The link below will allow you to download the output profile that we employ on our Fuji Frontier 370 printer using Fuji Professional Super PD II Crystal Archive paper. It is a custom profile created specifically for our printer and paper combination to provide optimum results in a color managed system. It will produce neutral black & white images and the full "normal" range of colors that are printable in the sRGB color space. The correct use of this profile assumes that you have an accurately calibrated and profiled monitor. Calibration tools and software are available that will permit you to calibrate your monitor to industry standards. For more complete information on this subject, please click the link title to download the article on "Color Management".

Please note that this profile is only valid for work imaged on our Fuji Frontier printer, NOT the Chromira. We use the Chromira digital printer to produce photo images 11x14 and larger, while the Frontier is used to produce photo prints 10x15 and smaller.

The objective of using this printer profile is to help you accurately preview on your monitor how the prints we make for you will look. Many factors can determine the accuracy of this color match, but the most significant is if your monitor is not properly calibrated. We strongly recommend that you do not attempt to make critical color corrections on a laptop computer due to known issues with inadequate screen calibration capabilities. Many laptops, by default,  automatically adjust the screen brightness in response to ambient lighting conditions. This effectively negates your ability to visually evaluate exposure and color balance with any degree of accuracy.

Print viewing should preferably be done under 5000°K illumination (standard daylight color temperature). This also assumes that your viewing environment is a room with neutral wall coverings. Rooms with brightly colored walls will effect your color perception. In our lab, all our viewing/correcting areas are neutral colored and we use daylight florescent lighting with a color temperature of 5000°K and a CRI (color rendition index) of 93. This means that the color quality of the light is 93% the same as average daylight. You can purchase tubes like these in several sizes and styles at local home improvement stores under the trade names like Full Spectrum 5000 or Chroma 50.

Click here to download the Uphoto Fuji Frontier Printer Profile.

The location to which you save the file to depends on what operating system you are using. The profile should work well on either Windows or Mac computers. For now, just save the file to a convenient location so that you know where to find it during the installation process. The instructions below will describe how to install the profile on your computer. Please note that this profile is a binary file and can not be opened directly by most applications. Only image editing applications such as Photoshop and color printer drivers are able to use them.

The various locations to save this file are:

• Mac OS X (all versions): With administrative privileges, storing profiles in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles allows all users to access them. An alternative area, for users without Admin privileges, is /Users/<username>/Library/ColorSync/Profiles — any profiles stored here are available only to the current user.
• Windows 7, Vista, and XP: \Windows\system32\spool\drivers\color
  • All you have to do to install a profile in Windows XP is to right click on the profile in Windows Explorer and select "install profile". Windows automatically copies the profile to the correct directory, unless you are replacing an existing one. In this case the above shortcut does not work. The profile must be manually copied to the correct directory for the original profile to be replaced.
  • Although Windows 7 and Vista have a Control Panel applet to install and define output devices,  the functionality is limited and a right-click automatic install or manually copying the profile to the system profile directory is still easier.
  • Windows XP has a Control Panel Applet as well, that emulates some of the functionality of Apple's ColorSync utility. It allows easy installation and removal of profiles, editing of internal and external names, viewing 3-D gamut plots, comparing two different profiles, and much more. This applet works on XP only; newer operating systems are not supported.
• Mac OS 9.x: System Folder:ColorSync Profiles
  • Mac OS 9.x users who have difficulty loading profiles in Photoshop.
• Windows 2000 and NT: \Winnt\system32\spool\drivers\color
  • See above note for installing profiles in Windows XP - the same technique works in Windows 2000.

You can obtain from us, free of charge, a monitor calibration print that you can use in the next few steps. Download the image used to make the print by clicking on this link "Monitor Calibration File". Once the profile has been installed, you can open this calibration image in Photoshop. When opening your own images, you need to make sure that the file is using the sRGB color space. If it does not, you must first convert it using the "Convert to Profile" command. The location of this option varies with the vintage of Photoshop you are using.  In newer CS versions, it is located as one of the commands under the "Edit" menu.

Now, open the Proof Setup dialog (View→Proof Setup→Custom).

Select the profile you just installed from the drop-down list in the Proof Setup dialog box.

Check the Preview box and turn on Black Point Compensation. This will allow you to accurately approximate the black level the Frontier printer will produce.

Make sure that you do not select Preserve Color Numbers, otherwise the preview will not work properly.

The next option is rendering intent. It may be necessary to do some trial and error testing on this one. Relative Colorimetric often gives the best results, however we have found that Perceptual can work better, especially if your image contains out-of-gamut colors. Don't worry about Absolute or Saturation for this application. The best thing is to view a test print using both and use the rendering intent that provides the closest match. Keep in mind that some images may produce a better match with one or the other rendering intents based on the color content.

Simulation options (Paper White and Ink Black) will attempt to show the reduced contrast range the printed photo paper will have compared to what your monitor can show. The monitor is usually brighter than a real print would be. Again, this is a setting that may require some experimentation.

When you compare your monitor image with the test print you should be able to see a close match since the test print is made with no corrections. You should now be able to preview your own corrections and order your prints without any corrections. Because of the time consuming and often subjective nature of the process, many of our clients prefer for us to handle the color correction at the printer. However, there may be cases where this is not practical (multi image composites created in photoshop) or you simply prefer to do the corrections yourself to save some money. We recommend that before doing any large scale corrections yourself that you obtain a test print from a file you have corrected so you can check the accuracy of the color match on your system.