Photo Editing; Useless with Printer.

[Jimmy]

I have some old photos that a friend of mine gave me to restore.

It really was not a large assignment, because the photos were not in bad shape. They just needed a basic color correction and she wanted her husbands face to be a normal color. His face was really red from years of drinking. However, this was not a major problem to solve.

The problem is just before printing my printer gives me a preview of what the image will look like when it is printed. However, what it looks like on my monitor is not what it looks like in print. In addition to that it doesn't matter what I do to the image in Photoshop 7, it will still come out differently in print.

For example, I did my editing and color restoring of one of the photos and it turned out real nice. The problem is that in print the color looked a little washed out. So, I thought, "That is no problem I will just do some more editing to give the photo more color." This did not help. The print photo still turned out the same.

I did some testing to this. The only thing that will show up in print is the basic layer adjustments. Nothing else will have any significant impact.

Editing in tools will show up in print (i.e. healing brush; clone stamp; etc.). However, Curves, Channel Mixer, Hue Saturation do not show up in print. It is as if the printer is doing its own image editing and overriding everyone thing that I do in Photoshop.

Is there a solution to this problem? I don't know what else to do. The end result turns out just fine, well most of them anyway; however, what good does it do you to try and learn this stuff if your printer keeps undermining all of your work.

[Vikki]

A possible solution:
Select "Print with Preview" from the Photoshop FILE menu (this is not the same thing as your printer's "print preview.)
Check to see that Color Management is selected.
Check to see that the correct profile is selected.
Here's how mine looks. I use sRGB for a profile.

[Jimmy]

Vikki,

That solved most of the problem. Now if I add a Hue Saturation adjustment layer to give it more color, my printer will now recognize the changes that are made.

The remainder of the problem was due to a editing technique I have learned. I work in the RGB format, however, I also have on a seperate layer a CMYK version of that photo that has already been edited. This allows me to get a more natural looking skin tone in the subject. This is what is affecting the final color preview. I guess it is confusing my printer. With the new color settings that you recommended I can now make changes to resolve the washed out color I was getting in the print preview.

I tested one image that I didn't add a CMYK version to it, and it turns out perfectly in the print preview.

Thank you Vikki for your help. Photoshop is very complexed, I never would have even thought of what you suggested. Some of Photoshop is still way over my head.

[Vikki]

Glad to help.
Thanks for the follow up.
Vikki

[Jimmy]

I give up! No matter what settings I try. No matter how much I learn. I just can't do photo restoration with this printer. It never prints what I see on the monitor. In addition to that, any changes I make to improve the print image end up ruining the photo. I that point I am forced to delete the photo and start over. Tool changes do show up correctly in print (i.e. healing brush; clone stamp; etc.); but not color changes.

However, the reason I am posting this is because I have an idea and I need feedback.

If I take my photo files to a printer will it print what is on the monitor; or will they have the same problem that I do?

[Vikki]

If you have your printer software set to "Optimize Color" or some other setting, you are giving up control of what is printed. It will automatically adust your image for what it "thinks" is the optimal settings. If you have this on, I would turn it off and see what you get, especially after you've changed your Photoshop printing settings.
Also, I would NEVER delete something, and start over, because it didn't print right.

[Jimmy]

Vikki,

I have tested that possible theory a long time before my previous post on this subject that you replied to.

It didn't solve the problem. I unchecked all of my printers photo enhancement features because I thought just what you did. That my printer was taking control of my editing.

I get the impression from your reply that my printer shouldn't be causing me this much trouble.

My printer is a Canon i850. Do you know anything about this model, and the pitfalls that come with it? Not counting myself of course.

[Vikki]

If your print does not reflect the color changes you make to your image, from my experiences it usually means:
Your color profiles are wrong
Your printer is auto adjusting
Parts of your image are out of Gamut
Your monitor is not calibrated

I don't know what else to tell you.....

[Doug Nelson]

Are you printing on photo paper?
Is your printer set to "high quality"?
What working space is Photoshop set to?
Does it print non-retouched photos well?

[Jimmy]

Doug,

Uhh...The answer to your questions are;
Yes.
Yes.
Don't know.
Haven't tried it.

Vikki,

You might me on to something. How can I tell if my printer is auto adjusting? I saw something in the printers color management box that might imply that the printer is auto adjusting the color.

Also, what color profiles need to be in the color management box of the printer?

How can I tell if my monitor is calibrated or not?

[Doug Nelson]

First of all I'd try printing unretouched photos, preferably outside of Photoshop, just to narrow down whether or not PS is part of the problem. If they print great outside of PS, then something in PS must be the problem.

Go to Edit>Color Settings to see what working space you have loaded under RGB. Is your Color Management Policy on?

[Jimmy]

(sigh) Has anyone seen my dunce cap?

Doug,

I tested your first theory of your first reply in Photoshop. It was of a picture of a woman with an orange color cast. My printers print preview didn't display the color cast. That is when I decided to view my color settings in Photoshop and they didn't look familiar. So I went back, Vikki, to your first attachment that you provided when all this began. The color settings were all wrong. I don't know if I put the wrong settings in and didn't realize it, or if my computer changed them on me. I have had the computer do that on rare occasions. I have placed the correct color settings in Photoshop, and now the color cast in the photo is gone. Whew!

I wanted a career in this type of work. I was ready to fall to the floor crying, "My career is over!"

Thanks Doug and Vikki for doing my brainstorming for me, I was too panic stricken to think, as well as too undereducated.

[Jimmy]

I keep think about this thread that I started and I wanted to clear up any confusion it may have created.

Nothing that I tried solved this problem. In the end I only did 3 of the many pictures that were given to me to restore. They turned out to be horrible, I returned them back to the person and told them that something was wrong with my computer, or my printer, or Photoshop, or all of the above. Nobody would ever hire me if I used those finished photos in my resume. So, basically I had terminated the assignment and classified it as a lost cause.

To my shock and amazement she loved the three that I restored. She did notice the small color imperfection that kept printing out, however, she didn't care about that. So, she gave me back the photos and offered to pay me for the work that is done on them.

Well, I have her photos on my computer once again. In the process of restoring them I decided to do a print test run to see what color disaster I was going to have on my hands. Guess what? No printing problems at all! I noticed as I was reading the manual on how to replace my color ink cartridges, there was a caption that reads, "What to do if your printer isn't printing colors correctly." So, I carried out those procedures. I don't know if that was the problem but my printer is printing the photos colors correctly now.

The solution on my printer was to align the print the print head. So, if you have visited this thread before and I confused you further with my ignorance, and like me you have a problem that couldn't seem to be solvable. Perhaps your printer has simular features with simular solutions.

I apologize for any confusion I created in this thread. This really is my first computer, my first printer, and my first Photoshop. It really has been difficult learning everything by trial and error. Without and organized education there are things that I never think of if someone or something doesn't point it out to me. Nobody was here pointing at that printer manual, thus I never thought of it.

[gland]

Just another bump in life Jimmy. I think that the majority of the people that frequent this board have had some kind of color matching/printing problem. I know I have. Glad you got it fixed...

[sPECtre]

Jimmy, I suggest that you consult http://computer-darkroom.com/ps7_pri..._print_mac.htm and http://computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_1.htm and make the appropriate changes to your color management and printer settings.