A method is presented to characterize output devices, such as printers and presses by means of spectral measurements of single inks. This leads to a very small number of measurements to be made for characterizing output devices using a larger number of inks, as for instance in so called “HIFI color” applications.The method is based on the derivation of substrate color independent spectral characteristic parameters of the different inks. Using these parameters the method is capable of predicting the spectral reflectance of printed samples using these inks with some form of screening or dithering.