please help a beginner : why my prints lack brightness?

[christa_moore]

<p>Hi all!<br>

I am printing with Epson 3880 on Ilford smooth pearl, but I don't think it is a paper problem.<br>

When I start the printing process, when "print match color" is checked, my white become kind of grey..<br>

therefore my printed images come with a lack of brightness/contrast/luminosity..<br>

I am printing from PS and Epson 3880 driver.<br>

I have configured things like this :<br>

Custom proof set up : Epson 3880 premium glossy paper (that's the setting advised by Ilford)<br>

relative colrimetric, black point cheked, simulate paper color checked.<br>

Then in the Epson driver, I have choosen the right paper and desactivated the calibration.<br>

Couldyou please help me?<br>

I can end with a good print, but only after 3 or 4 tries....</p>

<p>Thank you in advance</p>

<p> </p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>Christa, some questions:<br>

1. is your monitor calibrated?<br>

2. Have you installed the paper profile for your paper?<br>

3. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in PS?<br>

4. Do you have "Printer manages color" turned off in the printer driver?</p>

<p>You need to answer yes to all those before you will get prints that match the screen.</p>

<p>I believe your 'whites printing as gray' may be because you have "simulate paper color" turned on, but...</p>

<p><Chas></p>

[monika_epsefass]

<p>If all the conditions mentioned by Charles are fulfilled, you may want to print using 'perceptive' instead of 'relative colorimetric', which sometimes makes quite a difference, too.</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>yes to all, except: where do I set "printer manages color" in PS ?</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>Charles,<br>

unchecking simulated paper color just makes my pics looks "grey" in PS on screen <br>

Monika,<br>

Using perceptive does not change anything</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>As indicated, you may need to turn off color management in one of the places--either in Photoshop or for the printer. Having more than one control color produces exactly the "gray" effect you describe.</p>

<p>As I recall, some of these controls are in the printer dialog boxes and/or print setup, others under Photoshop preferences. Look around at the pull down tabs areas in the dialogs, they can be a little hard to find...</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>can't find it under "preferences"..</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>If I turn it out in the printer dialog box, then I cannot choose my paper...</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Select Let Application (Photoshop) manage color. Select the paper profile, rendering intent (based on the soft proof) and black point compensation on. Then in the Epson driver, have No Color Adjustment set (in essence, turning off color management in the driver). Pick the correct media setting (Prem luster). <br>

Simulate Paper color has no role in printing, its part of the soft proof setup (which you want on when viewing an image and comparing it to the display). See:<br>

http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200409_rodneycm.pdf<br>

http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200411_rodneycm.pdf</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>Thanks Andrew,<br>

But my settings are exactly as you decribed, but still when i check "match print color",<br>

it "fades", and so is my printed output.. I can't get deep blacks and white whites...</p>

[wogears]

<blockquote>

<p>But my settings are exactly as you decribed, but still when i check "match print color",<br />it "fades", and so is my printed output.. I can't get deep blacks and white whites...</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>When you choose 'Match Print Color' you are soft-proofing, based on the printer profile you have chosen. The question is: do the print colors match the colors you see when you choose 'MPC'? If so, then all is well.</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>The colors are ok, the problem is about contrast/brightness. Blacks not black and whites not so white..<br>

To achive correct contrast, I am forced to push my curves until the histogram gets crazy..</p>

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>But my settings are exactly as you decribed, but still when i check "match print color",<br />it "fades", and so is my printed output.. I can't get deep blacks and white whites...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Match Color? </p>

<p>The simulate paper and ink is supposed to dull down the preview since it now scales the dynamic range of your display (which is in the range of 800:1 or higher) to that of your print (which may have a contrast ratio of 200:1). </p>

[christa_moore]

<p>But not only the preview is dull, but the printed image also..</p>

[mike_earussi1]

<p>Have you tried Epson papers? From my own experiments the Epson looks a little better (more dimensional) than the Ilford. And Glossy is always puncher than Pearl.</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>It does'nt change! I still have the same problem : loss of contrast in preview as well as<br>

printed output : I got what I see when "match print color" is checked, and it's dull</p>

[wogears]

<p>How is your monitor calibrated?</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>With spyder 3 elite, but I don't think it matters here..<br>

Have a look at these two screen caps, and you'll see what I mean<br>

1) looks ok, that's what I want , contrast is right, white is white. ("match print colors" unchecked)<br>

2) dull, low contrast ("match print colors" checked) = that's what I get once printed...</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>here they are :</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>here's the bad one :</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>It may be more visible with the border : even the white border becomes kind of grey :</p>

[christa_moore]

<p>and here it is white white :</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Turn OFF the Simulate check box (match color, now I know what you mean) in the Photoshop Print dialog. It will NOT affect printing, its only a preview simulation.</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Oh, did you try Perceptual too? This profile seems a bit wacked out. I’d expect to see the paper go gray using an Absolute Colorimetric (that maps source white to paper white). Relative adapts to the paper white. Where did you get this profile? What do you see when you toggle between RelCol and Absolute Colorimetric (the later should look much worse, darker paper white). </p>

[christa_moore]

<p>I got the profile from ilford site. But I don't think it is the problem, because I got the same ptoblem if<br>

I choose another profile, such as an epson one. I have tried to play with the different settings like relative, absolute etc, but it doesn't change the problem...<br>

I am really getting mad...</p>