Printing?

[RyanSpaulding]

Hey guys,

 

Havin a bit of a problem here. Do you guys know of any apps/techniques that can fairly accurately show you what the print will look like using various printers?

 

The reason I'm asking is it seems every monitor has different settings for brightness/contrast and I keep getting different results out of our printers and the print shop we're using. Our foam core boards look a bit washed out, yet when we print a small version on photo paper on our Epson, WHOA dark contrast city baaaaaaby!

 

How do you all setup your images for print?

[Devin Johnston]

This is a common problem with all computer systems; the problem is your monitor is capable of displaying a lot more color than any printer is capable of printing. These monitors also have better color values than most printers do so images look washed out. The only way you can compensate for this problem is by calibrating your monitor to a baseline, and also doing the same to your printers. We had to purchase monitor calibration software and hardware from Monaco, this is a site with some information.

 

http://www.central-camera.com/Digital/software/EZcolor-bundle-wo.htm

 

Basically it will set your monitors brightness and contrast and color values to a predetermined standard. If you do this on all the monitors in your office then anyone can view the same image and expect it to look the same. It uses ICC profiles to do this, and if you have Adobe Photoshop you can download printer profiles that will allow you to view what the image will look like once it has been printed.

[argie_uk]

Hi,

 

talking of monitor calibrations/displays, my main problem is after finishing an image in photoshop, I then open the image in Illustrator for inserting logos, text, etc, and the image looks totally different to that in photoshop. The colours are far more sautarated and print likewise. I have to therefore compensate for that when in Photoshop. Needless to say my prints look different again. Any ideas on this one? Are there specific colour settings for each application?

 

Thanks

[Devin Johnston]

I would assume that Illustrator has the same kind of color management that Photoshop does, but it won't do you any good if your monitor isn't calabrated correctley.

[upshot]

I hate printing... It's always been a problem... I can print the same file from the same program to all of our printers here in the office and get different results from each one.

 

Many claim that monitor/printer calibration is the solution and I truely wish that was my experience. I've seen super expensive consultants come and go at various firms I've worked for and take my budget with them... They have sometimes had success with one monitor one media type, and one printer but business does not exist in a vaccume and (guess what?) there are usually more than one monitor and one printer that usually get replaced in a year or two! There are so many variables it makes my head hurt....

 

I know... I should be more constructive... One solution is to take the print and try to adjust the monitor to match it. If you have a monitor that allows mutiple settings that's a good thing so you can quick switch for different printers in the office.

 

"Professional calibration?" - in my experience it's like chiropractic work... They mess things up so good that you have to call them again a couple of months later...

[Jeff Mottle]

There is a thread here with some color calibration documents I wrote for Smoothe about a year ago: http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/showthread.php?t=900&highlight=ICC

 

It is true though that for color management to work, you need to be in a controlled or semi-controlled environment. There just isn't a way around this. If you go to any printing company you will find a very large viewing booth (with controlled lighting and color temps) to view the prints as that is the only way to ensure accuracy. You can use ICC profiles, calibrate your monitors and embed color profiles but unless the environment in which you view your documents and view the monitors is controlled you will have a very hard time getting what you expect. You can buy small viewing booths around the size of an 11x17 page and smaller, but if your monitor is in direct sunlight or in an office by alot of exterior windows you will never be able to see on screen what you will print.

 

The only way around this is to do what many pre-press operators do and that is to do everything by the numbers and experience. For example you put your eye dropper on a color and find out that the RGB is 234 124 90 you know that it will print a certain way. This takes a lot of experience to know the color charactaristics of your printer though.

 

My advice though is to take a read of the documents in that thread and get yourself and all of your equipment to the same baseline. At least then if you do have to rely on a your own knowledge of how it will look when printed you are always on the same playnig field when you use the various equipment in your office. I am not in a completely controlled envronment, but I can get my images about 80-90% there with the info in those calibration docs.

[upshot]

The only way around this is to do what many pre-press operators do and that is to do everything by the numbers and experience. For example you put your eye dropper on a color and find out that the RGB is 234 124 90 you know that it will print a certain way. This takes a lot of experience to know the color charactaristics of your printer though.

 

That statement is dead on... This method in combination with 'level adjusting' is as good as it gets. Allbeit, as stated, you have to be intimate with your printer.

[Devin Johnston]

Jeff is right, I was told by a color calibration specialist that the goal of color calibration was to get about 80% - 90% accuracy in printing. He said that because each monitor, printer, and video card is made with different specifications prints will look different on virtually every system. Jeff is also right in that your prints will look different in direct sunlight as apposed to florescent or incandescent light.

I once had a boss that was insane about having the prints look exactly like what was on the screen. I went through 7 levels of hell trying to adjust prints at the printer so that it would look like what was on the screen. It's almost imposable to do if you don't have color calibration so I would suggest spending the money and investing in a system.