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View Full Version : Print preview looks TOTALLY different than Photoshop window. WTF!?


thedustin
2004-07-28, 16:14
I have been having trouble with this. My window in Photoshop shows a totally different looking photo. WHY? My system is calibrated and what is in the preview looks exactly like what it prints. Why is it different than what photoshop shows?



http://homepage.mac.com/thedustin/.Pictures/Picture%201_small.jpg

Full size here (http://homepage.mac.com/thedustin/.Pictures/Picture%201.jpg)

Thanks in advance!

_thedustin

Brad
2004-07-28, 16:34
I've never trusted Photoshop's calibration system. It's only caused me trouble before.

Turning all of the color management options in Photoshop *off* will make Photoshop's workspace match the rest of the system.

billybobsky
2004-07-28, 16:36
photoshop blows monkey cheese...

Ebby
2004-07-28, 18:12
Instead of using Adobe RGB or whatever, use Apple RGB. (Photoshop->Color Settings->Working space) This uses the same color engine for both Photoshop and OS X. What Photoshop is trying to do is change the colors of your picture to mimic what it thinks will look right on your screen. Obvousily, something is not calibrated right. However, photos outside of photoshop do not get the same treatment.

PXLpainter
2004-07-28, 18:17
ColorSync profiles can be your best friend - or your worst enemy (mostly the latter). There are a lot of good resources for learning and understanding how to set up, calibrate and use these profiles online. In a nutshell, if you're not trying to match your printer to your monitor and only want to control monitor images, make sure all your RGB profiles are set to "Monitor RGB". It's the only way to asure WYSIWYG images! ;)

In another note, the Preview app never displays acurate color and can't be trusted. It should be punished.

thedustin
2004-07-28, 18:32
It is not the image opened in Preview only, but I am printing and choosing preview before the print, to view it. When I Print, the image comes out looking exactly like the preview image. Where is my calibration off? It is WAY off. Using my roommate's G5, with the same file, the preview and Photoshop windows match, as well as the print. Ugh! I would rather be in the darkroom. Any online tutorial suggestions would be great. Thanks again guys. (or gals)


http://homepage.mac.com/thedustin/.Pictures/Picture 3.jpg

_thedustin

Ebby
2004-07-28, 18:35
if you're not trying to match your printer to your monitor and only want to control monitor images, make sure all your RGB profiles are set to "Monitor RGB".
:eek: EEK! Most certainly do NOT set your working space to your monitor profile! That's just... SO wrong. That will force your computer to work with only the colors your monitor can display and the color range of your monitor is tiny. If you set it to Adobe RGB (Best) or Apple RGB (close second) your computer will process the colors your monitor can't handle, keeping the photo much more accurate.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are trying. That is the first step in learning and understanding color profiles. Heck, I remember some REALLY dumb things I did that still make me chuckle before I knew how to use them. Color profiles are probably the hardest thing in Photoshop and theree are no really good resources out there because they can be used in so many different ways. No one way is the best since it varies per situation.

thedustin
2004-07-28, 18:37
I don't have a spider or anything, so what can I do to get calibrated w/o one. Most books only show how if you have a calibrator.

_thedustin

Ebby
2004-07-28, 18:45
Ta-Da! (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8142)

thedustin
2004-07-28, 18:49
Ta-Da! (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8142)

Well that software looks good. I will give that a try and let everyone know.

Check this out. All are the same file.

http://homepage.mac.com/thedustin/.Pictures/Picture 4_small.jpg

Full size here. (http://homepage.mac.com/thedustin/.Pictures/Picture 4.jpg)

WHAT IS GOING ON?!!?

_thedustin

Ebby
2004-07-28, 19:09
OK, I didn't believe you. Holy Moly that's nasty!

Here is a s screenshot from my professionally calibrated system.

http://www.ssba.com/lad/badcolor.jpg

That is probably just a bug. I would use photoshop's Print with preview option. You get more control anyways.

Mac+
2004-07-28, 21:36
I'm glad this thread is up.

I had the same problem in PS Elements after I edited one my photos from iPhoto. I could not understand how the colours could be so different. It really irked me - but b/c this was the first time I had ever used imaging software I preusmed I had done something wrong. :confused:

It really is poor product quality control if the Preview app is screwing it up and "can't be trusted"! :grumble:

I have no idea about different colour calibration stuff. I know that I just want my photos to have the same consistency with the original after they have been edited!

thedustin
2004-07-28, 22:49
Here is a s screenshot from my professionally calibrated system.

http://www.ssba.com/lad/badcolor.jpg


That is probably just a bug. I would use photoshop's Print with preview option. You get more control anyways.

Did your print look like the one on the left or the one on the right? Mine look like the Preview image, and it really sucks! I do use Photoshop's Print with preview option, but my images come out of the printer looking NASTY like yours does on the right. They almost match. For now I will just use my Roommates computer or go to the labs. i will also keep testing, so hopefully we can get to the bottom this.

_thedustin

Ebby
2004-07-28, 23:18
My prints look wonderful like the one on the left. Hmmm... :confused:

Eugene
2004-07-28, 23:52
My previews look just like the original images viewed in all other apps, including Preview.app. Photoshop is the exception since it uses Adobe RGB (everything looks slightly darker).

usurp
2004-07-29, 01:33
i don't think you should worry yourself too much about this. i am a graphic designer and i work with photoshop on a daily basis preparing images for print or for my artwork, yet i never noticed the "Preview" button in the print menu and never really used it.

My machine here is calibrated to match the specs of our Printing Press and I have never had any color issues so far. Yet when I followed the steps you took, which was open an image i already had and then choose Print > Preview... the image I had also got really saturated and the colors went all funky.

So my advice is ignore it, if you want to print something with Photoshop, use File > Print with preview, and then just print.

here is the image i was talking about:

http://www.unex-t.com/printpreview.jpg

MacHeadCase
2004-07-30, 09:14
I've had this too. I had just reinstalled Panther because some type of corruption was spreading slowly into the system, mucking up the HTML capacities of the system then the Java and so on. :grumble:

Everything was running fine after the installation of the Combo Update and various software updates. Then I tried to print with the Epson Stylus Photo 820 I have a photograph I had taken a few days earlier.

In Photoshop the picture looked fine. When I used Print and clicked on Preview the colors were way (and I do mean way) off. And what came out of the printer had the same way off colors... Just for fun I even tried to play with the color balance and add blue to the maximum blue and cyan (because that's what it looked like, the blue was almost non-existent in the print and preview window) but the print or preview didn't change colors at all!!!

I thought that I would check Epson's site to download the latest drivers and install them but that did not change anything (besides through chat a friend of mine told me I was better off using Panther's built-in drivers anyway...) the colors were still very strange. :\

Luckily I had cloned my system via Carbon Copy Cloner just before the Erase and Install and had stored it on an external FireWire drive just in case and to remind me what I needed to reinstall in terms of third party shareware I needed to reinstall with the registration codes, etc. So what I did was delete the ones I had on the iMac and fished out from the external HD the Epson drivers that were in the backed up system. Shut down the computer for some time and when I rebooted it, all was fine once again. The prints are great...

Hope this helps.

:D

thedustin
2004-07-30, 12:51
It is the latest drivers from Epson, you are right. That is why I can print from my roommates computer just fine, which has the old drivers. That is so irritating. Thanks guys.

_thedustin