Matchlock confusion

[david stock <ddstock@gte.net>]

My adventures in color management with my Epson 3000 have gotten me about
75% of the way there, so far.

This is useful, but hardly amazing, considering all the time and money
involved. As things stand, I still have to make a lot of hard proofs, still
have to jump through hoops in Photoshop to get satisfactory output quality.

Despite multiple misgivings, I am considering taking the plunge once again
with Matchlock software, in the hopes of actually automating my color work
flow and eliminating all the trial and error.

Right now I have EZColor software, some EZColor profiles, and some Cone
profiles. The question is what modules of the Horses software might help me
most.

My confusion, I believe,  comes from not understanding the relationship
between profiles, profile editors, and RGB previewing.

Several hundred dollars and many, many, many hours ago, I naively thought
that a really good printer profile and a calibrated monitor would provide a
perfect link between an RGB file, the monitor and the Epson print. After
all, isn't that what device independence was supposed to mean?

Now, sadder but wiser, I am learning that even the best printer profile
won't result in my printer actually printing its closest possible rendition
of what I see on the screen. For that, I apparently need to a.) preview what
it WILL look like, using a special plug-in, then b.) make further
adjustments in Photoshop which CHANGE THE IMAGE DATA to fit the printer's
gamut. Hmmm.

Plus, I will apparently need to edit the profile (after buying additional
software), since I use non-standard paper and inks. (Lysonic E/Waterford.)
Especially if I want hue control to get decent blues and cyans. Hmmmm again.

Putting aside the daydream of true device independence and pristine image
data, what do I really need now to have accurate soft proofing and maximum
utilization of the capacities of my printer/ink/paper? Doctor III to edit my
existing profiles? (And "preview"/edit my files?) Doctor III and Profiler I
(so that I can get better profiles to begin with AND preview/edit what is
already supposed to be color managed? Profiler III and Doctor I?

Whatever option I pick, is this software really that good? Or will spending
a lot of money and time only gain me another 5%, and force me to continue
using trial and error for critical work? (Not to mention making me re-edit
my existing files?)

Thanks for any advice about software, and for any enlightenment about the
relationship between profiles, previews and editors.      --David

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