Epson PHOTO R2400 Profiling or setting Question...

[mad1]

For me all this mess is really confusing... I Tried many ways to achieve good results but I'm not fit with

what I see on the screen. I have a Mac with a Hudge (spider calibrated) Mac Flat screen (30 in. of LCD). I'm

now using a color sync and ultra matte paper setting but the colors a way out of the reality. I use a curve

in PS to correct (blind) what I see on my print and anticipate what it needs to fit the real image without

curve... Is anyone knows the Secret in the printer setting to achieve fast reliable prints?

Thanks,

 

Marc-Andre Dumas

[anna_nielsen]

Try searching in here. It has been explained many times very good by a guy called Edward Ingold. I know i used it when i got my 2400. (Cant remember exact settings, my self, good enough to guide you but mine works wonders). Very easy when youve got the right guide. anna

[jared_chapin]

Turn the epson print color management off & let photoshop manage the color

[marek_fogiel]

If your screen is properly calibrated, then apart from adjusting the R2400 for the optimum ink density(this can affect the relative brightness of your prints) the colours should come out ok if you use the correct profile.

I use the R2400 most often with Ilford, Epson and Hahnemuhle papers, and the only factory profile which was off was the Epson Ultra Smooth, everything else works great - even B&W photos printed in full colour mode come out perfectly neutral (unless you want to give them a tone). Download paper manufacturer's profiles, and then check the following:

-choose the right paper profile in the "print with preview" dialog box and use the "let photoshop determine colours" setting

-choose "best print" quality and the proper paper choice in the print setup window ( apart from the Epson Premium Glossy most other glossy and semi gloss papers work with the semi gloss setting, and the matte fine art papers with the Watercolor or Smooth Velvet - refer to manufacturer instructions)

-in advanced settings TAG the ICM setting and turn OFF the printer colour correction options, you can use high speed on, but best results com when it's off

 

If you still cannot get a proper print, calibrate your screen again, there is nothing else that can be wrong, AFAIK. A good book on printing which can walk you through can be found on the digital outback photo site.

[patricklavoie]

How do you print? what are your setting in Print with Preview? what profile? waht paper? epson genuine ink and paper or else? what setting in Epson driver? let us know more about your stuff.

 

right know its like going to a garage and ask the guy for advice because your cars doing strange noise...without proper description anything could be rong.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Yo ureally need an accurately calibratedand profiled monitor. What settigns did you use.

 

It also really helps to have a reaqlly good custom profile made for the specific printer,

paper and ink combiantion.

 

this is of vital importance: What settings are you using in the print driver windows? How

are you (if you asre) implementing softproofing.

 

It also really helps to use good lighting to judge the prints by; I use Solux's4700 task

lights. FAns waterlander uses the 5000K Solux lights.

[mad1]

I use 5500 daylight fluos. My settings are:

Ultra Premium Presentation Matte paper

Best photo

High speed OFF

Color management=color sync

[patricklavoie]

Problem solve; COLORSYNC. should be NO COLORMANAGEMENT or ICC OFF.

 

You can let High Speed ON on the newer Epson without a problem by the way.

[mad1]

Thx again Mr. Lavoie ;)

[robert_brake1]

The good/bad news is that two years from now all this hassle will be a thing of the past.

Your 5500k lights should be fine for now. Double check your prints during the day with

north light (or south if austral).

 

There are three ways your printer can print:

 

1)" Color controls." This means the Epson printer driver will control the color. You can

adjust color through the various sliders in the printer dialogue and through trial and error

until you get the print you want. Your monitor can be by chance in sync with the print or

not, the print you get is the print you get plus or minus the slider controls. This is not a

profiled or "controlled" workflow although it can be made to work.

 

2) Color Sync. (Let Photoshop Control Colors) By your use of this term I'm assuming you

use a Mac as Color Sync is their term for color control through the "profile" process. This

is where your monitor profile comes in to play. If your workflow is "controlled" from

beginning to end through the "profile" mechanism you should be able to print very close

to what you see on your monitor allowing for the difference in your monitor being

illuminated from the back through the screen and the print being illuminated by light

reflecting off of it. That difference is something you'll get used to.

 

Think of the "profiled" process as meaning that at each stage: capture space--the file;

monitor space--the display; and print space--the translation to paper, the file is

translated into three different languages and the "profiles" translate that language at each

stage.

 

What that means practically for you is that the captured image should have a profile

assigned by the camera if a JPEG or if raw the raw converter. That profile is a set of

instructions that accompanies your file. Practically speaking use Adobe RGB for the

moment if that is available, if not use sRGB. That means identify your image profile and

check that your image editor, you said PS, is set to work in the same space. I don't know

what version of PS you use but in the later versions you find that under EDIT/COLOR

SETTINGS/WORKING SPACES, RGB/Here should be your choice of AdobeRGB or sRGB

depending on the ouput from your camera or raw converter. Now you have a file in a

space: your image edtor, with a specific set of instructions for translating that file.

 

Next is the monitor space. Since your monitor is profiled and assuming you are using a

later version of PS, PS will automatically use the monitor profile to show your image with

the same set of instructions. In other words, every particlar point of color and luminance

will be identified by the same digital code in every image the same way and displayed on

your monitor the same way: a particular shade and brightness of red in any file will always

have the same digital code and will display the same each time on your monitor.

 

(There is a small area you need to be aware of but you can put it aside for the moment

until you are more comfortable and that is the fact that your file can contain colors that

your monitor cannot physically show but can still be printed and your monitor can show

colors that your printer cannot physically print. This is the area referred to as out of

gamut and is dealt with by rendering intents: if the printer can't print this shade of green I

can see on my monitor what color will it print?)

 

Now comes the point I didn't see anywhere in your post. The "softproofing" or viewing of

your image on your profiled monitor through the eyes of your printer/paper/inkset profile.

This is the point that allows you to see on your screen what your printer is capable of

printing. Again, assuming you are using a later version of PS, go to VIEW/PROOF SETUP/

CUSTOM/DEVICE TO SIMULATE and choose your printer/paper profile. Here in the

dropdown menu you should find all the printer/paper/inkset combinations available to

you. For example you should find a profile listed under your printer, probably something

like SPR2400 MPHW. That means it is a profile for Epson's Matte papers that use a paper

setting of Matte Paper HeavyWeight, Epson Enhanced Matte Paper for example. (This is a

reasonably good proofing paper and easy to find.) Your particular choice of Epson paper

will have the Print Settings on the inside cover sheet and correspond to the profiles listed

in your DEVICE TO SIMULATE dropdown menu. That profile is for that particular inkset, in

this case Epson's proprietary inks, UltraChrome? for the 2400 I think and that Epson paper

on that Printer. If you choose that paper/printer/ink setting and go back to the VIEW

menu and click PROOF COLORS your monitor will now display an image very close to what

your printer will print with that particular printer/paper inkset. If you change one element,

the paper (using another brand of paper for example) or the ink, using non-Epson, or try

to apply that profile to another printer you won't get an accurate translation in the

instructions to the printer. You can in fact get anything from the very close to the very

bizarre. If you want to use another brand of paper, for example, you must get a profile for

that paper and that inkset on that printer. Many paper manufacturers produce "canned"

profiles for their papers on popular printers with popular inksets. They will usually have

them in a download section on their website. You download the profile, install it in the

appropriate folder MacHD/LIBRARY/COLOR SYNC/PROFILES for example on a Mac. Now

when you open the VIEW/PROOF SET UP/CUSTOM/DEVICE TO SIMULATE menu you will find

the profile for the new paper/inkset/printer combination and by clicking on it you will

now, if VIEW/PROOF COLORS is ticked, view on your monitor what your print will look like

with that particular printer/inkset/paper combo.

 

The best practice when using the profiles or "controlled" process is to immediately after

opening your image in PS, set the VIEW/PROOF... to your planned paper/printer/inkset and

tick VIEW/PROOF COLORS so that all the changes you make during your editing will reflect

real time changes to your print. You can also use this feature to see what your print will

look like on different paper/inkset combinations.

 

There is another function in the VIEW menu and that is VIEW/GAMUT WARNING. This will

cause any color that is "out of gamut" (remember that your printer can print colors that

can be in your file that your monitor cannot physically show) to show as another color.

The default is grey I think and not really visible but you can change it to something unreal

(I use either bright chartreuse or vivid magenta) something not likely to exist in your

image. This will show you any color your particular prnter/paper/inkset cannot print.

This is also where Rendering Intents come into play. What color will the printer actually

print if it can't print the listed color. For now use either Relative or Perceptual. You can

view the differences in the printer dialogue. Stay away from the other two until you

understand exactly what they do. Technically your printer/paper/inkset profile was made

using a given Rendering Intent and that is the one that should be used for more accuracy

between print and monitor display. There will be other small checks such as accounting

for the difference in black or white in what your monitor can display and your printer can

print or paper display in the case of white--remember no paper is truly white and no

printer I know of uses white ink.

 

Within all of this if you choose to use a profiled workflow you must check that all of your

settings are consistent: your image profile is consistent with your editing workspace

profile, your monitor should be automatic if you use PS, all of your printer dialogue pages

need to have the same settings. Let PhotoShop control color, Color Sync is Checked (this

tells the printer to print through the chosen profile, the appropriate print settings and

profiles are selected (sometimes with PS and Mac you might have to make the same choice

on two different papges, sometime there is a warning if the choices differ, sometimes not.)

 

Then there is the third choice in your printer and that is something like "Color Controls

Off." This allows a file to be printed exactly as it is coded. This function is used when

making your own profiles. You print a coded file with a given paper/printer/inkset, then

you measure the color and luminosity with hardware, then software produces a "profile."

Think of that process as: If I tell my printer to print this and instead it prints that, what

modificatiion must I make to make it print as I originally instructed. This is sort of what

you are trying with curves, that is to make a profile yourself. You'll go nuts trying:') It's

been done, and is being done in b&w printing but the variables are so great in color that

that is where the computing power of soft/hardware comes in.

 

There are of course books out there or you can glean what you can from forums and

tutorials but hang in there it can be done.

[mad1]

Wow, Real Thanks :)))