Dot Gain Curve and Compensation

Enter your measurements in the table: the set dot % and the % it came out on the print. The calculator draws a smooth dot gain curve, the compensation curve for Esko (.dgc) and a table with a 5% or 10% step.

How you measure

Measurement table

Example values: replace them with yours. The rows sort themselves by “Set %”. The points 0→0 and 100→100 are added to the curve automatically.

Set %Printed %Gain

+6.0

+11.0

+17.0

+13.0

+6.0

Dot gain curve

dashed: the ideal (no gain)
line: a smooth curve through the measurements
circles: your measurements

Look at one dot

Set %%

On the curve: printed 67.0%, gain +17.0

Table from the curve

Step

Curve type for .dgc

Esko ISO references store the compensation; printing profiles store the characteristic. If the curve comes out flipped in Esko, switch the type.

The file dotgain-curve.dgc: the old 512-byte Esko format with no signature at the start; bytes 0–200 hold the curve in 0.5% steps (byte = % × 2), the rest are zeros. Confirm the direction by importing it in Esko.

Set %	Printed %	Gain
0	0.0	0.0
10	16.0 ●	+6.0
20	29.6	+9.6
30	42.5	+12.5
40	55.6	+15.6
50	67.0 ●	+17.0
60	76.5	+16.5
70	84.6	+14.6
80	91.0	+11.0
90	96.0 ●	+6.0
100	100.0	0.0

CSV: columns set_pct, printed_pct, dot_gain_pct, measured; comma separator, decimal point.

How it is calculated

Gain (dot gain) = printed % − set %. Positive means the dot has grown (typical in print), negative that it shrank.

The curve passes through all your points and through the invisible anchors 0→0 and 100→100. For smoothness without waves a monotone cubic interpolation is used (PCHIP, Fritsch–Carlson): between two neighbouring points the curve does not leave their values.

Density mode: printed % = (1 − 10^−(D_tint − D_paper)) ÷ (1 − 10^−(D_solid − D_paper)) — the Murray-Davies equation (no Yule-Nielsen correction, n = 1).

Worked example

Measurements: 10→16, 25→36, 50→67, 75→88, 90→96. Gains: +6, +11, +17, +13, +6. A 10% step gives, for example, 30% → ≈ 42.6 printed (interpolated) and 50% → 67 (measured).

In density mode: paper 0.05, solid 1.40, tint 0.50 on a 50% patch → (1 − 10^−0.45) ÷ (1 − 10^−1.35) = 0.6754, that is 67.5% and +17.5 points.

An estimate: readings depend on the densitometer, its filter and polarisation. The acceptable dot gain is set by your printer or the process standard.

Check a PDF