My colour prints are still way off when using custom made profiles????

I have taken JDaneks advice and i am now getting much more accurate advice, my application of the profiles was incorrect and and i now understand better how to use them.

By assigning the scanner profile in Photoshop i was getting the image to appear differently to what actual data was being sent to the printer, this is what was causing the image to print differently to what was on screen.

I have now correctly used the scanner profile by loading it into the scanner driver and changing the source profile, in the epson software, to my calibrated profile.

To then get a print that pretty closely matches the screen and the original, i print the image through inDesign, using  'let postscript printer determine colours' and in the printer settings i apply the calibrated printer profile in the colorsync profile area.

This method has now got me the print that i desired and a more stable workflow that i can actually trust for further reproductions on other projects.

I am also curious what type of original you scanned.  Is it full color, or metallic, or a spot color printed original?

Andy, can you take a screen shot of your Photoshop and InDesign Color Settings?  Also, can you show the print setup through Epson?  Are your application color settings synced?

If the print is too dark, the screen is too bright.

Paper white is your reference. Match monitor white to paper white. You should "see" paper white on screen.

Start with the output and display alone by testing a color reference image who's RGB values will produce output (with proper color management) that isn't too dark:

http://www.digitaldog.net/files/2014PrinterTestFileFlat.tif.zip

IF that prints fine, we go backwards and look at your scanned data. If it prints too dark, it's the display/print area to examine. If the later:

Why are my prints too dark?

A video update to a written piece on subject from 2013

In this 24 minute video, I'll cover:

Are your prints really too dark?

Display calibration and WYSIWYG

Proper print viewing conditions

Trouble shooting to get a match

Avoiding kludges that don't solve the problem

High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_prints_too_dark.mp4

Low resolution: https://youtu.be/iS6sjZmxjY4

Hi Andy

I feel that it’s important to start with one device in the workflow and make sure that’s right.

A really simple issue is that the iMac may be running way too much luminance, which would result in dark looking prints.

If I was coming on site to work with you on this, the screen appearance would be the first item that would get some attention.

I feel that to be sure of screen appearance, you need some kind of unequivocal reference to assess [and guide] screen calibration.

Here’s an example.

http://www.colourmanagement.net/products/icc-profile-verification-kit

In the absence of an unequivocal reference, and as an initial test, I’d recommend that take my test image and view that, its free to use.

1: Assess screen appearance - does the appearance seem normal (it’s a bit hard to tell accurately without a reference as mentioned above but it should be possible to know if the screen is miles out as the test-image includes memory. Colours like skin tone.)

2: leave the test-image in Adobe RGB

make a print of that image using your normal print driver settings [media etc] and usual paper profile.

Do that first print from photoshop (easier to understand the print settings)

3: try printing the same image after placing into InDesign, they should match.

I am recommending my own test-image for this because that way you are avoiding using an image that’s been edited also it’s not an image from your scanner (both of those are processes which could take an image away from its correct appearance).

Download the test image here: http://www.colourmanagement.net/downloads/CMnet_Pixl_AdobeRGB_testimage05.zip

::Viewing::

Also please be aware that correct colourmanagement lines up the appearance of a screen viewed in subdued light with the appearance of a print viewed in full daylight (or in a light booth).

I have seen users with perfectly set up colourmanagement still doubt print appearance, because they were trying to hold up a print next to the screen for comparison.

This isn’t going to work - since the screen must be viewed in subdued light this means the print is way under illuminated in those circumstances.

Once you get the screen right, now’s the time to look at printer profiles and scanner profiles and application settings to tie it all together.

Looking at everything in the workflow at once makes it very difficult to move forward.

Also a note about what you write here:

Image Prep

4) Scan original document to as 300dpi Tiff, with scanner color management off as recommended by X-rite for i1Pro 2.

5) Open scanned Tiff in Photoshop, CC (2018), assign $Scanner Profile.

6) Convert to $Printer Profile.

7) Make any minor image adjustments whilst comparing to original hard copy and save file.

I’d change step 6 - you should ideally be using a working space such as Adobe RGB for image prep rather than your printer profile. That way you can save the file and us it on a different paper or printer later.

Convert to the printer profile later on in the workflow.

I hope this helps

if so, please do mark my reply as "helpful" and if you're OK now, please mark it as "correct" below, so others who have similar issues can see the solution

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement