Color Matching - Prints and Monitor

[cinderella]

In trying to match my monitor to prints I make on Fuji Frontier and /or Noritsu digi printers I have been reading (not always understanding ) everything I can find about Color Profiles, Color Management, Color source, and monitor calibration. I had been advised to calibrate my monitor and did using AdobeGamma.

I had a eureka moment and realized I could do this while a photo is in open in PS .Color started to improve.

Open a photo, then
go to Start menu>Settings>ControlPanel>AdobeGamma
Put the control panel on the task bar (click on -) so you can see the photo and use the wizard from there. You can move the wizard screen to a convenient place so you can see your photo.

In reading very detailed info on a site by Norman Koren I came across this tidbit of info:

"Programs that utilize color management are described as being ICM aware, where ICM stands for Image Color Management. ICM standards are maintained by the International Color Consortium.
Device color response and color spaces are characterized by files called ICC profiles, which have the extension, ".icm." ICC profiles are stored in specific locations on Windows computers.

Windows 98, ME Windows\System\color
Windows 2000 WinNT\System32\Spool\Drivers\Color
Windows XP WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color


You may need to do some bookeeping in these directories because problems can arise when more than about 30 profiles are present. Since profiles are loaded by profiling programs such as MonacoEZcolor, Windows, image editors, and device drivers, the number of profiles can easily proliferate. I recommend creating a subdirectory called "Unused profiles" for profiles you don't expect to use. "

Above found at http://www.normankoren.com/color_management.html

I went to my Windows location and discovered 100's of profiles on my second hand computer. I removed all that had a date earlier than I owned the computer and lo and behold a lot of color awareness suddenly happened. When I change profiles or color space I actually see the difference. I know I am on my way to matching my monitor with prints made on Fuji, Noritsu.

[DJ Dubovsky]

Wow, you really did do some home work didn't you? That part about systems storing 100s of profiles and many unusable makes alot of good sense. I will have to look into that and see what I have. I'm using XP. Also that link looks like a valuable peice of info on what is truly a very confusing subject. Thanks for the great bits of info.
DJ

[Ben]

Hi
I have tried this technique for adjusting the colour to match the printer but still find that the printer tends to enrich the colour compared to the monitor. Which part should I be changing to rectify this problem? Sorry about the extra "u" in colour but us brits have always been long winded!!

[dcarr]

Hi Ben,
In View there is a pull down for Proof Setup. In there are many profiles set up for a variety of printers, especially Epson and HP. They are supposed to allow your monitor to display an even closer printed match. My printer is not compatible so I cannot be sure if this is so. But I have set up my Monitor and Scanner and when I change to these setting it seems to be on the money. Epson also has downloadable profiles for specific printers on their website, I believe HP may have some also. If you are willing to use up ink, you can also set up a custom profile to better match the colors you are printing. Hope this helps.
Debbie

[Ben]

Hi Debbie
In my View>Proof Set Up there is no mention of printers. I am using PS6.
There is Custom and there are 6 different Working CMYK, Cyan Plate etc. the Mackintosh RGB, Windows RGBand Monitor RGB. Am I looking in the right place?

[jeaniesa]

Ben,

My printer consistently gives me prints with more saturation than I see on my monitor. I've used MonacoEZcolor and still have the over-saturation problem. I think I might be able to solve this by tweaking the ICC profile that Monaco produced for my printer, but I find that simply adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and reducing the overall saturation of my image by -15 just before printing works well for me.

If the colors seem right but just too saturated, you might want to try that.

Jeanie

[dcarr]

Sorry Ben in the proof set up is a line for custom. click on it and it will bring you to a dialogue box with drop down lists.
Debbie

[Ben]

I have found the printer set up for my printer and have managed to get a pretty close match printer to monitor. My thanks to everyone again.

[ShanshuAngel]

My best friend and I were JUST talking about this tonight and I ran across this thread! What luck. Thanks for all the tips, I am gonna try them out, see what works best for my printer.

[katie65]

problems can arise when more than about 30 profiles are present

I went to the color management folder in Windows and I've got more than 100 different color profiles...

How do I know which ones I can delete?

[magnavox]

for downloadable frontier profiles for some machines, go to www.drycreekphoto.com

and if you want a profile for a machine in your area that isnt on the list, it will cost you about 100 bucks. a small price to pay if you are in business.

[ljl269]

2 cents worth

RE:while a photo is in open in PS .Color started to improve.

www.ezprints.com gave me(no shipping/handling either) 2 8x10 prints & their printer profile from which they suggest I calibrate my monitor to make them match via soft-proofing! I tried but the monitor gamma had to be so low for the B&W that the Color 8x10 was off- I may try again.

Unless u collaborate with others in working on pics, I dont think it matters much what it looks like on ur monitor. Of people who view it, 90% dont have CMS enabled / monitor calibrated & u can probably BS 95% who see it that their color is off! Working CS, Profile CS, profile & calibration accuracy, embedded profiles, gamut mismatches, ambient conditiond(D65 2deg flare) ,... can all be attributed to THEIR mismatched color!! Laptops cant be calibrated & AGamma is N/A for flat panel screens ala some experts.
Note that anything displayed in any browser is NOT under CMS. Look @ http://www.color.org/version4html.html
So I wouldnt spend alot of time or $ on monittor stuff. I can get a decent pic on mine using many different profiles & calibrations. One important consideration in standards & defaults in CMS et,al, was that they realized most users wouldn't do, pay for, nor understand all the complexities. My experience has been that settings off of the default by 10-15% r probably not good. But if printed work has priority, learn to soft-proof & concentrate on a reasonable match.In Ulead PI8, u can edit foto looking at proof image.
To that end, Kodak is adding profiles based on paper type which many printers think is more important than printer model. They have them for Frontier with Royal & Archive paper. U gotta join the PRO site to get them. www.kodak.com
Also when u test u might want to use constucted test patterns like EK Q60, Q13,..
Try clking http://homepages.borland.com/efg2lab...olorCharts.htm http://www.normankoren.com/color_management_4.html http://www.cix.co.uk/~tsphoto/tech/f...tek/howtek.htm http://www.normankoren.com/color_management_4.html and get the biggest, highest resolution pic so u can print it a decent size.

Just my 2¢ worth.Comments/suggestions/corrections appreciated.
Thanks- bye- Larry

[ljl269]

It wont let u delete those associated/in use

...
How do I know which profiles I can delete?

If u try, they will magically reappear but only if they r in use.

Description of each is in Properties under Description . Understanding them is another matter.

I never delete any but put them in folders-Printers,Monitors, Others,... When U rt-clk & Associate a profile in 1 of the folders, a copy magically appears in the root folder (Color in XP). I then rt-clk & Create Shortcut so any new profiles CMS downloades in background into Color folder will only have 1 entry. Finally I have a folder called ( 1 entry=new profile ) so I can remember the convention 2 yrs from now.

It remains to be seen if CMS will redownload profiles already in subfolders. So far it hasnt in 1 month. It will never allow u to delete ur working space profile either(sRGB).
I have 3 for sRGB which doesnt make sense but it may after ICC replies to my query.I'm not holding my breath

Comments/suggestions/corrections appreciated.
Larry

[Imageer]

Try Colourguru.com

If your in Australia (or even if not; it just takes longer) go to this website and request the remote profiling service. You get a CD with some colour charts which you printe on your own printer, using the paper of your choice. Send them back to Colourguru and within 24 hours by email you get a profile which will render your printes exactly as they should be. Cost is A$200 including post. Beforehand use Adobe Gamma to tighten up your monitor profile and then it'll be WYSIWYG. I've saved hundereds of dollars on ink and paper because soft proofing now works!

The idea of dumping all the unused profiles is good, but PS only reads the standard ...\color directory, so just move ém somewhere else ços you might need them again.