Help with Printer Vs Paper Profile

[kevindar]

I have purchased a pixima 9000 as part of a rebate package. When printing from cs3, I am assuming I should set up a proof with the printer profile to see what my image will exactly look like printed. However, how does the paper configure in to this? Dont different papers render different colors and saturations? so If I want to buy Ilford Pearl paper, how do I set up an ICC profile specific to that paper and the 9000 printer? thanks.

[tgara]

I went through this with Aperture, my iMac, and a new Epson R1900 printer. I'm guessing the basic principles are the same, so here goes.

You'll want to set up a proof with the ICC profile that matches the paper you're using, so you can get the best idea of what the image will look like when printed. A couple of points here.

First, keep in mind you need the ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles installed on your computer that match the paper you are going to use. So, if you want to use the Ilford Pearl paper, you need to get the ICC profile that is specific for that paper. Paper manufacturers make the ICC profiles available for download. I checked, and you can download these from www.ilford.com for the paper you are going to be using (getting the actual icc profiles requires a login, so I'll leave that to you). The ICC profiles are supposed to be a universal download, so they should work on whatever computer you're using.

After installing those, there will be TWO color management systems working on your computer. One system will be operated by the PRINTER. The other system will be operated by the COMPUTER. These two systems will conflict unless you get the settings right. Basically, you want turn OFF the PRINTER settings, and leave the computer settings (with the ICC profiles) ON. If you make a mistake and leave both systems on, images come out too dark. If you turn both off, images come out too light. Use that rule of thumb if your images look wrong. It took me a while to figure this out, so please benefit from my experience.

When you're doing a proof, simply select the ICC proofing profile that matches the paper.

Now on to printing. I'm not sure how it works on your PC, but on my Mac, when you select an image to print, a dialog box comes up with a few settings you can change. Under Printer Settings, find the control for Color Management from the several pulldown menus, and TURN IT OFF. This shuts down the printer color management and leaves the computer color management (with the ICC profiles) working to give you the correct color. Next, under the Color Profiles, the ICC profiles you installed should be there. Select the one that matches the paper you are using.

You should be all set. Hit print and you should get good output.

Good luck.

[René Damkot]

There's a link giving a step by step in the link from my sig.