Do I need a densitometer to calibrate the imagesetter?
A transmission densitometer is used to calibrate an imagesetter to ensure that it is producing dots accurately. Whether you need one depends on the type of work you plan to produce. If you will only do black and white or spot color printing, a transmission densitometer is a good thing to have, but not absolutely required. If you plan to output process color, a densitometer is essential. When outputting process color, your imagesetter will produce 4 separate films for each of the process colors – cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These films are then used to burn 4 separate plates. The quantity of ink deposited by the press for each color is determined by the size and density of the dots on each plate. If the imagesetter creates dots incorrectly, the colors of the final printed product will not match those in your original file or digital proof. To a lesser degree, dot percentage (size) can also be a factor for quality black and white images. If the dots created by the imagesetter are t
