Custom Printer Profiling
Printer Test Image

A4 Test Image

Download and print the image to evaluate your printer profile

Don't forget to print the test image using the printer settings you used to produce the printer profile.

Assessing Printer Performance with a Test Image

Introduction

The Test Image is designed to demonstrate the capabilities of a printer when fed a well exposed high dynamic range image.

After receiving a Custom Printer Profile you should print the test image once with your Custom Printer Profile and once without, so that you can understand the difference your profile has made.  In most cases this is profound!

Consider also purchasing one of our Printer Reference Prints which is a very useful objective benchmark for assessing your printers performance.

What to look for in your test print

Shadow Details

The printed circuit board and the cogs test shadow detail. You should be able to make out where the 3 cogs overlap and some detail on the face of the cogs. Ideally you should also be able to see some detail in the deepest shadow area of the circuit board.

There should be no obvious banding on the first models right cheek (as you look) and her hair detail should transition smoothly from detail in the highlights off to no detail in the dark shadows

The pebbles in the fish bowl should be a deep purple and show good detail.

You should not be able to see detail all the way down to step 19 on the KODAK grayscale but under bright light you should be able to see differentiation between patches 12,13 and possibly 14.

Highlight Details

You should be able to see soft shadow details on the wall behind all the objects. 

You should be able to see detail in the floating egg and the glossy golf balls.  The egg should be a warmer tone compared to the golf balls.

You should see separation between patches A and 1 on the KODAK grey scale.

Saturation

The penultimate row of the Gretag Macbeth ColorChecker Chart should show good saturated Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan patches.

The sunflower should be a strong warm yellow and its vase should be a translucent blue. The foliage should demonstrate a good range of greens

The hat (top right) should be a soft pink, while the pens in the jar and the flowers next to it should be strongly saturated.

The green mug and the chalk should have relatively pastel colours

The pot holding the cactus should be a soft dry clay tone.

Neutrals

The last row of the Gretag Macbeth ColorChecker Chart should have neutral patches with no obvious colour cast.

The KODAK grayscale should appear fairly neutral (not completely).

Skin tones

The first model should have a warm Asian skin tone while the 3rd model should have a deeper African skin tone.

The second model (baby) has a pale skin tone that has been shot in a cool light while the 4th model (baby) has a warmer more saturated skin tone that has been photographed in a warmer light.