Custom ICC Profile Creation for Digital UV Printing

Achieve Accurate and Repeatable Colour with Custom ICC Profiles

In digital UV printing, colour consistency is one of the most important factors affecting print quality, production efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Even the highest-quality UV inks and the most advanced printers cannot deliver predictable results without a properly created ICC colour profile.

ARISTA provides professional custom ICC profile creation services for UV flatbed, hybrid, and roll-to-roll printers. Instead of using generic manufacturer profiles, we build ICC profiles specifically for your printer, UV ink, print resolution, substrate, RIP software, and production environment.

The result is more accurate colour reproduction, reduced material waste, faster production setup, and repeatable print quality across every production run.

What Is an ICC Profile?

An ICC profile is a colour management file that describes how a printer reproduces colour. It translates digital colour values into the precise combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and any additional inks required to reproduce the intended colour on a specific material.

Every printing configuration is different. A professional ICC profile should take into account the complete production setup, including:

• UV printer model
• UV ink formulation
• Printhead type
• RIP software
• Print mode
• Resolution
• Ink limits
• Substrate
• UV curing settings
• Production environment

When any of these elements changes, colour reproduction may also change. This is why one generic ICC profile cannot provide optimal results for every printer and material combination.

Why Generic ICC Profiles Are Not Enough

Printer and RIP manufacturers often provide standard ICC profiles designed to work with a broad range of materials and operating conditions. These profiles may provide acceptable results, but they rarely deliver the highest possible colour accuracy, grey balance, ink efficiency, and repeatability.

A generic profile does not fully account for the exact behaviour of your printer, ink, substrate, UV curing system, and production workflow.

This can result in:

• Inaccurate brand and corporate colours
• Visible colour shifts
• Poor neutral grey balance
• Excessive ink consumption
• Oversaturated or muddy colours
• Loss of detail in shadows and highlights
• Unstable colour between production runs
• Additional test prints and wasted substrate

A custom ICC profile is created for the real printing conditions in your production environment. It allows the printer to reproduce colour more accurately and consistently while using ink more efficiently.

Professional Colour Measurement with BARBIERI Electronic

ARISTA works with professional colour measurement equipment from the Italian company BARBIERI electronic.

BARBIERI electronic develops intelligent colour measurement technology for top performance in professional digital printing. Its equipment is widely used in demanding large-format, industrial, textile, packaging, signage, and specialty printing applications.

Our primary profiling instrument is the BARBIERI Spectro LFP.

The BARBIERI Spectro LFP is a fully automated reflection and transmission spectrophotometer developed specifically for colour management in digital large-format printing.

Its professional measurement capabilities make it suitable for a wide variety of reflective, transparent, translucent, textured, and specialty materials.

Why We Use the BARBIERI Spectro LFP

Accurate colour profiling depends on accurate measurement. The BARBIERI Spectro LFP allows us to measure printed colour targets with a high level of consistency and precision.

The system is suitable for measuring:

• Rigid sheets
• Flexible media
• Transparent substrates
• Translucent materials
• Backlit film
• Textiles
• Glass
• Acrylic
• Plastic
• Metal
• Composite panels
• Specialty printing materials

Our technical knowledge, practical printing experience, and professional measurement equipment work together to produce a reliable and highly accurate result.

Benefits of a Custom ICC Profile

More Accurate Colour Reproduction

A custom profile helps reproduce photographs, gradients, skin tones, brand colours, and corporate colour standards more accurately.

Consistent and Repeatable Output

Once the printer and workflow are correctly calibrated, the same print job can be reproduced more consistently across different production runs.

Improved Grey Balance

Neutral greys remain more balanced, reducing unwanted green, magenta, blue, or yellow colour casts.

Optimised Ink Limits

Correct ink limiting prevents unnecessary ink application while maintaining strong colour density and a wide usable colour gamut.

Reduced Ink Consumption

A properly optimised printing condition can reduce excessive ink usage without sacrificing print quality.

Less Substrate Waste

More accurate colour from the first production print means fewer failed samples, fewer corrections, and less wasted material.

Faster Production Setup

Operators spend less time making manual colour corrections and repeating test prints.

Better Customer Satisfaction

Reliable colour reproduction helps printing companies meet customer expectations and deliver consistent results for repeat orders.

Our Custom ICC Profile Creation Process

Every profiling project follows a structured workflow adapted to the customer's printer, ink, RIP software, substrate, and production requirements.

1. Printer inspection and preparation
   The printer must be in stable technical condition with clean nozzles, correct printhead alignment, and consistent UV curing.
2. Print mode selection
   We define the required resolution, number of passes, print speed, ink configuration, and production mode.
3. Printer linearisation
   The individual ink channels are adjusted to create predictable and controlled tonal behaviour.
4. Ink limit optimisation
   Total and individual ink limits are established to prevent excessive ink application and improve print stability.
5. Colour target printing
   Professional profiling charts are printed using the final production settings and selected substrate.
6. Spectrophotometer measurement
   The printed targets are measured using the BARBIERI Spectro LFP.
7. ICC profile generation
   The measurement data is processed to create a custom ICC profile for the exact printing condition.
8. Profile optimisation
   The profile is evaluated and adjusted to improve colour accuracy, grey balance, tonal transitions, and usable gamut.
9. Test printing and verification
   Test images and colour references are printed to verify the final production result.
10. Final profile delivery
    The completed ICC profile is prepared for use in the customer's RIP and production workflow.

ICC Profiles for UV Flatbed, Hybrid, and Roll-to-Roll Printers

ARISTA creates custom ICC profiles for a wide range of professional digital printing systems, including:

• UV flatbed printers
• UV hybrid printers
• UV roll-to-roll printers
• Industrial UV printers
• LED UV printers
• Large-format digital printers
• Sign and display printers
• Industrial decoration systems
• Packaging prototype printers
• Specialty printing systems

Compatible Printer Brands

Custom ICC profile creation may be available for many professional printer brands and printing platforms, including:

• Agfa
• Mimaki
• Roland
• Canon Arizona
• swissQprint
• Durst
• EFI
• Fujifilm
• Vanguard
• HandTop
• Flora
• Docan
• Other industrial UV printing systems

Profile availability depends on the printer configuration, RIP software, ink system, and selected substrate.

Custom ICC Profiles for Different Substrates

Each substrate interacts with UV ink differently. Surface colour, gloss, texture, transparency, absorbency, and reflectivity all influence the final printed colour.

We can create custom profiles for materials such as:

• Acrylic
• Glass
• PVC
• Foamed PVC
• Forex
• Dibond
• Aluminium
• Composite panels
• Corrugated plastic
• Wood
• MDF
• Plywood
• Ceramic
• Textile
• Vinyl
• Canvas
• PET
• Polycarbonate
• Polypropylene
• Backlit film
• Paper
• Cardboard
• Specialty rigid and flexible substrates

When Should You Create a New ICC Profile?

A new ICC profile should be considered whenever an important part of the printing condition changes.

Common reasons include:

• Changing the UV ink brand or formulation
• Installing new printheads
• Changing the substrate
• Changing the print resolution or number of passes
• Changing RIP software
• Changing screening or halftone settings
• Changing UV lamp or LED curing settings
• Reconfiguring the printer
• Experiencing unstable or inaccurate colour
• Preparing production for an important brand customer

Regular printer maintenance and calibration are also essential for keeping an existing ICC profile valid.

Why Choose ARISTA for ICC Profile Creation?

ARISTA combines practical UV printing experience with professional colour measurement technology.

We do not rely on generic profiles intended to provide an average result across many printers and materials. Every custom ICC profile is built for a defined printing configuration and real production conditions.

Our approach helps printing companies:

• Improve colour accuracy
• Increase production consistency
• Reduce ink consumption
• Minimise substrate waste
• Reduce manual colour correction
• Improve repeat-order reliability
• Get more performance from professional UV inks

Whether you produce signage, displays, interior decoration, industrial graphics, packaging prototypes, promotional products, or premium visual communication, a professionally created ICC profile helps your printer achieve its full colour potential.