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8

macOS Ventura + Lightroom Classic Printing Is Broken

Participant ,
Aug 11, 2023 Aug 11, 2023

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macOS Ventura 13.5 / Lightroom Classic 12.4 / Camera Raw 15.4 / Canon imagePROgraf PRO-300

 

Just to save you any unecessary breath or time: I've got 25+ years of printing in profiled & calibrated workflows – from the offset printing days through today. So, I'll know what you're talking about, and you can assume I know how to reboot a computer or find an ICC profile.

 

Okay, printing from Lightroom used to be one of my favorite things to do before macOS Ventura. I actually looked forward to printing sessions because we seemed to have reached the pinnacle of digital photos to analog prints in a one-stop workflow – never having to leave Lightroom at all. Plus, being able to create "Saved Prints" and know that everything was going to just work months later, that was the best feature of the Print module yet! But all that was before macOS Ventura came out. Since then, printing from Lightroom has been a disaster. Tons of wasted time, materials, and patience.

 

But I don't think it's just macOS Ventura, nor just Lightroom Classic. It's when the two of them meet where things break. And, they're breaking bad.

 

I'm using a Canon imagePROgraf PRO-300, and can print just fine using ICC profiles from Canon's own Professional Print & Layout app. And, like everyone else, I can print just fine using ICC profiles when using Photoshop. Heck, I can even get macOS's own Preview.app to print correctly with a Color Sync profile – and right from its own print dialog no less! I simply cannot use ICC profiles from Lightroom Classic anymore. Following the suggestion to just double-check the print dialog for each and every print worked for one printing session, and then never again. So as so many of you have also seen, it's total voodoo now what might work and when it might work in Lightroom on macOS Ventura.

 

So, I sure hope others chime in here if they're still stuck, and really hope Adobe looks into this issue – it's been documented since macOS Ventura came out a year ago! And only Adobe posesses the clout to get Apple to work with them on any bugs from Cupertino.

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Explorer ,
Aug 13, 2023 Aug 13, 2023

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Someone pointed me to your post. I've been having problems printing from LR (but not from Photoshop), encountering what sounds like the same bug you've run into. 

My post about it is here. Ugh. 

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Participant ,
Aug 15, 2023 Aug 15, 2023

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I'll read your whole thread thoroughly again, but I understand where you where you are mentally with feeling like you're losing your mind. My problem is even simpler: Everything was working like a dream in Lightroom Classic on the previous macOS. Not until Ventura did I ever experience these issues. Period.

 

Additionally, I only use three different papers, each with a manufacturer provided ICC profile, and all have produced very, very good results. And, all still produce fine results if I just use Photoshop or Canon's Professional Print & Layout app. The problem is with Lightroom Classic on macOS Ventura. I don't care who's fault it is, it's simply just broken. Period.

 

While it would require more time, paper and ink, I might make one suggestion: Only change one parameter at a time, and make notes of each result. For instance, pick one image you have printed sucessfully in the past, and now print it twice from LrC on Ventura. Print one with the ICC profile (which we agree breaks things) and then print one without. That is, "Color Management: Managed by Printer". Luckily for me, when I do this, I get results that are easily 95-99% of what I was getting before with ICC profiles. The resulting prints are still not spot-on for color critical work, but for more artistic stuff, they suffice for now.

 

Hang in there, maybe somebody will notice this and look into it. Or, maybe they're waiting for the next version of macOS until they try and fix things!  😃

 

If you have any other questions I might be able to answer (and I didn't really answer anything here) please don't hesitate to ask; I'll do what I can.

 

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Community Beginner ,
Aug 24, 2023 Aug 24, 2023

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Coming from a fully calibrated workflow, using Lightroom Classic on previous MacOS versions, I hit the same issue on Ventura where prints were sometimes coming out with incorrect colour (too warm in my case, on an Epson SC-P900).  Following a lot of experiementation and reading numerous posts by others, experiencing similar issues, I believe I have a reliable workaround that I've written up here. It relies on resetting everything to Default Settings (in Lightroom's "Print Settings..." dialog) first, before configuring paper type, quality, ICC profile, etc, each time you print.

 

You should be able to make use of saved templates in Lightroom, to avoid having to manually select everything each time you print but it's critical you select Default Settings before every print.  Even if it's already got Default Settings selected, I select it again from the list, then either hit Save and use a saved template in LR (that I've previously created with the correct paper size, margins, etc) and hit Print, or manually configure all of the settings in the "Print Settings..." dialog, then Save, then set the margins, etc and then hit Print.

 

Note: there's a separate bug in Ventura's print settings, where clicking Cancel in any of the Printer Options sections (like Color Management, for example) will cause everything to get reset to defaults again, so provided you only OK any of those sections, you can avoid that isssue.

 

It's worth adding that while this workaround is tried and tested on an Epson setup,  I know another photographer with a Canon PRO-300 and for some reason using this approach doesn't work in conjunction with saved templates on his setup.  More investigation is required there (and I'll follow up with anything I conclude) but the basic "Default Settings" approach is still valid and appears to reliably work around the issue that now exists between Lightroom Classic and Ventura's print interface.  I'm still amazed this hasn't been resolved, so long after Ventura was released, and fingers crossed the problem goes away in Sonoma but I certainly won't be rushing to upgrade!

 

In the meantime I would be interested to know if the Default Settings approach works for you, as there are clearly plenty of alternative suggestions online (including reinstalling printer drivers, reinstalling LR, etc) that do not resolve the problem, or may appear to for a couple of attempts, but so far, this is the only method that has worked on every print for me.

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Participant ,
Sep 05, 2023 Sep 05, 2023

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Thanks for the insights, but the process still remains murky, quite honestly. I'll try to do some testing again this weekend when I'm printing again. Could someone from Adobe please tell us why there's a "Print Settings" button in the lower legft-hand corner of the Print module, and also a completely redundant "Printer..." button in the lower right-hand corner of the same module? Why?!? The logic here has (always) seemed completely confusing for the end user. I have never once set something with the left button that I wasn't going to already set in the right button. Now, it's just more work to confirm that they both match. 

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 06, 2023 Sep 06, 2023

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There is definitely some unnecesary duplication between the "Print Settings..." and "Printer..." buttons!  Before this issue arose in Ventura, I used to ignore the "Print Settings" window, set all of the margins, ICC profile, etc in Lightroom and then finally use the Printer dialog, to select a previously defined preset for my paper type, before hitting Print in that window.  However, the workaround I described only seems to work from the "Print Settings" window, where it's essential you click on the "Default Settings" option in the Presets list (even if it's already selected), then Save that window (to close it).  This resets anything that Lightoom isn't correctly setting prior to print (when Lightroom is managing colour, via a calibrated ICC profile for the paper type, in the Color Management section of the print module).

 

One thing that has become apparent, in some further testing since my original post, is there's another bug in Ventura's print dialog that affects every application, except the behaviour in Lightroom is masked by the need to reset to Default Settings in the "Print Settings" window (I won't go into detail here but so far I have identified 4 separate defects that relate to the Ventura print dialog, some of which affect all applications, others just Lightroom).

 

You may find that with the Canon printer driver, after resetting to Default Settings, you also need to ensure that the Rendering Intent is set to "No Color Correction" rather than "Perceptual (Photo)".  I think this is under Print Settings... > Printer Options > Print Settings/Quality & Media.  In theory this setting should be disabled and ignored when Lightroom is managing colour, but I've witnessed this becoming enabled and editable, on a Canon set up, after resetting to Default Settings (this behaviour seems to be different to that with the Epson driver).  I think this compounds the issue on a Canon set up, as it could be that the system is using Canon Color Matching on top of Lightroom's selected ICC profile, which would certainly result in incorrect colours being produced, if that is the case.

 

I can provide some more detail on this particular Canon-related behaviour if that helps.

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Contributor ,
Sep 06, 2023 Sep 06, 2023

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Though the "managed by printer" setting seems to be sufficient for now for me, I am very curious to know more about the canon workflow peculiarities. Grateful for your deep dive into this - a real public service!

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 06, 2023 Sep 06, 2023

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The "Managed by Printer" approach should work, and if you're using ColorSync (rather then Canon Color Matching), under Printer Options > Color Matching, you should be able to ensure that the correct ICC profile is selected before printing.  I would still recommend starting from saving Default Settings before each print from Lightroom, to ensure everything is reset to a known state, then either using a saved LR template or then setting everything by hand, before proceeding to print.  It's a pain but it seems to be the only safe approach, given the following list of issues I have identified:

 

---

 

Isssue 1. Unable to create a new preset with a specific ColorSync profile selected in Printer Options > Color Matching. The profile resets back to the previously selected entry, i.e. the chosen preset doesn't get saved. This seems to happen if an existing printer preset is being modified, rather than starting from default settings.

 

Workaround: select the Default Settings preset first (e.g. in TextEdit but NOT Adobe Lightroom Classic) then set all necessary printer options, including the ColorSync profile (this can be a custom ICC profile if needed) which then should remain selected. You can then save the current settings as a new preset.


---

 

Issue 2. In Adobe Lightroom Classic, printer preset values sometimes revert to their defaults when Lightroom is managing colours (using an ICC profile in the Color Management settings). This occurs when viewing a page under Printer Options, in the Print dialog window (e.g. Color Matching) and clicking Cancel on that page of settings. At that point, all of the printer options seem to get reset to their defaults, even though no changes have been applied.

 

Workaround: reselect the desired printer preset again, and change any other settings as required, before clicking Print, but only OK any pages of settings, do not click Cancel.


---

 

Issue 3. Incorrect colour matching profile is used sometimes, despite selecting the printer preset immediately before printing (see issue #2 above).

 

Workaround: the solution seems to be to select the Default Settings preset before configuring any other print options. In Lightroom, this is achieved via the "Print Settings..." dialog, selecting the Default Settings preset and clicking Save (at this point, the selected preset will show as "None" when viewing the Print dialog in any application, including the "Printer..." dialog in Lightroom, confirming all settings have been reset (in Ventura 13.5 or later, the selected preset will show as "Default Settings"). Configure other print settings, including the ICC profile in use, and proceed to print.

 

In Lightroom it is possible to then use print Templates (to recall saved paper types, layouts, ICC profile, etc) but don't select another print preset before printing, otherwise it will overwrite any settings saved in the Template.


Note: The use of the Default Settings preset was gleaned from the following post, although the suggestion of using a template and just recalling that each time, prior to print, is not sufficient to fix the problem. It is necessary to reset to Default Settings each time, before printing:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/printing-with-icc-profile-from-lrc-look...

 

Additional note for Canon users: it may be necessary to ensure the Rendering Intent is set to "No Color Matching" rather than "Perceptual (Photo)" after resetting to Default Settings, when Lightroom is managing colours, despite that in this situation Canon's colour management should not be active and those settings should be disabled.


---

 

Issue 4. When opening the Printer Options > Print Settings section of the Print dialog, if the previously used preset (i.e from the completed print job or the last time the "Print Settings..." dialog was saved in Lightroom) uses ColorSync colour matching, the "Color" and "Color Settings" options will be greyed out, even if the currently selected preset uses "EPSON Color Controls".

Workaround: under "Colour Matching" click on "EPSON Color Controls", even though it is currently selected, and click OK, then return to the "Print Settings" options. The "Color" and "Color Settings" options will now be editable. Just opening "Colour Matching" and clicking OK is not sufficient to fix the problem.

 

Note: the workaround above does not work in Lightroom, if Lightroom is managing colour (rather than Managed by Printer), as the Color Matching options will always be greyed out, irrespective of what preset it selected.

 

---

 

It's worth adding that I use an Epson printer and some of these behaviours could be slightly different with other manufacturers (such as the behaviour I have witnessed on a Canon set-up, noted in Issue 3).  My preferred method of resetting everything, via the "click on Default Settings, then Save, in the Printer Settings dialog" approach, before then choosing a previously saved Lightroom template, to set the correct paper size, margins and ICC profile for the paper type I'm using, hasn't failed me yet.  Provided I soft proof the image for the desired ICC profile and rendering intent in Lightroom beforehand, I can guarantee what comes out is a near perfect match for what's on screen.  Before Ventura this was a lot easier to achieve though and, given the number of separate print-related issues in Ventura, it's a challenge to pin down what's cause and what's effect; particularly if there are also subtle differences in behaviours between printer vendors.

 

I'll caveat all of the above with a note that, if you can reliably reproduce a different behaviour to any of the above, I'll be very interested in any details you can share, as it could help to further narrow down the root cause of these issues (which I suspect is mostly between Apple and Adobe, but as some of these affect other non-Adobe applications in Ventura, there is likely a combination of issues in play here, with fixes required on both sides).

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Contributor ,
Sep 02, 2023 Sep 02, 2023

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Thanks for sharing your experience. Been pulling my hair out until now, but reading that this is a definite thing somehow helps me deal with it. Frustrating, because like your printer my Pro-1000 usually makes very satisfying prints. I'm trying the "managed by printer" route to see if I can live with that for now.

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Contributor ,
Sep 15, 2023 Sep 15, 2023

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While I appreciate the effort peole have put into the workarounds, as of tonight I've given up printing to my Canon Pro-1000 from LrC and PS on Ventura. I can't roll back my OS on my Studio which is a solution for some. I mean, color management IS rocket science but it used to work, right? I've messed around for weeks, trying workarounds to no avail and I'm tired of being frustrated and angry. Life is too short to keep geting mediocre, unpredictable prints and wasting expensive ink and good paper.
HOWEVER, I'm happy to report that Canon's Professional Print and Layout utility has now successfully and immediately output prints that match my calibrated and hardware-profiled monitor. An extra step to export an image to then drop into CPPL, but it works. Here's hoping Apple and Adobe get synched up on this issue because it sure is nice getting good prints right from LR and PS.

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 23, 2023 Sep 23, 2023

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Thanks to all for the helpful discussion and workaround ideas for this issue.


I ran into the same problem after multiple software upgrades including a Monterey to Ventura 13.5.2 upgrade on September 17th (thinking it was now safe to do so). My gear includes a 2019 MacBookPro with OS13.5.2, Lightroom Classic 12.5, and an Epson P900 printer with printer driver version 12.62 and Firmware 04.52.KI01N9.

Epson Tech Support, reported having received prior reports of printer preset settings being "dropped". In their view it is a problem with Adobe Lightroom Classic (and apparently also Adobe Photoshop) and they suggested I contact Adobe.

 

I did find some helpfull workaround ideas on the Lightroom Queen Forum. Here is one work around that worked for at least one printing session (but has not been thoroughly tested multiple times):

  • Create a new printer preset using Apple's Preview app (Word works as well).
    • After opening the printer driver in Preview, select the correct printer
    • In Printer Options -> Color Matching: Select “Epson Printer Controls” (I believe this defaults to the EMI settings)
    • In Printer Options -> Printer Settings: Set color mode to "off" and quality settings as desired.
  • Save the preset with the printer (P900 in my case) and “Print Job Preset” selected.
  • Then switch to the LR Classic Print Module's "Printer Settings" button. Select the printer and your newly created printer driver preset. Then check Printer Options -> Printer Settings and hit “Ok”. The next window that appears will have a “Save” button. DO NOT CLICK “SAVE” ! Instead, hit “Cancel”.  Clicking the "Save" button seems to corrupt the preset without warning and leads to incorrect print output despite printer driver settings all looking correct.
  • Now click on the “Printer” button at bottom right of the Lightroom print module. Select the correct printer and newly created preset. Then check “Printer Options -> Printer Settings” to be sure they are correct (optional). Then click "Ok" and then “Print” in the next window.

 

Do we have any feedback from an Adobe engineer as to whether this problem is being addressed?

 

MacOS 10.15.7 Lightroom Classic 10.1

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 13, 2023 Oct 13, 2023

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Thank you so much - this worked for me. I started to use my old Paperbin for printing, as a work around. Yes, I spent a fortune on ink and paper before I got an idea on that is failing. Now I will make a print of a calibration page each time something changes (highly recommended), because it seems that Apple and Adobe have no control of whats going on. Scribling down in some simple log what was upgraded when is also a great idea.

 

Sonoma scares me ... another bucket of ink before things settle again 😞 I will definitely not be an early adopter here! My Mac Studio is the last Mac - paying all that money for a nice box?? No ability to upgrade SSD or memory, and untested software (that they dont care to fix) on top if it? They havent got Ventura right before there is a new macOS trying to sneak in ....

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 14, 2023 Oct 14, 2023

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I have some follow info. Upgraded LrC to 13.0.1 - no change which means colors are screwed up without the workaround described above. 

I have attached the test image where you easily can see where colors differ. The only difference is the workaround described above. The printer is Epson P900.

 

Just for completeness:

Computer - Mac Studio

macOS 13.5

LR 13.0.1

P9000 Driver 13.04

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Participant ,
Oct 15, 2023 Oct 15, 2023

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Okay, just a hopeful follow-up: While I have not done any extensive nor comprehensive testing, it would seem that printing from LRC 13.0 with previously used ICC profiles is working again with macOS Sonoma (14.0)!

 

I did indeed delete all my previously created saved prints, plus any print presets I had from before Sonoma, and I did use the voodoo from this thread of creating a default "Print Settings" setup from the lower left-hand corner of the LR Print module before trying anything else. From there, I set the Color Management panel to the ICC profile I want. Then I do indeed double-check the settings via the Printer button in the LRH corner, and if the Color Sync radio button is chosen (but still greyed out) in the Printer Options –> Color Matching section, then I just check that the paper type and quality levels are still right, and then print normally from there.

 

I have to say, the results are what I am expecting, and the same as I was getting before!

 

I am still quite discouraged at how complicated and tedious this all is compared to before Ventura (where all our problems started arising) Also, I really want to be able to set up and recall Presets in the macOS print dialogue. And I really, really miss being able to rely on the LRC Saved Print feature – that was a real time and headache saver! 

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 12, 2023 Nov 12, 2023

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Upgraded my Mac to  to 14.1.1 - no change - colors are screwed up without the workaround described above. The good news is that the work around is working ... but considering to have my Paperbin with Moterey as a printer spooler ... 😞

 

Computer - Mac Studio

macOS 14.1.1

LR 13.0.1

P900 Driver 13.04

 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 05, 2023 Dec 05, 2023

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How is it that we still have these problems? Its been almost two years of this nonsense. Any machine I am using to print with in my studio is still on Monterey but I am noticing things starting to break becasue all fo the software is being updated for the newest 2 generation later OS. This is siimply disgraceful on the part of Adobe and Apple. I'm guessing primarilyl Apple. They cant get their heads out of there stratospheric A##es long enough to realize professionals are relying on their machines. Their mchines are better than ever and the reliability of the OS being usable is at an all time low. I'm simply fed up.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 25, 2023 Dec 25, 2023

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I do have exactly the same problems with the new Mac OS Sonoma. Printing from Lightroom classic is broken. It used to work like a charm and since I updated to Sonoma it is a big mess! Why is nobody from Adobe responding to your posts?? Does Apple and Adobe work together?

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Participant ,
Feb 18, 2024 Feb 18, 2024

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Okay, here's my latest update.

 

TL;DR: Printing in the latest Lightroom Classic, v13.1 running on the latest macOS, v14.3.1 (Sonoma) is still broken. Period. If you want your Canon printer to output prints like you expect, simply use the Canon RIP software – Professional Print & Layout. That's it. Skip all other steps. It works. 

 

NONE of the previous ICC profiles (or settings) work like they used to under macOS v12 (Monterey). That version of LR and macOS printed like a dream – without having to do anything else. Now, Saved Prints nor longer work, ICC Profiles used by LR actually make things worse (no matter what voodoo workarounds we all tried above), and finally telling LR to let color matching be "Managed By Printer" gets closer to what we had before, but just barely. And frankly, using the "Managed By Printer" setting fails miserably on many images that were printing just fine before.

 

This all reminds me of 30 years ago when I was trying to get Windows for Workgroups 3.11 actually, well, *working* – it never quite did, and the finger pointing between PC makers, Microsoft and software vendors always left me holding a broken bag of results. I didn't have the time or patience for it then (I switched to NEXTSTEP, and have never looked back) and I certainly don't have the time let alone patience for this BS now.

 

Just go download Canon's Professional Print & Layout software. It is nowhere near as polished or sophisticated as Adobe's own Print panel in LR, but at least it works. It has a steep learning curve (because it is not at all intuitive or clearly documented) I spent a few nights learning it and its limitations, and now I get the fully color managed workflow and output like I was enjoying before. One note that might save you hours of head banging: If you choose to use the app's LR plug in, be aware that you can only print a single image at time.  And there's no way of saving the layout or print settings once you're finished like there was in LR. Lastly, if you want to print multiple images in a session, you have to output to TIFF or JPEG first, and then bring them into Canon PP&L. (This took me an entire night to figure out – I had never seen an app that didn't have an "File-Open" or drag-n-drop functionality before)

 

Canon's Professional Print & Layout is a full RIP (raster image processor) that knows how to take a color managed file, apply an ICC profile for the target printer/paper combo, and output a stunning result.

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Contributor ,
May 12, 2024 May 12, 2024

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I realize it is a few months since the last replay on this thread, but I must report that whatever this problem is, it remains with us. In doing my review of the new Epson SC-P5370 I came acrosss it trying to print from Lightroom on Mac OS Ventura (and I am reliably informed the issue persists through Sonoma; I do not have such issues on Monterey) - the colours are all wrong no matter what one does. I have engaged people in Epson, Adobe and Apple Computer in a very substative manner such that there can be no doubt whatsoever about the nature of these issues to the end-user. The person I wrote to in Adobe is on leave so I have had no response yet. The person I contacted at Apple has failed to respond. Epson is taking the problem very seriously even though I am informed from a usually reliable source they do not own this issue - rather Apple, the non-resposnive party, does. While it is an absolute disgrace that between these three major industry players this issue has persisted without correction as long as it has, I am informed there is some glimmer of hope that sufficient consciousness of the seriousness of the matter has been raised to a pan-industry level that within the coming months it will be fixed. I'm not holding my breath given the dreadful track-record to date, but hope springs eternal. My best advice in the meantime is to either roll back to Monterey, or use a computer you can dedicate to printing and equip it with Monterey, or print from Microsoft Windows. It would appear that Windows has a much better track-record of maintaining the integrity of colour management for printing than does Apple - and note I am on MacOS, so I say this from no bias whatever; my only concern is with what works and doesn't.

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Community Beginner ,
May 12, 2024 May 12, 2024

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I am not surprised at the lack of ownership for this issue (primarily between Apple and Adobe), given that both companies' focus seems to be on adding new features and new products, rather than ensuring the continued functionality of existing ones.  It's incredibly disappointing though that the professional and creative communities that have supported both companies to this point are being somewhat overlooked in the process (especially photographers who print their own work).  The recent additional issue, introduced in Sonoma 14.4, that prevents many applications from offering all paper sizes when printing, is a further example and one that ultimately made me take a step I didn't previously consider.  While I have a reliable workaround in Lightroom for the primary issue of this discussion (the inconsistency of colour management when printing on Ventura/Sonoma) and many of the other bugs that Apple are still to resolve in the print dialogs, that were introduced in Ventura (see my earlier post in this thread), the most recent issue affecting the paper sizes caused me to look at printing via Epson Print Layout, rather than from within Lightroom.  I can say that, provided you use Relative intent, rather than Perceptual (which can exhibit differences between soft proofing in Lightroom vs Epson Print Layout, due to the different algorithms employed in the two products), the results are always reliable and all paper sizes supported by the printer are also available.

 

Apparently MacOS 14.5 will address that issue but I'm tempted to stick with Epson Print Layout now, as it bypasses all of the integration issues between Adobe, Apple and the printer driver.  Although I don't own a Canon printer to prove this, I can say from others' experiences that Canon's Professional Print & Layout is an equally reliable solution.  It pains me to use a third-party product, rather than using Lightroom's own Print module, as it used to work reliably, but after having to resort to cumbersome workarounds each time I print, to avoid the colour management issues, using Epson Print Layout is refreshingly trouble-free.   I have a few minor gripes with it (like the plug-in doesn't seem to automatically install into Lightroom on Sonoma) but once it's set up it just works... rather like Lightroom used to just work in the halcyon days of Monterey!  Admittedly you have to surrender some of the additional features in Lightroom's Print module, such as watermarking and print sharpening DPI settings, but there are equally useful features in Epson Print Layout that I wish Lightroom had: showing the actual print DPI of the image at the configured size, showing the soft proof version of the image when Lightroom is managing the colour, etc.  Ultimately I hope that Apple and Adobe will finally resolve the colour management issue and reinstate the reliability of Lightroom's Print module, so I don't need to use a third-party product to perform the printing.  However, after 1.5 years of these issues existing, I'm not holding my breath.

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Contributor ,
May 12, 2024 May 12, 2024

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Yes, Epson Print Layout is a viable alternative in respect of colour management, but it cannot print edited raw files correctly.

I frankly don't perceive anything at all that Apple has brought to the table, other than a heap of trouble, with these "upgrades" since Monterey, which itself was a painful upgrade from its predecessor.

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Community Beginner ,
May 13, 2024 May 13, 2024

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When you say that Epson Print Layout cannot print edited raw files correctly, I guess it depends on your workflow but if you get the plug-in configured correctly in Lightroom, you can just export direct from Lightroom to Epson Print Layout, with all of your edits intact (it creates a temporary TIFF file behind the scenes that Epson Print Layout uses to print from).  If you've already soft-proofed the image in Lightroom for the paper to be used (with the appropriate ICC profile, using Relative intent), then you just need to pick the same ICC profile in Epson Print Layout, with Relative Colormetric intent and Black Point Compensation (Lightroom always has this enabled behind the scenes), then you should get the same soft-proof on screen in Epson Print Layout as you did in Lightroom and the expected result when you hit Print.

 

There are a few things to note, when setting up Epson Print Layout though:

 

1. Manually add plug-in to Lightroom (in Lightroom's Plug-in Manager) from "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Modules", if it's not already listed.  This step isn't necessary on Monterey.

2. Enable "App Paper Settings Priority" under Printer Settings > Detailed Settings.

3. Under Color Settings set Type to "Use ICC Profile" and select profile for paper in use.

4. Set Rendering Intent to "Relative Colormetric" (this is consistent with Lightroom's Relative intent, whereas Perceptual is not the same, due the Adobe and Epson implementing their Perceptual intent calculations differently).

5. Enable "Black Point Compensation".

 

To launch Epson Print Layout from within Lightroom, go to Export, then choose "Epson Print Layout" from the "Export To:" drop-down at the top.  You may need to experiment with the "Output Sharpening" settings, depending on the size of your print.

 

However, you may have encountered other issues I've not met with Epson Print Layout.  I'm still hopeful that eventually this won't be necessary and we finally get a reliable colour-managed printing workflow from within Lightroom again but, as you say, the two MacOS upgrades since Monterey haven't instilled much confidence in that.

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Contributor ,
May 13, 2024 May 13, 2024

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Thanks - this is a very useful post and it works; albeit kind of a nuisance set of extra steps, at least it does allow raw files to be printed without permanent conversion to rendered formats. Interesting that this option is not laid out in the EPL manual where it makes no mention of being able to print raw files with their edit settings intact. Perhaps Epson should add this into the manual.

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Community Beginner ,
May 13, 2024 May 13, 2024

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Glad to hear it's working for you.  Yeah, it's odd that Epson don't mention the Lightroom plug-in, only the Photoshop one (on their US website at least).  The fact that it doesn't properly install the plug-in into Lightroom on Sonoma (and I assume Ventura too) is indicative of the lack of attention given to it and I was pretty doubtful it would work at all.  It's not the most elegant solution but it's at least reliable and addresses both the colour management issues and current paper sizes problem in Sonoma too.

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Community Beginner ,
May 12, 2024 May 12, 2024

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Thanks for this post.  I thought I was losing my mind with paper sizes that reverted to previous value,  incorrect portrait / landscape orientation and inability to set paper types.  I don't print all that often, and was convinced I had simply forotten even the basics.  Lightroom Classic, Sonoma 14.4, Canon Pixma Pro-10.

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