Curve Types in Harmony
Harmony defines three curve types that identify the medium being calibrated:
- Plate Curves, for calibrating halftone tints on the printing plate
- Film Curves, for calibrating halftone film
- Paper Curves, for calibrating press tonal response
These types apply to derived calibration curves and the current and target curves from which they are derived. Transfer calibration curves do not have such a type.
Curve Types in ColorFlow
ColorFlow defines two curve types:
- Plate Curves, for calibrating halftone tints on the printing plate
- Print curves, for calibrating press tonal or gray balance response
Curve Selection in Prinergy
In the Calibration and Screening panel of Prinergy and Evo output process templates, Curve Source: Harmony specifies to select curves from the Harmony database. The Print Curve and Plate Curve lists each contain all Harmony calibration curves: plate, film and print derived calibration curves, as well as transfer calibration curves. The calibration curve type is ignored.
Selecting Curve Source: ColorFlow Current State causes curves to be selected from the ColorFlow data base. Selection of print and plate curves is restricted:
- The Print Curve list shows only ColorFlow Print Curves
- The Plate Curve list shows only ColorFlow Plate Curves
If arbitrary Harmony curve types are used, the difference in curve selection may cause some confusion when you migrate Harmony curves to ColorFlow. To maintain curve usage through the migration, any type of Harmony calibration curve may have to be imported into ColorFlow Print Curves in order to be selectable in Prinergy's Print Curve list. The same goes for Plate Curves. This is discussed below.
Importing Harmony Curves into ColorFlow
When you open a Harmony database import into ColorFlow Print Curves, the table of selectable Harmony curves normally shows only Harmony print calibration curves. If the curve you're looking for doesn't appear in the table, it may be a Harmony plate or film calibration curve. To see all the calibration curves in the Harmony database, select Show Plate and Film Calibration Curves. See Importing a Harmony print calibration curve.
Similarly, when you open a Harmony database import into ColorFlow Plate Curves, the table of selectable Harmony curves normally shows only Harmony plate calibration curves. If the curve you're looking for doesn't appear in the table, it may be a Harmony print or film calibration curve. To see all the calibration curves in the Harmony database, select Show Paper and Film Calibration Curves. See Importing a Harmony plate calibration curve.
Showing Imported Harmony Curves in ColorFlow
When you import Harmony calibration curves into ColorFlow, all imported curves are stored in a shared Harmony Curves pool. You can see these curves in the Harmony Curves tables of Colorflow's Print Curves and Plate Curves tabs:
- The Print Curves tab normally shows only imported Harmony Paper Curves. To see all curve types in the Print Curves tab, select Show Plate and Film Calibration Curves in the Harmony Curves panel.
- The Plate Curves tab normally shows only imported Harmony Plate Curves. To see all curve types in the Plate Curves tab, select Show Paper and Film Calibration Curves in the Harmony Curves panel.
Showing Imported Harmony Curves for Selection in Prinergy
You can also control the visibility of any type of what imported Harmony curves appear in the Print Curve and Plate Curve list controls of the Calibration and Screening panel of Prinergy output process templates. In order to support the Prinergy behavior of Harmony curve selection when process template are migrated to ColorFlow curve, any type of Harmony curve can be selected to appear in each of the list controls:
- To show a curve in Prinergy's Print Curve selection list, select Show in Prinergy Print Curves in the Print Curves tab. See Importing a Harmony print calibration curve.
- To show a curve in Prinergy's Plate Curve selection list, select Show in Prinergy Plate Curves in the Plate Curves tab. See Importing a Harmony plate calibration curve.