I've been googling this non stop, but can seem to come up with a solution that helps me, so here's the question:

I'm using Windows 7 with Lightroom 3, and CS5. I have an Epson 3880 printer. I calibrate with Spyder 2 express 2.3.6

I can print out of Lightroom 3 with little problem, and the images matches what I see on the screen for the most part.

However, in CS5, the image is printing very dark with a green tint to it. Almost looks like a a different colour space all together.

I'm using ProPhoto RGB for a colour space and my print settings seem to be ok in CS5 with "ps manage colours", "perceptual", "black point compensation" on, and I'm selecting the proper ICC for the paper I'm using. Usually MOAB Rag Bright, or Entrada Natural. I also disable the printers colour management in the settings.

This is driving me absolutely bonkers. I really prefer to print out of PS so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is it time for some new calibration hardware and software?

Thanks in advance.

P.S I've also read quite a bit of colour management articles and my PS appears to be set up properly.

There is likely some setting that isn't quite right. Posting screen captures of the various printing screens in PS usually helps in diagnosing this problem, In Win 7 you can use the Snip too to easily capture each of the driver windows.

Here are three screen captures:

I don't see anything immediately wrong. What luminance value is your monitor calibrated to? If it isn't in the 90-110 range, you are likely getting dark prints due to that in PS. Also, are you soft proofing?

Hi there,

Pretty old topic, wonder if it's still relevant...

AFAIK when using Perceptual as Rendering Intent it is recommended to UNCHECK Black Point Compensation. But if Relative Colorimetric is used you should CHECK Black Point Compensation. This might do the trick?

An excellent printing workflow tutorial by Eric Chan for Epson printers can be found at:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/printworkflow.html


Best regards,

Jarno

I've never found that checking or unchecking the Black Point Compensation made any difference in Perceptual Rendering Intent.

Ok,then it might not be it I haven't done proper testing with those settings...

I too suffer from dark prints from CS5. I'll follow this thread with interest
Malcolm

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/downloadable_1/DL_page.html can provide grayscale and color test images.

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/colour_management/prints_too_dark.html addresses this subject. Look for other relevant articles there.

Well he is saying the same thing prints fine in LR so it's not a monitor calibration issue. I have printed on the same paper with identical settings and it comes out just fine. The only difference is that I use Adobe RGB colorspace. could it be a bug with Pro RGB conversion algorithm and the Epson driver ? Maybe try a couple of ARGB prints and see if they come out OK?

My prints usually come out darker too. I have heard that this is more of a PC (windows) problem than Mac. I usually screen my prints by 15- 20 percent when I print. That usually gets them where they were in the original photo.

Usually dark prints mean that the brightness of the monitor is too high. Do test prints where you vary the brightness of the final print vs the optimal screen rendition. That way you have a known brightness factor for all prints vs screen output. There is no way that a print will have the same look as a screen version as you cannot get the same contrast and brightness on paper, however a consistent workflow will result in a consistent print.

i'm having the same issue! In my case I'm using qimage or photoshop (same problem in both) with either app configured to utilize the 3880 premium luster icc and the printer driver configured for "no color management".

I've found that for most prints, setting a +13 brightness setting in qimage makes a print that matches my monitor. Before you warn that my monitor is off, I get the same results using reference images, including the one that comes with the spyder 3 which i used to profile both of my monitors.

The curious thins is that on a high key portrait, the +13 yielded blown highlights so it's not a panacea. I'm so frustrated I'm on the verge of returning the printer which is what epson told me to do . They told me they are getting thousands of calls about dark prints and have been recommending customers send back their printers. I have an RMA number to return but I'd love to find a real solution.

Here's a picture of how I have my setup: