We measured the actual color gamut of 17 wide-format printers from real ICC profiles with ArgyllCMS — measured data, not spec-sheet claims. Figures are the 3-D CIELAB gamut volume and its coverage of the sRGB and Adobe RGB reference spaces by volume, a stricter and more honest gauge than the 2-D area percentages quoted in marketing. Wherever possible we put every printer on one common paper (Hahnemühle Photo Gloss Baryta 320), so the only thing that varies is the printer and its ink — the fairest basis; the rest are on each vendor’s own premium glossy.
The measured gamut, mapped
Each shape is a printer’s real color reach on the CIELAB a*/b* plane (the color circle seen from above), traced from its ICC profile. A larger enclosed area means more saturated color reproduced. Toggle any envelope; the dashed rings are the sRGB and Adobe RGB references.
Every measured printer, ranked
Gamut volume is the size of the reproducible color solid in CIELAB (ArgyllCMS iccgamut); coverage is the share of the reference space’s volume the printer reproduces (viewgam). Wide-format pigment printers typically extend beyond sRGB in cyans and greens while falling short of its deepest blues. How we measure →