Glossary of color management terms and ICC color profiles now available.

Several years ago there were FLAAR glossaries available on digital photography, RIP software, and color management tools. But updating them and republishing them is costly, so I thank BARBIERI electronic for providing the funds to completely update the color management bibliography to make it current through winter 2008 and to substantially update the FLAAR glossary of color management terms. Both these publications are now available, as free downloads.

As soon as funding is available from a RIP company we hope to update the glossary of RIP software and make the improved version readily available. These funds are utilized to help the approximately 14 students who work mostly full time in the FLAAR office as technical writers, graphic designers for the PDFs, and web designers for our seven web sites with over 1000 pages (the students attend their university in the afternoon and evenings).

If you want to see more FLAAR videos click here

 Barbieri Spectro Swing spectrophotometer, Spectro LFP
BARBIERI electronic booth at FESPA Digital, Amsterdam 2009.

Barbieri Spectro Swing, Spectro LFP

BARBIERI electronic is one of the few remaining companies that makes color management equipment other than X-Rite/GretagMacbeth. I have seen the BARBIERI booth at major European trade shows over the last five years, but rarely if ever in the US.

Barbieri Electronic Spectro Swing spectrophotometer wide-format, super-wide format (grand format) printers

Barbieri makes robust spectrophotometers. Not as much plastic as other models. Works well with textiles too. I have spoken with a color management person in Europe who is familiar with all brands. She says that the BARBIERI units have advantages over other brands. Gretag and others uses plastic wheels made for paper, so if you wish to handle other materials, you may find BARBIERI more efficient. Some auto feeders are best for photo paper, for example.

You can measure rigid materials and backlit materials both. An experienced user reports that the machine “holds” many materials better than some better known competitors machines. Plus this end-user says “BARBIERI is easy to use: just plug-and-play.”

Spectrophotometers for ICC color profiles and color management

Pricewise BARBIERI  “It is worth the price.”

BARBIERI color management tools are for professional printshops who need to obtain the right color on different kind of media. The BARBIERI spectrophotometers create output profiles, for wide-format inkjet printers, especially for transmissive (backlit), for textiles, and for thick and rigid material that GretagMacBeth Spectrolino can’t handle well.

I have asked around and checked with pros. These pros that I asked have prior experience also with GretagMacBeth and with X-Rite equipment. FLAAR too has worked with both Gretag and X-Rite equipment before they merged. In instances where a person started with Gretag, and then tried BARBIERI, they prefer BARBIERI once they learn all the things it can do that are not possible with a GretagMacbeth Spectrolino. This does not  mean at all that a Gretag is bad, just that a BARBIERI is better in key aspects.

BARBIERI Spectro Swing, Spectro LFP, Caldera Swing

Caldera sells the Caldera Swing model that is adapted to Caldera RIP software. Naturally you can also obtain the BARBIERIi equipment directly from the manufacturer: the master distributor for BARBIERI spectrophotometer color management tools in the US is Image Tech Digital (Mark Spandorf).

There is also a capable German company, BasICColor, that makes color management software that can be used with the BARBIERI, or you can use the RIP and ICC profiling software that you already have. Or you can obtain your BARBIERI spectrophotometer with its own software with special features for saving on ink usage and creating especially high quality profiles. Remember, if you use the ink limiting features of the BARBIERI system, you can save 20%, 30% or up to 40% of your ink costs (because you use correspondingly less ink when you have color management workflow in your company). I have interviewed printshop technical managers, and have interviewed other people in industry, and these are the figures for ink saving, for people who are not using a RIP at all, or are not using the ink saving features of color managed workflow. In our upcoming site-visit case study we quote a specific printshop in Europe who saved so much money by needing less ink that they paid for the entire BARBIERI spectrophotometer out of their ink savings.

By mid-November it has been possible to visit the BARBIERI headquarters in South Tirol (northern Italy) and also to visit a major European digital printing company that formerly used other brands, tried the BARBIERI, and switched. This substantial printshop is in Slovenia, a few kilometers south of where I used to live while at the university for eight years (Graz, Austria) has eight UV printers and almost a dozen solvent and oil-based printers, plus two textile printers. They started with a GretagMacbeth Spectrolino and switched to BARBIERI because it could better handle backlit as well as heavy and thick rigid materials from the UV-cured flatbed printers and textiles too. The site-visit case study of this print company is now being prepared.

Barbieri color management equipment


SmartStuff Inc. is the initial distributor in USA for BARBIERI electronic color management tools. By coincidence SmartStuff Inc. is in the same city as the FLAAR USA office is located, so we know all the folks at SmartStuff including Don Bobenhouse.

Contact info is: Don Bobenhouse, telephone, 314-616-1509
dbobenhouse@smartstuffinc.com
1-800-544-6020

 

 

Most recently updated November 24, 2008.
First posted October 2008.

JETRIX 3015FQ
Middle East Sign & Graphic Imaging Expo
Flatbed UV-cured Wide Format Printer
Fast UV flatbed printer
UV Printers Dye-sublimation, Textile printers Eco-solvents y water-based printers
D-PES Dongguan 2011 Inventory of Chinese Printers using Epson DX5 and DX7 printheads
Jetbest flatbed Magic Ink

The first after-market Latex Ink for HP Designjet L2550

InkTec Dye sublimation ink large format transfer paper quality aftermarket Epson piezo printhead reviews
Glossary of textile inkjet terms
FLAAR recommends attending SGIA 2011 New Orleans floor plan exhibitor list concept dye sublimation textile UV cured flatbed printers inks
After-Market Mild Solvent Ink from Sam-Ink for HP-Seiko printers
After-Market Mild Solvent Ink from Sam-Ink for HP-Seiko printers
Sign and digital UK 2011 UV cured solvent distributors inkjet printers exhibitor list 2012
Chinese Trade Shows
FLAAR recommends attending SGIA 2011 New Orleans floor plan exhibitor list concept dye sublimation textile UV cured flatbed printers inks
Exhibitor List of Reklama Moscow 2011
UV cured wide format printers cutters textile printers
Exhibitor List of Reklama Moscow 2011
UV cured wide format printers cutters textile printers
Latex ink What are the true Pros & Cons compared with Resin & UV inks?
Consulting UV-cured textiles eco-solvent latex inks giclee inkjet printers trade show exposition exhibitor list
Obeikan Potential Source of Signage Materials for OEM manufacturing of Solvent-UV Substrates
Digifab
Obeikan Consistent Quality substrates
Drytac VersaCoater-XL 60 80 UV
Consulting for end user
MEMS printheads page array page width MEMJET potential success 42 inch wide format inkjet label printer review
Russian UV Glossary
Glossary of terms on color management for wide format printers
Caldera_Rip
Color Management Site Visit BARBIERI Factory
Polytype Virtu RS25 RS35 UV
Dongguan 2011 UV cured printers exibitor list
Polytype Virtu RR50
EFI Rastek H650 UV printer
Rastek H-700
XY flatbed
EFI VUTEk GS 3200 UV combo hybrid inkjet printer for outdoor signage POP advertising billboard rigid
EFI VUTEk GS 3200 UV combo hybrid inkjet printer for outdoor signage POP advertising billboard rigid
EFI VUTEk GS 5000r roll-to-roll roll-fed 5-meter UV inkjet printer evaluation report billboard signa
EFI VUTEk GS 5000r roll-to-roll roll-fed 5-meter UV inkjet printer evaluation report billboard signa
YJ PE factories photo essay 2010
Raster T600
Printing on Ceramic tiles
HP latex ink
HP Z3100ps GP
Priming &Treatmentfor UV Applications
3D
GRAPO applications
Fabrics & Soft Signage for Wide-Format Inkjet Printing
UV flatbeb symposium
UV factory visits
3D IB ProCADD face
Learning about UV printers
Durst Rho 351
Durst 800
Yuhan-Kimberly UJET MC2
LexJet Legend 72HUV Applications
Durst Rho 700
LexJet Legend 72HUV
FAQs of UV-Curable Flatbed Printers
Glossary of Terms related to UV-curable Inkjet Printers
What about White UV Inkjet Ink?
List & Sources of UV-cured Inks For UV-Inkjet Printers
Learning about UV Lamps & UV Curing For Understanding Flatbed Inkjet Printers
WP Digital RR50 invitation
Reliable full solvent eco-solvent third-party after market replacement bulk inks AT Inks
Sepiax for end-users

We are adding new pages and new features every month so it is not always realistic to update old pages from past years. All the old equipment is still available on eBay, so we keep even our old pages. If you wish only the more up to date product reviews, these are in PDFs (not in the web pages, but in PDFs which are linked in the columns at the right of every page).

Please realize that we tend to update a page (or a PDF) primarily when it is clear that our readers ask about this brand or model frequently. With over 45 brands of UV printers and over 200 models in the past ten years, it is not realistic to update pages on obsolete brands or unpopular models. If you prefer to speak with Nicholas Hellmuth in person about a printer, you can bring him to your company anywhere in the world as consultant.

By later in 2011 each of our web sites will be in 36 different languages with instant translation (and better than old fashioned web page translators of several years ago). So far all the languages are available on www.FLAAR.org and www.3d-scanners-3d-software-reviews.org. Next will be our fine art photography, giclee, decor web site.