Epson® Professional Imaging Managing Color Printing with ICC Profiles
Copyright Notice All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Seiko Epson Corporation. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this Epson product. Epson is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other equipment.
Introduction For the most precise color in your prints, you can use profiles designed specifically for your printer model and paper type. Basic profiles are installed with your printer driver, and you may also have downloaded Premium ICC profiles from Epson when you installed your printer software.
Setting Up the Photoshop Environment 1. Open Photoshop. 2. Select Edit > Color Settings. 3. Select North America Prepress 2 from the Settings menu to set Adobe RGB (1998) as the RGB working space and activate all profile messages. 4. Click OK. Follow the steps in the next section to open the photo you want to print and assign a profile to it. Assigning a Profile to Your Photo 1. Open the photo you want to print. 2.
If you see a Missing Profile message, select Assign working RGB: Adobe RGB (1998) and click OK. When your image appears, evaluate the color balance and contrast as displayed on your monitor. If it looks incorrect, select Edit > Assign Profile. Note: If you see a dialog box regarding the appearance of layers, click OK. Select one of the following as the Profile setting: ■ A different RGB working space (or Profile), such as sRGB IEC61966-2.
. Under Color Handling, select Photoshop Manages Colors. 7. Under Printer Profile, select a profile for your printer and the paper you’ll use. If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profile that also matches the print quality you want to use. 8. For the Rendering Intent, select Relative Colorimetric. Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual. This reduces the color saturation so that the colors fit within the printer’s color gamut. 9.
4. Turn off the High Speed and Edge Smoothing options, if they are available, then click OK to close the Quality Options window. 5. Select Custom as the Mode setting, then choose Off (No Color Adjustment) from the drop-down menu. Note: Make sure that you select Off (No Color Adjustment). If you don’t, the printer driver will apply additional correction to the image, producing inaccurate results. 6. Click OK.
7. Select the correct orientation for your photo. 8. Click Print to print your photo. If you get unexpected results, see “Solving Color Management Problems” on page 34. Printing with Adobe Photoshop CS5 First set up your color management environment in Photoshop and assign a profile to your image. Then select your print settings and print. Note: Assigning a profile to your image doesn’t alter it, only the interpretation of it by your software and how it appears on your monitor and in a printout.
Setting Up the Photoshop Environment 1. Open Photoshop. 2. Select Edit > Color Settings. 3. Select North America Prepress 2 from the Settings menu to set Adobe RGB (1998) as the RGB working space and activate all profile messages. 4. Click OK. Follow the steps in the next section to open the photo you want to print and assign a profile to it. Assigning a Profile to Your Photo 1. Open the photo you want to print. 2.
Select one of the following as the Profile setting: ■ A different RGB working space (or Profile), such as sRGB IEC61966-2.1 ■ A camera profile for your digital camera ■ A scanner profile for your scanner Also select the Preview checkbox so you can see the effects of your profile choice on the screen. Tip: This is most effective when your monitor is calibrated using a hardware device such as the X-Rite ColorMunki Display, i1 Display Pro, or Datacolor Spyder. 3. Click OK. 4.
8. For the Rendering Intent, select Relative Colorimetric. Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual. This reduces the color saturation so that the colors fit within the printer’s color gamut. 9. Select the Black Point Compensation checkbox. 10. Click the Print Settings button. Follow the steps in the next section to select print settings to match the profile and print. Printing Your Color-Managed Photo 1.
5. Select Custom as the Mode setting, then choose Off (No Color Adjustment) from the drop-down menu. Note: Make sure that you select Off (No Color Adjustment). If you don’t, the printer driver will apply additional correction to the image, producing inaccurate results. 6. Click OK.
7. Select the correct orientation for your photo. 8. Click Print to print your photo. If you get unexpected results, see “Solving Color Management Problems” on page 34.
Printing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom This section explains how to set up your printing environment in Lightroom. Selecting Color Management Options 1. Open Lightroom. 2. Select the photo you want to print. 3. Click the Page Setup button. 4. Make sure your Epson professional printer is selected.
5. Select the Size of your paper, the Source you’ll use to load it, and the correct Orientation for your photo. 6. Click OK. 7. Scroll down to the Print Job panel in Lightroom. 8. Under Color Management in the Print Job panel, select Other as the Profile setting.
9. In the window that appears, select the profiles you want to add to the Profile list that correspond to the printer and the papers you’ll use. If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profiles that also match the Print Quality you want to use. 10. Click OK.
11. Under Profile, select the profile for the paper you’re going to print on. If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profile that also matches the print quality you want to use. 12. For the Rendering Intent, select Relative. Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual. This reduces the color saturation so that the colors fit within the printer’s color gamut. 13. Click the Print button to print your photo.
Printing Your Color-Managed Photo 1. Make sure your Epson professional printer is selected, then click the Preferences or Properties button. 2. Select the Source and Media Type settings for the paper you’ll use for the print. 3. Select Quality Options as the Print Quality setting. You see a window like this one: 4. Turn off the High Speed and Edge Smoothing options, if they are available, then click OK to close the Quality Options window.
5. Select Custom as the Mode setting, then choose Off (No Color Adjustment) from the drop-down menu. Note: Make sure that you select Off (No Color Adjustment). If you don’t, the printer driver will apply additional correction to the image, producing inaccurate results. 6. Click OK to print. If you get unexpected results, see “Solving Color Management Problems” on page 34.
Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.7 Follow the instructions in these sections: ■ “Printing with Adobe Photoshop CC or CS6” below ■ “Printing with Adobe Photoshop CS5” on page 24 ■ “Printing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom” on page 29 Printing with Adobe Photoshop CC or CS6 First set up your color management environment in Photoshop and assign a profile to your image. Then select your print settings and print.
3. Select North America Prepress 2 from the Settings menu to set Adobe RGB (1998) as the RGB working space and activate all profile messages. 4. Click OK. Follow the steps in the next section to open the photo you want to print and assign a profile to it. Assigning a Profile to Your Photo 1. Open the photo you want to print. 2. If you see an Embedded Profile Mismatch message, select Use the embedded profile (instead of the working space) and click OK.
4. Select File > Print. 5. Select your Epson professional printer in the Printer pop-up menu. 6. Under Color Handling, select Photoshop Manages Colors. 7. Under Printer Profile, select a profile for your printer and the paper you’ll use. If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profile that also matches the print quality you want to use. 8. For the Rendering Intent, select Relative Colorimetric. Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual.
Printing Your Color-Managed Photo 1. Select your Epson professional printer in the Printer list. 2. Click Show Details or d to expand the Print window, if necessary. 3. Select the Paper Size and media path settings that match the paper you’re printing on. Tip: If you’re using a fine art paper, make sure you choose the correct media path or the media type selections will be grayed-out. 4. Click Layout on the pop-up menu and select Print Settings (Mac OS X 10.8) or Printer Settings (Mac OS X 10.7). 5.
7. Click Save. 8. Select the correct orientation for your photo. 9. Click Print to print your photo. If you get unexpected results, see “Solving Color Management Problems” on page 34. Printing with Adobe Photoshop CS5 First set up your color management environment in Photoshop and assign a profile to your image. Then select your print settings and print.
Setting Up the Photoshop Environment 1. Open Photoshop. 2. Select Edit > Color Settings. 3. Select North America Prepress 2 from the Settings menu to set Adobe RGB (1998) as the RGB working space and activate all profile messages. 4. Click OK. Follow the steps in the next section to open the photo you want to print and assign a profile to it. Assigning a Profile to Your Photo 1. Open the photo you want to print. 2.
■ A camera profile for your digital camera ■ A scanner profile for your scanner Also select the Preview checkbox so you can see the effects of your profile choice on the screen. Tip: This is most effective when your monitor is calibrated using a hardware device such as the X-Rite ColorMunki Display, i1 Display Pro, or Datacolor Spyder. 3. Click OK. 4. Select File > Print. 5. Select your Epson professional printer in the Printer pop-up menu. 6. Under Color Management, select Document. 7.
Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual. This reduces the color saturation so that the colors fit within the printer’s color gamut. 10. Select the Black Point Compensation checkbox. 11. Click the Print Settings button. Follow the steps in the next section to select print settings to match the profile and print. Printing Your Color-Managed Photo 1. Select your Epson professional printer in the Printer list. 2. Click Show Details or d to expand the Print window, if necessary.
Note: The Color Settings (Mac OS X 10.8) or Color Mode (Mac OS X 10.7) will show Off (No Color Adjustment). 6. If you are using an Epson Premium ICC profile, set the Print Quality (Mac OS X 10.8) or Output Resolution (Mac OS X 10.7) setting to match your profile. 7. Click Save. 28 Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.
8. Select the correct orientation for your photo. 9. Click Print to print your photo. If you get unexpected results, see “Solving Color Management Problems” on page 34. Printing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom This section explains how to set up your printing environment in Lightroom. Selecting Color Management Options 1. Open Lightroom. 2. Select the photo you want to print.
3. Click the Page Setup button. 4. Select your Epson professional printer in the Format for pop-up menu. 5. Select the Paper Size and media path settings that match the paper you’re printing on. Tip: If you’re using a fine art paper, make sure you choose the correct media path or the media type selections will be grayed-out. 6. Select the correct Orientation for your photo. 30 Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.
7. Click OK. 8. Scroll down to the Print Job panel in Lightroom. 9. Under Color Management in the Print Job panel, select Other as the Profile setting. 10. In the window that appears, select the profiles you want to add to the Profile list that correspond to the printer and the papers you’ll use.
If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profiles that also match the print quality you want to use. 11. Click OK. 12. Under Profile, select the profile for the paper you’re going to print on. If you’re printing with Epson Premium ICC profiles, select the profile that also matches the print quality you want to use. 13. For the Rendering Intent, select Relative. Note: If your image contains very saturated colors, select Perceptual.
3. Click Layout on the pop-up menu and select Print Settings (Mac OS X 10.8) or Printer Settings (Mac OS X 10.7). 4. Select the Media Type setting for the paper you’ll use for the print. Note: The Color Settings (Mac OS X 10.8) or Color Mode (Mac OS X 10.7) will show Off (No Color Adjustment). 5. If you are using an Epson Premium ICC profile, set the Print Quality (Mac OS X 10.8) or Output Resolution (Mac OS X 10.7) setting to match your profile. 6. Click Save, then click Print to print your photo.
Solving Color Management Problems If you selected the wrong combination of source profile, printer profile, and color management settings, you’ll get unexpected results. Try these solutions: ■ If your printed image is darker than expected, you may have turned off color management in both the application and the Epson printer driver. In Photoshop, return to the printing instructions for Windows or Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.7. Make sure the Document option is not set to Untagged RGB.
