need workflow for printing with a Canon S820

[JoseC]

Could somebody help me to get the corrects settings ( color space and so forth) to print a picture edited with photoshop 6.0 with a Canon S820.
I have made some prints using a very expensive Canon glossy paper and even if the paper is very good, there is not a correct matching between the colors I see on my monitor and the print.
Regards
Jose

[ejwebb]

Jose,

You are asking a question that has no easy answer. I suggest you search for color management in this forum or in Google and get prepared to spend some time on the subject. There are no easy (or cheap) solutions to the color management dilema - most recommendations are to purchase hardware for calibrating your monitor and obtaining profiles for your printer and/or paper. Or you can play around with settings in Photoshop and in the printer software until you get reasonably close results.

I have the S820 and use Elements with pretty good results without investing in color management. I get best results without Adobe Gamma (must be removed from Startup in Windows), with printer color management turned on in Elements and ICM off in the printer software. I use Photo Paper Pro with the recommended settings at the highest quality and try to print most images up to 8X10 at 300dpi. I normally do not mess with the color in photos taken with my DRebel except to increase saturation when needed or when the white balance is obviously way off.

I do think the prints have a slight red tint (particularly skin tones) and sometimes turn down the red in the printer controls. Greens in nature shots are also a little tricky, sometimes. Until I get to the point that I feel it is necessary to do color management right I am stuck in the same boat as you!! Unfortunately that means I have to run test prints and tweak some photos to get them right.

Not sure this helps much but thought I would at least respond with my experience.

[maderito]

You have no choice but to get involved with color management IF you are editing color in your images. When the results look perfect after your finish editing, they very well may look awful when viewed on other monitors or printed on your inket.

There is no simple path to becoming reasonable competent and comfortable with color management - the technical issues, terminology, pitfalls, bad advice, well-intentioned but miselading suggestions, etc.

But there are reasonable and simple steps to take:

1. You must calibrate your monitor - at a minimum with Adobe Gamma.

2. Print a well exposed and edited image. Don't touch it - just print it. If it comes out right in your printer, then something's wrong with your color management workflow. Good images on the web are at:

http://raph.levien.com/files/pditarget.jpg or http://www.gballard.net/nca.html#getagoodfile

both recommended by John_T.

3. For web display, convert your images to sRGB.

4. To minimize hassles with printing, do the same unless you are sure your printer handles Adobe RGB images without choking.

By "convert", I mean take the non sRGB file (typically an Adobe RGB file) and then in Photoshop do: Image>Mode>Convert to Profile, etc. Don't "assign the profile". Instead convert the images to sRGB (which changes its color numbers and adds the sRGB ICC profile). After conversion, the image won't look different on your monitor while in Photoshop (a color managed environment), but it will display differently on the web (non color managed).

5. For the printer, let it do all the color management work. In Photoshop while in "Print With Preview", set the color managment workflow as follows:

Source space: sRGB (or Adobe RGB)
Print space: Profile: Printer Color Management

6. For the printer driver (all the dialogues when you start printing), choose the correct media, set everything else on auto or defaults, and print. You can try "enable ICM" under the manual color adjusting options. This is what Canon recommends. It in fact gives me better results. Others have different expriences.

See http://photography-on-the.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=186186 for more info.

And don't forget to download and print the standard target images. It will really help you see where things are going wrong since you begin with a standardized print that looks great when printed correctly. If I recall correctly, it is an Adobe RGB print and you may want to convert it to sRGB.

If you've gotten this far, congratulations. These color management posts tend to drag on .... :wink:

[ejwebb]

I agree with Mederito that you will have no choice but to deal with color management if you want a perfect match between your monitor and printer. I am just trying to offer some suggestions that may get you close enough for your needs without forking out some time and cash. Most of my recommendations are consistent with Mederito's - I may have gotten them from him initially!

I have not had good luck with Adobe Gamma as it asked for information that I do not have - Phosphors for monitor, etc. - and I have run through it several times. You should try it - maybe you will have better success. If it does not work you can always switch back to the manufacturers monitor profile.

Your images may already be in sRGB - if you open Print Prview in Elements and click on Show More Options and select Color Management it should tell you the color space of the image you are viewing under Source Space. I don't think you can change this in Elements.

Under Print Space you should try Printer Color Management under Profile - this lets the printer deal with the color management issues in the image.

I get good results with the Auto Color Ajustment in the print driver so have not tried the ICM option although others recommend it and I may give it a shot.

Again, I am not a pro and am just sharing what I do since we have the same software/printer - maybe it will help get you there for now.

[ejwebb]

Also, you have not said whether you have an LCD or CRT monitor. LCD's are much more difficult to match to prints and most recommend CRT's for editing photos. Pictures that look great on my CRT at home don't look near as good on my LCD at work.

Also, I forgot to mention that running through Adobe Gamma will help you set your monitor contrast and brightness - even if you decide not to use it going forward.

Good luck!

[JoseC]

Thank you very much ejwebb and maderito.
This color stuff is really not easy to understand/explain.
Sometimes I read a book speaking about that and can not understand
very well what they mean ....
Well, I 'll try your suggestions and see if I can make some progress.
Best Regards
Jose