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Print SmarterUse ICC profiles to take the guesswork out of printing |
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Beyond The Basics What happens when you want to try any of the fine third-party papers that are available? You can use the same options and select the most similar paper type in the printer, but the results will be less than optimal. To take advantage of these papers, you need to take control over the color management and use the proper paper profile. Most of the paper vendors have free profiles available for the most common printers. Canon, Epson and HP are all well represented by most paper companies. Profiles are created in a standard way by measuring color values after printing a chart on each paper-type-and-ink combination (Figure 3). These measurements are used to tell the computer how to translate screen colors to the closest possible match on paper. The files will have an .ICC or .ICM extension, and are interchangeable between Windows and Mac. To use these profiles, download them to your computer. If you’re on Windows, these profiles will need to be placed in the Windows/System32/Spool/Drivers/Color folder. If you’re using a Mac, the profiles will need to be placed in the Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder. If Photoshop is already running, quit the program and restart to enable the profiles to be available in the Print dialog. Now, with your image open, select File > Print in Photoshop. Under Color Management, select Photoshop Manages Colors (Figure 4). This will enable the list of printer profiles you have on your computer. From this list, choose the profile that matches the paper on which you’ll be printing—in this example, Inkpress Pro Silky. For Rendering Intent, select Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric. Perceptual works fine unless the paper vendor recommends using the Relative Colorimetric option. When you print, be sure the printer also isn’t managing your color. This “double-profiling” leads to unpredictable—and seldom pleasant—problems with your prints. Turn off color management in the printer driver.
Each printer company uses different terminology for this option, and it even can vary from driver to driver. Epson (Figure 5) calls its Color setting “Off (No Color Adjustment).” Canon (Figure 6) uses “Matching: No Correction.” HP uses “Application Managed Colors” (Figure 7). You’ll still want to select the paper type that’s recommended by the vendor, since this controls how much ink and what type of black ink (photo or matte) the printer uses. That’s all there is to it! Once you use your first profile, this all will sound a lot less complicated because you’ll see how easy it is. The extra effort up front will pay you back over and over again with more accurate and pleasing prints.
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