Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Printing in Qimage the yellows are very grey.  I have saturated further in Photoshop but it doesn't seem to do much good. I have tried increasing the yellow saturation in the adjust tab up to 50 and although it seems a tad better on the screen it doesn't print yellower. 

I am using PS CS5 with an Adobe 1998 color profile.

Is there another adjustment I can make in Qimage to saturate the yellows more.

It is not the yellow in the printer.  I have changed the cartridge, there is no blockage and when printing from other programs the yellow prints fine.

Are there any other adjustments I can make in Qimage to saturate a particluar color?

Thanks for any advice.

msmack

Hi,
This statement implies that you have printed through another application and the colours are better, is that so?
If you are using a fully colour managed process and the application is fully colour management aware, like Qimage, then the colours will be the same.
We need some more information:
Is you monitor calibrated & how? Which printer & paper? What is the printer profile? What are the settings (Job Properties) in Qimage (screen shot preferred). What are the driver settings for paper and colour management?
Yes there are but we need to get back to the fundamentals and answer the questions above. With colour management and a calibrated monitor, screen and print colours should match quite well.
Terry

... and to follow up on Terry's post, What driver settings are you imposing?
Do you use a printer profile? 
Can you post a screen snapshot of the Qimage main screen, or at least the lower right with Job Properties open.
What version of Qimage are you running?

Let us know.
Fred

Hi Fred and Terry,

This OP asked a similar question back in January. He/she did not have the courtesy to follow up on your suggestions back then, or to say how the problem was solved. You can generally only help folk who will help themselves.

Best wishes,

Ray

Thanks, Ray
Maybe a change of heart?
We always need to have information.
What printer? Which Qimage?
What driver settings?
Paper type? Profile, yes or no, which profile?
We can hope that the person will provide information so we can help.

It has been my experience that others read the questions and the answers and get a lot of "silent" help that way too.

Fred

Sorry you thought I was discourteous last time.  I am pretty much a novice in the printing arena and the tech specs you ask for.

No my monitor is not calibrated and I have no idea what my monitor profile is. I guess that pretty much puts the squash on this whole idea that there is a simple way to saturate the color thru Qimage.   I will tell you that I am using an Epson R1800 printer which I have had for many years and it still prints well.  The reason I have not calibrated my monitor is that for all these years, using Qimage, Photoshop, Publisher or whatever, the color on my prints have been extremely close to what I am seeing on the screen, and I have been satisfied. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it).  Being a non-tech user I did not want to have to get into the calibration and profiles of all that is necessary if I was happy. In the last several months printing in Qimage I find that the yellows are gray.  It is the only color I am having a problem with.

I am using Qimage 2010.209 and I do not use a Printer profile, but I do use Paper Profiles.  I use various papers, mostly Epson. Epson Exhibition Fiber, Epson Hot Press,on rare occasions I use Epson Matte and rarer still Epson Glossy.

The Epson R1800 print dialog box is pretty basic, allowing me to pick the paper size, a short list of Epson Papers which I have to pick the closest and the option to NOT use the printer for color management. I pick the true paper profile from Qimage.

I have changed the yellow ink cartridge and run several Head Cleanings and Alignments. There seems to be no issue with the yellow head.

When I say I have used the printer for other programs, I recently did a color brochure in Microsoft Publisher and the colors were terrific.

Looks like I am not running a fully managed color process.

I have attached the properties page from Qimage.

Thanks for your time.

msmack

 

The only other piece of information we need is the driver setting.
I also use an R1800 and love it.
See my screen snaps

Does your driver look like mine?
I call your attention to the dot on ICM and the checkmark in NO COLOR MANAGEMENT

Fred

PS I see that the image is set to Original size in the property box screen snap.
That means you prepared it elsewhere.
Does the image have an embedded profile?  Which one?
Also, please change the monitor profile to RGB.
I have to leave for a doctor appt. Terry will take over and guide you.
F

Hi Msmack,

Over time, your monitor settings will drift, and if you have not checked your monitor calibration, you may not realise this has happened. If you are in control of all stages of the final image production - i.e. you are not printing other folk's images, then you do not need to calibrate anything, provided what you are printing lies within the gamut of what you can see on screen, since you can make 'mental adjustments' between the screen and print e.g. if the print is dark, then darken the monitor, so that when editing an image you will be making the colours lighter, or simply over brighten the image, leaving the monitor settings alone.  However, it helps to get the screen display to be as good as you can, and to be able to keep it consistent, else you will be dealing with another set of variables.

One easy way of achieving a reasonable screen setting is by using  'Quick gamma' http://quickgamma.de/indexen.html

If you are using an Adobe product, and maybe some others, you may find you are inadvertently double profiling.

Basically, what I am saying is that I think for your purposes, set the monitor up as best as you can using Quick Gamma, say. The R1800 seems to be fine. The problem is most like connected with the profiles you have assigned - be aware that there is a difference between assign and convert to profile in photoshop.

Best wishes,

Ray

Some comments:
I see you have the monitor profile set to Adobe RGB. As it is not calibrated, setting a profile sRGB would be much better as it's close to most monitors.
I also see you have "Original Size" set which implies you have edited the image in another program and tagged it with a size there.
Depending on that editor program and its working colour space, it may or may not have an embedded profile that matched that of the image. If it does not, Qimage will default to sRGB which may be a mis-match with what the image actually is.
There's 2 reasons for colours not looking as they should o together with the driver setting advice Fred gave earlier.
Terry

Fred:

Yes, I have the ICM marked and no color management.  No, I don't print for other folks.

You see original on that screen shot only beacuse the last image was the original size.  Often I size in Photoshop, save and open from Qimage. Othr times I size in Qimage. The profile in Photoshop is Adobe 1998.

I have always used the SRGB color profile in Qimage but I changed it just the other day to Adobe 1998 because I was trying to figure out what was wrongand thought that might be the problem. Per your suggestion I have changed it back to sRGB.

For me, the most interesting thing is that the only color with the problem is the yellows.  There must be a way in Qimage to counterbalance the greyed yellows.  I am not sure  know how to manage the colors in Qimage other than the Saturation Box.  Even then it is hard to tell how much saturation is being applied as I can see it on the screen but not on the printed image.  Is it just a game of playing with that saturation setting until the image prints correctly.  I think once I find out what to do I can apply it to all the images.

Of course, I am guessing here.

Thanks for your time and patience.

msmack

Terry:

If my Photoshop profile is Adobe 1998, should my monitor profile in Qimage be sRGB?

Thank you.

msmack

Merrill,
See the attached screen snap. It is a sample of what I would like to see from you.
Can you tell us what your INFO box shows when you hover the mouse pointer over the image that has the weak yellows?
You open the info box by hovering over the image and right mouse button menu selection, Display INFO current thumb.
I would like to know what it says next to ICC profile. (Make sure the cursor is hovering OVER the image you want.)

Since you say you sized the image in Photo Shop, depending on the Option setting, you could have picked up an embedded profile that might be causing some grief.

If this is confusing, could you email the image to me?
wathree.ssz@verizon.net

Fred

Your monitor profile should ideally one made by a calibration device. Using sRGB is a compromise but sRGB is often close to a typical monitor profile.
Terry

Another thought.
No mention has been made of printer Nozzle checks. Wrong colours can often be the result of blocked nozzles.
The R1800 check pattern for yellow is particularly difficult to check and needs to be done with a magnifying glass.
See scan of nozzle check  pattern attached below - for an R800, same as R1800.
I suggest you do a nozzle check and clean operation if required.
Terry

That's a thought, I am still getting a green cast on prints.

I am running about like a BAF just now, and away to France this morning, I have purged all the feed lines of air and done various checks but don't think I did a nozzle check!

Jeff

 

As Much as I hold you in esteem as a friend and excellent photographer.... you are using inks that do not qualify you for blaming anything else in your system for green casts,
Your printer coupled with Epson paper, and the correct matching printer profile produce spot on color prints.
If you choose to use 3rd party inks, then you need to have someone make a profile for *that* ink matched to the various papers you use.
You can make the profiles yourself using Profile Prism or other applications designed for individuals to generate home printer profiles, or you can use an on line source for the profiles.
Cathy's Profiles is one that comes to mind.

Enjoy your trip and come back with more good shots.
Fred

I have run several nozzle checks, I have changed the cartridge and ran additional nozzle checks.  I still get a greyed yellow using Qimage.

I am using Espson Inks only.

msmack

You only get "wrong" colours using Qimage if the colour management and or the driver settings are wrong, or there is a mechanical problem with the printer (blocked nozzles)
Looks like it is time to take up Fred's offer in Reply #11 and e-mail the image to  him. He has an R1800 too.
Terry

Have you run a couple of cleaning cycles anyway? I would.
Please send the image....
Fred
wathree.ssz@verizon.net