HP7960 Photoshop vs print driver color management

[kent_morris]

Okay, i've read essentially all the posts here on the HP7960 and

done a few trials of my own now, and I'm not sure what to make of

the results, so any input will be appreciated.

 

My monitor is not profiled, but I have used Quick Gamma per Norman

Koren's web page on monitor calibration. I have a hi res test image

from photodisc that is supposedly in the adobeRGB colorspace (it

does say this in photoshop), and printed it on Ilford Gallerie

Classic Pearl paper with 4 different settings so far which are as

follows:

 

1) Photoshop print space set in print preview - printer color

management; HP print driver setting - ICM color management (so

essentially no color management done, right?)

 

this produces a dull lifeless image as expected

 

2) PS - print space set to a profile downloaded from ilford for this

paper and the 7960; printer driver set to ICM colormanagement

 

only marginally better than no colormanagement at all, i was sort of

surprised to be honest.

 

3) PS - printer color management; print driver - adobeRBG

 

Much better, but a little over saturated in the reds (baby a little

too pink, yellows a bit shifted maybe?)

 

4) PS - printer color management; print driver - sRGB

 

Colors not quite as saturated, but are really spot on compared to

what the monitor is displaying. By far the closest of the four to

what I'm seeing on my display, though not quite the pop of the adobe

rgb print.

 

So is the print driver actually doing better color that photoshop!?

I wouldn't expect that at all, but that certainly appears to be the

case in what i have done above. What other setting might work better

in photoshop. And why does it look better in sRGB than adobeRGB in

the print driver setting, I would expect that since the image

profile is adobe RGB that it should look better with the print space

set to that. Also does changing the print profile associated with

the printer in the OS have any affect on any of this?

 

 

Any insights into these observations appreciated as I'm trying to

get good color out of my printer, but also understand what/how i'm

doing it as well.

 

 

thanks

-Kent

[beauh44]

Hi Kent, This printer was reviewed by Ctein in Photo Techniques magazine a few issues back where it got rave reviews - with a few qualifications. Its B&W output is excellent, but that's not what you're asking about. Ctein said that in order for him to get excellent color prints from the 7960, that he had to have custom profiles created. He suggested Cathy's profiles - $40 a pop at http://www.cathysprofiles.com . And even though I have not used a custom profile with mine (I use mine for B&W only), I can see his point; the profiles that shipped with the printer are not very good. If you decide to go this route, you will want to obtain the profile, place it in the proper folder on your PC so Photoshop finds it, then select the ICM Color Management in the HP print driver. That should do it. FWIW, I too get rather nasty yellow shifts from the included printer profile (terrible skin tones!) and probably won't use it for color again, unless and until I get some custom profiles made. You'll want a profile for each type of paper you plan to use. Good luck!

[Troll]

Try using HP Premium Plus Photo paper. It's like magic with this printer.

[kent_morris]

I do mostly B&W as well, and have little problem, though I've found that letting the HP driver do the B&W generally seems to work a little better. But I would like to be able to do decent color on occasion. I'll check out the custom profile option, that particular site seems affordable, if it is good then it may well be worth it.

Thanks.

 

-kent

[john_murphy1]

I posted a similar question recently. I have the same problem with the HP7960. I am trying different "cheap solutions" myself, none of which seem to work very well. I hate to think of spending over $1000 for a spectrophotometric profiler just to get a decent print of my photos, but that's what it may require. I'll be following your results with interest.

[joshua daniels]

I have been playing with different workflows using the supplied profiles. One that I've had good luck with is as follows:

 

1. Convert image to Adobe RGB

2. Do rough adjustments (curves, etc.)

3. Go View menu and setup soft proof using the HP PGP paper profile 8 ink. Use paper white compensation.

4. This will cause the on-screen image to intensify (more red and yellow) and lighten.

5. Go to Hue and Saturation. Desaturate the image about 15-20% (to your liking).

6. Go to color / contrast. Increase contrast to your liking.

7. Print the image using the same profile as in proof setup.

 

I have found the closest screen to print match this way.