[sbtm]

Hi all,

I've got a Canon Pixma printer IP4300. It has some superb print quality.

I read somewhere on the net the following:

[begin quote]
I bought a new Canon iP4300. And I just bought a new CD Tray F for it! It's
a pleasant upgrade from the old Epson R200. However, the ICC profiles that
come with the printer are not clearly marked so I don't know which one is
for what paper.

Canon IJ Color Printer Profile 2005
Canon iP4300 MP2
Canon iP4300 PR1
Canon iP4300 PR2
Canon iP4300 PR3
Canon iP4300 SP2
Canon iP4300 SP4

Thanks.

Canon IJ Color Printer Profile 2005 = Default and recommended for most
applications

* Note the following are for images created using the Adobe RGB (1998) Color
Space*

Canon iP4300 MP2 = Matte paper Quality Setting 2
Canon iP4300 PR1 = Photo Paper Pro Quality Setting 1
Canon iP4300 PR2 = Photo Paper Pro Quality Setting 2
Canon iP4300 PR3 = Photo Paper Pro Quality Setting 3
Canon iP4300 SP2 = Photo Paper Plus Glossy Quality Setting 1
Canon iP4300 SP4 = Photo Paper Plus Glossy Quality Setting 4
[end quote]

What intrigued my thinking was the note which says that the settings are for images created in Adobe RGB (1998) color space.

Now, I have never paid attention to the color space, but what I have been doing is that before I start working on any image that I want to print, I do a proof setup and match the selection to the paper that I am going to use. Then I edit and correct the image as I like and then print using the proof and I let "Photoshop determine the colors" and turn of color correction in the printer.

The results are just ok. They are not perfect but ok. Since they are only ok, is there something I am doing wrong? Do I need to do the proof setup or should I change something?

Please enlighten me.

[Larne]

Not an expert here but from what I have learned printers can display a wider range of colours than a computer screen can. The Color Space determines the number of colours that can be found in your image. sRGB is optimised for visual display and has a lower number of colours whereas Adobe RGB is optimised for print and has a wider range.

If you are just producing images for on-screen view (i.e. website use) then sRGB is perfectly fine. If you are producing images for printing then you want to go with Adobe RGB. The image will not look any different on the computer screen but you will get better graduation of colours in prints.

You can select the colour space for an image from within Photoshop. If you then let Photoshop manage the colour correction for the printer and use the right ICC profile for the printer then you should get correctly produced prints. They will not look exactly the same as you see on your screen, they should look better.

You also need to calibrate your screen to make sure that what you are seeing on the PC is correct otherwise what you will get out of your printer will be 'corrected' and so different.

[sbtm]

Makes sense Larne and thanks. I'll see what color space I am using and go from there.

I haven't calibrated my screen (properly at lease) but have used Adobe's Color Correction (found in Control Panel). Don't know how good that is!

Thanks Larne

[Dave Canon]

If you are using JPEG, you will need to set the colour space in your camera defaults (usually a choice of Adobe RGB(1998) or sRGB). If you use RAW then you must set the profile in your Raw Converter. You also need to set the working Colour space in Photoshop.

As Larne has said, it depends what your output is. If you only ever output to web you might set sRGB for all though I would not myself as you may decide to print in the future. Once you limit the colour space to sRGB, you cannot recover out of Gamut colours. If you are printing, then it is normally considered better to use the wider gamut of Adobe RGB (1998) which better matches the range of colours available on a printer. The differences are only in the cyan and green areas.

If you nevertherless decided to stick to sRGB for your process, you can still use those Canon printer profiles because PS will convert from sRGB fine it is just that you will have already reduced the cyan and green range. I have carried out a number of practical tests using my old Epson 1270 printer. Using a test chart you can clearly see that the higher saturated Cyans and greens are present for Adobe RGB (1998) but not for sRGB. However, I tried a number of real pics with lots of cyan and green and it was hard to see the difference. However, my printer is nearly 7 years old so there may be greater difference with a modern printer.

Dave

[silkstone]

If you do choose to use Adobe RGB, you have to remember to convert to sRGB to display on the web or in applications that are not colorspace-aware - which means many standard Windows apps. The colours won't be right if you look at an Adobe RGB image in a web browser etc.

[sbtm]

Thanks guys. I will try out the different settings and see where I get to.

[sbtm]

The setting on my camera was for sRGB. I have changed that to Adobe RGB (1998). When I open the image in CS2 it asks me something about the embedded profile mismatch, to which I answer to stick to Adobe RGB.

Now, should I do the proof setup immediatly after I open up the image or not change any settings?

[Dave Canon]

Sounds as if your working colour space in CS2 is not Adobe RGB (1998). If it is the same as your camera there will not be a mismatch and it will not ask the question. You need to set this in Edit> Color setting and select the appropriate profile for "Working Space".

On the other hand if you want to set your Camera to sRGB then set your working Color Space to sRGB.

Dave

[sbtm]

I have set the camera to Adobe RGB and have also changed the working color space in CS2 to Adobe RGB. I have yet to do a test print...