Is there an easier way to adjust brightness and contrast when printing from PS?

Question

I have just bought a new printer (P600) and have been trying to get the prints to look like the image on my monitor. I have found LR's brightness and contrast adjustments in the print mode make it very easy to achieve that. Can anyone steer me to an equivalent facility in PS?

Dan

Conrad_C · Accepted Answer

Photoshop doesn't have the same control in the Print dialog box. In Photoshop, what you can do is add an adjustment layer (Brightness/Contrast, Curves or Levels) that's tuned to the printer you're using. That's what Photoshop users did long before Lightroom was introduced.

In theory, if your display is calibrated, and its luminance is coordinated with the light level you're viewing the print under, there should be no need for brightness and contrast adjustments at print time. The only reason Lightroom has its (controversial) Brightness and Contrast sliders is that in so many home and studio setups, the display luminance and print lighting are not properly coordinated (for example, displays are often set too bright), making prints come out dark.

D Fosse · Answer

Here's the thing: You don't attempt to match the print to what you see on screen - it's the other way round. You match screen to print.

Set monitor white point to be a visual match to paper white. Note I said visual because this is influenced by the whole working environment, ambient light, print viewing light, even application interface.

You should "see" paper white on screen, both color and luminance.

Next, set a monitor black point that matches maximum ink density for that paper/ink combo. In some calibration software you set black luminance directly, in others it is given as a contrast ratio. To give an idea, the best glossy photo papers have a contrast ratio up to 300:1, while for matte papers it can be as low as 100:1.

With these endpoints fixed, the rest will fall into place by itself. Don't worry about the numbers, let them fall wherever they want. Just get the visual match.

With a hardware calibrated unit you set all this directly in the calibration software. However, since it's strictly a visual process you can just as well do it with the monitor's OSD controls, and just trust your eyes.

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