MoboHaji
12-09-2006, 10:46 AM
How to setup your Color Settings and Printer Profiles in PS CS2 for a PC based Epson R2400.
Before we begin, I’d like to thank Landis for his great write up, color Management 101 and taking the time to call me so that we could walk though this Windows menus you will see below. With out his help, I’d still be walking in the Printing Dark Ages…and so would you if you are reading this write up. His original thread on Color Management (geared towards the Epson - Mac user) can be found here. (http://www.photozo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6148)
I’ll start off by saying that you should already have your monitor calibrated by a dedicated calibration system like Colorvision Spyder2 or Gretag/Macbeth Eye-One. You can also find websites (http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&q=calibrating%20monitor) that will help you dial your monitor in fairly close
The first thing we need to do is make sure you have the latest driver versions (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=54861&prodoid=53540920&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows) and some paper profiles. This link will take you to the Epson Windows driver page and paper profiles for Epson paper. If you are using another brand of paper, you will have to search for some profiles.
With your printer turned off, install the latest driver and paper profiles. Follow the on screen instructions and when you are all through with those, open PS CS2, but do not load an image yet.
Step 1 Color Settings
Go to Edit > Color Settings
Skip the Settings drop down menu for now. Make the following changes as needed:
Working Spaces
RGB: Adobe RGB (1998)
CMYK: US Web Coated (SWOP)v2
Gray: Gray Gamma 2.2
Spot: Dot Gain 20%
Color Management Policies
RGB: Preserve Embedded Profiles
CYMK: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Gray: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Profile Mismatches: Check both
Missing Profiles: Checked
Conversion Options
Engine: Adobe (ACE)
Intent: Perceptual
Check Use Black Point Compensation
Check Use Dither (8-bit/channel images)
Advanced Controls
Uncheck both of these
When you are done, your screen should look like this….
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/colorsettings.jpg
Now that every thing is setup the way it needs to be, click on save and give it a name that will make sense to you. I’ve called mine Landis, since Landis is the one who showed me how to set all this up. They give you the option of saving some notes as well. You can if you like or just click on Okay. Once this is done, you never have to so this part again.
Step 2 Printer Profiling
Now open up a photo in PS CS2. Unless you have been using Adobe RGB as your working space in the past, the below window will pop up…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/embeddedprofile.jpg
You want to change that to Convert document’s colors to the working space and click on okay. Note what the title bar on top of your image says. It will read the file name @ x% and then in parentheses the profile. My old ones said File Name.tif @ 25% (RGB/16). Just jut that down for later reference.
Now, hit the Ctrl+P key to bring up the printer options….
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/printeroptions.jpg
This is where Epson gets a little vague on what some of the setting really are. On this screen you can set your paper source as need and also the paper type and size.
Next, click on the Advanced button in the lower right to bring up this screen…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/advprinter.jpg
We will brake this screen down into it’s sub parts.
Paper & Quality Options
These settings should be carried over from your choices on the last screen.
Orientation
Also carried over from the other screen
Print Options
Reverse Order: Leave this unchecked unless you have a multi page document that needs to be printed in revere order
High Speed: Unchecked
Edge Smoothing: Checked
Print Preview: Your choice
Color Management
Here you need to check the ICM radio button. This will change the way the screen looks to this…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/finaladvprinter.jpg
Check the Off (no Color Adjustment) check box. Now, click on Save Setting and name it some think like your paper type and resolution. By the Save Setting button you can see I’ve named mine PGlossyBest. This tells me it is for Premium Glossy Photo Paper (by Epson, about the only thing I ever use) and that it is for Best Photo resolution. Once it is saved, you will be able to use the drop down box to select this setup from now on. You might also want to check the Show this screen first option. It will bring this screen up instead of the simpler print option screen like normal…it will make it easy for you to select the Paper and Resolution settings with just that one drop down. Click okay to close this screen and then Cancel on the Print screen as we are not ready to print just yet.
Step 3 Proofing Setup
Go to View > Proof Setup > Custom
This will give you the screen below…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/proofconditions.jpg
In the Device to Simulate drop down box, select the paper profile that you installed at the beginning of this process. If it was the Epson paper profiles, select the SPR2400 PremGlsy BstPhoto.icc option (or the .icc for the paper you use). Change the Rendering Intent to Perceptual and click Black Point Compensation. You can play around with Simulate Paper Color…it seems to help on some setups and not on others.
Now save this condition. Use a name that has meaning to it, like PGlossyBest, so you can tell at a glance what it is for. Click okay and we are done with settings. Now have a look at the Title Bar on your open image. It should now say some thing like, File Name @ x% (RGB/16/SPR2400 PGlossyBest). This means that every thing is using the same profile to give you the best print for your type of paper.
The last step is to go to File > Print with preview and it will bring up this screen…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/printpreview.jpg
Under Color Management, change the Print radio box to Proof. This will show the .icc profile you have loaded up earlier next to. Go down to Options and change Color Handling to No Color Management. Again, you can play around with Simulate Paper Color.
That’s it. We are done with changing settings.
Part 4 Making it all work
The next time you open a photo in PS CS2, the first thing you should do is go to View > Proof Setup. The default should now be that profile we just setup…PGlossyBest in my case (or it might just say Custom). We just want to verify that all the settings took.
Do any editing you would like to the photo and then print it like you normally would. Select Properties and if you checked “Show this page first” earlier in the setup process, you can just use the drop down window to select the profile you want. Click okay and print away.
If you use more then one type of paper to print your photos on, repeat these steps, starting with Step 2 for each of the different paper types you have profiles for. Just remember to change your Proof Setup and Print Properties to match the type of paper and resolution you will be outputting the new photo to.
Hope this was helpful and not to hard to follow.
Enjoy your printing
Before we begin, I’d like to thank Landis for his great write up, color Management 101 and taking the time to call me so that we could walk though this Windows menus you will see below. With out his help, I’d still be walking in the Printing Dark Ages…and so would you if you are reading this write up. His original thread on Color Management (geared towards the Epson - Mac user) can be found here. (http://www.photozo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6148)
I’ll start off by saying that you should already have your monitor calibrated by a dedicated calibration system like Colorvision Spyder2 or Gretag/Macbeth Eye-One. You can also find websites (http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&q=calibrating%20monitor) that will help you dial your monitor in fairly close
The first thing we need to do is make sure you have the latest driver versions (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=54861&prodoid=53540920&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows) and some paper profiles. This link will take you to the Epson Windows driver page and paper profiles for Epson paper. If you are using another brand of paper, you will have to search for some profiles.
With your printer turned off, install the latest driver and paper profiles. Follow the on screen instructions and when you are all through with those, open PS CS2, but do not load an image yet.
Step 1 Color Settings
Go to Edit > Color Settings
Skip the Settings drop down menu for now. Make the following changes as needed:
Working Spaces
RGB: Adobe RGB (1998)
CMYK: US Web Coated (SWOP)v2
Gray: Gray Gamma 2.2
Spot: Dot Gain 20%
Color Management Policies
RGB: Preserve Embedded Profiles
CYMK: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Gray: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Profile Mismatches: Check both
Missing Profiles: Checked
Conversion Options
Engine: Adobe (ACE)
Intent: Perceptual
Check Use Black Point Compensation
Check Use Dither (8-bit/channel images)
Advanced Controls
Uncheck both of these
When you are done, your screen should look like this….
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/colorsettings.jpg
Now that every thing is setup the way it needs to be, click on save and give it a name that will make sense to you. I’ve called mine Landis, since Landis is the one who showed me how to set all this up. They give you the option of saving some notes as well. You can if you like or just click on Okay. Once this is done, you never have to so this part again.
Step 2 Printer Profiling
Now open up a photo in PS CS2. Unless you have been using Adobe RGB as your working space in the past, the below window will pop up…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/embeddedprofile.jpg
You want to change that to Convert document’s colors to the working space and click on okay. Note what the title bar on top of your image says. It will read the file name @ x% and then in parentheses the profile. My old ones said File Name.tif @ 25% (RGB/16). Just jut that down for later reference.
Now, hit the Ctrl+P key to bring up the printer options….
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/printeroptions.jpg
This is where Epson gets a little vague on what some of the setting really are. On this screen you can set your paper source as need and also the paper type and size.
Next, click on the Advanced button in the lower right to bring up this screen…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/advprinter.jpg
We will brake this screen down into it’s sub parts.
Paper & Quality Options
These settings should be carried over from your choices on the last screen.
Orientation
Also carried over from the other screen
Print Options
Reverse Order: Leave this unchecked unless you have a multi page document that needs to be printed in revere order
High Speed: Unchecked
Edge Smoothing: Checked
Print Preview: Your choice
Color Management
Here you need to check the ICM radio button. This will change the way the screen looks to this…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/finaladvprinter.jpg
Check the Off (no Color Adjustment) check box. Now, click on Save Setting and name it some think like your paper type and resolution. By the Save Setting button you can see I’ve named mine PGlossyBest. This tells me it is for Premium Glossy Photo Paper (by Epson, about the only thing I ever use) and that it is for Best Photo resolution. Once it is saved, you will be able to use the drop down box to select this setup from now on. You might also want to check the Show this screen first option. It will bring this screen up instead of the simpler print option screen like normal…it will make it easy for you to select the Paper and Resolution settings with just that one drop down. Click okay to close this screen and then Cancel on the Print screen as we are not ready to print just yet.
Step 3 Proofing Setup
Go to View > Proof Setup > Custom
This will give you the screen below…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/proofconditions.jpg
In the Device to Simulate drop down box, select the paper profile that you installed at the beginning of this process. If it was the Epson paper profiles, select the SPR2400 PremGlsy BstPhoto.icc option (or the .icc for the paper you use). Change the Rendering Intent to Perceptual and click Black Point Compensation. You can play around with Simulate Paper Color…it seems to help on some setups and not on others.
Now save this condition. Use a name that has meaning to it, like PGlossyBest, so you can tell at a glance what it is for. Click okay and we are done with settings. Now have a look at the Title Bar on your open image. It should now say some thing like, File Name @ x% (RGB/16/SPR2400 PGlossyBest). This means that every thing is using the same profile to give you the best print for your type of paper.
The last step is to go to File > Print with preview and it will bring up this screen…
http://www.photozo.com/album/data/5768/printpreview.jpg
Under Color Management, change the Print radio box to Proof. This will show the .icc profile you have loaded up earlier next to. Go down to Options and change Color Handling to No Color Management. Again, you can play around with Simulate Paper Color.
That’s it. We are done with changing settings.
Part 4 Making it all work
The next time you open a photo in PS CS2, the first thing you should do is go to View > Proof Setup. The default should now be that profile we just setup…PGlossyBest in my case (or it might just say Custom). We just want to verify that all the settings took.
Do any editing you would like to the photo and then print it like you normally would. Select Properties and if you checked “Show this page first” earlier in the setup process, you can just use the drop down window to select the profile you want. Click okay and print away.
If you use more then one type of paper to print your photos on, repeat these steps, starting with Step 2 for each of the different paper types you have profiles for. Just remember to change your Proof Setup and Print Properties to match the type of paper and resolution you will be outputting the new photo to.
Hope this was helpful and not to hard to follow.
Enjoy your printing