[Nobody]

Hi,

I just cant seem to get my print colors to match my monitor. I know this is the holy grail of digital photography but I must be doing something wrong. It shouldnt be this hard.

OK. Im running OS X on a G4 with a 23 HD LCD.

I purchased a Spyder with PhotoCAL from Pantone ColorVision. I set everything up right (thought many of my choices were very limited), ran the software. Got a profile. Set (using ColorSync in System Prefs) my display profile to the profile created by this gizmo and my Epson 1280 is set for my Output profile. Input is set to sRGB since my digital camera uses this workspace. Ive set Photoshop to use the ColorSync Workflow.

My prints are much darker then what I see on the monitor and the color sifts. I seem to be getting more green in my prints and Im loosing magenta on the prints, etc.

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggg!!!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Stephen

[Nobody]

Hi strubinstein - Man, you have been struggling with this for a while haven't you? That sucks.

You're right, it shouldn't be this hard. I get reasonably accurate prints using only Apple's calibration software and an old Epson 750.

I think I've mentioned this before but you have to make sure that Epson's Color Management is turned OFF if Photoshop is handling the color chores. Otherwise, you'll never get close. Of course, this is only one of many possible problems. If the above isn't the culprit and you get desperate, how about posting screen shots of all relevant dialog boxes?

One other note, sRGB is a horrible work space. sRGB contains values that will never be possible in print. If fact, it may be part of your problem. You're much better off working in AdobeRGB or ColorMatch.

Phil

Edited to add: While I have mananged to get decent prints using the ColorSync Workflow, I've had better luck setting things up manually. To do this you would need to:

Choose your custom monitor profile in Apple's monitor prefs.

Choose your custom printer profile in Photoshop's Print Space (File > Print w/Preview > click the Show More Options box if necessary.)

Choose "US Prepress Defaults" under PS's Color Settings. (A decent starting point.)

And finally, turn off Epson's color management.

Let us know if any of this helps ...

[ 08-20-2002: Message edited by: Philbert ]

[Nobody]

Philbert,

Thanks again for your help. I can't find the dialog that you posted. Where is it so that I can make sure Epson isn't trying to do color management.

EDIT: I'll be away on business for two weeks so I won't be able to try anything out until I get back.

Cheers.

Stephen

[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: strubinstein ]

[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: strubinstein ]

[Nobody]

Sorry ... should have been more clear.

Two ways:
Using the Print menu, click the Copies and Pages pull down and select Color Management.

The second way is the my preferred method of using the blank>Print with Preview menu. When you hit the Print button, you will get the same dialog as above. Using Print w Preview has the advantage of checking and adjusting Photoshop's settings if necessary.

Also, check the blank>Print Settings to make sure you have the correct paper and dpi settings.

Here's my print workflow.

1) Print with Preview to insure my correct printer profile is loaded. (You can also adjust other things here like where the print is printed on the page, etc.)

2) Then I hit the Print button which brings up Epson's adjustments. From here I use the pull down to get Print Settings to adjust paper type, dpi, etc. And finally, use the pull down to turn off Epson's Color Management and then hit the Print button.

It sounds like a lot of steps but it's not really. It would be nice if the Epson driver would allow you to save more than one Custom setup but right now, it doesn't.

Another "gotcha" is that sometimes Epson's setting don't stick. You can go from the Print Settings dialog to Color Management and then back to Print Settings and you'll find the settings have reverted to the default.

Epson's drivers are still beta but hey, I'm just happy they came out with drivers at all for my 750. They at first weren't going to support my printer.

Anyway, hope this helps ... Phil

[ 08-21-2002: Message edited by: Philbert ]

[Nobody]

Hi Philbert,

I finally got things set up so that the Document profile and the Printer Profile are the same so the colors are now very close, but the prints are much darker then what I have on screen.

I'm going to play around with turning the brightness down on the monitor to see if that helps getting my closer to WYSIWYG.

Thanks for all your help.

One more question.

One the print preview dialogue the botton is Print Space. It has three items. One is the Profile (I'm OK with that). The next is Intent. What is this? I can set it to one of 4 choices. Relative Colorimetric, Absolute Colorimetric, Perceptual, and Saturation. The defaul is Relative Colorimetric (which is what I used), but what the heck is all this. Lastley there is a check box for Use Black Point Compensation. Defaul (again what I used) is check. What is this?

Yes I know. I need to get a good photoshop book and do some reading, but I just haven't had the time.

Cheers.

Stephen

[Nobody]

If you can't afford the book yet, go here.
blank>http://www.creativep...or/home/40.html
blank>http://www.macworld....owto/color.html

[Nobody]

Hi strub ...

When I first started, my prints were dark as well. I've adopted two ways to overcome this.

1) Use the Windows 2.2 gamma when making a monitor profile. In the past, the Mac standard gamma of 1.8 was always suggested but this has changed recently. Even Bruce Fraser is now recommending using a gamma of 2.2 which is darker than 1.8. In my workflow, prints are a much closer match using 2.2 when printing to my Epson and also prints from my service bureau.

2) Use Photoshop's "Proof Setup" command and set it to Windows RGB. (View->Proof Setup->Windows RGB) This will darken your monitor to simulate the Windows default. Theoretically, this is the same as using a 2.2 gamma monitor profile but you have to remember to set it. I just use a legitimate monitor profile.

blank>Black Point Compensation I leave it checked.

blank>Intent Perceptual works well for me.

And finally, (I think I've given you this link before), here's a pretty good blank>walk through on setting up Photoshop 7 for printing to Epson printers.

Let us know how it goes .... Phil images/icons/smile.gif

[ 09-08-2002: Message edited by: Philbert ]