Can't print the illustration

[timl67630635]

I am having multiple problems with Illustrator. among them;

When I click print in the print dialog box a window pops up saying 'Can't print the illustration. The Color Management settings are inconsistent.' I have tried resetting preferences to no effect. This seems to be an issue with newly created documents. Documents from a few weeks back will print though on opening I get various messages about incompatible color spaces. Never sure which option to choose.

Illustrator v 24.0.3

iMac OS 10.15.3 (retina 4K, 21.5 inch 2017)

[Grant H]

Hi, have you got placed graphics in the document? Is the colour management the same as ai? Have you got indexed colours spot colours and the like that cannot be printed by your printer and so on?

[timl67630635]

I've tried various documents including blank documents. Problem occurs whether there are RGB, CMYK or HSB or none of the these. Not sure what you want to know by asking if colour managemnt same as ai. I am working in illustrator 2020.

[Grant H]

Hi....

please read/check this:

When you print with color management, you can let Illustrator manage the colors, or you can let the printer manage the colors.

Let your application manage colors when printing

• Choose File > Print.

• Select Color Management on the left side of the Print dialog box.

• For Color Handling, choose Let Illustrator Determine Colors.

• For Printer Profile, select the profile for your output device.

  The more accurately the profile describes the behavior of an output device and printing conditions (such as paper type), the more accurately the color management system can translate the numeric values of the actual colors in a document. (See About color.)

• (Optional) Set the Rendering Intent option to specify how the application converts colors to the destination color space.

  In most cases, it is best to use the default rendering intent. For more information on rendering intents, search in Help.

• Click Setup (Windows) or Printer (Mac OS) at the bottom of the Print dialog box to access the operating system print settings.

• Access the color management settings for the printer driver by doing one of the following:

  • In Windows, right-click the printer you are using, and select Properties. Then locate the color management settings for the printer driver. For most printer drivers, color management settings are labeled Color Management or ICM.

  • In Mac OS, select the printer you are using, and select the color management option from the pop‑up menu. For most printer drivers, this option is labeled ColorSync.

• Turn off color management for the printer driver.

  Every printer driver has different color management options. If it’s not clear how to turn off color management, consult your printer documentation.

• Return to the Illustrator Print dialog box, and click Print.

Let your printer manage colors when printing

• Choose File > Print.

• Select a PostScript printer from the Printer menu. To print to a file instead of a printer, select Adobe PostScript® File or Adobe PDF.

• Select Color Management on the left side of the Print dialog box.

• For Color Handling, choose Let PostScript® Printer Determine Colors.

• (Optional) Set any of the following options. In most cases, it is best to use the default settings.

  Rendering Intent

  Specifies how the application converts colors to the destination color space.

  Preserve RGB Numbers (for RGB output) or Preserve CMYK Numbers (for CMYK output)

  Determines how Illustrator handles colors that do not have a color profile associated with them (for example, imported images without embedded profiles). When this option is selected, Illustrator sends the color numbers directly to the output device. When this option is deselected, Illustrator first converts the color numbers to the color space of the output device.

  Preserving numbers is recommended when you are following a safe CMYK workflow. Preserving numbers is not recommended for printing RGB documents.

• Click Setup (Windows) or Printer (Mac OS) at the bottom of the Print dialog box to access the operating system print settings.

• Access the color management settings for the printer driver by doing one of the following:

  • In Windows, right-click the printer you are using, and select Properties. Then locate the color management settings for the printer driver. For most printer drivers, color management settings are labeled Color Management or ICM.

  • In Mac OS, select the printer you are using, and select the color management option from the pop‑up menu. For most printer drivers, this option is labeled ColorSync.

• Specify the color management settings to let your printer driver handle the color management during printing.

  Every printer driver has different color management options. If it’s not clear how to set color management options, consult your printer documentation.

• Return to the Illustrator Print dialog box, and click Print.

[Nancy24376920dlpj]

None of the above is fixing the problem.  Any other ideas?  New printer and can't print anything.

[Monika Gause]

Please tell us your version, system and printer.

Does it print from Acrobat?

Exactly what is happening?

What's in the file?

[timl67630635]

Is it worth  he king over the printer set-up. Does it print from other programs?

[timl67630635]

Sorry, 'checking' over.

[Lukas Engqvist]

A workaround till you get the problem solved is to "Save as" Pdf, and then Print from PDF.

What colour management are you using (since this is where your error is)? I would suggest for new users to use the General Purpose setting for the region they are in. Would be good to know what messages you get when you get the messages opening older files. I would guess you have wanted to get in colntrol of colours without fully understanding, it may be you have selected a corrupt or incompatible profile in your current configuration (setting Illustrator to have general purpose setting will work around that). Would also be good to know what printer you are printing to.

[KShinabery212]

Maybe I am a goof.  But I never print directly from Illustrator.

I create a document in Photoshop, set it for the desired size.  Then I bring the Illustrator image as a smart object and then print from there.  But maybe that is just me being silly.  Just something I always do.

[Monika Gause]

That will cause the Illustrator file to be rasterized at the current Photoshop's image resolution for printing. Probably not what you intend to happen.

A better idea would be to print a PDF from Acrobat.

[KShinabery212]

I know it will become rasterized... but that is why I set the document up to be the size I want in Photoshop. You are right and that is important to point out.  That you need to have the doc in Photoshop to be the size you want... exactly the right size. The great thing is you can always create documents of various sizes and that is ok.

I had not thought about printing from Acrobat.  That makes sense, but then it truly depends on what you are doing.  But I agree that would be an alternative.

[Doris5EF7 · Accepted solution]

I just had the same problem with my printer, and after following the advice on this page (which didn't actually help ... sorry) I started just changing settings and seeing what happens.  I've found out that the Printer Profile which is under Colour Handling in the print dialogue box was set to the wrong setting.  As soon as I changed it to Adobe RGB (1998) my printer worked fine.  It was on sRGB IEC61966-2.1.  Maybe this will work for others. 

[Doris5EF7]

Sorry, I forgot to add that this is in the Colour Management section on the left hand side.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Doris5EF7,

Glad to hear that the problem was resolved, and thank you for sharing your suggestions. Feel free to reach out if you need further assistance in the future. We'd be happy to help.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[BCGalaxy]

Thank you so much.  I'm using a Canon G3060 series, and this solved the problem for me!

[Professor Wilkes LLC · Accepted solution]

The same thing happened to me. So, I went to:

File / Print / Color Management (on left side, scroll down a little) / Rendering Intent: Changed from Absolute Colorimetric to Perceptual instead and that worked for me.

[Komoda]

In my case, this happens when AI decides not to use my default printer.  It grabs Adobe Postscrpit File as my printer.  Then when I change it to the correct printer, I can't change most of the settings (copies/rotate/scaling) I get this error.  Then I go print it again my default printer is actually used as the default and everything works.  So, why is AI choosing Postscript File?  I have never, in 30 years needed a PS file.  How do I stop it from even being an option?

[Monika Gause]

Is your printer properly set up in your system? When Windows makes an update, it sometimes messes things up and the default printer has to be reset.

[Patti1961]

I changed my color from cmyk to rgb and it let me print.