Digital Negative ICC Profile

[BobDavid]

I'm in the process of making my first batch of digital negatives on Inkpress Paper's transparency film. There isn't an ICC profile available for printing on an Epson SC P7000. I know I set the media to ultra premium luster and use PK ink. Other than that, any additional information is appreciated.

 

[koraks]

You don't need an ICC profile - in fact, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to use one.
ICC profiles are used to ensure that the colors as printed by the printer match what is encoded in the digital data sent to the printer. The profile compensates for optical density variations due to the inks and paper used, but also non-linearities in the ink delivery system (i.e. the head itself).

When you're printing digital negatives, the calibration is done between the digital input data (your image, e.g. in Photoshop or in a dedicated print tool like QTR) and the final print as made with the target process (e.g. cyanotype etc.). Hence, to a large extent, what happens in the inkjet printing step doesn't really matter, as long as it's consistent (i.e. every time you print the same thing, it comes out the same).

You could (and indeed, can) make an ICC profile for the calibrated workflow if that happens to be a full-color workflow. This is what e.g. Calvin Grier does for his alt. process pigment prints (carbon, printmaker's friend and previously gum). But in that case, what you profile is not the inkjet printer and the inkjet negative, but the 'virtual printer' consisting of the entire chain comprising the inkjet printer, the digital negative and the finished & dried alt. process print.

So long story short: stop looking because there's no need or even a realistic need for this, and that's why it doesn't exist.

 

[BobDavid]

You don't need an ICC profile - in fact, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to use one.
ICC profiles are used to ensure that the colors as printed by the printer match what is encoded in the digital data sent to the printer. The profile compensates for optical density variations due to the inks and paper used, but also non-linearities in the ink delivery system (i.e. the head itself).

When you're printing digital negatives, the calibration is done between the digital input data (your image, e.g. in Photoshop or in a dedicated print tool like QTR) and the final print as made with the target process (e.g. cyanotype etc.). Hence, to a large extent, what happens in the inkjet printing step doesn't really matter, as long as it's consistent (i.e. every time you print the same thing, it comes out the same).

You could (and indeed, can) make an ICC profile for the calibrated workflow if that happens to be a full-color workflow. This is what e.g. Calvin Grier does for his alt. process pigment prints (carbon, printmaker's friend and previously gum). But in that case, what you profile is not the inkjet printer and the inkjet negative, but the 'virtual printer' consisting of the entire chain comprising the inkjet printer, the digital negative and the finished & dried alt. process print.

So long story short: stop looking because there's no need or even a realistic need for this, and that's why it doesn't exist.

Thank you.

 

[djdister]

The folks at Bostick & Sullivan have suggestions for Look Up Tables (LUTs) for making digital negatives, see this https://www.bostick-sullivan.com/digital-negatives-lut/