Color is off when printing

[bronzevessel]

This really has me stumped.

My vector designs from illustrator don't color match when printed.

But, when I print sample vectors from online sources the color is nearly perfecr. I've even printed a RGB color chart I got from a random person online and it printed the colors nearly perfect.

What am I missing? How do I fix this?

[Doug A Roberts]

You are going to need to go into a bit more detail about what you are trying to print and what doesn't match.

[bronzevessel]

Over the past two years. I've created designs in illustrator, vectorized them and saved them to .png on my computer. This is what I do:

1. Start illustrator

2. Start new project. (Seems to Prints closer to the colors when I choose this first)

3. Open .png file

4. Resize design onto artboard

5. Click Print.

When they're printed. I notice the colors are off and don't match what's on the monitor. ex. The pinks are darker, the light blues are greyish, blacks are brownish, etc.

Over the past month. I've tried at least 100 variations, changing printing settings both in illustrator and on the printer. I get slight changes, but nothing near exact.

However, when I upload other people's designs into illustrator and print them following the same steps. The designs come out near perfect to what I'm seeing on the monitor.

[Ton Frederiks]

bronzevessel  wrote

This really has me stumped.

My vector designs from illustrator don't color match when printed.

But, when I print sample vectors from online sources the color is nearly perfecr. I've even printed a RGB color chart I got from a random person online and it printed the colors nearly perfect.

What am I missing? How do I fix this?

Do you print these sample vectors from online sources and the RGB color chart also from Illustrator?

[bronzevessel]

Yes. I opened them up in illustrator and printed them from there.

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you check what the document color profile is for your documents and the sample documents?

[bronzevessel]

Ok, give me a few minutes to boot up the computer.

[bronzevessel]

I don't see any of the diagram you used to find the document color profile. I don't have Bridge installed.

[Ton Frederiks]

Create a document and look at the fly-out menu at the bottom.

[bronzevessel]

sRGB IEC61966-2.1 is what shows for the new document.

[bronzevessel]

And Adobe RGB (1998) is what shows for my sample design I got from online.

[Ton Frederiks]

You will probably never get an exact print out from what you see on screen.

To come closer you will need to calibrate your monitor and use color management.

I don't understand your working method, create designs in Illustrator, "Vectorize them?", save as png (an sRGB image format) and import the image in Illustrator. Why don't you just use your Illustrator designs instead of an exported image to print?

[bronzevessel]

I outline all the text I create in illustrator. If I add an image I created from  photoshop or just upload an image straight into illustrator I vectorize it using image trace first.

After im done combining the text and image. I save it to .png on my computer.

Again, im not understanding why sample designs I load in illustrator and print come out almost perfect to what I see on the monitor. But mine don't.

[Ton Frederiks]

Your printer may handle vector content different from image content.

Do you use a printer profile, what does the conversion to the printer's colors, Illustrator or the printer driver?

So many things can influence what you see on screen and what gets printed.

And I still do not understand why you vectorize it first and convert it to a .png instead of keeping and printing the Illustrator vector file.

[bronzevessel]

I've tried multiple printer profiles that are in the section. Still nothing comes close to what the sample prints are doing.

Apparently im still new at illustrator cause I thought I was creating and saving designs correctly.

I've watched YouTube videos and they say:

1. You have to outline your text if your going to use your designs for print i.e. on textiles, screen prints, etc.

2. Vector art is better for print. So image trace all your images first.

3. Once designs are completed. Save your designs to .png cause .png is better for print companies to use.

I thought everyone was doing the same thing.

Now, im lost trying to figure out what to change in my +700 designs to match the process like the sample designs since they print near perfect to what's on my screen.

[Ton Frederiks]

bronzevessel  wrote

I've watched YouTube videos and they say:

1. You have to outline your text if your going to use your designs for print i.e. on textiles, screen prints, etc.

2. Vector art is better for print. So image trace all your images first.

3. Once designs are completed. Save your designs to .png cause .png is better for print companies to use.

Now, im lost trying to figure out what to change in my +700 designs to match the process like the sample designs since they print near perfect to what's on my screen.

1. Outline your text is not usefull when creating a .pdf or creating an image file. It maybe used when you give someone an Illustrator file and he does not have the font.

2. Image trace your images will not give you a better quality, it may be usefull for very high resolution line art.

3. I print companies can only handle .png files, change print company. PDF is the standard for printing.

[bronzevessel]

Here's something that I slept on thinking about.

I edited one of the sampled art, sampling and reusing the same colors from the original art. It's a .eps file. I edited it and saved it to .png

It printed exactly like what's on my screen.

Same with the sampled RGB color chart. Which is a .pdf file.

Both loaded into illustrator. Both came out near perfect to the monitor.

I wondering if the problem has to do with the swatch color profiles i.e. Pantone, Art & illustration, Print, Video, etc.  I initially chose when I first started learning illustrator.

I've been only using Art & illustration swatches.

Just a thought.

[Ton Frederiks]

Swatch color profiles should not cause this problem.

There must be some conversion going on when you print your old files.

[bronzevessel]

I've also edited the sample design and printed it.

But the document info says Untagged RGB

[jdanek]

Change your Illustrator > Color Settings > RGB Workspace to Adobe RGB ( discard sRGB ) > Rendering Intent > Relative Colorimetric.  In print driver, use "Let Printer Determine Color".  See if there is an improvement in the print vs. monitor.  Not sure why you use PNG in your workflow.  Typically PNG24 is a internet / web setting.

[bronzevessel]

Excuse the late reply im battling a bad cold.

Oh...Im Glad you mentioned it. Are you referring to the color management section on illustrator print page?

I borrowed someone's printer last week to test the difference and tried printing in Photoshop. I saw the choices there.

But, now in illustrator. With only my printer. I don't see "let printer determine color". I only see " let illustrator manage color" from the dropdown menu. If it should be there. How do i fix it?

I keep seeing videos saying to save your designs in .png for best results. What is the best format to use?

[jdanek]

Perhaps your printer's driver does not have the option to "Let Printer Determine Color" in the "Print" dialogs.  What type of printer are you using?  Illustrator saves as .ai with the ability to save a copy as PDF.  Typically, you'd want to retain the .ai file for edits and use the PDF for printing.  In your PDF settings, make sure "Leave Color Unchanged" is used in the Color settings.  You would benefit from buying Adobe's Print Publishing Guide.  It explains the workflow a lot better than we can.

[bronzevessel]

I have an Epson wf-7720. I saw it as a choice when i borrowed a printer to test the difference. Just don't know why it doesn't show up now.

I will try converting over designs to PDF and see how it comes out.

Gonna search for the guide now.

One last question. How do i find the PDF settings?

Thanks

[jdanek]

Save As > PDF ( settings will be on the left of the panel i.e., Output - Color - Unchanged ).  You should see a few different PDF formats to choose from when you Save As.  You might also use Acrobat Pro to save your file as a PDF.  Acrobat Pro will allow you to set color settings.  You can also save as PDF using the Print dialog ( Print > Save as PDF ).

[bronzevessel]

Outstanding!!!!! Thank you very much. Gonna try it.