Reliable scan, monitor and print colors

The PS 911 Team is posting this one for all those who have written with printing problems:

[Quote:] Many, many people write with printing problems -- perhaps as many as 20% of all inquiries. While Photoshop 911 is not really chartered to field printer problems.

Getting Consistently precise color between devices is a challenge. Here's where to start.

Color relationships are important.

Consistently precise color management is an orchestration of factors between all the devices in the chain from creation of image to printing. All devices, scanners, monitors and printers require an accurate ICC-compliant profile.. If you do not have relative control then you cannot predict nor correct color problems because you don't know which device needs the attention.

For instance, you can scan and edit an image until it looks right -- but then it prints wrong because your monitor is not rendering the color the way the printer will apply the ink. Or, perhaps the monitor is correct but the printer is not putting down ink according to what the monitor shows you. This is also true across programs. Even with an accurate scanner profile, a difference in color space between the scanner and the software program may cause the scan to look incorrect and thus initiate retouching that in reality wasn't necessary.

Accurate profiles are very important and allow the editing program to correct for any gamut differences and display a scan's actual colors correctly.

Using ICC profiles will assure that your applications are compatible with your input and imaging eqiment.

There are four 'best' ways to achieve harmony between devices:
1. Build customized profiles for your specific devices. Requires professional profiling equipment and know-how.
Use the settings in the Custom CMYK dialog box to describe your device, and then save the settings as a color profile. (If enough people ask, we'll present a tutorial on creating custom CMYK space.
3. Obtain a profile created by the manufacturers of the devices you use. (In most cases, this will not override individual variations in the machines like age.)
4. Last resort: substitute an available profile from another source. (Mac OS users can usually rely on the Apple RGB monitor color space and can use the Apple monitor profile for these devices.)

Comments

[Jeremy]

I have a problem: in the Photoshop CS literature it says that you can print images as big as 300,000 x 300,000 pixels. BUT, I can't print anything bigger than 30,000 x 30,000. The "Print" option is greyed out (un-selectable).

If I change the resolution to 30,000 I am able to print jsut fine.

I tried changing from 16 bit to 8 bit (just in case that had something to do with it). It didn't solve anything.

PLEASE help! How do you print large images.