Printer vs monitor images are different

[stevestuff]

I am having trouble printing consistent pictures on my printer.

I have modified some raw files which contain fall foliage.

The images look great on my monitor. I then saved them as TIFF and

JPEG files and printed each file type. The printed copies are much

darker than the saved images. Can anyone help me understand what I

need to do to get WYSIWYG type printed copies.

[andy_piper2]

1) Run a googlesearch here on photo.net on "color management" and "printer profiles" and "monitor profiles" - you'll need to do some reading to "understand what you need to do to get WYSIWYG"..

 

The short version is: All computer-imaging devices (such as monitors and printers) have built-in biases and error. And there is a big difference between the colors that glowing monitor dots and printer ink dots can reproduce.

 

The only way to get things to match, and correct for the biases, is to creat "profiles" that act as electronic filters - tweaking and correcting the color values of your image before they travel out the cables to your printer and monitor.

 

Your printer prints too dark, for example? A good profile will have measured precisely how much too dark, and compensated the color values in all future prints.

 

To explain in detail would take a book - so read some of what's already been asked and posted over the past 5 years.

[godfrey]

The November issue of PhotoLife magazine has a primer on color management by Rob

Galbraith. Well worth a read.

 

Godfrey

[john_pavlakis]

Just so you know, WYSIWYG is a myth. Sometimes it happens, but usually you have to say "close enough". Make sure you profile your monitor properly. A hardware-based profiler (I use Monaco EZColor with the Optix colorimeter) is the best way to do this. Printer profiles can be dicy. I still cannot get my screen to match my printer, and I am going to send in to <a href="http://www.drycreekphoto.com/custom/customprofiles.htm">Dry Creek Photo</a> to have it done with $20K worth of equipment.

<p>

You may also need to check out the white and black point of your printer. See <a href="http://www.mambo.net/as/view/115">this page</a> for a tutorial.

[steve_swinehart]

I'm always at a loss when people say that WYSIWYG is a "myth." Honest, I get exactly what I see on my screen off of the printer. BUT, I have a profiled monitor and have gone to the trouble to profile each type of paper I use.

 

I have found that profiling the paper adds at least another 10% to color accuracy. The different color inks do not react the same (equally) between papers, AND the paper base COLOR effects the final image color. Profiling the paper takes all of this into account - including the individual dot gain characteristics of the paper.

 

If you're using an Epson printer, be warned that the Epson printer drivers are the equivalent of a Yugo automobile compared to a 600 Series Mercedes when compared to using raster image processor (RIP) software output.

 

Profiled monitor, Adobe 1998 image color space, profiled paper, RIP output = WYSIWYG - at least on my system. No reason it can't on yours.

 

Profiled monitor, Adobe 1998 image color space, profiled paper, Epson printer driver = 90-95% WYSIWYG. Really picky people can see the difference between the RIP output and the Epson driver output - but, it IS visible.