Persistent dark print problem

I'm having trouble with my printer, and am looking here for advice.

I have a Mac Powerbook, linked to a 17" Studio Display. On the screen, working in Photoshop CS, I get the photo to look the way I want it, but when I print it (on a cheapo C84, but I have the feeling that's not the problem) the prints come out much darker and more saturated than they appear on the screen or the way I want them to.

The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the print specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

The problem is almost certainly here and I'm just not bright or educated enough to spot it.

Ideas, anyone?

Frank

The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the print specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

You need to either calibrate the printer or find profiles for that particular printer/paper
combination (if they exist).

Frank Potter wrote:

I'm having trouble with my printer, and am looking here for advice.
I have a Mac Powerbook, linked to a 17" Studio Display. On the screen, working in Photoshop CS, I get the photo to look the way I want it, but when I print it (on a cheapo C84, but I have the feeling that's not the problem) the prints come out much darker and more saturated than they appear on the screen or the way I want them to.

The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the print specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

The problem is almost certainly here and I'm just not bright or educated enough to spot it.

Ideas, anyone?

Frank

You can do 3 things.
1, assign the printer profile to the document and turn off colour management at the printer or;
2, choose 'print with preview' and where it says "same as source" for a colour profile, change it to same as printer.
3, turn off colour management altogether via colour management (under edit). If you resort to dumping colour management all together, you'll get passable results but really, can you justify the cost a complex program you can't use? Learn to manage colour!

Ryadia

Frank Potter wrote:

I'm having trouble with my printer, and am looking here for advice.
I have a Mac Powerbook, linked to a 17" Studio Display. On the screen, working in Photoshop CS, I get the photo to look the way I want it, but when I print it (on a cheapo C84, but I have the feeling that's not the problem) the prints come out much darker and more saturated than they appear on the screen or the way I want them to.
The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the print specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

The problem is almost certainly here and I'm just not bright or educated enough to spot it.

Hi Frank,

The first place to look is in your printer driver settings. If there is a gamma setting, make sure it is set to 1.8 and not 2.2.

Whether that fixes it or not, check Ian Lyons's web page and make sure you have Photoshop configured correctily for your printer:
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps8-colour/ps8_1.htm
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7_print/ps7_print_mac.htm --

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com
www.geigy.2y.net

"Mike Russell" schreef ...

Frank Potter wrote:

I'm having trouble with my printer, and am looking here for advice.
I have a Mac Powerbook, linked to a 17" Studio Display. On the

screen,

working in Photoshop CS, I get the photo to look the way I want it, but when I print it (on a cheapo C84, but I have the feeling that's not the problem) the prints come out much darker and more saturated than they appear on the screen or the way I want them to.
The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the

print

specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

The problem is almost certainly here and I'm just not bright or educated enough to spot it.

Hi Frank,

The first place to look is in your printer driver settings. If there

is a

gamma setting, make sure it is set to 1.8 and not 2.2.

Whether that fixes it or not, check Ian Lyons's web page and make sure

you

have Photoshop configured correctily for your printer:
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps8-colour/ps8_1.htm
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7_print/ps7_print_mac.htm --

Are you sure, Frank, setting the printer driver on 1.8? What if the monitor and/or the scanner both use 2.2? Wouldn't 1.8 on the printer be too dark (in other colours I mean)?

Frans

Ryadia wrote:

I'm having trouble with my printer, and am looking here for advice.
I have a Mac Powerbook, linked to a 17" Studio Display. On the screen, working in Photoshop CS, I get the photo to look the way I want it, but when I print it (on a cheapo C84, but I have the feeling that's not the problem) the prints come out much darker and more saturated than they appear on the screen or the way I want them to.

The colorspace in Photoshop is Adobe RGB; I've tried setting the print specs as "Same as Source," Working CMYK...", "Working RGB - Apple Studio Display Calibrated," and Adobe RGB without seeing a whole lot of difference.

The problem is almost certainly here and I'm just not bright or educated enough to spot it.

Ideas, anyone?

Frank

You can do 3 things.
1, assign the printer profile to the document and turn off colour management at the printer or;

No, do not use 'assign' because that will introduce a major color shift you will have to correct again before you can print. Use 'Convert to profile' so Photoshop converts the document to the printer space without introducing a color shift.

--
Johan W. Elzenga johan<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/