Canon G3 correct Print Workflow

I have a Canon D30 and just bought a G3(for business travels). I have an Epson Photo 785EPX printer. I have a workflow pretty much defined to print pictures taken with the D30 which look excellent most of the times. However, I am having a big problem with the G3 to print images the way they are shown on the monitor. They just look plain, faded colors, slightly bluish tone.

I use Adobe acrobat 7.0 for printing.

The simple work shop that I use with the D30 is

1) to have the image converted to SGRB either to JPG or TIFF
2) Adjust levels
3) Adjust Image Size (depending on print size required. Never do interpolation, just change dpi level that fit the best. Never a dpi less than 240)
4) Sharp image (if needed)
5)Convert file to Epson Photo 785EPX
6) Adjust printer settings and select ICM option
7) Print file

As I said, this workflow works excellent with the D30 to the point that the people that sees the pictures really enjoys how good they look.

If I try to use th same workflow with the G3 it will give me bad results as I previously stated.

I tried to use a different ICC profile in photoshop (Adobe RGB(1998), True Color, sgrb, etc). Nothing seems to give me satisfactory results. I really believe that I should be missing something since the pictures on the screen look very good.

Hopefully somebod\y can give me a recommendation on this issue.

Thanks,

LEC_D30

I used photoshop (I don't think you use acrobat) to adjust levels, auto-levels most of the time, manual in some cases and used sharpening filter in some rare occasions.

I don't print it by my self yet, I use a printing lab, so I don't mess around with dpi.

Results were very satisfactory.

It may be useful for you to better quantify and qualify your dissatisfaction.

ronv, you are right. I should have said Photoshop instead of Acrobat.

I know it is not easy to define how good is "good".

I will try to explain.

The first step I consider important after grabbing a good picture is to review it in your monitor and confirm that the composition, focus, white balance and colors are truly representing what you try to capture.

If this is the case, which it is in the case of the G3 pictures, then I use a workflow to prepare the image for printing. My expectation would be that the pictures printed match the criteria that I used when watching the pictures on the screen. This means, that I expect the pictures to match what I see on the screen.
In the case of the D30 I can not only get that, but in most cases, the pictures printed excel what I saw in the monitor (for some reason they look great).
With the G3 however, I have not be succesful getting pictures printed that match faithfully what I saw on the screen. i.e. skin color look slightly magenta, reds and blues are fadded, etc...


Before I decide using a lab, I would like to try all options to get the prints done myself. It could be that this is not possible to achieve with the G3 and maybe I am expecting to much out of it. However, I really think that there should be a way of doing it.


Thanks for your reply.

Lec,
G3 has certainly another gammut range than the D30. G3 is exif 2.2 compliant with the sRGB tag for jpeg image, when you enter ps7 what option did you use?
What working space did you use?
The jpeg image opens automatically as an sRGB embedded profile if you have another usual working space, choose at open time "convert to working space".
This change the RGB value from sRGB space to your preffered working space (but doesn't change the image look)!
Do your editing (as before)...
Convert to your printer profile and print, this should work the same as before!
Now in my opinion the jpeg srgb from G3 doesn't look very good in this working space. A better option would be to use the PIM II plugin to import the jpeg (only from the original camera image), then edit (if necessary) apply your printer profile then print

Hi everyone,

I was wondering, how would the the PIM II plugin work if the G3 is not PIM compliant? Or am I missing something?

I have a 785EPX too, and I finally am getting what I see on the screen in my hardcopies using PS7. What I do is this:

I use the sRGB color space.
I go into View and select Custom and set up the correct Proof for the Epson & medi (checkmarking Paper White, BLack Point Compensation, and Black Ink). Then I select the Proof view and get a simulation of what the print out should look like on the screen, and can tweak from there. (Sometimes I'll use the Gamut Warning option to check for out of gamut tones).

(optional) When I am done I often use Nik Sharpener Pro to get the pic res optimized to my chosen printing size.

When all is ready I select print with preview, and choose in Color Management "Proof as the Source", and Absolute Colormetric as the intent. Then I make sure no other color management gets in the way (i.e. colorsync, built-in Epson natural color tweaks etc... I let PS7 take care of it). I just make sure the DPI/Media/etc is what I want, and then I print. The results are the closest I've ever gotten to what I see on my screen. (A iMac Flat Panel).

Now, I know very little, and perhaps my method is all wrong. But, somehow, it's the best results I've gotten so far. If someone has a more acurate method with PS7, G3, and 785EPX, I'd love to hear it!

Have a good day!

Is this true? None of my jpegs from my G3 have any profile embedded. I download my images using the supplied Canon software.

Thanks for any help,

Geoff

Yes G3 is exif 2.2 compliant, the PIM II plugin could work in PIM mode or in EXIF 2.2 mode!
After downloading the jpeg from your camera with a software (don't care what software), if you open the image in PS7 you will see that the "so called" embedded profile is sRGB, in fact there is no profile embedded but if no profile is embedded and the exif 2.2 sRGB space is on PS7 takes the sRGB space as image profile.
This workflow give a very bad start, a lot of editing must be done due to the wrong exposition-color etc in the sRGB WS.
Either if you don't use an epson printer you could use the PIM II plugin to import the image, the plugin made automatically all the needed correction according to the EXIF 2.2 parameters and header embedded in the image (only from the original camera jpeg) and the reference working space "EPSON RGB 2001", the image must be "saved as" with another name.
The EPSON RGB 2001 profile must cover the epson printers gammut range much better than sRGB.
PS
There is difference between PS version, older PS version did'nt take in account the sRGB EXIF tag so older PS version could open a G3 image with no embedded profile.
Also there is a PS7 plugin to validate the "ignore exif space" option to work as older version.
Just to say that the G3 image is not an really an sRGB mapped image, but it's mapped to sRGB for convenience!

Hi Marcel,

That's good information, and indeed straight out of the camera with the Epson RGB profile the picture colors are much more acurate, much closer to what I see on the camera LCD. Based on the plugin instructions, the print workflow with the Epson would require me to choose as source the Document Epson RGB, and the Perceptual with Black Point compensation settings (the rest being unchanged from what I wrote in my earlier post).

Thanks for the info!