Prints look muddy

Screen doesn't match prints... paper affects density of inks...

Doug DM from Mound MN USA, using Photoshop CS with Windows xp, writes in with:

[Quote:] My image on the screen looks perfect but when I print it out it comes out dark and muddy. I have to go back and boost up my screen image, reprint it look at it and sometime readjust two or three times before the print looks ok. I've tried adjusting the monitor as well. I also set the print properties to the proper paper such as bright white or glossy. Same problem. Glossy is worse than bright white. It wastes a lot of time, ink and paper. Can you help? (It's an epson stylus cx6400)

Reply:

Doug, go to the Epson web site and download the latest drivers for that printer. While there, see if they offer separate color profiles.

Once those are installed, open your color management dialog in CS and look for the printer profile. This should fix the problem.

You also want to be very sure to utilize Epson's printer driver to "optimize" the settings specifically for the paper you'll be using. The settings are under "Options" in the Epson printer dialog. Make sure to select "Glossy" or the grade paper you're using, and set the color rendering appropriately. Once you've gone through this exercise once, you should be able to rely on it for future printings.

The Epson drivers are very good about adjusting the amount of color sprayed through their jets -- matching the needs of the paper.

Watch for our upcoming tutorial on generating your own step-wedge print proofer!

Comments

[aman]

i want to merge a piece of text to a picture can anybody help please .i tried but was not able to make it look like real .

[Jon Woolley]

There is a website, www.colorguides.net, which sells Pantone spyder and profiler products. These software and reader packages allow you to calibrate your printer and monitor together. This will get you the best results. Good Luck.

[Anuj Choudhary]

Hi Friends,
My problem about color. when i use the color(in cmyk or rgb ratio) in my graphic, the color on monitor diffrent & on printer diffrent.how can i match it.

[Syd]

I have an Epson Stylus CX3500 and I had exactly the same problem. I calibrated my monitor and still had the same problem. After much fiddling around and also going through a lot of ink and paper I found that if I set the print space to "Epson Adobe RGB" regardless of what the source color space was (my working color space is usually sRGB) I got the best match between monitor and print. I found if I used my Epson CX3500 printer profile I got the worst match and the the print took on a burned look. A good tip is to check the "print preview" box under print options as the Epson Print Preview screen should give the most accurate reproduction of what the print will look like. This will also save you some money too. If there is a discrepancy between what you see here and what you see in Photoshop then you have selected the wrong (or inadequate) printer profile in your print space color management options.

[Shuaib's day]

Hello friends; thanks god i got a very nice blog about photoshop.

[Jarvis Grant]

First, I recommend that you start all over. If you are tweaking every print different ways, there is a problem in your workflow. The very first thing that you need to do is to calibrate your monitor. I would recommend using some kind of measuring device to do this such as Monoco's EZColor bundle. If you don't want to go that way, then you can use Adobe Gamma to visually "calibrate" your monitor. Also, make note of your environment that the monitor is in. You don't what to do this in a room with mixed lighting. Close the blinds and use only one source of artificial light. Don't have a florescent and incandescent lamp on at the same time. In fact doing this "visual calibration" may be better served in the evening hours. If possible, set the color temperature of the monitor to 5000 - 5500 Kelvin. Once you have set your monitors color temperature, contrast & brightness controls and run through Adobe Gamma, leave them alone. Don't change them or you'll throw off our calibration.

Next, get the latest driver from Epson with their ICC profiles. Other paper manufactures now supply ICC profiles for their papers. So be sure to install these profiles for the paper that you are using. If color management is a foreign language to you, check out the resource pages of Inkjetmall.com or www.dpandi.com.

Now for the printer. Be sure that the print heads are clean and aligned. Those small Epsons can clog pretty easily. So be sure to take care of it. Also, don't be fooled by Epson's marketing language. High dpi resolutions do not always give the best results. You may be better severed getting a dedicated printer for your photographs like the Epson 1280 or the R300.

[Luke]

I remember when those units came out when I was working for a retail office supply store. The inks in that machine are what epson calls durabrite. They are a special dye based ink that is more water and age resistant, but inorder to get the best results from it you have to use the durabrite paper and the original inks. Most epson papers will look fine, but can have a slight color quality loss. Hope this helps, but I knew exactly what you were talking about when you mentioned that you were using the 6400. We had a question about this and actually had to have our Epson rep send prints we had made to quality control at the epson corporate office to get the answer for us.