Dont understand color profiles

[zac_sanders]

Well i got a espon 1400 and ive been trying to figure out color profiles. I have the Harman inkjet gloss paper

and have to profile for that do i open this profile in photoshop and do i select it from the printer setting when

i go to print? thanks

[jon_shiu]

Hello, there is a very complete tutorial at Ian Lyons site:<p>

<a href=http://www.computer-darkroom.com/home.htm>http://www.computer-darkroom.com/home.htm</a>

<p>

Jon

[twmeyer]

Google plus Wiki is your friend... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Colorspace.png">Color Space</a>... t

[charlesheckel]

When intelligent people give you links and no short, simple answers, there aren't any. ;-)<p>

My Epson likes to ingest Epson-brand paper and look prettily confused when it's offered other brands. You might very well be able to use the Epson profile for high-gloss papers with your Harman paper, but it's a little dicey--it might be a good idea to feed your new printer what it wants until you're squared away. Part of that is calibrating your monitor, which needs its own color profile to be in synch with the printer and paper.<p>

Assuming you get good results with Epson papers, branching out involves downloading the proper ICC profile for your non-Epson paper, usually from the manufacturer's website, decompressing it, putting it in the proper Windows folder which will depend on your version of Windows, and adding it to your Windows system through the Control Panel with "Add New Software."<p>

You'd think at this point Photoshop would get it. Not in my case. When I print through Photoshop in Windows XP, the Epson papers show up in the paper select window, but the newly added non-Epson papers don't. I have to summon up the Epson printer driver--not through Photoshop, but through the Windows Control Panel and assorted esoterica to find the non-Epson paper on its paper select window, assure the driver that it is indeed the default paper, and sashay back to Photoshop to print the thing. Irritatingly, Photoshop would show the newly installed ICC profiles in Windows Vista, but the Vista alert windows would restore my monitor to the system default profile, munging its custom profile.<p>

You say you don't understand color profiles. I'm with you.

[godfrey]

1 - Read the instructions on printing included with the Harman paper or go to their website and find them, read

them.<br><br>

2 - Install the ICC profile for the paper on your OS in the appropriate place ... on Mac OS X, this is in

/Library/ColorSync/Profiles<br><br>

3a - Assuming Photoshop printing, in Print with Preview, first use the Page Setup dialog to choose the printer, the

orientation, and the size/feed type. Then set Photoshop to manage color and pick the paper profile from the menu. Then click

print ... now you're in the print driver dialog ... and select the paper type that Harman said to use, set the print

parameters for the quality you want, and turn color adjustments off. <br><br>

3b - Assuming Lightroom printing, in the Print module click on the Page Setup and pick the printer, orientation, and size/feed type. In the

printer setup menu, choose the recommended paper type, print quality, etc, and turn color management off. Set up the printing using the

panels on the right per your needs. In the Print Job panel, choose the ICC profile (if the one you need per Harman's recommendation does

not appear, you need to choose the command to edit the profile list and add it). Once you have everything set up, create a template for

printing so you can load all the settings with one click of the mouse in the future. <br><br>

4 - Then press the Print button.

<br><br>

Godfrey

<br>

[steve_swinehart]

"...the Epson papers show up in the paper select window, but the newly added non-Epson papers don't."

 

Selecting the paper type controls the amount of ink the printer is putting down - and has nothing to do with the profile for the paper. You have to select the paper profile through the printer control.

 

For the OP - profiles correct the color rendering for the device whether it is a monitor or printer. That's why you need a separate monitor profile and individual profiles for each type of paper you are using. Paper profiles correct the color reproduction with a specific ink + paper combination. This takes into account the paper base color and how the paper reproduces color with the ink set.

 

Also, it is important to look at the paper manufacturer's recommendation as to which paper type to select (watercolor, fine art velvet, enhanced matte, glossy, pearl, etc.). As stated previously in this post - the paper type selection controls the amount of ink put down on the paper.

[twmeyer]

<a

href="http://www.takegreatpictures.com/HOME/Columns/Digital_Photography/Details/Color_Management_and_Display.fci">another

very helpful link</a> from someone who has often been befuddled by long winded answers by intelligent, well

meaning people on photo.net (ha!). Almost everything I know I learned from someone else who was often, and

usually, smarter than me. Everything else was/is learned from my mistakes that were then explained to me by

someone else who was often, and usually, smarter than me. Funny how that works. <p>You couldn't

do wrong by spending some time at digitaldog.net which for some reason photo.net won't let me link up (wassup wid

dat?)... t