Printing Help/Color Management Problems

[lfranzson]

Hi all --

I'm, very confused :confused: and a little overwhelmed. Bottom line my prints don't come out as vibrant as they show up on my screen. I have an Epson R1800, work with both Lightroom (the worst prints) and Photoshop CS2. In the printer User's Guide I don't get the screens I should when I try to "fix" the problem in Photoshop. If I start reading the articles I just get lost in all the technical jargon. I shoot a Nikon D70 and always print on Epson photo paper and choose the proper paper for printing. I had a 1280 Epson before, hooked up to a different computer and everything came out beautiful. I do not have a MAC and am running Windows XP.

Can anyone just give me the proper settings for camera, printer and programs so everything matchs and my prints come out as nice as my screen images. Or is there anyone I can hire (reasonably) to come to Brevard and fix this for me :rolleyes: .

Thanks
Lynn Franzson

[rpk717]

Lynn,

You didn't mention that you use a monitor calibration tool like a ColorVision Spyder2 or a GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display. Without calibrating your monitor so that the output to your printer matches what you see on the screen you cannot expect to make consistent prints that are at your expectations.

I don't think your problem is as much your camera or printer, it's more likely that your monitor output is out of calibration. They recommend it be calibrated once a month although I go a couple months usually between calibrations. On the other hand if I'm printing for a contest or a sale I always calibrate before each printing session.

Being that you are from the Asheville Region you should contact one of your regional coordinators, I think they have a colorimeter owned by the region that they loan out to members.

[lfranzson]

Thanks Robert -- I was thinking about that since I have never done it. And I'm pretty sure you are right about the Asheville Chapter having one. Wish me luck.

Lynn:)

[kimberly]

Here are a few more tips. I have a 1280 and was about to pull my hair out until Lori helped me over the phone.

First- calibration is the key.

Second- I am sure you do print with preview- then go to page setup- then go to printer- then go to properties- there is a box to your left for advanced- I went in here and somehow it was changed to ICM instead of sRGB. Once I selected sRGB and saved it, that fixed all my printing problems. Not sure if this will help you but that is what the problem was for me.
Good Luck!!
Kim Jones

[lknezha]

Another thing to check is to be sure the printer isn't hijacking the color management. I had a lot of troubles with color calibration and then realized that somehow the "No color management" setting on the printer was not being saved. I have to check and reset the printer to "no color management" to let Photoshop do its job with each print.

Hope that helps too!

Lisa

[BillE]

Hi Lynn,

I just now joined the CNPA and thought I would reply to your question. I also use an Epson R1800 for most of my photos and the quality of the prints is awesome. I use a Spyder Pro2 for my monitor profile and PrintFixPro for my paper profiles; both are made by Colorvision. The SpyderPro2 works great on my current desktop monitor which is a Dell 27” ultra sharp and the colors it displays are great. Prior to my current monitor I used a Samsung monitor and the Spyder Pro 2 profiled that great also. You can profile your monitor by eye but it will only get you close. The second part to the equation is to profile for your paper. You stated that you only use Epson paper and that makes it very easy for you. Just go to the Epson website and download the paper ICC profiles for the R1800 and set them up with your printing program. I am assuming you’re using a program like Photoshop that allows the use of custom ICC profiles. It is important that you set everything up properly in the color management area of Photoshop. If you do not set it up properly the prints may get double profiled and really look bad. (I can send you a link to the proper way to set it up if you need it) Even without profiling your monitor you may get lucky and have good quality prints with just the paper ICC profiles. I use both monitor and paper profiles for every print I make; the prints are right on target every print. If I were you I would use the manual profiler that comes with Photoshop and use the Epson custom ICC paper profiles and see how close you can get to a good looking print.

Bill

[rpk717]

Hi Lynn,

I just now joined the CNPA and thought I would reply to your question. I also use an Epson R1800 for most of my photos and the quality of the prints is awesome. I use a Spyder Pro2 for my monitor profile and PrintFixPro for my paper profiles; both are made by Colorvision. The SpyderPro2 works great on my current desktop monitor which is a Dell 27” ultra sharp and the colors it displays are great. Prior to my current monitor I used a Samsung monitor and the Spyder Pro 2 profiled that great also. You can profile your monitor by eye but it will only get you close. The second part to the equation is to profile for your paper. You stated that you only use Epson paper and that makes it very easy for you. Just go to the Epson website and download the paper ICC profiles for the R1800 and set them up with your printing program. I am assuming you’re using a program like Photoshop that allows the use of custom ICC profiles. It is important that you set everything up properly in the color management area of Photoshop. If you do not set it up properly the prints may get double profiled and really look bad. (I can send you a link to the proper way to set it up if you need it) Even without profiling your monitor you may get lucky and have good quality prints with just the paper ICC profiles. I use both monitor and paper profiles for every print I make; the prints are right on target every print. If I were you I would use the manual profiler that comes with Photoshop and use the Epson custom ICC paper profiles and see how close you can get to a good looking print.

Bill

Welcome aboard Bill, great advice.