Printer Profiles

[Sawyer]

I was reading the posts on printers and just wanted to know if anyone has a system for color matching your printer with you monitor. I have a Epson 785epx I love it I think it is great near perfect resolution but it has taken me months to get it to the point that I know what I am seeing in photoshop is what I will plot. But I only got to that point after probaly 100+ test prints.

But my printer wont do 24" prints so I take it into a printer who prints out really nice images with colors that are not what I want. So then at best I have start over with getting them to match my intended colors or I just take what they give me and call it close enough.

If anyone has advice or wants to share what works I would really dig that.

[Guest adrian_dav]

you touched a tricky topic . to say it upfront: if you want to be 100% sure about your print get a color proof from the printshop.

 

most printshops are using standard color calibration. the output still tends to be inconsistent even if you use the same printshop. a color proof is the only way to assure the right colors. this is not always an option because a color proof adds another day to the print job and adds cost as well.

 

the most often used printers in shops here in manhattan are the lightjet and the fuji pictography, both continous(non-pixel) laser printers. the prints are called "digital c-prints" or similar. these prints do not require conversion from RGB to CMYK color space.

 

read an article comparing inkjet vs. lightjet prints.

 

if time is an issue, i make an A3 print on my inkjet and submit it with the digital file and ask the printer to get as close as possible(the printer might not like that).

 

your best bet is to assure best possible calibration of inkjet printer and monitor on your end. the output from your correctly adjusted inkjet should match the output of the printshop(in theory).

 

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printer:

the easiest way is to download a color profile for your particular printer and material. a small company did your homework already and you can download them here.

 

you could follow the instructions on this page and have, for $90, a custom profile created for you(i'd be to cheap to do this).

 

a short article about "soft proofing" worth your time can be found here.

 

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monitor:

you could try to adjust your monitor without additional hardware - "squint and wonder". many web pages allow to try online (example).

 

you could download the monitor profile from the manufacturer and load it via control-panel>display-settings>advanced>color-management>add-profile-association and hope it works.

 

the best way is to shell out a few bugs and get a hardware color calibrator. eye-one has one. the one for dummies is reviewed here (i have this one). if you want to buy a screen plus calibrator look at the mitsubishi diamond pro (it is on my christmas wishlist). if you like the same in dark blue try lacie, the calibrator is extra and can be found here and is Mac-only.

 

good luck!

 

adrian

http://www.adriandavidson.com