Jodi ... Colors change when using ICC profiles

[rewarnke]

Jodi,

I have posted this message before but no one has been able to answer it to date. Can you give it a try?

I have an iMac that has been calibrated with a LaCie Blue Eye2. My printer is an Epson 1280. As long as I use regular Epson paper and use "Same as source" as the Print Space I get very good pictures. I have a supply of Pictorico papers like their watercolor stock that makes excellent prints but when I try to use their downloaded ICC profiles for that paper for use with the Epson 1280 the color shifts and turns a reddish color. I have the watercolor ICC profile but there are no instructions where to place the file or how to use it when printing with that paper. The Epson printer manual does not tell you how to use it, Elements 3.0 does not tell me, nor have I been able to find any step-by-step instruction on the net on what choices to make while using Elements to print my photos. Thank goodness they have a print preview as I was wasting too much paper.

Using Elements on the iMac with OS X can someone tell me what I need to do each step of the way? Where do the profiles (ICC) go? I have them in my colorsync folder but not the master one, only my user colorsync folder. This is driving me crazy. There are a whole group of major high-end inkjet paper companies (Ilford, Pictorico, etc) that post their ICC profiles for specialty paper for the Epson 1280 that I cannot use until I figure this out.

Thanks Jodi or anyone that can answer this question ..........

[Jodi Frye]

well geeze, i'm using windoze....but if you can translate this somehow...this is my path;

Download profile from web>put in C:Program files>epson>10026. Right click the profile>click' install profile'. Usually there is a 'read me' file attached to downloads that tell you which paper setting to use...so read those and write them down for all your profiles.

After all that restart Elements. Open image in Elements. Go to 'Edit>color settings'>set to 'full color management. Go to 'print preview' and click 'show more options' box. Click 'Color management' in the first drop down menu. Go to Profile and scroll though the profiles til you find the one you need. Click relative colormetric. Then click on the 'Page set up' button, find your printer,click properties>choose media type. This is important to choose the right paper setting that goes with the profile. Click Custom>advanced>choose dpi value ( nothing less than 720 for testing) turn off high speed, turn off edge smoothing>click on the No Color Management (important that this is OFF ). Click OK. The print preview IS NOT what you get. It will look real saturated and pretty bad all together. Click the print button.

Hopefully Wendy will be here to tell you the path to put the profiles if you can't find it.

Come back if ya need more help !@

[Jodi Frye]

forgot to say , turn off 'finest detail'.....that is a good option for text documents and fine line drawings but not photos.

[rewarnke]

Thanks Jodi. I have to go out right now and will try this later. The Mac has different settings and folders and I will try to work my way through it and I will try it on 4x6 paper so as not to waste my 8.5 x 11 during the experiments. I was able to do this on my XP machine but not on the Mac. For some reason this "easy to use" machine is not so easy for a new user.

Let you know later today how it all works out.

[Wendy]

Jodi & Richard,

Sorry I'm useless at this one as I have never installed a printer profile. I don't know what format a printer profile is in ... but try a search using Apple F to find something similar to the one you have.


Wendy

[Wendy]

Found it !! ... I think :)

OSX>Library>Printers>(name of your printer)>Profiles


Wendy

[rewarnke]

Wendy and Jodi,

I finally have made a decent print with the IC profile. Even though the profiles showed up in my menu they were in my user folder and not the public one. I copied them to both. I started out again and made a series of 4x6 prints (letter size was too expensive for the junk I was producing). I varied my setting each time. I tried this on my XP machine where I have CS and on my Mac with OS X. I wanted to use my Mac mostly as I have a USB port to the printer while the XP machine is parallel making the XP printing much slower.

What I found was that the XP and Mac machines behaved differently! Hard to believe but true. When I used the XP machine and chose the ICC profile for the color space the print on the monitor actually changed to a reddish color. I used no color Management and used appropriate printer settings after that. I got a good print. When using the Mac the print did not change when picking the icc profile in the color space, when previewed it looked reddish, but when printer with no color management it was fine! Its spooky and disorienting with no logic. I now merrily go forward using the ICC profiles for the paper I have, look at the print preview and blindly pray that what I see is not what I get. My next great leap of faith will be to try another paper type with new ICC profiles and do this again.

Thanks for all your help. Wouldn"t it be nice if the software worked the same on all machines? Maybe that's why reading all those articles almost answered the questions. They have so many operating systems, versions and software that one article just does not "fit all." :?

[/i]

[Jodi Frye]

rewarnke, so your prints are good ? I admit, I'm an ICC junky. If I find a freebie on the net I download it and test it out. I've been quite lucky with my Epson 785 epx. Seems I have been able to use profiles from the Epson 890,1270/80/90 with it and getting great prints. Tho paper makes a BIG difference. I really hate it when I get a phone call " Jodi, can you print something for me...I Have the paper "...and then they bring me some crappy so-called photo paper paper that my Epson refuses to even look at....picture a cartoon of the Epson closing up his paper entry and making a grimmace. I use Epson and Ilford paper only. Keeps him smiling ;)

[Mary]

'splain to me Jodi - what is Ilford paper and what makes it special over Epson paper?

[Jodi Frye]

Mary, it's relatively the same as Epson paper but costs less. I've only bought the 'smooth pearl' but dying to try some others as soon as I can afford it. I buy from Amazon but here is the ilford Galeri papers;

http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/prod_html/galerie/default.htm

[rewarnke]

Jodi and others .....

I use Epson paper as well as Pictorico which is a ceramic coated paper. Not cheap but very good and it is dry instantly. You can get it through B&H Photo and I think Adorama sells it. I have never tried Illford inkjet paper but when I printed from negatives in my darkroom Illford was one of my favorites, the Pearl especially. Jodi, you like they way the pictures come out? I use the Epson Premium Photo Glossy and the Pictorico Premium Photo Glossy. The latter is almost like a pearl but mike best be described as a cross between pearl and glossy. It makes nice sharp, colorful prints. I have also used Pictorico watercolor paper that has a nice weave to it making it seem like true watercolor paper. Anyone else out there with experience with other inkjet papers?

[Jodi Frye]

actually i was just at B&H today ( i buy from there too ) and they have a 'sampler pack' of illford inkjet....like 10.95 for 12 shheets...a little high but it may be something you would consider. I pay 12.99 for 25 sheets of the smooth pearl but they do also have glossy pearl that you might like...the price is right...I haven't tried it yet tho. Try Amazon for paper prices as well, sometimes they are alot cheaper than B&H....well, maybe not alot..but if I can save a buck here and there then I'm happy ;)

[rewarnke]

Jodi,

I check prices at both B&H and Adorama. The prices are moctly the same but I ordered from B&H the other day as they charged $3.00 less for shipping the same thing. B&H is a great store and wonderful to wander in. I am now living in Florida so I don't get in there much anymore.

Thanks for all the advice. If I run across any other papers that I have good luck with I will pass the info along.

[Jodi Frye]

Actually i do have an itchin' to try the Fine Art paper. I'm wondering if anyone gets away with sellin framed watercolor art that was actually digital based. Do you think they would tell ? An original would be an original regardless of the format...no ? I suppose I would not be one to mislead altho i wonder if it happens. Well, in today's age I would suspect it happens alot. Then again, perhaps selling the art with the slogan of 'original computer graphics' may be the advantage over trying to sell a glass framed watercolor painting as an actual 'brush' painting. We are in the digital era afterall.

What do you think ?

[rewarnke]

I recently went to the State Fair down here and ran across a digital "artist" who had framed photos taken with a Canon digital. He had a lot of money in equipmemt and did a wonderful job of framing and mounting. He prints on the Epson 1280, the same printer I have. The big differrence between him and me is he has that perfect eye for composition and he spends hours or days setting up the right light and setting for the shots. Here is a link to his site:

www.JimmyStroud.com

He was upfront with the fact that they were digital images printed on an inkjet. He uses Epson heavyweight matte paper as it lies nice and flat when mounting. They were beautiful prints. I have talked to a few other artists and they all seem to be very truthfull about the medium they work in. If it looks great then I will buy it no matter the medium. I will psychologically adjust the price I am willing to pay based on the effort that goes into the final product. I would expect and be willing to pay more for a true watercolor than a digital image.

Adorama has a variety of fine art papers under their own name. I will have to look to see if there are any variety packs for testing. They also have ICC profiles for their paper too.

Print on.......

:lol: