macOS Ventura + Lightroom Classic Printing Is Broken

[hr114]

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.

[alanl8]

The paper sizes issue doesn't just affect Lightroom but apps from many vendors and it isn't consistent across a vendors' products, e.g. I don't believe Photoshop is affected even though Lightroom is, Microsoft Word is affected and even some Apple apps but this fix definitely needs to come from Apple and apparently the release candidate for MacOS 14.5 resolves it.  The official release should be due soon, so hopefully at least that issue will be resolved.

[DaveLInSF]

I just ran into this problem with LrC 14.0.1, MacOS Sonoma 14.6.1 and Canon Pro-300 printer. Has anyone tried MacOS Sequoia 15 to see if the bug was fixed there?

[hr114]

I tried it right away, but alas the bug persists. If however I output the photo to a TIFF file and then print in Canon's own Professional Print & Layout software, it prints just as expected – honoring the ICC profile chosen for the target printer/paper. Infuriating!

[alanl8]

I've not dared upgrade to Sequoia yet but useful to know that the issues still exist (albeit disappointing and rather predictable, given the lack of attention this has been given over the last couple of years) .  Having moved to using Epson Print Layout, instead of Lightroom's Print module, I've had no issues and it works every time (like Canon Professional Print & Layout) and I'll continue to use this approach when I eventually upgrade to Sequoia.

[hr114]

I think you can safely upgrade to Sequoia, it just won't fix the macOS<->LrClassic printing problems. I wish Adobe & Apple would get together for lunch or something and work on this – it's been broken for two years now! I really miss the LR Print module workflow. It was neat & tidy, and the ability to creave "Saved Prints" was a huge time and headache saver. I still use the Print module for non-critical stuff, but it only "works" with "Printer Manages Colors" which is far from ideal, and certainly not a full managed, ICC profile eneabled color workflow.

[MarkDS]

This is not good news. I was informed by a usually reliable source (who will go unidentified to protect the innocent) that the cause of this problem is a MacOS API and tbat Apple was committed to fixing it with the latest OS update. That this did not happen is to say the least disappointing. Needless to say all this happens in a fog of opacity because none of them are prepared to explain anything in specific detail and provide a reliable assurance of an ETA for a fix. It is dismal industry performance. Thank goodness Epson Print Layout and the Canon equivalent provide a good workaround. But I would still like to be able to print directly from Lr, as I'm sure thousands of others are too. As individual consumers we have no clout with Apple, but I would hope a company the size of Adobe does and could intervene with them once and for all. Meanwhile, we have two options: (1) Stick with using EPL, or (2) buy a cheap Windows laptop and use Windows for printing. The Windows OS has for the most part been more user-friendly, more consistent and more reliable over time when it comes to support of printing with the printer manufacturers' drivers through Adobe Lr..

[Bob Somrak]

But Apple always gives you new, all important, Emojis instead not breaking the basics.

[??Martin??]

I am running Mac OS Sequoia 15.1 and printing, via Lightroom Classic, to a Canon PRO-1000.  The problem persists in my setup.  Fortunatley,(after many frustrating hours and wasted paper and ink) the work around that alanl8 carefully spells out, above, works, for me.

[alanl8]

Good to know.  Disappointing of course that this is still an issue but, in some ways, better that the behaviour in Sequoia is consistent with Ventura and Sonoma, rather than introducing further failure cases.