous results, the wizard already preselects a logical option for you to follow:

  1. Optimize DeviceLink Profile again: Runs another iteration cycle, for example to check whether a previously iterated DeviceLink successfully passes the evaluation. If you select this radio button and click Continue, a new iteration cycle starts with step 1 and the creation of a new test chart to be printed.
  2. View the evaluation results in the Archive tab: If you have already completed several iterations or would like to see the evaluation results once more, select this option. When you click Continue, the Archive tab opens with the last iteration step highlighted.
  3. Close this dialog: If the evaluation results are all right or if you want to end the iteration process you can simply select Close this dialog and by clicking Continue the iteration is ended.

Archive

All data created during the iteration - such as test charts, reference data and measurement data, as well as the report - are stored in an internal database in addition to the save location defined by the user.

Therefore, if data is deleted from the save location it can still be restored from the internal database any time via the Archive tab. Users can stop an iteration process and even close the DeviceLink Iteration Wizard dialog at any time and can revert back to the last completed step with the help of the Information stored in the Archive.

The Archive tab shows all iteration steps and evaluation details. The History table contains a list of all iterations, with the active iteration highlighted. More information for the selected iteration step is displayed under Details.

The columns of the History table show the iteration step number #, the maximum DeltaE00 value dE00 (max), the average DeltaE00 value dE00 (avg), the Status of the selected iteration step and some Information about the iteration process itself, such as Optimization applied, when the measurements done from the printed test chart have actually been used to create an iterated DeviceLink, or Evaluation measurement, when the measurements have been used for evaluation only and have not been used to create an iterated DeviceLink.

In addition, the iteration process (being performed in the Current Iteration tab) can be discontinued, which is indicated with various messages such as Next step: save chart, Next step: measure or load data, Next step: Evaluate.

Right clicking on an iteration step in the History displays a context menu with the following options:

Save Chart: Exports the test chart into a file selected by the user. The test chart is not newly created but only copied from the internal database. This implies that the file selection only supports the file type initially chosen by the user.

Save Reference Data: Exports the reference data that belongs to the test chart into a file selected by the user.

Save Measurement Data: Exports the measurement data into a file selected by the user.

Save Report: Saves a report containing all Details displayed on the right and the full information about each measurement patch. This is useful to identify colors with the highest or lowest deltaE values, or colors which are out of gamut. The report is explained in more detail below.

Revert to state before: This is only available for iterations with the status applied. Reverts back to the state before this iteration, giving the previous iteration, if any, the applied state. The status changes to evaluation measurement. All subsequent items are deleted.

Revert to state after: This is only available for iterations with the status applied. Proceeds to the state after this iteration step, making it the active iteration. The status of a next iteration, if available, would be evaluation measurement. All subsequent items after the next iteration are deleted.

Apply Optimization: This is only available for iterations with the status evaluation measurement. It can be used for evaluation measurements that have not been applied in the iteration process itself. Use this option if you want to apply an iteration later on.

Evaluation Results

The Evaluation Results shown under Details are always the evaluations of the previous step. This means, if an iteration has been applied in step 1, the evaluation results shown under Details for the selected step 1 are the values before the iteration has actually been applied. Therefore, in order to see the results of the first iteration a second step is necessary. The evaluation results shown for that second step are actually the iteration results of the first iteration step, and so on. This offers the possibility to use the results of an iteration itself for a second iteration. But again, another measurement step is needed to find out if this iteration actually improved the result.

Evaluation measurements for the different Categories are shown according to the proof evaluation tolerances defined in ISO 12647-7. They can even be regarded as proof evaluation when an absolute colorimetric rendering intent has been used in the configuration. The values shown in the table can assume three different colored states that are green, orange or red. Values shown in green are within the Limit and therefore all right. Orange values are outside the Limit but can be improved by iteration. Red values are outside the Limit and cannot be improved. This is mostly the case if a source color can’t be reproduced in the target color space because it is out-of-gamut. An overall statement of the accuracy of the rendering is given below the table. A green check mark indicates that the color conversion is within the limits, whereas a red cross indicates that it is not.

Special cases arise if the rendering intent used in the configuration is not absolute colorimetric. In case of relative colorimetric or perceptual rendering intents the reference Lab values used to iterate the conversion need to be calculated from the initial DeviceLink profile. The measurements are then compared to those rendering intent specific reference Lab values. The iteration is still using the tolerances from ISO 12647-7 for the analysis of the iteration accuracy. However, since this conversion is not a proof print, a different statement results for the overall iteration accuracy compared to the iteration result with an absolute colorimetric rendering intent.  

The Report

By right-clicking on an iteration step in the left table, a report can be created for this step. The report can be saved in various formats such as PDF, HTML, XML and TXT. The PDF and HTML formats are the most common versions for end users, while the other formats are more intended for automation and usage in other systems such as a MIS (Management Information System). 

The report contains all displayed Details and the complete information for each measuring patch. This is handy for identifying colors with the highest or lowest DeltaE values or colors that are out-of-gamut. A Legend explaining the color highlighting in the DeltaE column is shown at the bottom of the last page of the report.

Pending Jobs

The list Pending jobs shows the Job-ID, the file name, the queue and the status of the queue. It can be sorted by ID, Name, Queue and Status. Clicking on the ID column places the most recently processed job at the top, while clicking on the Status column places the files with errors and/or warnings at the top.

The Status column provides information about the progress of file processing. Displays the processing step (such as SmartLink calculation or ink saving calculation) and the progress in percent.

Right-clicking on a job under Pending Jobs opens a context menu containing the following options:

Priority
Change the priority of the job to Normal, High or Low.

Delete
Deletes the selected job.

Processed Jobs

The list Processed Jobs at the bottom of the window shows which jobs have been processed.

If errors occur when processing files, or if ZePrA detects non-supported file types, they are highlighted in red. If warnings occur during processing, file processing continues and the job is highlighted in yellow and labeled with a warning. Warnings show what action to take.

The list shows the Job-ID, the file name, the queue, the status and the date. It can be sorted by ID, Name, Queue, Status and Date. Clicking on the ID column places the most recently processed job at the top, while clicking on the Status column places the files with errors and/or warnings at the top. By right-clicking on the header of the list, the columns ID, Queue, Date, and Processing Time can be enabled or disabled. The Processing Time of the job is displayed in seconds.

Right-clicking on jobs under Processed Jobs opens a context menu containing the following options:

Screen Preview
View a screen preview with color management of the selected job.

Show Job Properties
Opens the Job-Report which contains properties of the selected job. More information on job properties can be found in the section Show and Save Job Properties below.

Save Job Properties
Saves the Job Report as PDF, HTML, TXT or XML file.

Repeat Job
Allows to process a processed job once again using the same configuration without the need to open the hot folder.

Restore Configuration
ZePrA allows restoring the configuration of a previous job in order to reprocess a file. As of ZePrA 7, the configurations of all jobs are saved and kept for future re-prints.
When to restore a configuration: A customer requests a reprint of a job and requires a similar or even identical color appearance previously printed. If that configuration has not been saved, or has been changed since, it is lost and it might be difficult or even impossible to remember the ZePrA settings used for that job.
Restore Configuration allows restoring a previously used configuration.

Spot Color Iteration
Starts the Spot Color Iteration Wizard with the spot colors of the selected file and the matching configuration.

Delete
Deletes the selected job.

ZePrA’s Search Feature

The search function can browse through the sections Queues and Processed Jobs to search for the following criteria:

  • File names
  • Queue names
  • Configuration names
  • Parameters in configurations: Names of ICC profiles, names of spot color libraries
  • Notes entered for configurations and queues
  • Tags

To use the search function, enter the search term in the text field with the magnifying glass icon.

  • The search is not case sensitive.
  • Entered text will be applied automatically after a few seconds. To start the search immediately click Apply.
  • To find information, entering part of the search term will suffice, for example to find the queue ‘Normalize_GRACoL2006_Coated1v2’ entering the initials ‘gra’ is sufficient.
  • The results of the search are displayed in the windows Queues or Processed Jobs, respectively.
  • Deleting the input text or clicking on the X in the search field will immediately display all queues again.

In the Processed Jobs section, limit the search to a specific date range. This is useful to check how many and what kind of jobs have been completed in the searched time period (for example for a specific customer).

Search jobs by a defined range or in a period of the last few days, weeks, months or years. To do so, select one of the three options from the drop-down menu:

  • All Jobs: Searches all jobs. This is the default setting in ZePrA.
  • Recent Jobs: By choosing this option a number input field and a drop-down menu becomes available. In the drop-down menu choose whether to search for jobs in the last few days, weeks, months or years. Entering a number in the number input field will specify the time period.
  • Jobs by Date Range:
  • By choosing this option two date input fields (Mac) or two date input fields with drop-down calendar (Windows) become available. In the first input field (or calendar) enter the ‘from’ date, and in the second field the ‘to’ date. If a date is entered in the first field (or Calendar), only records from this date onward will be searched.

The Notes that have been entered in the dialogs Configurations and Queues are shown in the main window of ZePrA in the list Queues. The Notes column allows to quickly locate queues based on relevant keywords, for example; customers, printers, media types or other special properties.

Show and Save Job Properties

Job Report

The Job Report provides relevant information for the selected file including any PDF/X and ZePrA processing information. It can be accessed via the context menu (by right-clicking on a job in the section Processed Jobs and selecting the entry Show Job Properties).

Document Information
This section contains information about the PDF version and the spot colors used. It also displays the page number for multi-page PDF files.

PDF/X Information
Shows the PDF/X-Version and the Output Intent.

Processing Information
Provides information about the Date and time of the conversion, Embedded Profiles of the original file, which Configuration was used, the New Output Intent, whether DeviceLink profiles were calculated using SmartLink, the Ink Saving percentage (if enabled), whether a spot color was iterated and whether Transparency Reduction was used including the selected settings.

The total Processing Time of a job is listed as well. The time is always displayed in seconds, even if the processing takes several minutes.

Spot Color Processing
This list provides information regarding the spot color library used for the conversion and the printing sequence. If the Spot Color module is licensed and spot colors are converted to the target color space, all spot colors and their DeltaE color value upon conversion are listed in the section Spot Color Processing. Additionally, the average and maximum deltaE00 values, as well as the expected dE00 and dE76 values are listed for each spot color. When an error occurs during conversion in ZePrA, the information will be listed under Warnings.

PSD layers lists the layers that were converted.

Save Job Properties
Job properties can be saved as a report file in various formats (including PDF, XML, TXT, and HTML) by right-clicking and selecting Save Job Properties.

The Job Properties report can also be saved in the formats Raw data in XML format and Raw data in JSON format. For new workflows it is recommended to use one of these formats. The older XML format is no longer recommended and is only available for compatibility reasons with older workflows.

ZePrA | Spot Color Libraries

Spot Color Libraries

Manage libraries and edit spot colors

Spot Color Libraries

Overview

ZePrA’s spot color module allows management of spot colors and spot color libraries efficiently. Select the tool Spot Color Libraries from the sidebar to access the window Manage Spot Colors.

Here you can create, add, view and customize libraries. Spot colors can be edited, imported or measured. For example, spot colors from color fans can be measured with a spectrophotometer or Lab values can be entered manually. Furthermore, color tables with spot colors can also be imported. Supported formats are Named Color ICC profiles, Photoshop ACO color tables, Adobe ASE color tables (from InDesign or Illustrator), text files in CGATS format or CxF files, such as CxF/X-4.

X-Rite Pantone Color Manager color tables support Named Color ICC profiles, CxF files (there are current Lab values, but no spectral values for Pantone solids), and CGATS-compliant text files. Import your PantoneLIVE color fans stored in the cloud by clicking the PantoneLIVE button.

Note: PantoneLIVE® from X-Rite is a cloud-based solution for the digital storage of spectral spot colors. To use PantoneLIVE, licenses are required for the ZePrA spot color module and X-Rite’s PantoneLIVE module. You need to unlock your licenses for use in ZePrA under My X-Rite. See PantoneLIVE to learn how to activate your licenses.

Both lab and spectral color values are supported; however, spectral measurement data is preferred as it provides the best results internally.

More information about spot colors can be found under:

Spot Colors

Edit Spot Color

PantoneLIVE

A spot color library can contain a multitude of different information in just one library, such as the full tone, tints printed on a substrate or black, spectral or Lab measurements and opacity values.
All available libraries and the number of spot colors of a library are listed under Libraries. Additionally, the revision number and expiration date of PantoneLIVE libraries are displayed (with the PantoneLIVE icon).

After double-clicking on the selected library the spot colors will be shown in the lower part of the window. In order to improve the performance – especially with extensive libraries – spot colors will only become available when they are used for the processing of jobs or by double-clicking on a library.

The spot color table shows the Name of each spot color and additional Information such as the data type (Remission or Lab) Solid tone or Tone values, or Opacity information (custom or calculated).

The search function can be used to find specific spot colors quickly. Spot color libraries can also be searched for Lab values. If the search text is of the form “L a b Lab” (e.g. “51 7 -61 Lab”), ZePrA searches for spot colors matching the specified value. Since exact matches often fail due to rounding and non-precise input, a tolerance is applied.

Note: PantoneLIVE libraries are protected and in ZePrA they can not be edited, extended or removed. With PantoneLIVE, Pantone spot colors and libraries can be accessed directly from ZePrA.

Import spot color libraries
  1. Select the tool Spot Color Libraries from the sidebar.
  2. Import existing color tables containing many spot colors by selecting Import under Manage Spot Colors. The formats supported by ZePrA include ACO (Photoshop color tables), Adobe ASE, TXT (text files in CGATS 1.7 format), CxF (Color Exchange Format 3), CxF/X-4 and Named Color ICC-Profiles.
  3. To create a library from scratch using printed samples, click New, give the library a name and then click New on the lower right of the dialog to open the Edit Spot Color dialog. Each added color will appear in the selected library. For more information on how to measure or edit spot colors see Edit Spot Color.

Note: ZePrA does not provide spot color libraries with a new install. To obtain spot colors from some applications export Adobe Photoshop color tables with Lab color values as ACO files or Adobe InDesign/Illustrator files as ASE. Color tables of the X-Rite Pantone Color Manager can be saved as Named Color ICC profiles or as CxF file (provides current Lab values but no spectral values for Pantone full primaries) and CGATS compliant text files. Another source for spot colors is the PantoneLive eco system. The use of PantoneLIVE libraries requires the corresponding access data and an X-Rite license.

Export Spot Color Libraries from ZePrA

Spot color libraries can be exported. When clicking Export the supported file formats (CCF, ACO, ICC, TXT, CxF) for saving the library are displayed. Note that only the ZePrA internal CCF format allows saving all information that may be in a library. Use the CCF format to exchange a library with another ZePrA installation on another computer. The other more common file formats are mainly included for exchange with other applications. A warning appears for other file formats.

Export Spot Colors from ZePrA

There are three ways to Export spot colors:

  • In the upper Libraries panel an entire library with all colors can be exported.
  • In the panel below (Spot Color from selected Library) a single color from a library can be selected and exported.

  • In the Edit Spot Color window a single spot color can be exported, too.

  • PantoneLIVE libraries and single colors cannot be exported.

When clicking Export the supported file formats (CCF, ACO, ICC, TXT, CxF) for saving the library or a single spot color are displayed:

  • Only ZePrA’s internal CCF format allows saving all information contained in a library. Use the CCF format to exchange a library with another ZePrA installation on another computer.
  • Use the CxF format to save CxF/X-4 compatible files. A notification message shows which CxF/X-4 compatibility level has been exported depending on the data (X-4a, X-4b, full compatibility).
  • The other file formats are included to exchange data with other applications. However, the exchange is limited as not all data of a library can be exported using these formats. A notification message indicates which data can be lost when using the selected format.

ZePrA | SaveInk Report

SaveInk Report

Information on ink saving

Creating SaveInk Reports

SaveInk reports give a detailed overview of the ink savings of all SaveInk queues and jobs processed. To create a report select SaveInk Report in the sidebar.

 

Ink savings on all SaveInk queues

Procedure

  1. Select SaveInk-Report in the Sidebar.
  2. Enter a file name and select the format. The report can be created as PDF (default), TXT, HTML or XML. Then specify the save location.
  3. Click Save and the ink saving report will be generated.

Summary: Shows the ink saving for all files for each SaveInk queue and for all queues.

Ink Saving per Queue and Job: Shows details of individual queues and jobs.

Note: The percentage calculations in the SaveInk Report refer only to the CMYK components. Transparency effects, overprinting elements, and spot colors are not taken into account.

ZePrA | Global Settings | Gradation

Gradations

Manage and create tone value correction curves

Overview

Almost every printing process requires a tone value increase (TVI) correction shortly before printing, which is stored in the RIP of the platesetter. This tone value correction is primarily used to maintain printing standards and to compensate for intangible data in the printing process caused by a large number of factors, including the substrate and ink. These TVI corrections can be included in the data to be converted. Subsequently, only a linear conversion in the RIP software of the imagesetter is required for the exposure of the data.

By using gradation curves, tonal value corrections can be performed on process and spot colors. Gradation curves can be integrated into configurations and applied automatically, either after or instead of color conversion. The Gradations tool can be used to create the required gradation curves and then integrate them into Configurations (under Configurations in the Gradations tab).

Manage gradation curves

Create new gradation curves

In the Manage Gradation Curves window, create New curves and Duplicate or Delete existing ones. New curves can be modified in the Curve Design panel either by clicking and moving the displayed curve with the mouse pointer or by entering values. If you would like to enter percentage values in the Input and Output fields, first create an anchor point in the curve by clicking on the curve.

Creating a new curve

The entered values then refer to this anchor point. The X button is used to delete the selected anchor point.

Percentage values can be entered up to one digit after the decimal point. This allows for more precision of gradation corrections.

Note: The correction works most accurately with 16-bit data. For 8-bit data, the smallest change is 0.4 units (100/255=0.39), so corrections smaller than 0.4 cannot be applied.

Import and Export: This provides the option to export one or more gradation rules from one configuration and import them into another configuration.

ZePrA | Auto Setup EN

Auto Setup

Create workflows with ZePrA’s Auto Setup Wizard

Auto Setup

Workflow Creation

ZePrA provides several auto setup methods to set up workflows for the most common color management tasks. The Automatic Setup Wizard also allows workflows that save ink, optimize the total area coverage (TAC), apply gradation corrections and proofing. It takes just a few steps to create Configurations and Queues.

To process files, either use a previously created DeviceLink profile, or use the SmartLink function to create a DeviceLink profile on-the-fly (SmartLink license required).

Setting Up Workflows with the Auto Setup Wizard

Select Auto Setup in the sidebar. There are seven different setup options for creating Configurations and Queues. The first two modes involve normalizing the data. General Information about Normalizing Data can be found further down this page.

Select a Setup Mode

Normalize and convert Colors to new Output Condition

The content of the PDF file is first normalized to the document color space or output intent and then converted to the desired target color space.

PDF files usually do not contain any information about the document color space. If there is no PDF/X file available for Normalization but only a PDF file, decide on a Document Color Space into which any existing ICC-based PDF objects will be converted.

There are two options to choose from:

  1. Use existing DeviceLink Profile
    Choose a DeviceLink profile for the configuration (e.g. from our DeviceLink sets, available from any ColorLogic dealer), and select it from the drop-down menu. The source and target profiles are set by the DeviceLink profile.
  1. Use SmartLink
    The SmartLink function creates DeviceLinks on-the-fly from source and target profiles.
    Note: Requires a SmartLink license. If the SmartLink function is not available, normal ICC conversions are performed for objects with embedded ICC profiles.
    For more information, see DeviceLink or SmartLink further down on this page.

Select the rendering intent for the calculation. More information can be found further down this page under Rendering Intent.

Prefer Output Intent: The output intent of the PDF/X file is used instead of the manually set document color space.

SmartLink Method: Defines the conversion settings. There are predefined methods available for traditional printing, large format printing, and digital printing, but custom methods can also be used.

Data processing:

RGB objects with embedded profiles are first converted to the document color space (normalized). If the SmartLink function is activated and an individual PDF object contains an embedded device profile, the device profile is used to create a DeviceLink profile on-the-fly. Embedded rendering intents are also considered. When normalizing, all images without embedded profiles are converted to the document color space based on the predefined profile.

CMYK objects with embedded profiles are first converted to the document color space (normalized). If the SmartLink function is activated and an individual PDF object contains an embedded device profile, the device profile is used to create a DeviceLink profile on-the-fly. The conversion is then performed using this DeviceLink profile.

If a Relative Colorimetric rendering intent is embedded in a PDF object, Auto Setup automatically activates the Blackpoint Compensation to ensure clean reproduction of details in the shadow areas.
Exception: PDF 2.0 files – see Black Point Compensation with PDF 2.0 files under Configurations/Options/Rendering Intents.

If the DeviceLink profile was created using the option to preserve pure primaries and secondaries, pure colors are kept pure in CMYK objects with embedded profiles.

To ensure precise color conversions, ZePrA completely recalculates the conversion of source and target profiles on-the-fly. The algorithms used are identical to those used in ColorLogic’s CoPrA profiling software.

There are five additional rendering intents available for SmartLink to avoid inharmonic color conversions that can result from differently calculated tables for source and target profiles (see Rendering Intents).

If SmartLink has not been licensed, a direct ICC-based conversion to the target profile or document color space is performed. This can contaminate pure CMYK colors, which can cause problems with overprinting elements.

The automatic setup wizard’s option to normalize first and convert afterwards provides the most consistent results for color conversions, as recommended by the PDF/X specification.

The default name of this queue starts with Convert.

Normalize Color to Document Color Space or Output Intent

The data is standardized, i.e. it is converted to the document color space or output intent (normalized).
For PDF files, all ICC-based PDF objects are converted from the embedded ICC profile via the embedded rendering intent to the document color space (output intent). After this step, all objects of the PDF file are color-matched to a consistent standard (document color space/output intent).

PDF files usually do not contain any information about the document color space. If there is no PDF/X file available for Normalization but only a PDF file, decide on a Document Color Space into which any existing ICC-based PDF objects will be converted.

After conversion, the final, normalized file consists only of a document color space and spot colors, if present.

If a Relative Colorimetric rendering intent is embedded in a PDF object, Auto Setup automatically activates the Blackpoint Compensation to ensure clean reproduction of details in the shadow areas.

Exception: PDF 2.0 files – see Black Point Compensation with PDF 2.0 files under Configurations/Options/Rendering Intents.

The following color conversions are performed during normalization:

  • Conversion of device RGB and ICC-based RGB objects to document color space
  • Spot colors remain unchanged (can be converted to the target color space if required)
  • Conversion of ICC-based CMYK to document color space, retaining pure colors and separation properties (when using SmartLink)
  • Assignment of ICC-based gray to the black channel of the document color space (prevents four-color gray)

The default name of these queues start with Normalize.

Save inks

The data is first normalized to the document color space and then optimized using either an existing SaveInk profile or a SmartLink SaveInk method. Three Ink Saving methods are available.

Selecting an Ink Saving method

 

The Save inks setup mode is available when the source and target profiles are identical. The optimized file remains in the same color space. The focus is on accurate color reproduction while reducing CMY inks and increasing black ink (K).

Use existing DeviceLink Profile: Select an existing SaveInk DeviceLink profile from the drop-down menu. ZePrA only shows profiles whose source and target profiles are identical.

Use SmartLink: Select the profile which matches the Document Color Space and choose from three standard Ink Saving methods (SaveNeutral, SaveStrong, SaveMaximum). It is also possible to define custom SaveInk settings in CoPrA and share them with ZePrA. These custom SaveInk settings are displayed below the dashed line (My Extreme InkSaving Profile in the screenshot above).

SaveNeutral: Moderately increases the amount of black in the neutral color ranges.

SaveStrong: Increases the proportion of black strongly.

SaveMaximum: Maximum ink savings with colorimetrically still very high accuracy while retaining the visual color impression.

Calculate Ink Savings: The Automatic Setup Wizard can calculate the ink savings for processed files. However, this calculation can significantly slow down processing. If faster data processing is desired, deactivate this option.

Note: The ink saving calculation can be enabled or disabled under Configurations/Options.

The default queue name starts with SaveInk.

Optimize Total Area Coverage (TAC)

The data is normalized to the document color space and the total amount of ink is reduced. This can either be done by using special profiles to reduce the total area coverage (TAC), or – if SmartLink is used – by specifying the Desired TAC value.

Adjusting the maximum ink coverage

The source and target profiles must be identical. The optimized file remains in the Document Color Space. The focus is on accurate color reproduction while reducing ink coverage.

Choose from two options:

  1. Use existing DeviceLink Profile: Select an existing TAC reduction DeviceLink profile from the drop-down menu. ZePrA only displays profiles with identical source and target profiles.
  2. Use SmartLink: Assigns a TAC to the selected Document Color Space on-the-fly (requires a SmartLink license).

Prefer Output Intent: The output intent of the PDF/X file is used instead of the manually set Document Color Space.

The default name of these queues starts with TAC.

Direct Color Conversion to new Output Condition

The data is directly converted to the target color space using embedded profiles, without normalizing to the document color space beforehand. This setup mode enables the best color space utilization of the target color space and is particularly suitable for media-neutral data, e.g. RGB image data with ICC profiles.

If the profile embedded in the file matches the profile defined as Document Color Space, the profile setting defined in the Document/Target tab is used instead of the settings in the Image/Vector tab.

In addition, the rendering intents of the PDF are ignored (the Ignore PDF Rendering Intent checkbox in the Options tab is enabled) and the rendering intents defined in the Image/Vector tab are used instead, which usually leads to an improved color rendering for direct color conversions.

Select either Use existing DeviceLink Profile or Use SmartLink.

Use existing DeviceLink Profile: Select a DeviceLink profile that converts from the document color space to the required output condition. All other settings for RGB, CMYK, Gray and Lab color spaces are set automatically.

Use SmartLink: Select the respective ICC profiles under Document Color Space and Target Color Space to create the DeviceLink on-the-fly. Define the intended Rendering Intent and the SmartLink Method that best fits your workflow process.

RGB objects with embedded profiles: Converts directly to the target color space and utilizes the maximum color space, however, the embedded profiles and the selected Rendering Intent are taken into account. This guarantees a consistent conversion and optimization of the data.

RGB data without embedded profiles: The sRGB color space is used, which can be changed in the configuration, if necessary.

In general, Blackpoint Compensation is enabled when the embedded intent is Relative Colorimetric.

CMYK objects with embedded profiles: The SmartLink function optimizes direct color conversion via the DeviceLink profiles. Embedded profiles/intents are considered.

The default queue name starts with Output.

Apply Gradation Curves only

Gradation adjustments apply external files on-the-fly to existing curves, adjusting process colors and/or spot colors without changing the document color space.

Gradation curves are a simple solution for applying gradation corrections to print-ready PDF/X-1a files consisting of CMYK and spot colors only.

There are two ways to correct gradations:

1: Select Curves

Select Linearization DeviceLinks created by CoPrA or previously imported files including curves (gradations). Previously imported files will be shown beneath the linearization DeviceLink profiles.

Gradation curves created with CoPrA’s Linearization tool are saved in the Profiles folder (/User/User name/Library/ColorSync/Profiles oder C:/WINDOWS/system32/spool/drivers/color/) and are automatically listed in ZePrA’s Select Curves drop-down menu. Only curves with a matching color space are shown. These curves are read only and cannot be edited with ZePrA’s Gradations tool. When changing the gradation curves (e.g. by overwriting the .icc file in CoPrA with differing linearization data), these changes will automatically be applied to all configurations using these curves. The location of the selected .icc file is not relevant (e.g. Profile or Auto Import folder).

2: Use Curves from File

Loads an external file that includes the gradation corrections for the process color(s) to be changed.

Gradation curves created with ZePrA’s Gradations tool are saved in the Profiles folder and are automatically listed in the Gradations tab drop-down menu under New/Edit. The curves can also be accessed by Load Curves/Use Curves from File . When changing the gradation curves with ZePrA’s Gradation tool, these changes will automatically be applied to all configurations using these curves.

Normalize and Document Color Space

Normalize: PDF/X-3 or PDF/X-4 files that contain RGB or CMYK objects with embedded profiles are normalized and the curves are applied to the normalized file.

Document Color Space: Define an ICC profile as the document color space for files with no output intent defined in the PDF file. Activate the Prefer Output Intent checkbox to ensure that any existing output intent always takes precedence over the specified document color space and is thus retained.

The default name for these queues starts with Gradations.

Proofing

ZePrA’s sophisticated technology – e.g. the quality of DeviceLink and SmartLink profiles and the spot color rendering of its advanced spot color module – can be used for proofing as well. This is especially useful as many RIPs do not support CxF/X-4 data and SCTV calibration nor have a spectral color prediction model for spot color rendering.

Procedure

Select Proofing under Setup Mode to create a proofing queue.

Select either an already created DeviceLink profile for the proof workflow – this can be an iterated DeviceLink profile created by CoPrA – or use SmartLink to create a proof DeviceLink based on your simulation profile and the proofer profile.

Use SmartLink: The DeviceLink for proofing is created “on-the-fly” based on the Simulation Color Space and the Proofer Color Space. Activate the checkbox Prefer Output Intent to use the output intent of the PDF/X file.

At this point you don’t have to select a rendering intent or SmartLink method as the appropriate settings will be set automatically to achieve best results (e.g. absolute colorimetric rendering and the use of no color exceptions). This includes typical settings for transparency flattening and spot color conversions, too. 

If required, the settings can be customized under Configurations once the configuration has been set up, for example to select the desired spot color library for spot color conversion.

Select a Media Wedge. The media wedge is added outside the media box for proof verification. It can either be a dynamic or an external media wedge.

Dynamic Media Wedge: Uses the colors of the simulation color space and all spot colors of the documents to be processed.

Media Wedge from File: Can be media wedges such as the FOGRA, UGRA, IDEAlliance® or other media wedges (as PDF, TIFF or PSD file).

Note: External media wedges need to be provided (and possibly bought from organisations) by the user. The Idealliance ISO 12647-7: 2013 control wedge for CMYK, Idealliance-3-Row-Digital-Control-Wedge® is available for free. The Idealliance ISO 12647-7 Control Wedge 2013 is included in ZePrA and available under /Users/Shared/ColorLogic/MediaWedges (Idealliance ISO 12647-7: 2013, 3-Row Digital Control Wedge® is a registered trademark of the IDEAlliance®).

Create the proofing configuration and queue:

Confirm the Queue Name suggested by ZePrA or enter a custom name.

Specify the Base Folder in which the queue is to be created. To create a Queue (Hotfolder) in the Base Folder, activate the Create Queue checkbox and the corresponding subfolder will be created.

To only create a new configuration, uncheck the Create Queue checkbox. The new configuration can be assigned to an existing queue in the Queues dialog later if required.

Use an existing Configuration as a Template

This Setup Mode uses an existing configuration with all custom settings as a template to create a new valid configuration with only the profiles adjusted. Depending on the profile adjustments made, the settings are modified accordingly to ensure proper functionality of the new configuration:

  • When the Document Color Space has changed, the default profile used under Images/Vectors is changed accordingly.
  • Iterated spot colors are removed when the target profile has changed (they are kept when the target profile has not changed).
  • Correction profiles are deactivated when the target profile has changed (they are kept when the target profile has not changed).
  • PDF/X settings are changed when the target profile has changed.

Procedure

First, select the existing configuration to be used as a template. The dialog provides some information about the profiles used as Document and Target Color Space, the Conversion Method, and the configuration Type.

In the next step, new profiles can be selected, which must be of the same color space and type as the original profile, e.g., if the base configuration uses a DeviceLink as the conversion method, the wizard will only allow DeviceLinks to be selected, if the base configuration uses SmartLink, the new configuration will also use SmartLink, etc.
Note: In contrast to the above restriction, when using a SmartLink configuration with Multicolor target profile, Multicolor profiles with other color spaces can also be selected as the new target profile. This is particularly helpful if the Multicolor profile variants created by CoPrA are to be used in ZePrA.

Finally, create the new configuration and queue:

Confirm the Queue Name generated by ZePrA or enter a custom name.

Specify the Base Folder in which the queue is to be created. To create a Queue (Hotfolder) in the Base Folder, select the Create Queue checkbox and the corresponding subfolder will be created.

To only create a new configuration, deselect the Create Queue checkbox. The new configuration can be assigned to an existing queue in the Queues dialog later if required.

DeviceLink or SmartLink

DeviceLink or SmartLink

Either use an existing DeviceLink profile in your configuration or use SmartLink to create and use a high-quality DeviceLink profile within the workflow.

Use existing DeviceLink profile or SmartLink

Use existing DeviceLink Profile

If files are processed without embedded profiles, and there is a matching DeviceLink profile, you can use it within your workflow. This DeviceLink profile then defines the source profile and the target profile.

Select the DeviceLink Profile to be used for conversion from the document color space to the target color space. All relevant PDF/X information is automatically transferred. (For more information, see Configurations – PDF/X)

In the Save inks and Optimize Total Area Coverage (TAC) modes, the drop-down menu DeviceLink Profile only lists profiles with identical source and target profiles.

Use SmartLink

The DeviceLink for the conversion is created “on-the-fly” based on source and target profiles. The Rendering Intent for the calculation can be selected manually. Instead of the manually set Document Color Space, read out and use the output intent of the PDF/X file by activating the Prefer Output Intent checkbox.

The SmartLink option creates high quality DeviceLink profiles to avoid the problems of typical ICC conversions and ensures optimal color conversions.

Sharing settings with ZePrA (CoPrA 5 and lower)

Due to the close connection between CoPrA (ColorLogic’s profiling solution) and our color server ZePrA, the profile settings from CoPrA can be used to calculate DeviceLink profiles in ZePrA.

By selecting the checkbox Share with ZePrA in CoPrA, the settings of your DeviceLink and SaveInk profiles are transferred directly to ZePrA and can be used there as SmartLink Method.

The SmartLink Method in ZePrA allows calculation of the necessary DeviceLink and/or SaveInk profiles for the conversion of PDF files on-the-fly, without the need to create these DeviceLinks in advance.

The DeviceLink tool in CoPrA: SmartLink can use the profile settings from CoPrA to create DeviceLinks in ZePrA

To do so, make all the required settings in CoPrA by entering all relevant information in the DeviceLink tool under Rendering, Exceptions, and Color Generation. Click Save As and enter a name for the setting. Confirm with OK, then activate the Share with ZePrA checkbox. 

The so created methods shared with ZePrA are then available as SmartLink Method in the drop-down menus of both the Auto Setup and the Configurations.

Note: Only saved settings can be shared with ZePrA. Default or edited presets cannot be shared.

Sharing settings with ZePrA (CoPrA 6 and higher)

The SmartLink Method in ZePrA allows to create DeviceLinks and SaveInk profiles for the conversion of PDF files on-the-fly, without the need to create these DeviceLinks in advance.
Due to the close linkage between CoPrA and ZePrA, profiling settings specified in CoPrA can be used by ZePrA to create the required profiles.

The settings are accessible via a shared folder which has the advantage that CoPrA and ZePrA do not need to be installed on the same computer. The shared folder must simply be accessible by both ZePrA and CoPrA, either over the network, a shared local folder or the cloud.

Procedure

In CoPrA

  1. Under Preferences, enable the checkbox Share CoPrA Settings with ZePrA Auto Import Folder and select ZePrA’s Auto Import folder.
    Note: The Auto Import folder must be activated in ZePrA as well.
    If the checkbox is enabled and the Preferences dialog closed with OK an information message will appear asking the user if all shared presets should now be copied to the defined Auto-Import Folder.

  2. In the DeviceLink tool, define all required settings by entering all relevant information under Rendering, Exceptions and Color Generation.
  3. Click Save As and enter a name for the setting. Confirm with OK, then activate the Share with ZePrA checkbox.
  4. CoPrA Settings created that way and shared with ZePrA are available for selection as SmartLink Method in the drop-down menus of both the Auto Setup and the Configurations settings.

Note: Only saved settings can be shared with ZePrA. Default or edited presets cannot be shared.

In ZePrA

Make sure to enable the Auto Import function in ZePrA’s Preferences and to use the same folder as CoPrA. CoPrA’s DeviceLink and SaveInk settings are now accessible in ZePrA and can be used there as a SmartLink Method. SmartLink can now create custom DeviceLinks which can be used in ZePrA configurations.

Basic information on the Auto Import folder

Files (such as ICC profiles, configurations, spot color libraries, gradations or SmartLink settings) that are moved or copied into the Auto Import folder are transferred to ZePrA’s internal dataset and can then be used by ZePrA.
When the file in the Auto Import folder is replaced by a newer version, it will be updated in ZePrA’s internal datasets as well.
Note: If a file in the Auto Import folder is deleted, it is not deleted in ZePrA’s internal dataset. For example if a SmartLink setting has been deleted in the Auto Import folder, it is still available in ZePrA’s internal dataset and if this setting is deleted in ZePrA’s dataset, it is still available in the Auto Import folder.

Document Color Space

The document color space serves as a reference to define a uniform color space for the colors of the PDF file.

  • CMYK color spaces are usually used for print production, as CMYK colors are generally used for printing.
  • RGB document color spaces are suitable for modern publications for mobile media.
  • Multicolor color spaces are often used in packaging printing or in modern digital printing.

ZePrA supports the full spectrum of color spaces (Multicolor color spaces require a Multicolor license). Individual RGB or CMYK objects with embedded profiles in PDF files are converted to the document color space. For professional print production, data exchange should always be based on the PDF/X standard.

Prefer Output Intent

By activating this checkbox, the output intent of the PDF/X file is used instead of the manually set Document Color Space.

In addition to the ICC device profiles of individual PDF objects, an output intent can be defined for the entire PDF document (an ICC device profile that describes the document color space).

The document color space in PDF/X documents is clearly defined as the output intent.

If Prefer Output Intent is activated, PDF/X files with various output intents can be correctly converted in a queue because the respective output intent is considered instead of the document color space.

Note: This function is only applicable for PDF/X files.

Rendering Intent

General information on the design of ICC device profiles

Rendering intents, such as Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric, contain large tables which, for example for CMYK profiles, convert either CMYK color values to Lab or Lab color values to CMYK.

Due to these two color conversion directions, there are two tables for each rendering intent. The tables are calculated from the measurement data when a color profile is generated.

If ICC device profiles are calculated from the same measurement data, but with different profiling programs, then the tables generated can differ considerably in some color ranges.

This is especially true for the two tables of the Perceptual intent, for the gray balance and also for the areas with very high color saturation in the two tables of the Relative Colorimetric intent (also called “Out of Gamut” colors).

For optimal and harmonious color conversion, it is recommended, especially with CMYK-to-CMYK color conversions, to ensure that the source and target profiles were calculated with the same profiling software.

However, profiles from different providers (such as Adobe, ECI or ColorLogic) are often used in practice, which can lead to problems in color conversions if the perceptual rendering intent is used.

These problems can be avoided by using SmartLink.

The SmartLink module uses the source profiles embedded in PDF or image data and automatically calculates the DeviceLink profile required for conversion between source and target for each object and applies it at object level. The main conversion from the document color space to the target color space is also carried out via SmartLink. SmartLink is ideal for processing external data from a wide variety of sources to ensure optimum color accuracy (via DeviceLinks).

Additional SmartLink Rendering Intents

There are several additional Rendering Intents for SmartLinks

 

The SmartLink module provides several additional rendering intents to avoid inharmonic color conversions, which can result from differently calculated tables for source and target profiles.

To ensure precise color conversions, ZePrA completely recalculates the conversion of source and target profiles on-the-fly. The algorithms are the same as ColorLogic’s CoPrA profiling software.

Note: These additional rendering intents are only available with SmartLink enabled. If the checkbox Use SmartLink is not activated or SmartLink has not been licensed, only the four standard rendering intents are available.

Automatic from Preset: This option is for Custom SmartLink Methods shared from CoPrA and takes whatever setting has been selected in the shared DeviceLink setting from CoPrA, including the rendering options, like a merge between two rendering options, chroma or saturation boosts, all exceptions and black generation settings.
Note: Automatic from Preset is only available in the drop-down menu when a custom SmartLink Method is selected. So, first select a custom SmartLink Method and the option Automatic from Preset will be on top of the list.
Note: In earlier versions of ZePrA (9 and lower) it is not possible to merge two different rendering options for color conversion, because the rendering settings of a profiling setting shared from CoPrA are always overwritten by the rendering setting selected in ZePrA.

Standard Compression: This is the default method. It uses a perceptual conversion that is well suited for all types of gamuts, i.e., also for conversions between color spaces of different sizes. Neutral tones are converted using a relative colorimetric approach, and the appearance of the gray axis always depends on the paper white of the target profile. Therefore, the gray axis of the transformed file will appear yellowish on a very yellowish paper. The same gray axis will appear bluish on a bluish paper. For very small color gamuts, for example in newspaper printing, the dark tones are raised slightly to achieve more image definition in these areas.

Black Point Compensation: Use Black Point Compensation to achieve the same results with a perceptive conversion as with “Relative Colorimetric with Black Point Compensation”. When converting from large to small color spaces, the image definition is preserved in the highlights and shadows, unlike with a pure Relative Colorimetric conversion. Neutral tones are converted using the Relative Colorimetric intent. Out-of-gamut colors are cut off.

Absolute Compression: This method is based on the absolute colorimetric rendering intent in terms of color reproduction and is recommended when the paper tones differ significantly (the color gamuts can be similar or different). In contrast to the Standard Compression and Black Point Compensation, the paper tint is compensated in the gray balance. The rendering of neutral colors is based on the absolute colorimetric rendering intent, without paper tone simulation in the highlights. If, for example, the paper white is significantly more yellow than in the reference, the gray axis appears neutral despite the yellowish paper tone. This ensures that the color appearance of the original file is preserved as best as possible on a target medium with a different paper tint. The contrast range in the highlights and shadows is adapted to avoid any loss of image definition.

Minimum Compression (Paper Absolute): This method is largely similar to the absolute colorimetric intent and only compensates close to the black and the white point.
In addition, the white point of the source color space is not simulated, but scaled to the white point of the target color space, thus ensuring a pure paper white.
Use this rendering intent to achieve a close reproduction, for example when using print standards such as ISO Coated V2 or GRACoL2006 Coated1v2 on a digital printer.
Note: As for the absolute colorimetric rendering intent, ensure that the target color space is larger or has at least a similar size to avoid any loss of image definition. For color conversions from larger to smaller color spaces use Absolute Compression to maintain the gray balance of the source color space.

Minimum Compression (Paper Relative): This method is largely similar to the relative colorimetric intent and only compensates close to the black and the white point. It is similar to Minimal Compression (Paper Absolute) but uses relative colorimetric instead.

Dynamic Compression: Compares the source color space with the target color space and generates a compression that minimizes out-of-gamut areas. This setting preserves the brightness of the original color space while reducing the saturation, and therefore also preserves the image definition. As for the Standard Compression, the gray axis of the conversion is built relative to the paper white of the target profile. This approach is well suited when the source and target profiles have a very large dynamic range and contrast, for example, in RGB-to-CMYK conversions.
Note: This method is now only available in ZePrA for compatibility reasons, and no longer in CoPrA. We recommend using Automatic Paper Relative instead.

Minimum White Compression: This method is similar to Minimum Compression (Paper Absolute). Both rendering intents compress the white point without paper simulation, however, there is an important difference: The Minimum Compression is a rather perceptual rendering that additionally compresses the black point, so the maximum dynamic range is utilized without loss of detail in the shadows. In contrast, the Minimum White Compression compresses the white point but not the black point, so a close absolute colorimetric match between source and target color spaces can be achieved. This can be useful for the color representation across various media, color matching or printing on slightly differing media. It can be regarded as close to absolute colorimetric rendering without paper tint simulation.

Note: Remember that the target color space should be larger than the simulated color space (or similarly large) to avoid loss of detail and vividness (similar to the absolute colorimetric rendering intent). For conversions from large to small color spaces, instead use our rendering intent Absolute Compression if the gray balance of the source color space is to be preserved.

Important: To ensure that an on-the-fly DeviceLink profile created with SmartLink uses the rendering intent set under Configurations > Images/Vectors, activate the checkbox Ignore PDF Rendering Intents in the Options tab.

Automatic Paper Relative: A paper-relative rendering without adjusting the gray balance, which differs between the source and target profiles due to differences in paper tone. A typical use case would be a more colorful rendering of a color space on a different printer where the gray balance does not necessarily need to match. For example, a campaign that has been prepared for ISO coated V2 but is to be printed on a large format inkjet printer. The gray balance is reproduced with the same coloration as the paper color tone of the target profile.

Automatic Paper Absolute: An absolute paper rendering with consideration of the paper color tone. A typical use case would be the same as Automatic Paper Relative, but with the paper color tone of the source profile taken into consideration. This results in a reproduction of the gray balance on the target printer that matches the color tone of the source profile and thus provides the best possible color appearance.

Important: For PDF processing ZePrA typically uses the rendering intent defined in the PDF for each object. When deviating from this rule, ensure that an on-the-fly DeviceLink profile created with SmartLink uses the rendering intent set under Configurations > Images/Vectors, select the checkbox Ignore PDF Rendering Intents in the Options tab.

SmartLink Method

The SmartLink Method considers the different requirements of different printing conditions so the printed color is correctly reproduced and optimally separated for the printing process.

Traditional Printing – Classic: Conversions for offset, gravure, or newspaper printing. The DeviceLinks created ensure that black and gray, as well as the primary, secondary and triplex hues of the source profile, are preserved. The total area coverage is taken from the target profile.

Choosing a SmartLink Method

Traditional Printing – Automatic: Select this setting when the colors and paper of the target color space are significantly different from the output intent or document color space. Separation is preserved, but Exceptions for special colors such as black and gray, primary, secondary, and triplex colors are automatically calculated based on both profiles.

Large Format Printing – Inkjet: The separation is characterized by a strong GCR and a late black start. The black point and total area coverage are automatically calculated to ensure the best color reproduction. The Exceptions for special colors, such as black and gray, primary, secondary and triplex hues, are automatically calculated based on both profiles. To avoid problems that can occur when colors vary between different inkjet printers or between the inkjet printer and the source color space (as with ISOcoated V2 or GRACol), the Large Format Printing – Inkjet method automatically calculates the required exceptions in those cases.

Digital Printing – Toner: For toner-based digital printers and office printers. This method uses the same DeviceLink presets for Exceptions as Large Format Printing – Inkjet. The separation method ensures that a high percentage of black is used. This will achieve a stable print and neutral gray balance. The total area coverage is taken from the target profile. The Exceptions for special colors, such as black and gray, primary, secondary, and triplex hues, are automatically calculated based on both profiles.

Creating Queues and Configurations

Creating Queues and Configurations
  1. Enter a Queue Name that matches the name of the configuration.
  2. Specify the Base Folder in which the queue is to be created. To create a Queue (Hotfolder) in the Base Folder, activate the Create Queue checkbox and the corresponding subfolder will be created.
  3. To only create a new configuration, uncheck the Create Queue checkbox. The new configuration can be assigned to an existing queue in the Queues dialog later if required.
    Note: Auto Setup overwrites configurations without warning.
    If a configuration with the same name is to be overwritten, a warning only appears if the existing configuration or queue has different settings. If the settings are identical, the configuration is overwritten without warning.

    In the final step of the Auto Setup the queue is created along with all required folders

Configurations

All settings related to color handling and PDF processing are defined under Configurations. This includes color conversion via ICC output profiles or DeviceLink profiles, handling of mixed PDFs (documents with data in CMYK, RGB, Grayscale and spot colors) and individual settings of gradation curves and spot colors. Various presets and optimization options are available for all settings.
In the upper part of the window, select a configuration, create, rename and save new configurations.
To duplicate an existing configuration, select New, enter the new name and Save. To use a duplicated configuration, assign it to a queue.

Using Queues

The Automatic Setup Wizard simplifies the setup process, once complete, the new configuration and queue can be used immediately. To use a queue, simply copy or move the PDF file to be converted to the Input Folder of the queue.

The queue is automatically started by placing a file in the hotfolder

PDF files in the Input Folder are automatically converted according to the color management settings and saved to the Output Folder. Original files are moved to the Done Folder. Files that have caused an error are saved in the Error Folder.

General Information

General Information on Normalization

When a normalizing mode is selected, the Document Color Space is the same as the Target Color Space and no conversion between document and target takes place. However, all images and vectors color spaces deviating from the Document Color Space profile are first standardized, e.g., converted to the document color space or output intent. This is called normalization.

With PDF/X files, all ICC-based PDF objects are converted from the embedded ICC profile via the embedded rendering intent to the document color space (output intent). After this step, all objects of the PDF file have been converted to a consistent “standard” (Document Color Space/Output Intent).

PDF files generally do not contain any information about the document color space (Output Intent). If there is no PDF/X file available for normalization but only a PDF file, decide on a document color space into which any existing ICC-based PDF objects are converted.

After conversion, the final, normalized file consists only of a color space and spot colors, if present. 

The following color conversions are performed during normalization:

  • Conversion of device RGB and ICC-based RGB to document color space
  • Spot colors remain unchanged (can be converted to the target color space if required)
  • Conversion of ICC-based CMYK to document color space, retaining pure colors and separation properties (when using SmartLink)
  • Assignment of ICC-based gray to the black channel of the document color space (prevents four-color gray)
Converting PDF files with Auto Setup

The easiest way to set up a color management workflow between various color spaces is to use the Auto Setup in combination with the SmartLink method. ColorLogic’s DeviceLink Sets (DLS) are also an option for standard color spaces. All sets are optimized so that the colors of both image and vector data of a PDF file can be reliably converted. The profiles are optimized and checked for smoothness and visually correct conversion, and have been proven in production.

All color information required for PDF/X is automatically set by Auto Setup, including the use of the target profile as output intent, normalization, and color conversion.

Gradients in vector graphics that consist of just one or two CMYK colors still contain only the original colors after application of the profile. The color values are merely adjusted for the output.

Example: If PDF objects are in the RGB color space and the Relative Colorimetric rendering intent is embedded, the Auto Setup queue automatically activates Black Point Compensation to ensure accurate detail reproduction in shadow areas.

Grayscale: Grayscale objects can be handled like CMYK, preserving gray and avoiding conversion to four colors. To do this, choose Use CMYK Conversion

from the drop-down menu Gray in the Images/Vectors tab under Configurations. If SmartLink is licensed, color conversions of objects with embedded profiles are always performed via SmartLink to ensure the best possible quality.

Spot Color: If the PDF files contain spot colors, they remain unchanged. To convert spot colors to process colors, the spot color settings must be adjusted under Configurations > Spot Colors.

Embedding profiles: By default, no ICC device profiles are embedded in the individual elements of the output file.

SmartLink: If the SmartLink function has been licensed, color conversions of objects with embedded profiles are always performed via SmartLink and use DeviceLink profiles in order to guarantee the best possible quality.

PDF Transparencies: If a PDF file contains transparencies, the individual PDF objects are processed in exactly the same way as the PDF files without transparencies. The colors of the transparencies are converted by default and the transparency information is preserved unchanged. If required the Transparency Flattening can be set in the configuration in the PDF tab under Transparency/Overprinting. 

Flattening is mainly required for transparent objects if there are problems after conversion while maintaining transparency and when spot colors are to be converted to process colors.

Converting Image Files with Auto Setup

TIFF, JPEG, PSD, or PSB image data are processed in auto setup queues the same way as image data of a PDF file. The conversion is based on the settings under Images/Vectors and Document/Target.

For pure image data conversion of TIFF, JPEG, PSD and PSB images from a source color space to a target color space, it is recommended to use the Auto Setup option Direct Color Conversion to new Output Condition and select one of two options in the Automatic Setup Wizard:

Option 1: Use a previously created DeviceLink profile for the conversion of the image color space to the target color space. The DeviceLink chosen in the Automatic Setup Wizard should be set to source profile of the image, for situations where images without embedded profiles are processed. The target profile is set by the Auto Setup. 

For images with embedded profile and images with other color spaces not defined under Document Color Space the settings under Images/Vectors are applied. Make sure to select the proper default profiles, the desired rendering intent and make sure that the checkboxes under Apply Embedded Profiles are enabled.

Option 2: Use ICC Profiles for document color space and target color space to calculate a DeviceLink “on-the-fly” via SmartLink, which requires a license for SmartLink. Choose the desired Rendering Intent and SmartLink Method for the calculation.

When using the SmartLink option, either a DeviceLink profile is created “on-the-fly” or a stored DeviceLink profile is used depending on the setting under Profile Assignments. Store the specific profile in the table in the Profile Assignments window to ensure that a specific DeviceLink profile is applied in the configuration.

Additional information regarding image files

ZePrA supports images with 8 bit and 16 bit color depth. The color depth of the input data is preserved with the conversion unless TIFF, PSD or PSB files are saved as JPEG files under Options/Image Quality. This will result in a color depth of 8 bit since only 8 bit is possible in JPEG files. Read more about this under Configuration > Options > Image Quality. ZePrA supports layers in PSD and TIFF files. Read more about this under Configuration > Options > Photoshop PSD and TIFF Conversion.

General Information

For high-quality color conversions, the source color space of the object to be converted should be known or readable. If no suitable document color space (ICC Output Intent) is assigned to the objects of the PDF file, the conversion is performed based on the document color space selected as source profile. Be sure to select a suitable document color space, as an unsuitable document color space will affect the quality of the conversion.

In most cases, Auto Setup converts PDF files to an output color space without assigning an embedded profile to each element. The output depends on the target profile (CMYK, RGB, Gray or Multicolor).

Data containing additional spot color information is not changed in a standard queue. All color information required for PDF/X is automatically set in Auto Setup, including the definition of the target profile as an output condition.

Auto Setup is great for creating queues for common color conversions. However, if the workflow requires special adjustments, changes can be made as needed under Configurations.

In the Queues chapter, you can learn more about how to handle the hot folders created by the Auto Setup Wizard or the Queues tool.