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USGreek
USGreek
Participant
April 29, 2021
Question

Color management and accuracy blues

  • April 29, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 1089 views

Hey Photoshop color management experts, sorry in advance for the lengthy post...

I have a very specific task to accomplish via Photoshop and it seems I am missing something. I am a hobbyist postage stamp collector and my aim is to scan and print my stamps so that they look exactly like the original material in all aspects (with color accuracy being of paramount importance).

 

I am using the latest version of Photoshop CC and Windows 10. So far, I have:
- calibrated my display with an X-Rite i1 Studio device
- profiled my Epson scanner with a brand new Monroe 2019.2 IT8 target and created a corresponding ICC v2 profile using the i1 Studio software
- scanned a sample of my material (making sure I get a raw output - as in, without any image manipulation/enhancement/profile embedding by the scanner's driver and software)
- imported this image to Photoshop and assigned it the scanner ICC profile
- selected "Photoshop Manages Colors" at the Color Handling drop-down menu of the Photoshop Print Settings window
- selected the correct Epson printer/paper combination ICC profile in the Printer Profile drop-down menu of the Printer Settings window for the paper I bought and use
- disabled color management at my printer's device driver settings window
- played with both absolute and relative colorimetric intent, both in Photoshop's Color and Printer Settings windows.

 

The results I get are close to the original material, but lack something that I would best describe as vividness. If I switch from relative to absolute intent in both the Photoshop Color Settings & Printer Settings, the image "brightens" and apears much closer to the original, but when I try to print with the absolute setting, I get the exact same ("dull") result as with relative intent - it's like I never changed it. So, I don't know if that is the setting that needs to change, because it never gets applied (=printed).


Where do you think I go wrong in Photoshop and/or what are my options to get an as accurate as possible printing of my original material? Answers are highly appreciated, as I have read and experimented a lot to make this process work and the results are not as I would expect them...


Thanks all and again sorry for the long post!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 2, 2021

Reading your steps/setup and your description of the results, I believe that I know part, if not all of the issue.

 

You bring in raw scans, apply the scanner profile and then directly print.

 

I would suggest that you need to convert to profile from input device/scanner ICC to a working ICC profile such as Adobe RGB. Then perform the following recommendations in the working RGB space.

 

There has been no tonal range compensation for the white/black points of the capture. I'm guessing that the highlights read something around 230rgb or lower (but not perfectly even/neutral) and the shadows something like 20rgb or higher (but not perfectly even/neutral). Setting the endpoints of the scan to optimise printing is a basic step. The tonal range is likely "highly" compressed and that there may be a very slight colour cast, depending on the differences between the profiling chart and the different paper/inks used in the stamps. You don't want to blow out the highlights or plug the shadows, however, you do need to expand the tonal range so that whites and blacks in the input file translate into appropriate values for print.

 

You should also look into sharpening, as both the capture and the output are going to be softer than the original.

 

All of these things were standard in days gone by.

    USGreek
    USGreekAuthor
    Participant
    May 4, 2021

    Thanks all, seems a lot of things I need to check and probably a few manual settings that I need to apply/change, something that I was under the impression that I could avoid... Any other ideas/proposals welcome, of course!

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 29, 2021

    Sounds like you correctly during printing changed to Phothsop Manages color, then assigned your printer profile after that became avaiable. 

     

    Postage stamps are often printed with spot colors which might be difficult to get the vividness.

    How many inks does your printer have?

     

      USGreek
      USGreekAuthor
      Participant
      April 29, 2021

      Thanks for your answer. My printer is Epson SureColor P900 with 10 inks.
      What also really puzzles me is why after changing to absolute colorimetric intent in both Photoshop color & printer settings and I see a difference on my screen, I don't see it at my printing output at all. The result on screen with absolute intent is much closer to the real-world colors I see.

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 29, 2021

      Absolute colorimetric differs from relative colorimetric by not remapping the white point. So if absolute gives a better result than relative, something is off. The white point has to be remapped. The scanner light is probably not the same color as your print viewing light.

       

      Instinctively I wouldn't trust a fully automatic process for this, just relying on profiles. There's this thing called metamerism (look it up), and one ink may not behave like another in different types of light. I'd concentrate on the output profiles, and adjust the input manually. That's what you normally do regarding input from a digital camera. The input profile gets you close enough, and then you finish visually with manual adjustments.

       

      Take the monitor out of the equation first. Calibrate it so that it matches printed output, again by adjusting the white point. Set the monitor white point to be a visual match to paper white. Then adjust monitor black to match maximum ink (black). Then at least you know that what you see is what you get, and you can work visually on screen to match the original.

       

       

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