Datacolor User to User Support Group.

On Aug 17, 2008, at 12:44 AM, grandpollo wrote:

> I just bought Printfix Pro - it did a great job on on calibrating 2
> monitors.
>
> I then profiled Epson Premium Glossy paper on an R1800. The output
> from the test proofing ( the groups of 4 pictures of the 16 total
> pictures) look great, so the profile must be right.
>
> So I try printing various pix via CS3 and my printer, including the
> PDI test image. Horrible. Very dark, very red, huge colour shift to
> orange. Heavy shadowing.
>
> I ran as many troubleshooting tests, clean nozzles, etc., when
> printing with the Epson profiles the results are OK. The PDI print
> looks good, especially flesh tones.
>
> CS2 running in OS X 10.5.3 ( I have CS2 to use Genuine Fractals as I
> am too cheap to upgrade GF to whatever version it is now and I use it
> rarely) prints with the custom PrintFix profile great.
>
> Any ideas, tips, experience really welcome.
>
> Oh, I used the 3.01 version of Printfix from the web site - the CD
> that came with it says 1.X on the CD.
>
>

I can tell you with almost 100% certainty: your problem is that you've
printed the target wrong: color managed. Everything that you do
after that will be wrong - the measurements are color managed, the
profile you build from them does almost nothing, and then when you
use it in Photoshop, with everything set up correctly: you get a
print that's not color managed, and the profile does nothing to fix
this, so: heavy color cast.

The Epson drivers, when used with Leopard, can be confusing, but
they WILL work correctly.

!!!! MOST IMPORTANT !!!!

When you print the target from inside PrintFIX PRO/Spyder3Print:
you HAVE to go to the Color Matching pane and select "Epson Color
Controls". You must NOT choose ColorSync. (By default, the Epson
drivers under Leopard auto-select ColorSync and this is where many
people are having problems). When you are INSIDE PRINTFIX PRO OR
SPYDER3PRINT, making a target print with ColorSync selected in
the Color Matching pane will give you an INCORRECTLY PRINTED,
color managed target and any profiling you do after that will
be WRONG.

Later on: after you've built the profile; and when you're doing
your printing from inside Photoshop, with "Photoshop Manages
Colors" selected in the Photoshop print dialog: when you eventually
get into the OSX print dialog, there's another point of potential
confusion: when you go into the Color Matching pane in the Epson
driver, you'll find that both of the radio button controls
have been dimmed (disabled) and that ColorSync is selected,
rather than Epson Color Controls... and that there's nothing that
you can do to change this. As troubling and confusing as this
appears, you WILL get the proper results... the Epson driver will
NOT use ColorSync, it will print without color management
(regardless of how these controls appear) and you will get a perfect
print.

SUMMARY: (For using Epson drivers with OSX Leopard):

1a. When printing targets from inside PrintFIX PRO/Spyder3Print,
you MUST set the radio button controls in the Color Matching pane
of the OSX print driver to "Epson Color Controls" (NOT COLORSYNC).

1b. When printing targets from inside Photoshop (most people
won't be doing this, but some might): set Photoshop's controls
in its own Print dialog for "No Color Management" and then ignore
the settings in the OSX print dialog pane for Color Matching (they
come up disabled and with ColorSync selected; just IGNORE this).

2a. When printing using a profile (SpyderProof feature, immediately
after building a profile) from inside PrintFIX PRO/Spyder3Print,
you need to go into the Color Matching pane of the OSX print dialog
and choose Epson Color Controls (the two radio buttons will not
be disabled), to match how these were set when you printed the target.

2b. When printing using a profile from inside Photoshop, choose
"Photoshop Manages Colors" and the printer profile, etc. and (just
as in 1b above) ignore the settings in the Color Matching pane of
the OSX print dialog (again: they'll be dimmed, and ColorSync
will be selected, and there's nothing you can do to change that...
the driver will behave the right way, even though the control
setting tries to make you think otherwise).


*****

You should be able to solve your R1800 problems by:

- Reading what I've written above, carefully.

- Reprinting your target. Compare the new target print to the one
you've previously used. You should see that the new target print
is visibly darker than the first.

- Remeasure and build a new profile. Throw out the old measurements,
so that you don't use them again by accident. Keep the original
target print around as a reference so that you'll always be able
to tell what an improperly printed target looks like (color managed
targets are too "light" and "pretty"... a non-color managed target
print should be dark, brooding, and heavy)...:-)

*****

Everyone who is using Epson printers under Leopard needs to follow
the same rules, as described above.



David Miller
Senior Software Developer, Digital Color Solutions
Datacolor