I have had Elements for a while now but have recently got the full blown version. I have tried to make prints after adjusting color etc. on some images with Photoshop but they seem to come out a LOT darker than what I am looking at on the screen.
I have not calibrated by screen or done anything to my printer. Could someone explain what to do so that what I am looking at is what comes out.
Thanks
Don
PS, I also notice that you cannot upload a nef to our image gallery. I guess I have to convert it to a thumbnail correct? If so is there any easy way to do that? I am getting a headache!
Posted by Rod Barbee on August 20, 2006 at 7:10 PM
That's quite a loaded question. I mean there's a whole lot there to cover. And most of it has probably already been covered in this forum or other online articles so a search on "color management" and "convert to jpg" will help. (You have to convert to jpg to post to the web--well, you could post tiffs I suppose but the file sizes are way too big)
basically, you need to calibrate your monitor and then print to a printer profile. Not something that can really be covered in a quick reply as whole books have been written on the subject. You may want to try one of those. Something by Tim Grey or Dan Margulis will probably work well. I've also heard real good things about John Shaw's Photoshop Field Guide (an ebook available on his website: www.johnshawphoto.com.
You'll also need to make sure you have Photoshop's color preferences set correctly. I think it comes set to sRGB as the working profile. You'll want to change that to Adobe RGB. Look under Edit>Color Settings
Absolutely calibrate your monitor! This the first step toward seeing colors that are accurate. An accurate printer profile will be extremely helpful, too.
If you are planning to post images on the web, the image should be flattened, converted to the sRGB color profile and then saved as jpeg. You can use either File>Save As... or File> Save for the Web.
There is a lot of great info in the CS2 Help files installed on your machine, and on-line from Adobe.
Here's a nice tutorial on color managment in PSCS2: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps9_colour/ps9_1.htm . It is a great primer and will be well worth your time.
There are some options you need to set in the Photoshop's preferences. The John Shaw e-book goes through them. I imagine other sources do too. I can't remember if the Ellen Anon & Tim Grey book includes these crazy preference settings, but it is excellent for getting started with the world's most ponderous software.
I have almost the same set up, CS & an R800. I've gotten some beautiful prints, so believe it can be done. Something else to watch is that the appropriate color management choices are made in the printer driver. You should use the paper-specifc profile and choose some other options - I use Red River Paper and their documentation explained it pretty clearly.
This is a printer profile/color management problem. I have exactly the same setup. Here is what you need to do:
From CS2, select File>Page Setup and select the R800 printer, then click on "Properties"
In the "Properties" dialog, make sure you select the proper paper (e.g. Premium Glossy Photo Paper), select ICM under Color Management, then select Off (No Color Adjustment) under ICC/ICM Profile. This keeps the printer from doing color management.
Now, from CS2, select "Print with Preview". On the print dialong, select the "More Options" button, then select "Color Management" on the pull-down menu; then under Options, for Color Handling select "Let Photoshop Determine Colors"; then for Printer Profile select the proper profile according to your paper selection (e.g. SPR800 PremGlsy BstPhoto R1); for Rendering Intent select Relative Colorimteric and check Black Point Compensation. That should do it.
If you profile your monitor and printer, that will certainly help as well, but it sounds like your biggest problem is just not having the proper settings for letting Photoshop handle the color management.
Hope this helps.
Charlie
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 23, 2006 at 11:58 PM
Having the R1800, I agree with the above post. I think you've got both PS and the printer trying to figure out color and ending up with something too dark. I've experimented with the R1800 and seen similar results when I had the printer and PS choosing the color.
Posted by Les Barstow on August 28, 2006 at 4:40 PM
I think "too dark" can also be a symptom of doing all but the final color conversion on the R(1)800s. I.e. you have the printer set to 'ICM, no color correction' and you're editing the image in Adobe RGB. Accidently forgot to do that the other week - very dark photo...
Charlie's got a good workflow summary above. (To see the color management options in your printer preferences, go to the Advanced... properties - and be sure to save your configuration down in the 'Custom' box, so you can recall the settings with a single pull-down, rather than repeatedly re-configuring the printer.)
BTW - I don't know how well they'll work, but if you can, get a hold of the R1800 premium ICC profiles (they'll say 'SPR1800 Premium Papertype' in the description, with 'Premium' spelled out completely); the Premium profiles for the R1800 have much, much better support for dark greens and dull browns, and a much more complete pallete map. The R800 and R1800 use the same inks, but I'm not sure if their respective print engines are exactly the same.
Discussion
6 repliesI have not calibrated by screen or done anything to my printer. Could someone explain what to do so that what I am looking at is what comes out.
Thanks
Don
PS, I also notice that you cannot upload a nef to our image gallery. I guess I have to convert it to a thumbnail correct? If so is there any easy way to do that? I am getting a headache!
basically, you need to calibrate your monitor and then print to a printer profile. Not something that can really be covered in a quick reply as whole books have been written on the subject. You may want to try one of those. Something by Tim Grey or Dan Margulis will probably work well. I've also heard real good things about John Shaw's Photoshop Field Guide (an ebook available on his website: www.johnshawphoto.com.
You'll also need to make sure you have Photoshop's color preferences set correctly. I think it comes set to sRGB as the working profile. You'll want to change that to Adobe RGB. Look under Edit>Color Settings
Absolutely calibrate your monitor! This the first step toward seeing colors that are accurate. An accurate printer profile will be extremely helpful, too.
If you are planning to post images on the web, the image should be flattened, converted to the sRGB color profile and then saved as jpeg. You can use either File>Save As... or File> Save for the Web.
There is a lot of great info in the CS2 Help files installed on your machine, and on-line from Adobe.
Here's a nice tutorial on color managment in PSCS2: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps9_colour/ps9_1.htm . It is a great primer and will be well worth your time.
-PB
btw: Take two Advil and call us in the morning,
I have almost the same set up, CS & an R800. I've gotten some beautiful prints, so believe it can be done. Something else to watch is that the appropriate color management choices are made in the printer driver. You should use the paper-specifc profile and choose some other options - I use Red River Paper and their documentation explained it pretty clearly.
Hang in there. Pete D.
This is a printer profile/color management problem. I have exactly the same setup. Here is what you need to do:
From CS2, select File>Page Setup and select the R800 printer, then click on "Properties"
In the "Properties" dialog, make sure you select the proper paper (e.g. Premium Glossy Photo Paper), select ICM under Color Management, then select Off (No Color Adjustment) under ICC/ICM Profile. This keeps the printer from doing color management.
Now, from CS2, select "Print with Preview". On the print dialong, select the "More Options" button, then select "Color Management" on the pull-down menu; then under Options, for Color Handling select "Let Photoshop Determine Colors"; then for Printer Profile select the proper profile according to your paper selection (e.g. SPR800 PremGlsy BstPhoto R1); for Rendering Intent select Relative Colorimteric and check Black Point Compensation. That should do it.
If you profile your monitor and printer, that will certainly help as well, but it sounds like your biggest problem is just not having the proper settings for letting Photoshop handle the color management.
Hope this helps.
Charlie
Charlie's got a good workflow summary above. (To see the color management options in your printer preferences, go to the Advanced... properties - and be sure to save your configuration down in the 'Custom' box, so you can recall the settings with a single pull-down, rather than repeatedly re-configuring the printer.)
BTW - I don't know how well they'll work, but if you can, get a hold of the R1800 premium ICC profiles (they'll say 'SPR1800 Premium Papertype' in the description, with 'Premium' spelled out completely); the Premium profiles for the R1800 have much, much better support for dark greens and dull browns, and a much more complete pallete map. The R800 and R1800 use the same inks, but I'm not sure if their respective print engines are exactly the same.