Julie - I have this printer and I'm fairly familiar with the process of getting good prints out of it (although I think I'm less picky than others).
Anyway, the most important thing is a well calibrated monitor, at the correct brightness (many people start out too high, even when using calibration hardware). The second most important thing, I think, is that you are using a profile for the exact paper you are using. The third thing would be being careful with the settings and the way the color management, ICM, and rendering intent are implemented on your software settings.
Can you elaborate on exactly what paper, software, and profiles you are using? Is it Canon paper with matching Canon profiles? From your description, it sounds like it could be a few things - profile application, monitor too bright, or rendering intent set wrong.
And by the way, this is a little hard to track down, but Canon's names can be confusing. SP1 would be highest quality. SP3 and SP4 would be for use when you're printing lower quality. And all of those would be only for Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy; Photo Paper Pro, or Semi Gloss, or any others would have different profiles.
i just adjusted my monitor to color temp 5500 rather than 6000K,
I use Photoshop CS2 for processing, I let PS determine colors, printer profile: canon pro9000 SP3
I have the Black point compensation box Checked...is that right?
I have used that printer profile for canon photo paper plus glossy (pp101) and canon photo paper PRO (PR101)
I'll try a print today using the new color temp on monitor and the SP1 for the canon Photo paper pro
Where can I find and download specific paper profiles, i have a box of Epson Ultra premium photo paper (S041407 sixe 13x19) and a boc of canon art paper variety pack size 13x19.
-- By brightness Julie, I didn't mean color temperature. Color temperature should be set according to your normal calibration flow to get a good white point (6000 or 6500 sounds better to me than 5500 but I don't have a whole lot of calibration expertise). I was referring to brightness control or luminance, usually shown in the tools measured in cd/m^2. Most software recommends one that is too high, and it could be toned down. Of course, if this was your only problem, your prints would simply look a tad too dark.
-- About paper profiles :
1) They are specific to printer model and paper type and they are not interchangable. If you are using "Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss" you have to use the profile for your printer and that paper. Anything else could give weird results - although sometimes it's worth doing what you said if profiles aren't available. Like trying a Canon glossy profile with Epson glossy paper. It may not work right though.
2) The profiles are usually available from the paper company website, although they aren't always easy to find from Canon. All of the Canon profiles should have come on a CD with the printer - they should have installed with the printer software (including all of the "fine art" ones). In Windows, they are always located in the same place, which is where PS should find them. If they're there, you'll see them in the profile selection drop down in PS I think (although I don't have PS7). I don't know if Epson would offer profiles for Canon, so you might be back to trying and hoping, or getting a custom profile built if you really want to use that paper.
-- Black point compensation has to do with the way colors are translated by the profile you are using. This method is called the "rendering intent" and there are three primary ones, although for photos you should be using "perceptual" or "relative calorimetric". And yes, black point compensation should be checked, especially with "relative calorimetric". If you choose perceptual (and really it's up to you, depending on the print), then I don't think it matters much. (If you want more detail on this and color management in general, Luminous Landscape and Cambridge in Colour are two good sources - and get pretty involved in color theory.)
-- One other thing to look into, particularly with regard to saturation, is "soft proofing". The purpose of a profiles is to convert the colors from what your screen can show to what your printer/paper combination can show. This means that, at times, your printer simply CAN'T print exactly what's on your screen. If you "soft proof" in Photoshop (I'm not certain they have it in PS7) it will read the profiles and attempt to show you colors that the printer can't reproduce (which are referred to as being "out of gamut"). A lot of people get by without soft proofing though.
I'll change my monitor back.
I have a brightness control on my LCD it was at 15, I bumped it to 30, no reference to cd/m. Is this something i should look for in PS CS2 under the tools menu?
I tried test images yesterday, used canon photo paper plus glossy, set profile to SP1 and images are less murky, but still way too yellow. What Ive been doing for skin tones is attempting to use the PS tool Hue/saturation and desaturating the yellow channel by -10. Its better but Im sure not the best solution as it skews the entire image, not just the skin tones.
I'll check the web sites you mentioned, Thanks again, Julie
The calibration software should be able to read the brightness and adjust it in the software. I think you can usually pick what brightness you want to use. I think around 100 cd/m^2 is a good point, if you have the option to set it that way. (But, like I said, I don't know calibration that well - haven't really used all the different options out there.)
Skin tones can be hard to get right sometimes, but getting the software correct should be the first step. Messing with the hue/saturation should be done once you're sure everything else is correct I think. A couple other things to check are :
-- Are you setting PS7 to manage colors, and turning off color management in the printer driver?
-- There's a switch in the printer driver (buried in some options button - I can't check it right now) to disable ICM. This can help since ICM (Windows built-in color management) might be trying to apply a profile as well. I haven't seen much difference there though.
-- If you're stuck on any of these settings, posting a screen capture of the PS settings window or printer driver window might help sort it out.
EDIT : I took a look, and under "Page Setup" tab there is a "Print Options" button. That will pop up a window where you can select "Disable ICM required by application software". Like I said, it might help and it's worth a shot, but I don't think I've seen problems either way.
Discussion
5 repliesi calibrate my dell LCD monitor monthly using eye-one match. ive downloaded canon paper profiles named SP3 SP4, both for glossy papers.
I made need to try using the canon lustre papers? I may need something else
Anyone out there currently using this printer that could helP?
Thanks, Julie
Anyway, the most important thing is a well calibrated monitor, at the correct brightness (many people start out too high, even when using calibration hardware). The second most important thing, I think, is that you are using a profile for the exact paper you are using. The third thing would be being careful with the settings and the way the color management, ICM, and rendering intent are implemented on your software settings.
Can you elaborate on exactly what paper, software, and profiles you are using? Is it Canon paper with matching Canon profiles? From your description, it sounds like it could be a few things - profile application, monitor too bright, or rendering intent set wrong.
And by the way, this is a little hard to track down, but Canon's names can be confusing. SP1 would be highest quality. SP3 and SP4 would be for use when you're printing lower quality. And all of those would be only for Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy; Photo Paper Pro, or Semi Gloss, or any others would have different profiles.
i just adjusted my monitor to color temp 5500 rather than 6000K,
I use Photoshop CS2 for processing, I let PS determine colors, printer profile: canon pro9000 SP3
I have the Black point compensation box Checked...is that right?
I have used that printer profile for canon photo paper plus glossy (pp101) and canon photo paper PRO (PR101)
I'll try a print today using the new color temp on monitor and the SP1 for the canon Photo paper pro
Where can I find and download specific paper profiles, i have a box of Epson Ultra premium photo paper (S041407 sixe 13x19) and a boc of canon art paper variety pack size 13x19.
thanks for your time and efforts dave,
Julie
-- By brightness Julie, I didn't mean color temperature. Color temperature should be set according to your normal calibration flow to get a good white point (6000 or 6500 sounds better to me than 5500 but I don't have a whole lot of calibration expertise). I was referring to brightness control or luminance, usually shown in the tools measured in cd/m^2. Most software recommends one that is too high, and it could be toned down. Of course, if this was your only problem, your prints would simply look a tad too dark.
-- About paper profiles :
1) They are specific to printer model and paper type and they are not interchangable. If you are using "Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss" you have to use the profile for your printer and that paper. Anything else could give weird results - although sometimes it's worth doing what you said if profiles aren't available. Like trying a Canon glossy profile with Epson glossy paper. It may not work right though.
2) The profiles are usually available from the paper company website, although they aren't always easy to find from Canon. All of the Canon profiles should have come on a CD with the printer - they should have installed with the printer software (including all of the "fine art" ones). In Windows, they are always located in the same place, which is where PS should find them. If they're there, you'll see them in the profile selection drop down in PS I think (although I don't have PS7). I don't know if Epson would offer profiles for Canon, so you might be back to trying and hoping, or getting a custom profile built if you really want to use that paper.
-- Black point compensation has to do with the way colors are translated by the profile you are using. This method is called the "rendering intent" and there are three primary ones, although for photos you should be using "perceptual" or "relative calorimetric". And yes, black point compensation should be checked, especially with "relative calorimetric". If you choose perceptual (and really it's up to you, depending on the print), then I don't think it matters much. (If you want more detail on this and color management in general, Luminous Landscape and Cambridge in Colour are two good sources - and get pretty involved in color theory.)
-- One other thing to look into, particularly with regard to saturation, is "soft proofing". The purpose of a profiles is to convert the colors from what your screen can show to what your printer/paper combination can show. This means that, at times, your printer simply CAN'T print exactly what's on your screen. If you "soft proof" in Photoshop (I'm not certain they have it in PS7) it will read the profiles and attempt to show you colors that the printer can't reproduce (which are referred to as being "out of gamut"). A lot of people get by without soft proofing though.
-- Here's a good "getting started" overview on NatureScapes.
-- If you have any other questions, feel free to keep asking. It's easy to print, but not always easy to get high quality prints.
I'll change my monitor back.
I have a brightness control on my LCD it was at 15, I bumped it to 30, no reference to cd/m. Is this something i should look for in PS CS2 under the tools menu?
I tried test images yesterday, used canon photo paper plus glossy, set profile to SP1 and images are less murky, but still way too yellow. What Ive been doing for skin tones is attempting to use the PS tool Hue/saturation and desaturating the yellow channel by -10. Its better but Im sure not the best solution as it skews the entire image, not just the skin tones.
I'll check the web sites you mentioned, Thanks again, Julie
Skin tones can be hard to get right sometimes, but getting the software correct should be the first step. Messing with the hue/saturation should be done once you're sure everything else is correct I think. A couple other things to check are :
-- Are you setting PS7 to manage colors, and turning off color management in the printer driver?
-- There's a switch in the printer driver (buried in some options button - I can't check it right now) to disable ICM. This can help since ICM (Windows built-in color management) might be trying to apply a profile as well. I haven't seen much difference there though.
-- If you're stuck on any of these settings, posting a screen capture of the PS settings window or printer driver window might help sort it out.
EDIT : I took a look, and under "Page Setup" tab there is a "Print Options" button. That will pop up a window where you can select "Disable ICM required by application software". Like I said, it might help and it's worth a shot, but I don't think I've seen problems either way.