Understanding Photo Printing

[Chuck Engels]

I am looking for a good online printing guide or book that will help me to print images in the same color as I see in the monitor.
There are so many settings and profiles, then there are monitor calibration tools http://www.imaging-resource.com/ARTS/MO ... IBRATE.HTM
And it's just too much to try and get my arms around right now.

My HP printer just died and I found a great deal on a Canon Pixma MP990 ($115 at Micro Center). Now I want the colors to match as close as possible but they are a little off, a bit too much blue and not quite enough red. Would like to be able to adjust the image in the software and then have it print what I see, exactly if possible. Close enough isn't good enough anymore, I am looking for perfection

So I turn to the folks that know everything there is to know about everything, the Muvipix Members

I know that some of you swear by the monitor calibration, but how does that relate to the printer and the printed image?
Another question I have is what should the color handling be set to, the printer, the software, or none?
What about Color Management, ICC, Driver or None?

I am using Photoshop CS4 Extended and Photoshop Elements 9.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Does this help, Chuck?

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photos ... toshop.htm

[Bob]

I've always thought that Ian Lyons did a good job of explaining the Photoshop color management settings. He has writeups for various versions of Photoshop, the CS4 writeup is here: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps11_colour/ps11_1.htm. There is a lot of info there but it's worth reading all of it.

For what you want to do you really should get a colorimeter. Software only calibration tools are only as good as your eyeballs and that's not all that good. I use the XRITE i1 Display 2 colorimeter and have been pretty happy with it.

Ideally, you should calibrate your printer too. You can do that yourself if you have the right tools (usually expensive). However, there are places where you can print a target and send it to them and they will generate a custom profile for you. I haven't tried it yet, but Vuescan has a way to calibrate both the scanner and the printer using a standard it8 target. I'm thinking of giving that a try sometime and see if that produces acceptable results.

The printer manufacturer usually provides a generic profile for the printer. But, that's an average and may not reflect your printer accurately. On the other hand, it could be close.

If you have an accurate custom printer profile, you should turn off color management in the printer and let photoshop manage it. If not, you may get better results if you let the printer manage the printing.


One of the biggest problems is that LCD monitors are too bright causing the prints to look too dark by comparison. I turned down the luminance of my monitor ( the i1 d2 can measure that and give you an accurate reading) and I now get an excellant match.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I use the XRITE i1 Display 2 colorimeter

I use that one too.

[Chuck Engels]

Thanks guys

I usually don't even look at the About.com pages but this one looks like it has a lot of detailed information, will check it out.
Will digest what you both have recommended and post here with additional questions, thanks again

[Bob]

I don't agree with the statement on the about.com page about color management being primarily intended for people in a pre-press environment. That's nonsense. Be careful with the links on that page. Some point to good information, some don't, and a lot of what they point to is very dated.

I really think your best bet is to read the Ian Lyons article that applies to your version of Photoshop and then ask questions.

[Chuck Engels]

Good idea, will do Bob.

I also found this but haven't had time to look at it yet either
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/How_To_Ge ... My_Printer