The linearization curve generation is an important step in printer color characterization. The typical purpose of the linearization curves in conventional four ink printing is to compensate for dot overlapping and dot size variations and therefore to accommodate the non-linearity of the printing process. In CcMmYK “photo” printing, the introduction of light cyan and magenta inks presents new challenges for printer color characterization and linearization. In this paper we propose an alternative architecture for CcMmYK printer image processing in which the linearization curves also take responsibility for the separation of the light/dark inks. We address the importance of linearization, and propose strategies for how to best take advantage of the additional inks. The proposed methods are confirmed by experimental results.