Color Issues

sara505

I just cannot get my prints to match my monitor.

W7
Dell 2209wa monitor
Spyder 3 Elite calibration system
Canon Pixma Pro9500

All of the above should be adequate tools to accomplish my goals, I believe.

I am missing something, somehow, and I can't figure it out.

All I can say is, as a way of explanation, in order to get my image in LR to match the print that comes from my printer, I have to raise the tint level to +47. IOW, my blues that look blue on the screen come out purple-ish in the print and the oranges on the screen look pink-ish in the print.

I have the same issue whether I am printing out of LR using paper profiles, or out of PS using no profiles (my printer uses my profile created by Spyder).

I should also add that the prints, in and of themselves - if you had not seen the original on the screen - are not objectionable. I just really, really want to be able to print what I see.

Any assistance would be much appreciated. Thanks!

(edited to add: yes, I see there are a bunch of links to a bunch of resources, as well as stuff all over the Web. I am in search of a more streamlined, simple, and personal answer)

sara505

sara505 wrote: »

I just cannot get my prints to match my monitor.

W7
Dell 2209wa monitor
Spyder 3 Elite calibration system
Canon Pixma Pro9500

All of the above should be adequate tools to accomplish my goals, I believe.

I am missing something, somehow, and I can't figure it out.

All I can say is, as a way of explanation, in order to get my image in LR to match the print that comes from my printer, I have to raise the tint level to +47. IOW, my blues that look blue on the screen come out purple-ish in the print and the oranges on the screen look pink-ish in the print.

I have the same issue whether I am printing out of LR using paper profiles, or out of PS using no profiles (my printer uses my profile created by Spyder).

I should also add that the prints, in and of themselves - if you had not seen the original on the screen - are not objectionable. I just really, really want to be able to print what I see.

Any assistance would be much appreciated. Thanks!

(edited to add: yes, I see there are a bunch of links to a bunch of resources, as well as stuff all over the Web. I am in search of a more streamlined, simple, and personal answer)

After running advanced tests via Spyder utility, I see that my temp of my monitor is running at 6300. I'm pretty sure it should be 6500. If my prints are appearing warmer than is being displayed, possibly this is the issue?

I should also add, WB and luminance are not the issues, it's tint.

arodney

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

sara505

Hi, thanks, but my prints aren't too dark.

arodney

sara505 wrote: »

Hi, thanks, but my prints aren't too dark.

Clearly you didn't read the article. Had you done so, you would see it addresses the exact questions you asked about (color temp).

sara505

I looked it over, did not see anything that caught my eye, seemed to be a lot of information that I am not looking for at the moment. I will go back and look again.
Thank you.

sara505

I am able to get a better print by going into the histogram and taking some of the red out (now the blue looks better), and printing via LR and letting the printer control the color (via my calibration profile). It may just come down to this for me: hard-proofing my prints and starting small. It's frustrating, though, that I can't get my prints to match what I see on my screen. And with all due respect to Mr. Rodney, and the multitude of color management tutorials out there, I need a more simplified, personal tutorial.

arodney

sara505 wrote: »

And with all due respect to Mr. Rodney, and the multitude of color management tutorials out there, I need a more simplified, personal tutorial.

I'm available for on-site personal tutorials.

Peano

sara505 wrote: »

(my printer uses my profile created by Spyder).

I don't print at home, so I'm far from an expert on this. But this sounds odd to me. Why is your printer using the Spyder profile? Shouldn't it have its own profile?

EDIT: Possibly I misunderstood what you meant by the printer "using" the Spyder profile. Did you perhaps mean that you embed that profile in the image?

If so, that could be your problem. Try saving an image with an sRGB profile embedded, and another save with an Adobe RGB profile. Print both and see if that makes a difference.

arodney

Peano wrote: »

I don't print at home, so I'm far from an expert on this. But this sounds odd to me. Why is your printer using the Spyder profile? Shouldn't it have its own profile?

The printer isn't using that profile. That profile however controls the display previews (along with the output profile too). The only way to get a visual match is to follow the instructions in the URL provided. That is, calibrating the display for a visual match of the output. You can't edit the table in the printer profile that controls the soft proof. Yet you must soft proof to get a proper preview (simulation) of what the print will look like, how else can Photoshop or similar color managed application show you this? It needs to understand the particulars of the output conditions and the output profile provides that. The area we can control is the display calibraiton (white point, backlight intensity etc). IF we control the calibration such that the preview with a soft proof and the print next to the display appear to match, we're all set!

There's no magic button or setting to do this, it's trial and error hoepfully using a display calibration product that provides sufficient control over the settings. Kind of doubt the OP is in that position with that product. Unfortunatly few products provide full control over this process, many are aimed at a simple push the button mindset and a lower cost and the results while better than no calibration are still a mismatch between what you see and what you get. We desire WYSIWYG, that's quite possible but takes a bit of work and the right equipment.

MomaZunk

Sara,
Are you drinking caffeine when assessing your color? (OK just joking)

How old is your Spyder? I have heard that as they age they start to shift in the reds. I never had this issue with mine, but thought I would bring it up as something to explore.

Also, I have come to the conclusion that I want my color work flow to create "predictable" results versus matching exactly.
Predictable over the elusive "matching" is a lower hurdle that I am happy with.

If you are having hue issues, I would bet there is a printer/software conflict somewhere.
If you are getting closer results from just using the printer controlled profile, then perhaps it is a conflict with software.
Is the printer control of the profile turned off for sure?

I am not an expert, but just thinking out loud.

I hope things get straightened out soon for you.

sara505

Thanks for the replies.

I have reached a happy place, I think. My issue was based on this file:
Tsissa #1: too much purple in the sky, top left.


Tsissa #2: using the histogram in LR, I backed off on the reds; sky is more true blue.

In print #1 the blues were too purple and the orange was too pink.
In print #2 the blues were perfect, but I never did get the orange I wanted - still pinker than appears on screen but much better than #1.

I ended up letting the printer manage colors, and the 3 or 4 prints I've made since this one have been very, very, close to perfectly matched.

When I go into my printer settings, I've selected "Driver Matching."

When I name my new calibration profile in Spyder3Elite, it indicates that this is the default profile my monitor will now use. Am I wrong in thinking that "Driver Matching" means that my printer is linked to my Spyder profile? (sure seems to be)

All I know is, when I let LR or PS manage colors according to the paper manufacturer's profiles that I download, I do not get good results (and yes, I do turn off color management in my printer).

The short story is, for now anyway (except for that orange that has me confounded), I am happy.

arodney

sara505 wrote: »

T
All I know is, when I let LR or PS manage colors according to the paper manufacturer's profiles that I download, I do not get good results (and yes, I do turn off color management in my printer).

Which indicates something on your end is still not correct, depending on where those printer profiles came from. LR and PS are color managed applications and they should be managing the color.

sara505

Out of curiosity, I'd love to know the answer, but to be honest, I'm happy with the way it's working now while letting the printer manage the colors.

waywardfool

Are you using factory inks, or aftermarket?

I had a similar problem when i went to aftermarket ink system, took a lot of figuring and trial.

sara505

waywardfool wrote: »

Are you using factory inks, or aftermarket?

I had a similar problem when i went to aftermarket ink system, took a lot of figuring and trial.

Thanks - factory, Canon pigment. Lucia, I believe it is.

Peano

What color profile do you embed in your images?

sara505

Peano wrote: »

What color profile do you embed in your images?

I forget - I think Adobe Standard, for the most part. Refresh my memory - is this the setting at the bottom of the LR Develop module? Is that what you mean?

Peano

sara505 wrote: »

I forget - I think Adobe Standard, for the most part. Refresh my memory - is this the setting at the bottom of the LR Develop module? Is that what you mean?

No, I was referring to the color space ... probably either sRGB or Adobe RGB. (It could be ProPhoto RGB, but I doubt if you're using that.)

Between sRGB and Adobe RGB, you often get color shifts, especially in the reds.

EDIT: I don't have Lightroom, but I found this page in Lightroom Help.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/help/export-files-disk-or-cd.html#main-pars_heading_3

Scroll down to "File settings" and, under that heading, "Color space." It sounds like Lightroom defaults to Adobe RGB. So you might try exporting your image in sRGB and see if that prints more faithfully to what you see on the screen.

arodney

Peano wrote: »

Between sRGB and Adobe RGB, you often get color shifts, especially in the reds.

Exactly how?