RGB photo prints diff than CMYK

LG
Posted By
Leonard_Garcia
Jan 7, 2004
Views
399
Replies
9
Status
Closed
Loaded RGB photo and printed to an HP 2500C color printer (not PostScript printer). When I go into mode & change to CMYK and print on the same printer, prints much darker. Am I doing something wrong or is this the way it is? (Pardon my ignorance)

I need to send image in CMYK mode to printing shop… should I just convert the RGB using PhotoShop ‘mode’ to CMYK and send and ignore how it looks like here?
Related Tags
cmyk difference print rgb

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CW
Colin_Walls
Jan 7, 2004
should I just convert the RGB using PhotoShop ‘mode’ to CMYK and send and ignore how it looks like here?

If your colour management is all set up right, that’s exactly what you should do.

That’s a big "if" …
LG
Leonard_Garcia
Jan 7, 2004
Thanks for reply… well, when I open the RGB image PhotoShop displays message that image has embedded color profile that does not match RGB color space and do I want to:

1. Use embedded profile
2. Convert colors to work space
3. Discard (don’t color manage)

Which should I answer?
CW
Colin_Walls
Jan 7, 2004
I think it’s 1 – but I am really not an authority on this …
RW
Rene_Walling
Jan 7, 2004
Leonard,

Usually you want to either use the embedded profile or convert the colours to you working space. (It’s sort of a case by case thing) For my workflow, I use the embedded profile, but others have different workflows.

The best thing to do is for you to read up on colour management and profiles so you can decide which one is the best option for you.

I don’t know your printer so I can’t say anything for sure, but a lot of inkjets are RGB devices and so give better results when you give them an RGB file. (as far as colour management is concerned, yes, I know they print CMYK inks, but they do the conversion themselves) If and RGB file looks nicer, then I would suspect that is the case for your printer, so give it RGB files and it will be happy (and so will you).
LG
Leonard_Garcia
Jan 7, 2004
Thank you, but its not what I should send to my printer… the printing company wants CMYK.
RW
Rene_Walling
Jan 7, 2004
Hum, where do you mention a printing company in your post…

Of course a print provider will want a CMYK file, have you asked them what CMYk setup they need? once you know, then convert the file to that CMYK profile and everything should fall into place.
LG
Leonard_Garcia
Jan 7, 2004
2nd line…

"I need to send image in CMYK mode to printing shop…"
RW
Rene_Walling
Jan 7, 2004
Sorry, I missed it, must have been cause it was in plain sight 😛

In any case, you’ll have to convert it to the proper CMYK profile so that it comes out properly once printed (by the print provider)

You may want to ask for a proof to make sure everything is the way you want it.
L
LenHewitt
Jan 8, 2004
Leonard,

When I go into mode & change to CMYK and print on the same printer, prints
much darker.<<

That’s not surprising. Non-PostScript printer drivers CANNOT pass CMYK data. Consequently the application has to do an on_the_fly conversion to RGB. The printer firmware then converts this back to CcMmYK for the print heads. This double-conversion often has deleterious effects on colour fidelity.

Additionally the gamut of CMYK is considerably smaller than RGB, and there will always be some colour shift when converting, particularly to highly saturated colours, which generally become darker as a result.

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