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This article is from February 13, 2003, and is no longer current.

Photoshop How-To: Making Great Prints

Adapted from “Photoshop 7 Artistry: Mastering the Digital Image” (New Riders Publishing).

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Making Epson Prints When Using Custom Profiles

When you print an image using a custom profile, you first want to use Image>Mode>Convert to Profile to convert your master image from your Lab or RGB Color Space into the space for your printer created by this profile (see Figure 1). Then in your print dialog, you want to turn all color management options off in the same way you do when printing the color test swatches to make your profile.

Figure 1: When printing an image using a custom profile, I first use Image>Mode>Convert to Profile from Photoshop to convert my standard master image from its default color space, Adobe RGB in this case, into the space defined by the custom profile. I then print the image using the same print dialog settings that were used to print the sample test swatches. Depending on the image I’m working with, I may set the Intent to either Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric and I may occasionally turn on Black Point Compensation. With the Preview checkbox on as shown in this image, you should get an accurate on-screen preview to help you in making those decisions. My most common choice for Epson printers and profiles made with Monaco products is Perceptual with Black Point Compensation off. I often use the PS7ArtistryCalibrationImage, which is found in the Ch15.Color Pref and Calibration folder on the “Photoshop Artistry 7: Mastering the Digital Print” CD, as a test for the profiles I make. (Note: You can use any calibration image you already have — many profile editors ship with one — or create one by using images of the type you want to print as well as a neutral gray scale that has been created on the computer (that is, not scanned from a gray card) where the Red, Green and Blue values for each gray shade are equal.)

After making a profile, you can print this image and use it to compare profiles made on other papers or with other printers and inks. It is a good image to evaluate a profile because it contains neutral swatches as well as images that have various properties that can be difficult to profile. If you are doing Image>Mode>Convert to Profile with my calibration image, your Source space will be ColorMatch and your Destination space will be the profile you want to test. Don’t convert this image to Adobe RGB or any other space before converting it to your printer space to test the profile or this will invalidate the test.

Figures 2, 3, and 4 show three important variations of using the Photoshop 7 Print with Preview dialog, which is now the default that you get with Command-P.

The variation in Figure 2 shows you the settings to use when you are printing the Monaco EZ Color RGB Print Patches file that you have to print to make a profile. In this case the Source Space should be set to Untagged RGB and the Print Space to Same as Source.

Figure 2: The correct Photoshop 7 Print With Preview dialog, use Command-P, when printing the Monaco EZ Color RGB Print Patches file. Source Space should be Untagged RGB and Print Space should be Same as Source. The Figure 3 variation shows you the settings to use when you have previously used Image>Mode>Convert to Profile to convert your image to the colorspace of a custom printer profile for a specific printer, paper and/or ink combination. In this case Source Space should be the name of your custom printer profile and Print Space should be set to Same as Source.

Figure 3: The correct Photoshop 7 Print with Preview dialog when printing a file that you have converted using Image>Mode>Convert to Profile from your default color space (like Adobe RGB or Lab) to a custom profile for your printer. In this case the Source Space will be the name of that custom profile and the Print Space will be Same as Source. The other print dialogs would look the same as the shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7. The Figure 4 variation shows you the correct settings if you want Photoshop and its print dialog to convert your image on-the-fly from your master color space into the space of a custom printer profile. If you are using these settings, you don’t use Image>Mode>Convert to Profile first but this conversion is done while you are making the print. In this case Source Space should be set to your master RGB, Adobe RGB for example, or Lab working space. Print Space should be set to the Custom Profile for your particular printer, ink and paper combination.

Figure 4: The correct Photoshop 7 Print with Preview dialog when printing a file that you want Photoshop to convert on-the-fly while printing from your default color space to a custom profile for your printer. In this case the Source Space will be the name of your default color space (like Adobe RGB or Lab) and the Print Space will be the name of the custom profile for your printer. Photoshop will convert the image on-the-fly, just for this print, to your custom printer profile. The other print dialogs would look the same as those shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7.

If you use the dialog shown in Figure 3, then you have already converted the image into the printer space, using Image>Mode>Convert to Profile, before entering the print dialog. If you have the same image that you print with the same printer, inks and paper over and over again, this setting may be more efficient since you could just save this converted image.

The Figure 4 option requires the Print dialog to do this conversion every time a print is made which may take more time. If you use the same conversion options, Figures 3 and 4 should give you the same results. The Figure 3 option, by first using Image>Mode>Convert to Profile, allows you to make a few more conversion options, like changing the Conversion Engine and turning Dither on or off, and it also allows you to see on-screen previews of these different options while in the Convert to Profile dialog. That is another advantage to the Figure 3 approach.

You should develop a workflow and try to make your prints the same way each time. That way you are less likely to make mistakes due to inconsistencies in the way you make prints. I tend to use the Figure 3 approach, which uses Image>Mode>Convert to profile first and gives me a little more control with the on screen previews. The Figure 4 approach is probably a bit faster, especially if you are only making one print of each image.

Figures 5, 6, and 7 show the rest of the printer dialog settings, which should be essentially the same no matter which of the Figure 2, 3, and 4 variations we are working with. Read through each of these to see how to set each of them correctly.

Figure 5: When you click on Page Setup from the Photoshop 7 Print With Preview dialog seen in Figures 2, 3, and 4, you get this. Use Standard only,
with Centered off so it will fit, when printing the Monaco RGB Print Patches. Centered looks better but gives you less print area with other images. Don’t use Maximum with photographs as one edge may be of lower quality. Maximum works fine for me with text.

Figure 6: Clicking on Options in the Page Setup dialog gives you this dialog where you want to turn on Custom, then Click the Advanced button. Use these same settings when printing the Monaco patches and also when printing your images printed with the Monaco profile you make or with some other profile, like one from ProfileCity.com.

Figure 7: Clicking on the Advanced button brings up this dialog. Here you want to choose your Media Type. Here is the recommended setting for Epson ColorLife Paper: choose No Color Adjustment, set your Print Quality (the dpi of the printer), and turn off High Speed if you want the best print quality. I’d suggest you also choose Save Settings, which allows you to save these settings so next time you can choose them from the menu above Advanced in the dialog shown just on top of this one.

These screen grabs were made using Photoshop 7 and the Epson 1280 printer. Similar dialogs exist in Photoshop 6 with the same printer and I believe you will be able to identify the same places within the Photoshop 6 dialogs. On OS X and with Windows systems, the dialogs will look somewhat different but you’ll find the same functionality and you should have the same workflow options. If you are using an Epson 2200, 7600, 9600 or 10,000 or some other Epson printer, you’ll be able to use a similar workflow and you’ll also find similar dialogs, but you’ll notice that an option here or there will be different.

Editing Profiles with Profile Editors and/or Photoshop Adjustment Layers

Once you make a profile, or have one made for you, it is possible to edit the profile to change it and fix small areas you are not happy with. According to my friend Bruce Bayne, a color management expert, it is very common to have to make small edits to many of the profiles that are created. You will want to have this capability even if someone else makes a profile for you. Many of the profiles I have made were essentially good except for some minor flaw, like having a magenta cast in the 20% and 10% highlight areas. Monaco EZ Color 2.1, Monaco Proof and many other profiling packages now contain profile editors. These allow you to edit and improve a profile after making it.

Another technique I’ve found to be very useful, and sometimes easier to use, is to just use the Photoshop Curves tool to edit your profiles. Let’s say you create a profile, or have one made for you, and then test that profile with your images, or with the calibration image in the Chapter 15 folder on the “Photoshop 7 Artistry” CD, PS7ArtistryCalibrationImage (see the note under Figure 1 if you don’t have the calibration image from the book). Say you find that the entire image has a green or magenta cast, it might be a bit too flat or contrasty or when looking at the gray swatches you may see a magenta cast in just the 10% and 20% swatches. For all these types of problems, you can often create a curve, which will fix this problem. The steps to take are as follows:

  1. If you have “Photoshop 7 Artistry,” bring up my PS7ArtistryCalibrationImage.psd file.
  2. Go into Image>Image Size and turn off Resample Image and then set the Resolution to 375 Pixels/Inch. This will adjust the image to print on an Epson Letter size piece of paper.
  3. Choose Image>Mode>Convert to Profile to convert this test image from ColorMatch RGB into the color profile you made for your printer, or into a canned Epson profile installed with your printer.
  4. Print this image using the Print dialog shown in Figure 3. Follow the directions for that option to set up the rest of your Print dialogs correctly for your printer and paper combination using a custom profile with No Color Correction in the Advanced dialog.
  5. Make a print and let it dry overnight, for pigment-based prints, and for at least 48 hours for dye-based inks. This will allow the colors to stabilize.
  6. Bring up my original calibration image on the screen and set View>Proof Setup>Custom to the same profile that you used to make the print. If your monitor is correctly calibrated, this should give you an accurate on-screen proof of your print. The problem is usually that your print does not match this screen correctly. Now create Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation or other adjustment layers to modify the image on screen until it looks like your print.
  7. Once the image on screen looks like your print, you can now create yet another adjustment layer, or two, to modify the image on screen to make it look the way you really wanted your print to look.

To have your printer output match your monitor, adjust this so the printed output looks like my original calibration image as it is displayed on your screen while still in ColorMatch RGB color space. Use the Save button in each color correction tool to save each of these last one or two adjustment layer settings. Now make yet another test print starting with my original calibration image again but after step 3, after Image>Mode>Convert to Profile, create adjustment layers of the types and in the order used in step 7 and use the Load button in each color correction tool to load your saved settings from step 7 into each (see Figure 8). After your test print dries for the correct amount of time, see if your adjustments improve the results. When you get the calibration image to look right, then you can use these same saved settings to adjust all your images for this printer, ink and paper.

Figure 8: Using two adjustment layers to edit the results of applying a profile, which in a way edits the profile. These adjustment layers need to be applied to each print after the Image/Mode/Convert to Profile step and right before you print. What I do is define an action that automatically does the Mode Conversion then adds these Adjustment Layers. Once the print has been made, this converted image can be thrown away since it is only good for this printer/paper combination. If you need to make a lot of this same print on this paper and printer, you can of course save this file for doing so.

These saved settings are actually being used to edit the profiled image on-the-fly before making your print. I do this all the time to “edit my profiles” and you can try it without having to buy an expensive profile editor. I find that it works great and for small adjustments I can often avoid step 6 and just make a guess at what my step 7 adjustments will be. I try them out and tweak them once or twice and then I end up with a Curve, or some other adjustment, that I can use over and over again just to tweak the changes made by my profile so things look just right on the printer.

You will need to make a set of these saved tweaks for each profile, but you can keep them in an appropriately named folder and just load them into adjustment layers when you need them. When using the Epson 2200, 7600 and 9600 with Ultrachrome inks, you may find the tweaks you do for one paper, like Epson Premium Luster, may work fine for another paper, Epson Premium Semi-Matte, for example.

For more tips and also for Barry’s workshop information, check www.barryhaynes.com.

From “Photoshop 7 Artistry: Mastering the Digital Image,” copyright © 2002 by Barry Haynes and Wendy Crumpler, published by New Riders Publishing
. Used with permission of Pearson Education and New Riders Publishing.

 

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