rayfoxlee
Raymondo
I have run into what seems to be an insoluble problem with getting accurate output from my printer setup. Up until recently, the output from the printer has been pretty good using a professionally prepared profile, although the prints were a little darker than the monitor showed - this was easier enough to compensate. Recently I have had enormous difficulties getting colours to print accurate to the screen image.
My CRT monitor (IiyamaVision Master Pro454) - unchanged from when the profile was made for my Ilford paper - is regularly profiled using a ColorVision Spyder2 and although the monitor is now 6 years old, it seems to show colours accurately enough. My printer is an HP Photosmart 8450 and although this is getting on a bit, the fact that the cartridges are HP genuine and have in-built nozzles, should mean that all is OK.
This problem affects PS7 (for which the profile was originally made) and CS3 - these 2 versions should treat profiles in the same way and should, in theory, produce identical output – but they don’t. Strangely, the problem now also afflicts Lightroom 1.4, although I know that this program does not handle profiles properly (later versions do, I’m told). I have had to revert to printing from Photoshop allowing the printer to control the colours, rather than using the bespoke profile for my paper. This is very hit and miss, with minute adjustments to the settings.
I have always had a problem setting the black luminance through the Spyder2, as my monitor just will not show any difference in the black patches – I suspect this is what is behind the difference in brightness between the monitor and printed images, so I have started looking at changing the monitor, but I’m not 100% sure that this is money well spent. I guess that this could upset the colours as well, but after profiling the monitor, the on-screen colours look spot on.
This is beginning to become a real pain, so does anyone have any words of wisdom, before I lose the will to live – or just give up on colour and go back to B&W 100%?!
Thanks for reading!
Ray
My CRT monitor (IiyamaVision Master Pro454) - unchanged from when the profile was made for my Ilford paper - is regularly profiled using a ColorVision Spyder2 and although the monitor is now 6 years old, it seems to show colours accurately enough. My printer is an HP Photosmart 8450 and although this is getting on a bit, the fact that the cartridges are HP genuine and have in-built nozzles, should mean that all is OK.
This problem affects PS7 (for which the profile was originally made) and CS3 - these 2 versions should treat profiles in the same way and should, in theory, produce identical output – but they don’t. Strangely, the problem now also afflicts Lightroom 1.4, although I know that this program does not handle profiles properly (later versions do, I’m told). I have had to revert to printing from Photoshop allowing the printer to control the colours, rather than using the bespoke profile for my paper. This is very hit and miss, with minute adjustments to the settings.
I have always had a problem setting the black luminance through the Spyder2, as my monitor just will not show any difference in the black patches – I suspect this is what is behind the difference in brightness between the monitor and printed images, so I have started looking at changing the monitor, but I’m not 100% sure that this is money well spent. I guess that this could upset the colours as well, but after profiling the monitor, the on-screen colours look spot on.
This is beginning to become a real pain, so does anyone have any words of wisdom, before I lose the will to live – or just give up on colour and go back to B&W 100%?!
Thanks for reading!
Ray
