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haffyel28967231
Participant
February 2, 2020
Answered

Using Photoshop for Printing HELP

  • February 2, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 1846 views

For anyone who uses photoshop for printing purposes! I use Cannon DSLR camera and shoot in RAW + JPG then upload to photoshop for editing,  to print products (shirts, hats, art prints, ect.) all sizes.

 

How do you edit in photoshop to maintain quality but optimizing image for printing? Reduce file size in photoshop without reducing quality? or best photoshop settings for printing purposes? Right now I export 300dpi & PNG file. Quality is still not the best, file size & resolution very high. 

 

I've heard of flattning image, saving as TIFF instead of PNG, ect. Alot of suggestions for editing/saving but not sure best way to go. Any insight appreciated! 

Correct answer NB, colourmanagement

Hi

Export the RAW from your camera, do NOT start out with the JPEG. Photoshop for Photographers Author Martin Evening wrote that Jpeg loses up to 83% image data over using the RAW.

In Camera Raw (or your raw processor) Adobe RGB is a good compromise for the image colourspace on export. 

Make your corrections etc - I prefer adjustment layers for this, once you're done, save the Master image, a  full size PSD image file. WITH all the layers intact.

davescm is right, disk space is cheap. 

 

Duplicate the image and save this new copy, this will be the file to be used only for this one printing purpose so name it as such. 

Find out from the print shop what resolution and colourspace (ICC profile) they require - could be it's sRGB, that’s pretty widespread in this application.

Now edit, convert to profile - eg sRGB.

Flatten the file (now your adjustment layers are gone, that’s why you saved the PSD master).

[Adjustment layers are great because if you'd like a different look at a later date you can go back and change them or even delete them with no image loss. If a files been flattened it’s a whole different story.]

 

Resize to your exact desired print size with "resample" checked (Photoshop intelligently selects the right resampling protocol for this), this resampling discards pixels (you can tell, the file size shrinks a lot), that’s why you kept the master file.

[I use resample here, even when printing to a local inkjet, I think Photoshop does the job better than letting it be done during printing.  In any case a file with the right pixel resolution and size is vital for the next IMPORTANT step. 

 

Unsharp masking - vital, I feel, for good quality print. You are not, generally adding shapness, you are mostly restoring the sharpness whiuch can be lost during digital capture - If you don't know what Unsharp masking is or how to do it, find a good tutorial and read up on it. Bruce Fraser wrote a whole book on it - Once you learn it’s a revalation. 

 

You can now save as a print ready JPEG to send to the print shop, please note that you should never resize or crop and resave a JPEG file, the JPEG compression will be applied again, that's very damaging.

This article sums that up: http://learnmem.cshlp.org/site/misc/tsg_JPEG_instructions.pdf

 

I hope this helps

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

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement.net

[please do not use the reply button on a message in the thread, only use the one at the top of the page, to maintain chronological order]

 

4 replies

S
Sharp Videos38129389ii69
Participant
January 26, 2025

my photoshop is closing if i give print command the work what ever i have done went waste. while reopening it shows regular screen. the files which was ready for print is gone. it demand rework and more time.

 

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 5, 2025

@Sharp Videos38129389ii69 Until you get this fixed be sure to save before trying to print. I realise the horse has bolted but it's worth remembering. 

IF it’s a MAC, reset printing system - for Win see lower down:
On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners
Press and hold the Control key as you click in the list at the left, then choose “Reset printing system” from the menu that appears.
After you reset the printing system, the list of printers in Printers & Scanners preferences is empty.
Reinstall the print driver, only from the manufacturer, not Apple.

Also (for both Mac and Win) take a look at the following article and check if that helps: 
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/printing-color-management-photoshop1.html

You may like to re-install the printer drivers to check if that makes a difference?

Here is some general Adobe [Mac and Win] info on printing problems,
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-printing-problems.html
Simple reset for Photoshop printing: hold the space bar when you open the print window. It resets the print dialogs - deleting possibly corrupt print metadata in the file.

- - - - - - - -
If that doesn’t help -
Here is some troubleshooting advice:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html


neil barstow - adobe forum volunteer,
colourmanagement consultant & co-author of 'getting colour right'
See my free articles on colour management
Help others by clicking "Correct Answer" if the question is answered.
Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts

NB, colourmanagement
Community Expert
NB, colourmanagementCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 2, 2020

Hi

Export the RAW from your camera, do NOT start out with the JPEG. Photoshop for Photographers Author Martin Evening wrote that Jpeg loses up to 83% image data over using the RAW.

In Camera Raw (or your raw processor) Adobe RGB is a good compromise for the image colourspace on export. 

Make your corrections etc - I prefer adjustment layers for this, once you're done, save the Master image, a  full size PSD image file. WITH all the layers intact.

davescm is right, disk space is cheap. 

 

Duplicate the image and save this new copy, this will be the file to be used only for this one printing purpose so name it as such. 

Find out from the print shop what resolution and colourspace (ICC profile) they require - could be it's sRGB, that’s pretty widespread in this application.

Now edit, convert to profile - eg sRGB.

Flatten the file (now your adjustment layers are gone, that’s why you saved the PSD master).

[Adjustment layers are great because if you'd like a different look at a later date you can go back and change them or even delete them with no image loss. If a files been flattened it’s a whole different story.]

 

Resize to your exact desired print size with "resample" checked (Photoshop intelligently selects the right resampling protocol for this), this resampling discards pixels (you can tell, the file size shrinks a lot), that’s why you kept the master file.

[I use resample here, even when printing to a local inkjet, I think Photoshop does the job better than letting it be done during printing.  In any case a file with the right pixel resolution and size is vital for the next IMPORTANT step. 

 

Unsharp masking - vital, I feel, for good quality print. You are not, generally adding shapness, you are mostly restoring the sharpness whiuch can be lost during digital capture - If you don't know what Unsharp masking is or how to do it, find a good tutorial and read up on it. Bruce Fraser wrote a whole book on it - Once you learn it’s a revalation. 

 

You can now save as a print ready JPEG to send to the print shop, please note that you should never resize or crop and resave a JPEG file, the JPEG compression will be applied again, that's very damaging.

This article sums that up: http://learnmem.cshlp.org/site/misc/tsg_JPEG_instructions.pdf

 

I hope this helps

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

thanks

neil barstow, colourmanagement.net

[please do not use the reply button on a message in the thread, only use the one at the top of the page, to maintain chronological order]

 

    Mylenium
    Mylenium
    Legend
    February 2, 2020

    Without any info about your actual printing and color adjustment process this is rather pointless. File size is even totally irrelevant for the data the printer driver sends to the printer. Most of what you describe are more likely just color management and printer settings issues in the first place. Also you seem to be totally unaware of things like gamut and how to translate the color fidelity of your Raw files to a printable image by using a proper color managed process.

     

    Mylenium

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 2, 2020

    For best quality, start with the raw file from the camera, forget the camera jpeg as that has already thrown away a lot of image data.. Use Adobe camera raw for your in8tial adjustments  and output to Photoshop in 16 bits per channel.

    In Photoshop you can carry out any pixel editing and save as a master copy PSD file. Forget trying to save file size. Disk space is cheap - throwing away image quality is not.

    If you are printing locally, using a printer connected to your PC then you can print directly from that master file. Use Image - Image Size but uncheck resample. Then print. 

     

    If you are sending the files elsewhere, for printing then you will need to prepare another file for that purpose., Check with the printer what format, color profile and resolution he requires. At that point flatten the image, Use image mode to convert to 8 bits per channel, Convert to sRGB color profile or whatever profile the printer requires. Use Image - Image size, this time with resemble checked, and set tje dimensions and resolution that the printer requires. Then use Save As and select the format e.g. jpeg which is usually the most efficient compression for photographs.  This compressed file is for that print size only. For any different size prints required later start with your master PSD file again. Never reopen adjust and resave a jpeg as the visual effects of jpeg compression are cumulative.

    Dave

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