color profile??

"Monty" wrote in message

using winxp, canon G-3 camera, and epson stylus photo 700 printer.
the question is, are there any color profiles that i should be using to have the printer output match the camera input? i should also note that i’m using my laptop tft monitor on my sony vaio to look at these images. with current settings, i have to reduce the brightness of the photos by at least 50% in photoshop to match the actual camera image.

First things first. Calibrate your display by running Adobe Gamma. It installs with Photoshop; you’ll find in the Windows control panel.

also thinking of upgrading to the canon i950 printer, but have already spent much money on my current setup.

First things first…

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 18:23:01 GMT, Monty
wrote:

hi all,

and please forgive if this has been covered before, but………..
using winxp, canon G-3 camera, and epson stylus photo 700 printer.
the question is, are there any color profiles that i should be using to have the printer output match the camera input? i should also note that i’m using my laptop tft monitor on my sony vaio to look at these images. with current settings, i have to reduce the brightness of the photos by at least 50% in photoshop to match the actual camera image.
also thinking of upgrading to the canon i950 printer, but have already spent much money on my current setup.

How does the histogram of the image look in Photoshop?

Make sure you know what this tool shows, and how to get a reasonable histogram. Learn about setting the white point and black point of the image in Photosop.

If you do that, I suspect your printed images will much more closely match your expectations.

And by all means, run the Adobe gamma utility get a
reasonable setup for your monitor.

rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

thanks for the info.
the gamma utility doesn’t seem to make much difference.
histogram looks about as i would suspect, high density in shadows, low density in highlights. could try to equalize the image i suppose, or play with the tonal range. still not sure why the on screen image doesn’t match the printed image, though i understand the fact that the printer’s tonal range probably won’t match the monitor’s. i still think there must be some colour profile that i can use to improve print output quality.

which icc do people here use? i would imagine it depends on the equipment in use? what is the best method to handle image color management, using the system profile, or the printer profile?

i guess i was hoping for a quick answer, but it seems that i’ll have to determine the optimum print setup through trial and error. should have done that in the first place i suppose.

thanks anyway,
monty

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:26:56 GMT, Rafe B.
wrote:

How does the histogram of the image look in Photoshop?

Make sure you know what this tool shows, and how to get a reasonable histogram. Learn about setting the white point and black point of the image in Photosop.

If you do that, I suspect your printed images will much more closely match your expectations.

And by all means, run the Adobe gamma utility get a
reasonable setup for your monitor.

rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 12:10:02 GMT, Monty
wrote:

thanks for the info.
the gamma utility doesn’t seem to make much difference.
histogram looks about as i would suspect, high density in shadows, low density in highlights. could try to equalize the image i suppose, or play with the tonal range. still not sure why the on screen image doesn’t match the printed image, though i understand the fact that the printer’s tonal range probably won’t match the monitor’s. i still think there must be some colour profile that i can use to improve print output quality.

which icc do people here use? i would imagine it depends on the equipment in use? what is the best method to handle image color management, using the system profile, or the printer profile?
i guess i was hoping for a quick answer, but it seems that i’ll have to determine the optimum print setup through trial and error. should have done that in the first place i suppose.

There are no easy answers.

I’ve been on Epson printer lists for years, and people
still argue about ICC based color management — what
gear is best, how to apply it, whether it’s better to make your own profiles or have someone make them, or buy
"canned" profiles. Etc and so on ad nauseum.

From what I’ve seen, the cheap scanner-based profiling
packages are useless or worse. But that’s just my opinion.

I’ve sidestepped the whole issue. Read almost any book by Dan Margulis and you’ll see a whole ‘nother approach to dealing with color. Yes, it’s arcane and low-tech. Where Margulis gets into the details of CMYK, skip ahead and remember that your desktop inkjet printer is going to need RGB data.

Or read any of the classic Photoshop books, eg. the one(s) by Barry Haynes and Wendy Crumpler (Photoshop
Artistry.)

rafe b.
http://www.terrapinphoto.com

"Monty" wrote in message

thanks for the info.
the gamma utility doesn’t seem to make much difference.
histogram looks about as i would suspect, high density in shadows, low density in highlights. could try to equalize the image i suppose, or play with the tonal range. still not sure why the on screen image doesn’t match the printed image, though i understand the fact that the printer’s tonal range probably won’t match the monitor’s. i still think there must be some colour profile that i can use to improve print output quality.

TFT displays are notoriously sensitive to viewing angle; the white and black points shift as you move your head around. Assuming that isn’t the major issue, a large part of the remainder is using the printer profiles effectively.

The printer’s ICC profiles describe how the printer interprets color numbers. Select one in View|Proof setup… to simulate what the printer sees. Photoshop calls this soft proofing. Ctrl+Y toggles soft proof on and off.

Printing is a slightly different matter. I get the best tone and color match printing to sRGB, and in Epson’s driver properties, selecting sRGB as the Color Management. This is on an Epson 1280, using their Premium Glossy. I get mixed results using ColorLife, to the point where I’d given up.

Does this print arrangement make sense? It does work, and I’ve given up the fantasy that I know as much about color management as Adobe or Epson. It’s reasonable that the print driver understands Epsons paper profiles. Its reasonable that sRGB in Photoshop is the same as sRGB in the driver. What’s unreasonable is cramming everything through the narrow gamut of sRGB. I suspect I’m getting away with it because the printer gamut is a close match for sRGB, with the understanding that it’s not a perfect match.

This doesn’t strike me as a permanent solution, but it works.

which icc do people here use? i would imagine it depends on the equipment in use? what is the best method to handle image color management, using the system profile, or the printer profile?
i guess i was hoping for a quick answer, but it seems that i’ll have to determine the optimum print setup through trial and error. should have done that in the first place i suppose.

thanks anyway,
monty