Datacolor User to User Support Group.

On Feb 25, 2010, at 9:32 PM, bill_hansen20012001 wrote:

> I guess I spoke too soon. Printer is an Epson R1800. I printed out  
> the 225 patch target after making double sure that in the Advanced  
> settings of the printer driver ICM was chosen and then turned OFF.  
> Let the new target print dry down for about 4 hours and then made a  
> new printer profile. Printed a test pic, and again it was way too  
> dark. In fact, this one is further off (darker, oversaturated) than  
> the profile from the 729 patch target I made a couple of days ago.
>
> Both of these printer targets, the 729 patch one and the 225 patch  
> one, are unusually dark. Many colors appear to be black, though I  
> know they must actually be patches of color.
>
> Any further suggestions?
>
>
Yes...:-)

If the -target prints- are dark; as they should be
(and from what you're saying, they are); then it's
impossible to make a too-dark print from building
a profile from them... assuming that you're actually
USING the profile that you've built, and using it
correctly. If you don't use it correctly: then
yes, your print of a real image will still be too
dark, because you'll either be printing without a
profile, or you'll be setting up Photoshop incorrectly
and disabling color management when you print.

First: the way you can test, without having to worry
about Photoshop's configurations, is to do a test print
directly from the SpyderProof-View screen in the S3P
4.x software, after building a profile. Click Print,
then go into the driver settings and make sure it's
all the same as when you printed the target, and that
should give you a perfect print. (Check!) With the
target print and measurements you're describing, that
should turn out fine. So now I'm going to list exactly
how everything should be set up in Photoshop; it's
going to be one of "these" things that you're doing
wrong:

This is how you use the profile in Photoshop:

- Your RGB working space (in the Color Settings dialog)
should be set to sRGB or Adobe RGB; never to a display
profile or a printer profile!

- Use Photoshop's Print command as follows (look at the
Color Management controls over on the right side of the
Print dialog):

     - Choose Document (not Proof!). You should see the
name of your working space profile show up to the right
of the Document button. Repeat: do NOT choose Proof,
this is wrong! You're not printing as a cross-proof
from one printer to another; that's what this setting
would be for.

     - Select "Photoshop Manages Colors" beneath that.
(this means that Photoshop will apply the printer
profile before the image is sent to the printer driver)

     - Beneath that, select the printer profile you've
created with Spyder3Print. Also select the Saturation
intent and turn black point compensation off.

- When you continue: you'll then need to select the
proper paper type, output quality/resolution and color
management OFF in the printer driver. (How you do this,
exactly, will vary depending on whether you're using
OSX or Windows, and also, on which printer and printer
driver you're using). In general, you'll need to set
the printer driver up exactly the same as when you
originally printed the target image.


David Miller
Senior Software Developer, Digital Color Solutions
Datacolor