Unable to turn off "printer manages color" in Photoshop

[billtils]

Just for fun, I downloaded the trial version of PS, to see how it played with my new printer. Following the advice in CIC's tutorial, and other places, I set it to print with Photoshop managing color and tried to follow the instruction to switch off printer manages colour. Nope - could not find any way to do that ...

[DanK]

Bill,

I print from Lightroom, but I suspect it's the same. If so, that isn't where you turn off printer management of color. You do it in the printer's firmware.

I'm assuming you use Windows. If so, when you call up the print dialog, you will see a properties button. Pushing that should bring up a dialog for the printer's firmware, with several tabs along the top. I don't have them in front of me, so I can't tell you precisely what is where. One of the tabs is where you set the type of paper, the paper size, which paper feeding mechanism you are using, and print quality, if I recall right. The next one is where you can tell it to do B&W, etc. That one has a section that is labeled something like "color matching." This is what you need. Click on it, and it will give you three options, one of which is "none". Choose "none" and the printer will not try to control color.

Let me know if this is too vague. I will be away the rest of the day but can later turn it on and look more closely.

Dan

[billtils]

Thanks Dan - I use an iMac, but will have a go at translating your advice into Macspeak

UPDATE: It appears that the On/Off switch may be redundant in a Mac which is why the option is not included in the Print dialog in PS. The paper color profiles are filed in a utility called ColorSync and when you select ColorSync as the option for color management and select a profile that is in effect turning off the "Printer manages color" function.

[Shadowman]

Just for fun, I downloaded the trial version of PS, to see how it played with my new printer. Following the advice in CIC's tutorial, and other places, I set it to print with Photoshop managing color and tried to follow the instruction to switch off printer manages colour. Nope - could not find any way to do that ...

What type of image are you trying to print, perhaps there is a generic setting if the image is monochromatic or you choose a specific paper or ink type in which "printer manages" is the default.

[DanK]

The paper color profiles are filed in a utility called ColorSync and when you select ColorSync as the option for color management and select a profile that is in effect turning off the "Printer manages color" function.

I found this on the web, but then again, one can find anything on the web:

Mac automatically turns off the in-printer-driver color management when Lightroom selects a profile and manages the color.

Can an experienced mac user confirm?

[billtils]

What type of image are you trying to print.

Thanks John, colour images on Permajet glossy or pearl.

I think that the dialog with Dan contains the answer.

[Manfred M]

Bill I haven't got access to a Mac right now and know that the print dialogues are a bit different from Photoshop on the PC and Mac.

It is a two part process as Dan describes it. The first step is to open the Photoshop print dialog box and then from it go to the Print Settings for your Canon Printer and change the setting there.

Unfortunately, as I don't have a Canon printer, I can't look at it either, but the work flow will be quite similar from Photoshop. This screen shot shows both with the predominantly white box is where one switches between Photoshop and the Printer managing colour. In the first (gray box) I have to tell the computer to used either Photoshop or the Printer to manage colour and in the second one I have to disable the printer colour management.

I'm back printing on a Mac on Thursday, so I can get some screen captures then, but unfortunately, still for an Epson printer.

[DanK]

Bill,

The dialog I mentioned includes a few other settings that you need to control printing properly, such as paper type and print quality. If controlling color isn't there on the mac, I don't know where the others may be.

On a PC, if you want to have the printer control color (or its absence, really), for B&W prints, you tell your software to let the printer control color and then go to one of the tabs on that dialog, I think the second, and tick the B&W print box. That's the key to having the printer use only black and gray inkis.

[billtils]

Dan

Paper type and profiles, and print quality are all good, as is color profiling. My uncertainty was about how to implement the generic instruction to switch off 'let printer manage colour' which turned out to be a non-issue for the Mac (just poorly documented by Canon and Adobe).

Somewhat sheepishly I should have worked this out since the prints themselves were fine - just got caught out with the eternal quest for perfection seasoned with the residue of a career in quality management where the manual rules the world (but only if it is complete and correct).

[billtils]

... the second one I have to disable the printer colour management...

Manfred

The screenshot and the smaller (LH) grey box are what I was getting, but nothing like the larger (RH) grey one, but as noted in my most recent post it seems it is not there for the simple reason that it is not required when using ColorSync.

Anyhow, bottom line is all seems good.