In this article, we are combining minimization criteria in the colorant separation process for spectral color reproduction. The colorant separation is performed by inverting a spectral printer model: the spectral Yule-Nielsen modified Neugebauer model. The inversion of the spectral printer model is an optimization operation in which a criterion is minimized an each iteration. The approach we proposed minimizes a criterion defined by the weighted sum of a spectral difference and a perceptual color difference. The weights can be tuned with a parameter alpha epsilon [0, 1]. Our goal is to decrease the spectral difference between the original data and its reproduction and also to consider perceptual color difference under different illuminant conditions. In order to find the best alpha value, we initially compare a pure colorimetric criterion and a pure spectral criterion for the reproduction, then we combine them. We perform four colorant separations: the first separation will minimize the 1976 CIELAB color difference where four illuminants are tested, the second separation will minimize an equally weighted summation of 1976 CIELAB color difference with the four illuminants tested independently, the third colorant separation will minimize a spectral difference, and the fourth colorant separation will combine a weighted sum of a spectral difference and one of the two first colorimetric differences previously introduced. This last colorant separation can be tuned with a parameter in order to emphasize on spectral or colorimetric difference. We use a six colorants printer with artificial inks for our experiments. The prints are simulated by the spectral Yule-Nielsen modified Neugebauer model. Two groups of data are used for our experiments. The first group describes the data printed by our printing system, which is represented by a regular grid in colorant space of the printer and the second group describes the data which is not originally produced by our printing system but mapped to the spectral printer gamut. The Esser test chart and Macbeth Color Checker test chart have been selected for the second group. Spectral gamut mapping of this data is carried out before performing colorant separation. Our results show improvement for the colorant separations combining a sum of 1976 CIELAB color difference for a set of illuminants and for the colorant separation combining a sum of 1976 CIELAB color difference and spectral difference, especially in the case of spectral data originally produced by the printer. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals. Inc. Col Res Appl, 33.494-504, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20444