COMPUTER COLOR/ PRINT COLOR

Report · Dec 18, 2018

I need some help. I have used two different printers and two different computers in photoshop. No matter what I have the print settings on the image on my screen and the picture that is printed have a vast difference in appearance. I have to guess how much darker to make the image on the screen will be to have it print the way I want it.For example; I have a picture of a lion I took in Africa. When I print what I see on the computer screen it comes out much, much lighter with less contrast than what I am looking at on paper when the print is complete. Has anyone else had this experiance and how did you resolve it? Thank you for giving this a look.

Hank

Report · Dec 18, 2018

If you are using Photoshop Elements, it does not have a CMYK print mode. So, if you are printing to a CMYK printer, what you describe is what will happen.

I had a similar experience recently when I designed a business card in Photoshop Elements 2019 and sent it to a commercial printer for printing, i.e., the commercial printer was using a CMYK printer and I had created the card in RGB mode.

You will have to get the full blown Photoshop software to get a CMYK print mode. A less expensive option is Affinity Photo software, which also has CMYK capabilities.

Report · Dec 18, 2018

Books have been written on how to get an inkjet printer to match the colors you see on your monitor. It is a very complex issue with many factors involved. So, at the risk of totally befuddling you, let me ask a few questions.

Is your monitor color calibrated? What printer are you using? What color profile did you use to shoot the photos? Are you using a color profile to print? If so, is the color profile matched to the paper you are using? Have you set the printer or the program to color manage the printing? What printer settings are you using? If you don't know the answer to any of these questions, I hope the questions inform you that this is a complex problem.

Now, having said that, let me ask you another question. Are you using the Organizer or the Editor to print? I have found that even using the same settings, you can come out with a difference between the two print dialogs. So, the first thing you might try is to use a different print workflow than you are currently using. In other words, if you are printing from the Organizer, try the Editor or vice versa.