Printer Black and White point Targets
- Instructions -

File Type:  The ZIP file contains two TIFF files.  The TIFF files are non-layered, 8-bit, 7.5" (190.5 mm) wide by 10" (254 mm) high, 360 ppi and tagged with the Adobe RGB(1998) profile.

File Extension:  *.tif
Purpose:  Determine a printing environments black and white points.

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Download the File

Click the Download button.  If a file download or file save dialog box does not display, right click the Download button instead and select Save Target As.  Follow your web browser's instructions for saving this file onto your computer.  Make sure you remember where you save it.  The file name is tz-print-targets.zip.  After downloading, if prompted to Open the file or Close the download dialog box, close the dialog box.  Using your unzip software, unzip the file.  It does not matter where the extracted files are stored.  After unzipping the files, you should have two files.  One named TZ-blackpoint.tif and another named TZ-whitepoint.tif.
 

Print the Targets

Details for using the Black and White Point targets can be found on the Printer Black Point page and the Printer White Point page.

In general, the steps are as follows.

1. Do not apply any Photoshop adjustments to these files.
2. Using the same process you use to print your images, print the target for every combination of paper, ink, printer, print engine and printer profile you use.  If you use Photoshop, instead of a RIP, to print your images, you may wish to review the Photoshop Printing page.  Each target will print on 8.5" x 11" paper.
3. Let the targets dry for at least 15 minutes.  A day or two would be better to allow the ink to cure and the solvents to dissipate.  Cover the targets with plain paper to protect from dust and light while drying.
4. Using a strong light source, such as direct sunlight, look at the bottom two rows.  Looking at the targets at an angle may help.
5. The bottom two rows skip every other tone to make it easier to narrow in on the black and white points.
6. For the black point, what you are looking for is the darkest tone that is distinguishable from its lighter tone neighbor but is indistinguishable from (blends in with) all of its darker tone neighbors.
7. For the white point, what you are looking for is the lightest tone that is distinguishable from its darker tone neighbor but is indistinguishable from (blends in with) all of its lighter tone neighbors.
8. Once you think you have found the black and white points, find these same tones in the first three rows.  The first three rows show tone in increments of one.  Fine tune which tones are the black and white points.
9. Record these values on your Printer Chart.

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Unusually High Black Point Values

Since a black point is dependent on the combination of paper, ink, printer, print engine and printer profile, there are no hard and fast black point values.  (If there were, we would not have to find our own black point values.)  However, you may encounter a situation where the black point value seems too high.  If you do, check the Printer Black Point page for tips on how to try and diagnose the cause.