Gray cast in prints (compared to CS3 onscreen)

JP
Posted By
John_Philpit
Jul 6, 2007
Views
239
Replies
4
Status
Closed
I’ve used Photoshop for a long time, but only to create onscreen JPEGs. Now, in CS3, I want to print to paper. I used Spyder 2 Suite to calibrate both monitor and printer color profiles. I watched the online video about printing in CS3, so I know about turning off the printer’s color management and letting Photoshop select the colors.

When I print to paper, the image is not only a little darker, but seems to have a subtle gray cast.

CRITICAL INFO: In the PS Print dialog, when I toggle on and off the checkbox Match Print Colors, I see the same gray cast appear in the onscreen "soft" proof when the checkbox is On, as if PS knows that my print color profile will do this. (Even the white "canvas" around the proof’s image accepts the gray cast onscreen — but not on the print, obviously.)

Do I need to recalibrate the printer profile using the Spyder software? Do I need to use a completely different profile? Is my printer (Epson Stylus R200) to blame and should be replaced with a better printer? Is there something else I need to consider?

Thanks for any suggestions.
John
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C
chrisjbirchall
Jul 7, 2007
Make sure you are using the correct profile for the printer/media/ink combination, and don’t forget to set the Epson’s dialogue to "No Colour Management"
BG
barry_gray
Jul 7, 2007
using "simulate paper white" (in soft proof) or "absolute colormetric" in render intent will do what you discribe.
use relative color metric and uncheck simulate paper white.
JP
John_Philpit
Jul 7, 2007
Thanks for the comments.

In response to the suggestions above:
1. I had already turned off color management in the Epson printer
2. I’m already using "Relative Colormetric" as the intent
3. The profile I’m using was built by the Spyder utility. It’s much better than using only the "Stylus Photo R200 Series" profile, because that one makes the print (and the onscreen proof) much too dark.
4. I’ve selected "Document" instead of "Proof," so the Simulate Paper White" is not an issue here.

S none of these fixes my problem. Other suggestions?

And to be clear, this question is about removing the gray cast from the print, not only the onscreen proof. I mention the proof only as a clue to what’s happening in the mind of Photoshop when it prints the photo.

PS, I’ve tried this with both my own photo and one of the sample Adobe stock photos, with similar problems. So it’s not a fault in the image data.
FN
Fred_Nirque
Jul 7, 2007
Provided you’re certain you’re not using your monitor profile as the printing profile, the problem might lie in the paper profile you made for the printer.

The canned profile you initially tried is not a paper profile.

Their paper profiles usually have obscure code-names (why?- who knows…) so you should already have a selection that installed with the printer – they’ll look something like SPR200PremiumGlossy.icm for an R200 printer using Premium Glossy paper, and you can find the list of installed profiles here:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color

Or you can try downloading a specific profile for the printer and paper type you are using from Epson’s USA site – that at least will indicate if the problem lies with profiling or has its source elsewhere.

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