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Page 1, Data Sheet 4020, rev: Saturday, October 06, 2007

About Printers In General

It is now possible to produce photo-quality images from ink jet printers. While Epson, Canon and Hewlett Packard offer

specific models that are capable of producing photo-quality output, as of this writing, archival inks are only available for

some of the Epson models. Therefore, at this time, ColorBAT only offers full tech support for Epson models. Some of

these models are available for as little as $100.00 retail. If you are in doubt about which model is best for you, contact

ColorBAT.

All printers have specific driver-software that is included with them when they are sold. Also, there are drivers for a lot of

printers included within Windows-95/98/NT/2000/XP. Companies that manufacturer printers are frequently up-grading

their driver. The most recent driver up-grade is almost never found within the Windows Operating System.

The fastest, easiest way to get the most recently available driver for your printer is from the manufacturer’s Web Site. Be

sure that you know the version number of the driver that you already have before you log onto the Web Site. It will then

be easy to determine if the version of the driver that is available on the Web Site is newer than the version that you

already have.

If you do not have access to the Web, contact ColorBAT. For a small fee, we will be able to down-load the current driver

for you and send it to you on a CD-ROM.

Almost all printer drivers for the ―better‖ Epson models have included within them some provisions for selecting different

printing ―quality‖ modes. Be sure that you have set up the driver to deliver the best possible quality. If you don’t

understand the various setting options available within the driver, consult either the printer manufacturer of contact

ColorBAT for help.

About Adobe’s Photoshop

Photoshop is a very complex program that is used by many different professions. The truth is, photographers are a small

minority of the folks who use Photoshop. The great majority of folks who use Photoshop are art agency people who are

preparing images for eventual publishing in ink-printed magazines. Photoshop tries to be all things to all people. As a

photographer interested in calibrating Photoshop to your printer, you are probably most interested in adjusting your

system so that what you see on your monitor screen is what you will get from your printer (WYSIWYG). In YOUR case,

your ―printer‖ sits on the desk beside you. In the case of an art agency, their ―printer‖ is a company located on the other

side of town, or maybe in a different city!

With that in mind, you must understand that almost all of the instructions (concerning color calibration) contained in the

HELP files and even on Adobe’s web site are authored – not for you – but for the art agency guys who are outputting

work for ink printing (offset – CMYK – printing… sometimes called lithography).

Further, Photoshop has the ability to provide output in one of several different forms: RGB, CMYK, and Grayscale, etc.

(Continued on page 2)

Incredible BAT Machine

173 W. Frederick Street, Millersville PA 17551-1911 - voice: 717-872-2183 - FAX: 717-872-4583

Email: techsupport@colorbat.com Web Site: www.colorbat.com

How To Calibrate Your Epson Printer &

PhotoShop v7.x , vCS & CS2 & CS3

To Deliver Photo-Quality Printing

For Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista Users

Summary of content (23 pages)

PAGE 1
Incredible BAT Machine 173 W. Frederick Street, Millersville PA 17551-1911 - voice: 717-872-2183 - FAX: 717-872-4583 Email: techsupport@colorbat.com Web Site: www.colorbat.com How To Calibrate Your Epson Printer & PhotoShop v7.x , vCS & CS2 & CS3 To Deliver Photo-Quality Printing For Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista Users About Printers In General It is now possible to produce photo-quality images from ink jet printers.
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As a photographer, you are mostly concerned with the RGB method of output… unless, of course you are also providing files to clients who need to have the images offset printed (CMYK output). Of course, you may also be interested in printing black & white pictures. That will involve the use of the ―Grayscale‖ mode. These instructions are strictly for calibrating in the RGB mode. We will also provide instructions for printing in “Grayscale‖ mode.
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The exact type (brand) of ink that you are using also has an impact on color calibration. As of this writing there are several different brands of ink cartridges being sold for use with the Epson printers. Additionally, there are several different brands of bulk ink being sold for re-inking the cartridges and for use in ―continuous flow‖ inking systems. And, in recent months several different brands of so-called ―archival ink‖ has become available for the Epson printers.
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called Demon Drool. Since our pigmented, archival ―clone‖ ink (Demon Drool) is so close to the original Epson ink, you can use our ink in these printers without the need for any further profiling! Just use whatever color settings that you would have used for the original Epson ink.
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Be sure that you have correctly installed the full version (not the ELEMENTS version) of Photoshop on your computer. All monitors have controls on the front that allow you to set the BRIGHTNESS, CONTRAST and COLOR. If your monitor is new-out-of-the-box it is probably set up correctly. You can leave it alone for the time being. If it is a little older, then you might want to be sure that the BRIGHTNESS is set up to a general HIGH level.
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The ADOBE GAMMA dialog box is shown to the right. You can then click on either STEP BY STEP WIZARD or you can choose CONTROL PANEL. Click on the choice that is: CONTROL PANEL. Then click NEXT Drag the slider bar (see red-colored arrows) back and forth until you can just barely make out different black & gray squares. If, when you drag this slider bar back and forth you do not see any change on your monitor screen, it is because your video card is not compatible with Adobe PhotoShop.
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with color in general. In Photoshop v7.0 (or later versions) go to EDIT > COLOR SETTINGS In the WORKING SPACES area go to the RGB dialog box and select ColorMatch RGB. In the CMYK dialog box, click on LOAD and then choose the selection that says U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2. If you are going to be doing a lot of CMYK work, this will probably need to be changed to something that more closely matches the lithographer’s presses that you will have to interface with. Your lithographer should be consulted.
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Wide Gamut RGB - The primaries are the pure wavelengths of red, green and blue light. This space has a hugh gamut and will cause 24-bit files to fall apart due to posterization, particularly in the light greens. For adventurous folks who use a wide-gamut, 48-bit capture device, it may be a useful tool. Simplified Monitor RGB - This is basically your monitor ICC profile. Think of it as the ―work like Photoshop 4.0‖ option.
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The Image file, Calibrate_Image_1, is a PhotoShop .psd file that looks like the image to the right. The 4x5 (B&W) image is in RGB mode. It can be dragged from one corner to the other for making test prints. After you have made one test print, you can run the same sheet of paper back through the printer and print the image in another corner of the sheet. Just drag the image to a different corner of the canvas before making the next print.
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If you downloaded this document from our web site (and did not receive the CD-ROM) then you do not have the image Calibrate_Image_1. That’s OK. Here is how you can MAKE an image to use for calibration purposes! 1) Open any color image in Photoshop. 2) Go to IMAGE to MODE to GRAYSCALE. That will convert the color image to Grayscale 3) Now, the image will look like a B&W picture 4) Next, go back to IMAGE to MODE to RGB Color and that will convert the picture back to an RGB file.
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5) After converting the picture back to an RGB mode file, you might need to rotate the picture to a ―portrait‖ presentation (vertical). Next, you will need to re-size the picture to something about 4x5 inches @ 300 ppi. If the picture is only3.5 x 5 inches that is OK. But, it MUST be set to a resolution of 300 ppi and it must be in ―portrait‖ presentation (vertical). Next, create a new, blank, white canvas and be sure that it is set to RGB @ 300 ppi.
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Next,, in Adobe PhotoShop, go to FILLE to PRINT WITH PREVIEW Page 12, Data Sheet 4020, rev: Saturday, October 06, 2007
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That will bring up a window that will look like the one above. First, click on SHOW MORE OPTIONS. That will open up the bottom half of the window. Then Click on the arrow head and select COLOR MANAGEMENT. Then, below that, be sure that there is a check on: DOCUMENT: COLORMATCH RGB Just below that. In the area called PRINT SPACE, Profile,…... select ColorMatch RGB…. Or, with some of the newer printers (such as the R2400), set ―Epson Stylus R2400‖ in this space. Try it both ways if you have problems.
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Next, click on the word, PRINT. That will take you to this window, where you will click on the word PROPERTIES. Be sure that you have selected the correct printer that you are wanting to use in the dialog box at the top of the window. (Some folks have several printers connected to their computer).
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Click on the Mode ―Custom‖, then click on ―Advanced‖. Depending on the model of Epson printer that you are using, this screen may have a slightly different layout. But, just look for an option to set to CUSTOM and a place to click on ADVANCED. Notice that the ink cartridge icons in the picture above do NOT show any ink in them. This is because the ―screen capture‖ was taken from a printer that is on a ―network‖.
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Halftoning: Error Diffusion (if it is available… in the picture above, it is not available… this varies with different models of printers) image on the monitor screen. Try to evaluate two things… first, overall density of the print, and… second, the overall neutral gray tone. High Speed - This is OK on some models of printers, but it will usually cause a loss of quality in photo-printing with most models of printers. Try it both ways if you want to.
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You simply MUST be able to recognize the difference between CYAN and BLUE… between CYAN and GREEN…. Between MAGENTA and RED…. Between YELLOW and RED…. etc, etc. Study the Color Wheel pictured above. Try to understand that the Photographic Colors work together as ―pairs‖. For example, RED and CYAN are a ―pair‖. If you do something to INCREASE one of the pair, the other one MUST decrease by an equal amount… teeter totter style. GREEN and MAGENTA are a ―pair‖. And, BLUE and YELLOW are a ―pair‖.
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Neutral (correct) Too CYAN Too YELLOW Too BLUE Too GREEN Too MAGENTA These sample images may help you to recognize errant color problems in the test print. Of course, the “error” in these samples is gross for demonstration purposes. The error in YOUR test print might be much less.
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I have given the name of GLOSSY_COLOR to the settings that I have SAVED. Than, make another test print. To make another test print, go back to the image shown on Page 9 and drag the 4x5 image over to the opposite corner of the 8x10 page… and put the same sheet of paper back in the printer. Evaluate the second test print. Maybe you will need to move the slider bars again a little bit. Review the sample test images on Page 16.
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The slider-bar adjustments can only be set to a maximum of 25 units. Because we chose to use the ―ColorMatch RGB‖ working space, the 25 units of adjustment will probably be acceptable for almost any type/brand of paper that you might want to use. However, sometimes— depending on a lot of different variables—the 25 units of adjustment might not be enough for the BRIGHTNESS setting (depending on how you set the Adobe Gamma setting when we first started this calibration procedure).
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Notice that when you get to the screen shown to he right, you need to click on BLACK, meaning black printing (black ink ONLY) instead of color printing. When you click on BLACK, the color slider bars are grayed out and only the two slider bars that relate to B&W printing will remain. See the image to the right. Just as you did when you were making test prints for color printing, you will now need to make some test prints for B&W printing.
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Make a note someplace of the final settings that you wind up using. This will allow you to re-set things if your system ever crashes and you lose all of the configuration files on your C: drive. It happens! This is the place in the Epson driver where you can fine tune the color balance of your print. Here is where you make fine-tuning adjustments to calibrate the output from your printer to match what you see on your monitor screen.
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Some Final Pointers on Adjusting The Electronic File Before sending ANY file to the printer, take a minute to check the tone range and neutrality of the print. This is easily done with the INFO tool in Photoshop. Place the courser in the darkest, area of the print. Select an area that you want to print as SOLID BLACK in the finished print. Then with the courser in that area, check the RGB reading in the INFO tool. In the example above, the reading is 12, 11, 10.