Posted by Gary Sobonya on February 21, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Hi All,
Has anybody out there had problems with color management for printing in CS3?
I got a ne w PC running Vista Ultimate. It has CS3 on it. My old PC with CS2 gave me great print quality on my little Epson R200.
Since switchint to this PC and CS3, I just can't seem to get a handle on color controls . No matter what I do, most prints come out dark and muddy.
I've used a Spyder3 calibrator on my Monitor and printer to try and come up with a custom profile that works, but it seems I am going around in circles. Does CS3 have some printing bugs? Should I just print out of CS2? I can't help but think I am making some basic mistake. Please don't just tell me to get a Mac.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary
Posted by David Bostedo on February 22, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Printing can be tricky Gary, but you should certainly be able to get results out of CS3 as good as CS2. A couple of things :
-- Are the profiles and paper you're using the same as they were in CS2?
-- Do you have CS2
-- Is the monitor profiled correctly with the right luminance?
-- When you say you profiled your "monitor and printer", what did you do with the printer?
-- Do you have all the settings in CS3 correct? This Naturescapes article is a good reference for CS3 settings and how you should be printing.
-- What does the soft proofing look like - does it come close to the print?
If you go through that stuff and can provide some more detail, it will be easier to help.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on February 22, 2009 at 1:35 AM
First, we are going to need to figure out where the problem lies. Take a file which you have editted and printed on your old system. Print that out. Does that look fine?
If not, the problem will be with your printer. A clogged head may be the issue.
If yes, take the same file and open it up on your new machine. Does that look right?
If no, the problem may lie in either the color calibration of the machine/monitor and/or something with Vista. Vista does have the quirk that your monitor calibration can be turned off by some warning message that comes up. If your monitor is old, especially an older CRT, the calibration may be getting turned off and your are trying to correct to a mistaken zero point. I would think, though, that if it is that far off, you'd see it in the Windows colors.
If yes, then the calibration of the monitor is probably correct.
Next, print that same file out. Does that print look right?
If yes, then I don't know what is going on.
But the answer is almost certainly no, othewise you would not have posted.
Now we have a couple of things:
The settings in Photoshop. If these do not match, then really interesting things can happen. Go back to you old machine and write down all of the settings. This includes paper, printer, profile, size, orientation, etc. Write down everything! This includes both the Adobe printer dialog and the Windows printer dialog. Repeat these for your new setup.
Most likely, this last step found the problem. These are a bunch of settings that are easy to miss.
If not, have you transferred all of the printer profiles to your new machine?
Did the printer installation go fine, with everything installed?
Did you change monitors with your new machine?
Are you using the correct paper/printer profile? (Don't ask how many times I have made this mistake.)
If you can install CS2 on your new machine, does that print fine?
The key thing here is to change as few things at a time as possible to eliminate sources of problems.
I had the "muddy" prints when I used the Epson 2400. After 8 hours on the phone with Epson and Adobe it still was unresolved, both blaming each other. Eventually, I uninstalled both the printer and CS and reinstalled. Luckily that cleared the problem.
Posted by John Reed on February 22, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Gary, Short answer to your direct question is "yes", CS3 had printing bugs. One of the NAPP "masters" even admitted as much to me at a seminar. CS3 will not "remember" print settings from one file to the next. This might be your problem if your used to CS2. For example, if you print one image on glossy paper and 8x10, close the file, open a new one and say "print", you must again select glossy, 8x10, etc. The default specs when the print dialog opens will NOT be the last you used. With CS2, until you closed a work session, the print dialog would default to the last used settings from one print to the next.
CS2 was the last version on which everything worked for me on my desktop. CS4 has corrected the print problems but now I can't get CS4 bridge to work right no matter what I do and nobody's advice, not here...Adobe...NAPP...or anywhere else has been able to diagnose it. The only thing I have left to do I guess is buy or build a new computer. That makes CS4 a bit more expensive doesn't it!! At any rate, good luck with your issue.
John Reed
Posted by Steve Sieren on February 22, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Well, not to make things harder but don't forget about the different options. Before I go into that you should be proof printing to start. Your epson customer service might ask a few things like.. . . .
-Are the color settings for the file matched? sRGB prophotoRGB AdobeRGB
-What color profile setting are you using? (Do you know why you you're using that particular profile)
-What is your color management(in the photoshop print dialog box) set to? Why? Should be Photoshop manages color.
-What is your color management(in the epson printer settings) set to? Why? Should be off.
All of that is after you're calibrated.
Even after everthing is set correctly you still might need to make minor adjusts when proofing before you make your final print. I'm no expert either but I don't know anyone who hasn't messed up and wasted ink, paper, and time. Good luck!
I'm suer we would all love to hear what your final out come is? Whether you succeeded or failed or gave up or postponed your printing process.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on February 26, 2009 at 10:34 PM
You could get crazy and try one looney thing: cange your setting on the Print form to Let Printer Manage Color. Do one print and see what happens. I tried that once for a difficult print and it came out very accurate, much to my surprise. I guess it's like this: if you work hard to make the Photoshop image be really well done, the printer should be able to reproduce that, logically. Doesn't always work though.
Posted by Tim Visser on February 28, 2009 at 1:22 AM
I have the same issue but with a new PC, CS4 and Epson R2880. The grey's are a lot darker, can not get the blue's in the sky to come out right until I punch of vivid to extremes, +60. Did a lot with Adobe support after being bounced around in their support queues from Customer Service to Tech Support and a lot of empty promises. Finally got a hold of someone good and they could not figure it out and sent it to his tier 2 support team. I had one of the best color calibrator's in town come by this past Sunday and could not figure out what is going on. Same issue happens with Lightroom. Monitor is calibrated correctly as we tested it with Spyder and iOne and both showed no differences looking at the monitor.
The one thing that is in common between my problem and yours is Vista. I am running 64 bit version. Hmmm, I should try to load the Epson drivers on my wife's PC and see if it works. She is running Windows XP. I am going to go try that now.
Tim
Posted by Tim Visser on February 28, 2009 at 3:10 AM
I have the same issue but with a new PC, CS4 and Epson R2880. The grey's are a lot darker, can not get the blue's in the sky to come out right until I punch of vivid to extremes, +60. Did a lot with Adobe support after being bounced around in their support queues from Customer Service to Tech Support and a lot of empty promises. Finally got a hold of someone good and they could not figure it out and sent it to his tier 2 support team. I had one of the best color calibrator's in town come by this past Sunday and could not figure out what is going on. Same issue happens with Lightroom. Monitor is calibrated correctly as we tested it with Spyder and iOne and both showed no differences looking at the monitor.
The one thing that is in common between my problem and yours is Vista. I am running 64 bit version. Hmmm, I should try to load the Epson drivers on my wife's PC and see if it works. She is running Windows XP. I am going to go try that now.
Tim
Posted by Tim Visser on February 28, 2009 at 3:14 AM
Ok, here are the results using my wife's laptop calibrated with Huey
1. CS4 - Same results as my PC
2. CS3 - Same results as my PC
3. PSE6 - Same results as my PC
It does not matter if it is Vista or XP.
Then I remembered I still had my HP Photosmart 7960 so I tried it.
1. CS4 - Different settings but with adobe 1998 it comes out fairly close on my wife's laptop.
Tried it with my PC
1. CS4 - Adobe with Photoshop or Printer managing the color, it comes out really close.
Based on my testing, it appears that I have an Epson issue. I will call them again tomorrow.
Sorry to highjack your post but we were having similiar issues and I througt it would be a good test to see if Vista was the issue.
Discussion
9 repliesHas anybody out there had problems with color management for printing in CS3?
I got a ne w PC running Vista Ultimate. It has CS3 on it. My old PC with CS2 gave me great print quality on my little Epson R200.
Since switchint to this PC and CS3, I just can't seem to get a handle on color controls . No matter what I do, most prints come out dark and muddy.
I've used a Spyder3 calibrator on my Monitor and printer to try and come up with a custom profile that works, but it seems I am going around in circles. Does CS3 have some printing bugs? Should I just print out of CS2? I can't help but think I am making some basic mistake. Please don't just tell me to get a Mac.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary
-- Are the profiles and paper you're using the same as they were in CS2?
-- Do you have CS2
-- Is the monitor profiled correctly with the right luminance?
-- When you say you profiled your "monitor and printer", what did you do with the printer?
-- Do you have all the settings in CS3 correct? This Naturescapes article is a good reference for CS3 settings and how you should be printing.
-- What does the soft proofing look like - does it come close to the print?
If you go through that stuff and can provide some more detail, it will be easier to help.
If not, the problem will be with your printer. A clogged head may be the issue.
If yes, take the same file and open it up on your new machine. Does that look right?
If no, the problem may lie in either the color calibration of the machine/monitor and/or something with Vista. Vista does have the quirk that your monitor calibration can be turned off by some warning message that comes up. If your monitor is old, especially an older CRT, the calibration may be getting turned off and your are trying to correct to a mistaken zero point. I would think, though, that if it is that far off, you'd see it in the Windows colors.
If yes, then the calibration of the monitor is probably correct.
Next, print that same file out. Does that print look right?
If yes, then I don't know what is going on.
But the answer is almost certainly no, othewise you would not have posted.
Now we have a couple of things:
The settings in Photoshop. If these do not match, then really interesting things can happen. Go back to you old machine and write down all of the settings. This includes paper, printer, profile, size, orientation, etc. Write down everything! This includes both the Adobe printer dialog and the Windows printer dialog. Repeat these for your new setup.
Most likely, this last step found the problem. These are a bunch of settings that are easy to miss.
If not, have you transferred all of the printer profiles to your new machine?
Did the printer installation go fine, with everything installed?
Did you change monitors with your new machine?
Are you using the correct paper/printer profile? (Don't ask how many times I have made this mistake.)
If you can install CS2 on your new machine, does that print fine?
The key thing here is to change as few things at a time as possible to eliminate sources of problems.
CS2 was the last version on which everything worked for me on my desktop. CS4 has corrected the print problems but now I can't get CS4 bridge to work right no matter what I do and nobody's advice, not here...Adobe...NAPP...or anywhere else has been able to diagnose it. The only thing I have left to do I guess is buy or build a new computer. That makes CS4 a bit more expensive doesn't it!! At any rate, good luck with your issue.
John Reed
-Are the color settings for the file matched? sRGB prophotoRGB AdobeRGB
-What color profile setting are you using? (Do you know why you you're using that particular profile)
-What is your color management(in the photoshop print dialog box) set to? Why? Should be Photoshop manages color.
-What is your color management(in the epson printer settings) set to? Why? Should be off.
All of that is after you're calibrated.
Even after everthing is set correctly you still might need to make minor adjusts when proofing before you make your final print. I'm no expert either but I don't know anyone who hasn't messed up and wasted ink, paper, and time. Good luck!
I'm suer we would all love to hear what your final out come is? Whether you succeeded or failed or gave up or postponed your printing process.
The one thing that is in common between my problem and yours is Vista. I am running 64 bit version. Hmmm, I should try to load the Epson drivers on my wife's PC and see if it works. She is running Windows XP. I am going to go try that now.
Tim
The one thing that is in common between my problem and yours is Vista. I am running 64 bit version. Hmmm, I should try to load the Epson drivers on my wife's PC and see if it works. She is running Windows XP. I am going to go try that now.
Tim
1. CS4 - Same results as my PC
2. CS3 - Same results as my PC
3. PSE6 - Same results as my PC
It does not matter if it is Vista or XP.
Then I remembered I still had my HP Photosmart 7960 so I tried it.
1. CS4 - Different settings but with adobe 1998 it comes out fairly close on my wife's laptop.
Tried it with my PC
1. CS4 - Adobe with Photoshop or Printer managing the color, it comes out really close.
Based on my testing, it appears that I have an Epson issue. I will call them again tomorrow.
Sorry to highjack your post but we were having similiar issues and I througt it would be a good test to see if Vista was the issue.
Tim