Printing To Epson 9600, having problems with color management

MM
Posted By
Michael_Magnus
Nov 26, 2003
Views
1155
Replies
7
Status
Closed
I’m a portrait photographer that recently switched to digital. I’m using Photoshop Elements 2.0 to print to an Epson 9600 printer. Have tried all of the color management settings trying to find one that will print what I see in Elements. It is not a matter of montor calibration. What I see in the print preview is very close to what actually prints and is acceptable. But the print preview does not match what I see while working in Elements. Anything shot on a white background prints much darker ( it will be the correct density when viewing in Elements, but when I print, the print preview will show it much different – usually darker). When using the color management setting "PhotoEnhance4", I believe the setting is trying to optimise the image. So if shot on a white background it is trying to compensate and print the image darker. When using the color management setting "Color Controls" it prints somewhat better (not quite as dark), but when I try to adjust the print by changing the contols offered with this setting nothing changes. I subtract density using the slider control to the max (-25), but it shows no change in the print preview. Using Elements to control the density, I have to subtract 25-30 units before I see a slight change in density in the print preview, however it is completly washed out in Elements. H E L P
Related Tags
color epson manage print problems

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

LK
Leen_Koper
Nov 26, 2003
Michael, I wished I could help you.
I’m a professional portrait photographer too and I never use the print preview; I send my images straight to my Epson 7600 and the RIP software takes care of it and it prints colour and density exactly like on my -calibrated- monitor.
Did you buy this printer without any software? Maybe I’m not as dumb as I often regard myself by having it installed in combination with this software.
The company that sold me this printer told me: "Photographers should do what they can do best: shooting. It is our task to take care of the rest." And I agree. It pays off.

Leen
BH
Beth_Haney
Nov 26, 2003
Leen got in ahead of me, but here’s what I was slowly typing out! 🙂

I’m a little confused and trying to figure out what your actual question is. You say that your prints closely match what you see on your monitor. This is a good thing. However, you say the Print Preview is showing a darker image than what is showing on the monitor while you’re editing, and if you do corrections so that Print Preview looks the way you want it, then the prints come through too washed out. Is that it?

The first thing that comes to mind is that it never occurred to me to use Print Preview for anything besides assuring I had the proper placement on the paper and also as a way to access other print settings. If I have read your post correctly (and I might not have), I think you’re giving Print Preview too much power. The goal, as I’ve learned it, is to make sure that what you’re seeing as you view your image in Elements on the editing screen matches what comes out of your printer.

So, if I did read your post right, try ignoring how colors display in Print Preview and focus on getting that match between the editing screen and the print.

I don’t remember if Ian Lyons addresses this, but you might want to look through his site. Here’s the link to Color Management in PS 7, which is what Elements is based on.

<http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_1.htm>

And, naturally, please feel free to repost if I’ve gotten this totally off track.
LK
Leen_Koper
Nov 26, 2003
Beth, I ‘m still pretty fast at my age…. 😉

Leen
R
RobertHJones
Nov 26, 2003
Michael,

I’m assuming you that you’ve set Elements to use full color management and you’ve already indicated your monitor is calibrated. The other side of the color management equation is the printer.

Color management for the printer is set via the print preview dialog. Make sure the "show more options" box is checked and that "Color Management" is selected in the first dropdown list.

In the "Print Space" area of the dialog, you need to set the "profile" and "intent" options. For "intent", select "perceptual" unless you have a good
reason not to. The critical setting will be the "profile".

For "profile", there are a number of options:

There is a "same as source" setting which skips any and all conversion to the printer color space — you generally don’t want to use this one.

There is a "printer color management" or "postscript color management" setting that will pass the image through the printer driver and let the driver manage the color. This sounds like the setting you have. I don’t have such a fine printer as yours but my much humbler Epson acts exactly as you described when I select this setting.

I use the last option, select the specific color profile for my printer. This option lets Elements convert the image to the printer color space. In the dropdown list after the other options is a list of the ICC profiles that are installed. I had a profile that matched the printer I have (and I use the epson ink and photo paper so the supplied profile was reasonably close). With that setting, my prints match the monitor as closely as my eye can tell so I’m happy.

You should have a similar profile for the 9600 from Epson. I don’t know what paper and ink you are using but there are some additional profiles and drivers on the epson site.

If you don’t mind paying a little extra, you can create your own custom printer profile. The printer ICC profile will differ according to the specific printer, ink, and paper you use. Colorvision/Pantone makes a printer calibration tool which lets you create specific printer ICC profiles for your printer/ink/paper combination. The device only supports certain printers but the 9600 is one of them. Here’s a link if you want to learn more about it: https://secure.colorvision.com/profis/profis_view.jsp?id=84 There is a tabbed info section at the bottom of the page which describes how it works and what you get. I use their Spyder monitor colorimeter.

Good luck,
Bob
LK
Leen_Koper
Nov 27, 2003
Michael, I use the PhotoRIP by ColorGATE on my 7600 in combination with PE2. This is a wonderful combination.

Leen
MM
Michael_Magnus
Dec 1, 2003
Thank you all for responding, and trying to help. Bob, you were right on. I did, however, have it set for the "EPSON Stylus Pro 9600" profile, and the "Perceptual" intent. But now I understand more how it all works, and I am going to experiment with different profiles. I too am using Epson ink and paper, and I understand that Epson has a profile developed by a user for the 9600 that is exceptional. It can be down loaded free from Epson, so I am going to give it a try.

Thanks again everyone,

Mike
LK
Leen_Koper
Dec 1, 2003
Michael, do you have a website so we can see your work?
I’m curious to see what other colleagues produce, especially if they are that succesful they need a giant printer like this 9600.

Leen

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections