Prints too dark with new Imac and CS6 ... and how to fix it

I just spent a fair amount of time, ink, and paper trying to figure out why all of my prints were coming out too dark after upgrading to a new 27" Imac and installing CS6.  I finally resorted to Googling and found a few obscure references to what is apparently a bug where your prints come out too dark if you check the 16-bit output box anywhere in the print dialog.  Unchecked the box and all is well.  Just thought I'd share in case others run into the issue.

Thanks Mike - good info! Printing on a MAC has always been frustrating but I finally got it recently.

Thanks again!

Odd, because I know many that use the 16bit option from Lightroom. I've never tested in from photoshop. Just curious what version of OS X is on the mac and what printer you were printing to?

Wayne Fox wrote:Odd, because I know many that use the 16bit option from Lightroom.  I've never tested in from photoshop.  Just curious what version of OS X is on the mac and what printer you were printing to?

Photoshop CS6, Mac OS X 10.8.3, Epson 7880

Update :

I am now using Mac OS X 10.9.5 and Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 and I still have this problem when printing on an Epson 7880. If I check the 16-bit box in the print dialog, all prints come out at least a stop too dark. Any insights on why this happens or how to fix it would be greatly appreciated.

From what I've read, Adobe's position is 16-bit printing is broken in some Epson printer drivers. Regardless of whether that's the issue, or whether it's some other combination of Adobe / Epson / Apple (given the history of printing problems on Mac OS X), I haven't encountered a hint of a fix to this. Adobe claims the only work-around is to not select the 16-bit printing option. If it is the Epson driver, upgrading Mac OS X and/or Photoshop will not cure the problem. Whatever the source of the issue, it's most likely buried deep in the printing pipeline, someplace where users have no access or control of anything.

Windows doesn't support 16-bit printing yet through its standard print drivers, only through the alternative XPS print path which almost nobody supports. (Canon does make a special export plugin for Lightroom and Photoshop that supports 16-bit XPS printing, but the plugin has other issues when I've tested it.) I suspect gremlins with 16-bit printing will only be worked out once Windows comes on board with full support for 16-bit drivers... because then the major application and printer manufacturers will have the market demand to get to the bottom of 16-bit image data and associated colour management moves deep in the guts of the printing pipeline.

Thanks, Royce ... good to know it's not just me!