The next parameter to select is Rendering Intent. In most cases, you’ll choose Normal Printing. So make sure you choose the correct settings in both the Photoshop Print Settings dialog box and the printer’s settings dialog box.
You have more opportunity to screw up in Windows than you do on the Mac. With Windows, you can have the application manage colors, the printer manage colors, or have both or neither do it. However, it is a rather draconian measure.
Generally, this is a good thing (which was why Apple insisted applications and printer drivers do this for the Mac). If you select Photoshop Manages Color, the printer’s own color adjustments are locked out and dimmed. On the Mac, either the application manages colors or the printer does color management, but not both. Figure 4.11 shows the dropdown menu and the result of selecting Hard Proofing.īe careful with color management in Windows With that option selected, Photoshop will direct the printer to print a scum dot on the paper to simulate the paper white point that’s in the paper profile. When you select Hard Proofing, select your saved Proof Setup-or, in this case, I can select Working CMYK. Choose Hard Proofing when you’re doing cross-rendered proofing, especially if you’re proofing for halftone reproduction. Next, choose either Normal Printing or Hard Proofing. I’d like to see a naming convention that groups profiles for a single printer together, but also makes it easy to identify the media you’re selecting.
It would be useful if Epson and Canon, for example, understood that creating a profile named Epson Stylus Pro 7900-9900 and then the actual media name is a royal pain in the ass for the user. I’m climbing onto my soapbox for a moment here to say that each color profile should be named usefully, not as a marketing tool. Be sure you select the correct printer profile. Unfortunately, Photoshop shows you all of your installed profiles-and that list can be overwhelming. The Color Handling dropdown menu and the really long Printer Profile menu.Īfter you choose Photoshop Manages Colors, select the appropriate profile. Figure 4.10 shows the Color Handling menu and the Printer Profile menu of ICC profiles.įIGURE 4.10. Unless you’re printing black-and-white images using a special module, which I’ll describe later in this chapter, you want Photoshop to manage colors. You’ve got two, basically: Printer Manages Colors and Photoshop Manages Colors. In the Color Management area of the dialog box, choose a Color Handling option. Yes, it’s an attempt by the Photoshop engineers to make selecting profiles “easier,” but they should have gone down the route the Lightroom engineers went to allow the user to select which profiles appear in the dropdown menu. Photoshop CS6 started it and Photoshop CC continues with a new behavior of prefiltering your printer profiles to show only the type of output profiles relevant to your chosen printer-meaning if your printer is considered an RGB printer (as most all inkjet printers are, even if they use blends of CMYK inks), only RGB profiles will show up in your profile menu. The dialog box is broken up by the panel areas for the various settings you must select. If mine looks a bit different, I suspect it’s because of some of the options I’ve chosen (which I’ll highlight later). Figure 4.8 shows the main Photoshop Print Settings dialog. It’s just the print properties versus print settings that are different.
In essence, the options are identical on Mac and Windows. Photoshop engineers have done a pretty good job of making the print dialog boxes the same across platforms. Starting at the top, in the Printer Setup area, it’s self-apparent to select the correct printer.
So, how not to screw up? I’ll walk you through the dialog box so you know how to get the results you want. Thinking about it that way gives you a healthy degree of respect for the medium and the substrate. What he meant was that someone has put a great deal of time and craftsmanship into creating this great piece of paper, so don’t screw it up. When I was young, I had an art instructor who said you are embellishing the art of a previous artist whenever you put pencil to paper. You have to make absolutely sure you’ve got each one correctly set miss one and you’ve ruined your expensive fine art print. On the right are all the settings that you have to master. The Photoshop Print Settings dialog box is a relatively complex and powerful print control center. Digital Print, The: Preparing Images in Lightroom and Photoshop for Printing