Color Shift During Printing

Hello Everyone,
I've been searching the web and these forums for a while, in hopes of gathering some information as to what may be happening when I attempt to print from Lightroom.
I guess I'll start with what's happening and what I've tried. I've been testing on 3 different platforms:
Windows XP SP2
Windows Vista
Mac OSX 10.4.x
Regardless of the platform (windows or mac) I do get predictable results. When I print, there's a noticeable color-shift in my output as compared to what's visible on screen. The print preview also shows the color shift that gets printed. I have a calibrated display (x-rite).
As I compare the output to another application (in OSX), the other application prints "as expected" and its print preview also display correctly.
The oddest thing I am running into is, in OSX I can set the OS's print setting the same for each application, and I still get the color shift in Lightroom.
Here's a screen grab of the color shift:
http://web.mac.com/camrewop/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
I'm at a loss, and I am hoping this is something silly that I have overlooked on my part. I've tried pretty much every combination of settings on the windows side of things to troubleshoot the problem, but have never gotten anywhere.
ny help would be greatly appreciated.

Agreed, there are some very long threads that weave in and out of this issue. In summary the issue appears to affect windows users (XP & Vista) printing with certain Epson and Canon printers.
I have an Epson Deskjet 5550 that produced prints from lightroom with exactly the symptoms described by others - dark, muddy colours and very weak reds. I have tested with another Epson printer, a Stylus Photo R200 and with this Lightroom produces perfect prints.
I have added ICC profiles for ProPhoto RGB and Adobe RGB in addition to the default sRGB. If you choose ProPhoto RGB as the default and print from another application (Picassa, Vista Photo Gallery) then you get prints that look exactly like the bad prints from Lightroom. This suggests that it is due to a problem with colour space transformation and nothing to do with calibration.
Many threads suggest turning off "Managed by Printer" but those suffering from this issue are likely to find that clicking on "Other" will give a blank screen with nothing available to select. So you have no choice but to use MBP. I found that after adding the R200 I finally had made some options available other than MBB.

Similar Messages

Color shift when printing

We have a Xerox workcenter 7655 at work and since I upgraded to Snow Leopard I get bad color shifts when printing. It's mostly too much magenta. I converted a cmyk file to a high quality pdf and the color was accurate when printing from a Windows machine but the light blue was badly shifted to lavender from my Mac. I tried different cmyk profiles when creating the pdf and printed the native file out of InDesign with the same results.
The print I get from the Windows machine has the same colors as what I see on my Mac's monitor. I do mostly web design now and have been out of the print end for some time. Until I moved to Snow Leopard, I didn't have this problem.
Can I get some ideas on how I can address this?
thanks

You answered your own question: CS5. There have been a slew of reports of workflows spun upside down when upgrading to CS5. It may require updating your system software and/or Adobe applications, along with any printer driver updates that may be lurking out there somewhere. The twist to your situation is ( and is very common ) that everything was working before and now it does not. Or there is a certain print disorder of some sort. Very troubling. I wish I had a smoking gun answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you have a very viable workflow in place that worked before and damn well should perform for you now. I'd stick with what works and dump what doesn't ( if you can ).

Color shift during video capture (moved from Nseri...

I have noticed that the video camera in my n79 is very sensitive to changes in light. Often I get a major color shift during a video capture seemingly for no reason, especially when shooting outside. Is this a defect or should I use a particular setting for video? Current settings are:
quality: High(TV);
scene mode:Auto;
video light: off(shooting video outside during day);
white balance: Automatic (this MIGHT be the culprit?);
Color tone:Normal.
Two stills from the same video are attached; the second, a few seconds later, is unnaturally vivid (almost day-glo!).
Thanks for any suggestions.

Wow, what a quick reply!
Delivery was going to be Quicktime HD and probably downconvering to SD MPEG2 for a DVD. I was just going to edit in HDV, since I'm not doing anything fancy, just to try it out as a workflow option (and previews for the client). The first couple of projects I've started on my Macbook Pro though have had this hue shift (I can post an example on-line if need be by filming my monitor...) It's not inherent in the actual captured QT file, just when being played back in FCP. When I export out of FCP the QT file looks great as well. I've never had this problem on my G5 tower with HDV from the same camera or captured the same way. I'm worried that it's the univeral copy of FCP or even worse, my Macbook!
Make sense?
Thanks

OS 10.4.6 is causing color shift in prints

Since I updated to 10.4.6 My prints have a severe red cast to them. All perameters used in printing are the same as previous and my Epson 2200 is working properly. I have color managment turned off in the driver and am using the correct prifiles fo the paper. I saw another post where others were having display problems but my images display fine but print badly.
Anyone else have this problem or a suggestion.
Thanks
Craig

Grrr!
I'm having the same issues as people above and as on some similar threads.
First, I've color managed for awhile. Beginning with calibrated monitors, Photoshop's "View" menu settings, my color space ...
I know not to double color manage, and I choose to manage through Photoshop. I've reinstalled everything and read these boards and other threads on the web.
Here are my problems.
I am getting severe color shift and cannot get an accurate print. I've spoken with Epson ($$) and Adobe. All fingers point to Apple. Going through the printing process, everything is fine until soft proofing before hitting the final print button. That preview ALWAYS shows a shift in color if any color management has been applied. (I just tested an image without any color management and there still is a shift.)
Today I trying to print blue hydrangeas for a town project; they are shifting toward magenta. Last week I worked on a town-wide Relay for Life (ACS fundraiser); night-time images with candles ... shifted green. (Again, my with calibrated monitors.)
Ironically, when I was on 10.3.7 I didn't have any trouble. After that it's been roulette. I have an Apple Care contract and called Apple. Understanding that not every rep knows the ins and outs of color management, I asked him to forward an email to someone who can help me.
Grrr. I was told that since Photoshop and Epson are not Apple products they can't help me. Surely, web searches show that this is known problem. (Some suggest trashing Apple's Generic RGB profile ...)
Can ANYONE at Apple help? Please? Isn't that what an Apple Care contract should do?
I have 20 (different) prints due to a family by tomorrow. I have an additional 150 prints due by Thursday. Am I expected to borrow someone's Windows PC and use it to send the image to my printer?
(Also, I've installed several icc profiles in the past, but can't install any currently. I'm trying to install Museo and Arches profiles.
What is happening? Newer profiles don't show up in the print driver's "Print Settings," "Media Type" pull down menu, no matter where I try to load the newer icc profiles.)
G4 - 1.5 GHz Power PC Laptop Mac OS X (10.4.7) OS 10.4.7; Epson 2200; Photoshop CS2; plus other peripherals not relevant to this issue.

[FIX] Darker prints and color shifts when printing from Lightroom 2

Hi,
The problem :
When printing RAW or TIFF files from LR2, you get a printer output that
is much darker than it should be and that presents various color shifts.
I'm using an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 with the latest Windows driver
(6.50 - which is rather old by the way). The workaround described below
works for me under Windows XP SP3. It should also probably work with
other systems/printers/drivers. Use at your own (minor) risk.
The "official" procedure for printing from LR is as follows:
1. Do not let the printer manage colors and select "Other..." from the
profile dropdown list and select the ICC/ICM paper/printer profile that
you want to use.
2. Click on Print... in LR which opens the Print Settings dialog.
3. Select the options you need and the paper you're using.
4. **Disable the color management from the driver's side** (in Epson's
drivers, "Mode | Custom | No Color Adjustments").
5. Print
Unfortunately, **this doesn't work** for many of us and this produces a
print that is dark and has color shifts as mentioned above. Note that
the same image prints correctly from QImage or Photoshop CS3 (that is,
the printer output corresponds to what you see on your calibrated
display).
Apparently, although color management has been (allegedly) disabled in
the driver, there's something wrong between LR and the driver which
makes that *both* LR and the driver are still trying to manage colors.
In other words, the "No Color Adjustements" option of the driver doesn't
seem to work with LR.
The workaround (found after hours of hair pulling and paper and
expensive ink wasting):
In step #4,
1. Instead of selecting "No Color Adjustments", set Mode to "Custom |
ICM
2. Click Advanced...
3. Check "Show all profiles".
4. Select Driver ICM (Advanced)"
5. Set **both** the "Input profile" and the "Printer profile" fields to
the very same profile that you specified in LR.
That is, if you specified Pro38 PGPP (Premium Glossy Photo Paper) in LR,
then also select Pro38 PGPP in both "Input Profile" and "Printer
Profile". This has actually the same effect has disabling color
management in the driver (what "No Color Adjustements" should normally
take care of).
That's it. When printing, you'll get exactly the same color results as
when printing from QImage or Photoshop. No more dark prints. No more
color shifts.
One might think that the bug is in the Epson driver but in that case,
QImage would have the very same problem. So I tend to think that the bug
is on the Lightroom side.
Note: Although Photoshop CS3 produces a correct printer output, it
demonstrates the same problem as LR when using the "Match Print Color"
option for soft proofing. But in that case, only the preview colors are
wrong. The printer output is ok. Which also tends to demonstrate that
Adobe has the problem, not Epson. Or maybe both... :-) .
Don't ask me why some users have the problem and other don't.
Hope this helps.
Patrick Philippot
MainSoft Consulting Services
www.mainsoft.fr

A sincere thank you for your reply, Michael. Sorry about the "it just doesn't make sense" shortcut. I have been trying to solve this issue since LR 1.1, spending dozens of hours on different trials and digesting everything written on this forum and the B9180 forum about color management and double profiling. My shortcut was a summation of my experience (and my frustration) but doesn't really advance the conversation. Here are some data that should be more useful in diagnosing the problem.
I am running Windows XP SP2. I calibrate my monitor monthly with the Spyder. The reason I suspect this may be an issue of double profiling is because the results (moderately strong magenta overlay plus an increase in contrast) match what more knowledgeable people than I on this forum describe when double profiling occurs. Perhaps I shouldn't presume it is double profiling, and follow Patrick Philippot's lead in naming the problem "color shifts." Patrick does refer in post #2 of this thread, however, to obvious double profiling.
I certainly do have a successful and consistent print method. With PS CS3, and either my Epson 1280 or my HP B9180, the output is almost always dead on. Here is how I do it. In PS from the print dialog box, under color handling I always choose "Photoshop manages colors." Then under printer profile I select the profile designated by the manufacturer for a particular paper/printer combination. Then in the printer driver I disable printer control of color. With the Epson I check the box "Off (No Color Adjustment)." With the B9180 I choose the option "Application Managed Colors." While I sometimes may tweak the final output, these procedures have served me well with PS for several years.
Contrasted with my positive PS experience, my experience with LR printing has been inconsistent. I regret having to be so imprecise but truly sometimes LR produces accurate results that match the calibrated monitor, but most of the time it does not. I use standard procedures with LR that parallel the PS ones described above. In LR's printing panel, under color management, I specify the correct profile, just as I did for PS. Then in the printer driver I use the same procedures I use with PS. Most of the time the prints have the magenta overlay and too much contrast.
BTW, the inconsistent LR printing only takes place with my HP B9180. I have never had any problem with off-color LR prints with my Epson 1280. Again, I emphasize that I have standard procedures that always work with PS (no matter which printer) and LR (but only with the Epson).
Unfortunately the LR printing problems are intermittent. Some of the time (perhaps 20%) LR produces fine prints in the B9180, indistinguishable from PS prints. When LR is printing well, it will continue to print fine until "something happens" and the output shows the color shift. This means I do not get a random sequence of good-bad-good-bad prints, but rather good-good-x factor-bad-bad-bad. Ths problem is that I do not know what this "x factor" is. Once, when LR was giving me accurate output, I simply changed the default printer (Control Panel-Printers and Faxes) from the B9180 to my Samsung 1430 laser; immediately afterwards the LR output colors shifted. Did LR react to this change in default printers? Another time I had good LR printing success with version 1.2 but ran into the problems described above when I upgraded to version 1.3.
Sorry for the long post. I am hoping that someone will see something that I am missing and provide a hint. I think, though, that Patrick is correct when he states, "I tend to think that the problem is with LR. After all, similar issues (obvious double profiling) are observed only in LR but with various printers."

Color shift when printing with LR 3.6

LR 3.6, win 7, screen Nec PA 241 W, Epson R 3000. When printing with colors managed by LR and paper/R 3000 profiles, I get prints with a strong color shift (printer pilot "mode" : desactivated) . How can I correct it ?

You answered your own question: CS5. There have been a slew of reports of workflows spun upside down when upgrading to CS5. It may require updating your system software and/or Adobe applications, along with any printer driver updates that may be lurking out there somewhere. The twist to your situation is ( and is very common ) that everything was working before and now it does not. Or there is a certain print disorder of some sort. Very troubling. I wish I had a smoking gun answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you have a very viable workflow in place that worked before and damn well should perform for you now. I'd stick with what works and dump what doesn't ( if you can ).

Major color shifts during softproofing in CS4

Hi All,
I'm new here and looking for some help. I'm running CS4 on MacOS 10.5.8. I'm not new to color management but am having a problem with a particular output profile that's driving me nuts.
I usually print at home, and get fantastic results using my home work-flow (and yes, my monitor is calibrated) but recently decided to try my local Costco for printing.
My working space is adobeRGB--I work on my file, save a copy as a tiff and then softproof using the Nortisu profile provided by Dry Creek photo for my local Costco. After soft proofing, I flatten, crop, resize and sharpen and then convert to the image to the Costco profile without the embedded colorspace.
My issue is when I softproof with one image, I get a major color shift--if there's a way to post the file, I'd be happy too. It turns a lime green frog into a greenish mustard color and I can't recover the color with any amount of adjustment (primarily with selective color channels with hue/saturation and curves layers). Most of my other photos have very subtle shifts in contrast and brightness, but no major color shifts.
Any ideas--I know they are using Fuji Crystal Archive paper and an 80,000 dollar Noritsu printer so I wouldn't think I would have huge out of gamut issues, but maybe that's the case?
Thanks for your help and if there's a way to attach the original file so people can see the softproof themselves, let me know.
Cheers,
Gabriel.

Tai Lao,
I'm confused--I am embedding the aRGB file into my original file. Next I am working on a copy of that image which I soft proof with the Costco Noritsu profile. Only after I have worked on the color shifted image to I convert the profile from aRGB to the Costo profile, so at no point is there no embedded profile in the actual file. Now, I did do an out of gamut check and lo and behold, the lime green (and that's the best discription of the frog's overall color) was completely out of gamut...what strikes me is that the color shift is so completely extreme!
Anyway, I'll have to try the color swatch option to choose an in gamut color which I hope closely resembles the color seen in the aRGB image...my question now is how do I view the color swatch!?
Here's another question--I assumed that sRGB has a narrower gamut than the printers profile, yet when I soft proof the aRGB embedded image using sRGB the color shift is not nearly as extreme. That's why I feel like something funky is going on using the costco Profile (which is downloaded from Dry Creek to answer someone elses question). Why would a narrower color space, such as sRGB, retain more of the file's original color than a wider color space, like the Costco Noritsu profile?
OK...thanks for everyone's help again.
Gabriel.

Color shift during export

I have just completed a project in Final Cut and I'm now ready to export to DVD Studio and I tried "Export to Quicktime Movie" but the overall colors became brighter. I've done plenty of color correction and I have my monitors calibrated and I see a BIG diference in brightness level.
What is the most accurate way of getting this project directly to DVD format or HD DVD format without any color shifts or further adjustments? And converting the audio to AC3.
The project is all in HDV 720p24 from a JVC HD101 camera.
The length is 15 min 15 sec 19 frms
I plan to put this on a SD DVD and make a HD DVD image ready so I can burn once I've bought a HD burner.
Thanks

Now I opened the same file in FCP and the colors are as the original ones, this must be because there's a diference in color spaces.
Most people won't be watching this on FCP but other players like quicktime or windows media player and I would not like them to see this shift in colors.
And what about DVD players?
If I drop this clip into DVD Studio Pro and see that the colors are like the original (though I still need to go through compression) will the colors remain the same when I use my Apple DVD Player and not shift like quicktime does?

Color Shift During Playback with ProRes

Hello,
I rendered a composite in After Effects using Apple ProRes HQ. When I import the clip into FCP and drop it into a sequence, the "paused" clip looks like it's a different gamma than when I "play" the clip. Both actually look incorrect: when paused, the clip looks dark. When playing, the clip looks too bright and the saturation looks very low. (Please note that I'm not using a broadcast monitor, just my Cinema Display.)
I'm not trying to color grade, it's just very distracting.
Anybody have a solution for this? I've tried looking for past posts on this, but haven't found anything on this particular gamma issue...
I've also noticed a similar issue if I make a project / sequence that's 1920x800 (2.40:1 aspect ratio). In this case, it doesn't matter what codec I use. Weird.
Thanks!

Sorry to open a dead thread, but I'd like to add some more information about this issue because I don't think it's a data rate issue. I just had a similar problem. I've been working on an animation project in AE at 1920x1080 23.98 and I thought I might save some time by rendering half-resolution clips to work with in FCP, knowing I'd probably be re-rendering a few times while I edited. So I output a 960x540 ProRes HQ clip, which did take very little time to render. I then created a 960x540 ProRes HQ FCP timeline to edit in. I immediately saw the gamma shift that sgmitch described. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I've done 1080p ProRes HQ editing on this system with no trouble in the past. So I did a little Googling and came across this thread.
I thought I'd test out the disk speed question by rendering a bit of the same sequence at 1920x1080. The data rate on that clip is 19.2 MB/s and the data rate on the half-resolution 960x540 clip is 8.6 MB/s. The full-res clip plays with no gamma shift in a 1920x1080 ProRes HQ timeline. But it turns out the half-res clip also plays with no gamma shift in that same 1920x1080 timeline, with or without rendering. When it's not rendered in that full-res timeline, it has an orange bar over it, but plays back fine. The half-res clip also has the gamma shift when playing in the Viewer, but not in QT Player. The 1920x1080 clip displays the gamma shift when placed into the 960x540 timeline and rendered. It will not play without rendering. 960x540 clips rendered using the Animation codec (33.3 MB/s) don't have a gamma shift in the Viewer or when played in a 960x540 Animation timeline.
There are no RT options in the drop-down menu for 960x540 timelines in any codec I've tried. I suspect the problem is caused by using non-standard resolutions with ProRes HQ, and it might also have something to do with the way AE saves gamma information in ProRes files. I know that came up when Frank Capria did that test last year comparing DNxHD and ProRes.
The obvious solution is to edit with standard frame sizes when using ProRes HQ. I know that's what I'll be doing.

Color shift printing from Lightroom 1.3

Windows Vista, HP officejet Pro L7580 printer, Lightroom 1.3, Photoshop CS3. All that being said and having used Photoshop since ver 5 with a variety of printers I find myself stumped with my latest soup of hardware and software. Screen colors do not print out anywhere close on paper when I try to print from Lightroom. Move the file over via "edit in Photoshop" and print from there and everything is fine. In Photoshop, whether Photoshop or the printer controls the color there is no problem. In Lightroom, however I have no control that I can find. I have no additional profiles so the printer controls the color. Photoshop and the printer are both set to AdobeRGB1998.icc. Other then just printing from Photoshop what am I missing in Lightroom?
By the way Adobe, in the future think about either Lightroom or Bridge but not both.

Hi,
Just a reminder for those who missed that thread (I guess this fix also
applies to LR 1 although I didn't check):
[FIX] Darker prints and color shifts when printing from Lightroom 2
(this is for Windows - Mac users please look here for a similar fix:
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr_13_print/lightroom_print.htm )
The problem :
When printing RAW or TIFF files from LR2, you get a printer output that
is much darker than it should be and that presents various color shifts.
I'm using an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 with the latest Windows driver
(6.50 - which is rather old by the way). The workaround described below
works for me under Windows XP SP3. It should also probably work with
other systems/printers/drivers. Use at your own (minor) risk.
The "official" procedure for printing from LR is as follows:
1. Do not let the printer manage colors and select "Other..." from the
profile dropdown list and select the ICC/ICM paper/printer profile that
you want to use.
2. Click on Print... in LR which opens the Print Settings dialog.
3. Select the options you need and the paper you're using.
4. *Disable the color management from the driver's side* (in Epson's
drivers, "Mode | Custom | No Color Adjustments").
5. Print
Unfortunately, *this doesn't work* for many of us and this produces a
print that is dark and has color shifts as mentioned above. Note that
the same image prints correctly from QImage or Photoshop CS3 (that is,
the printer output corresponds to what you see on your calibrated
display).
Apparently, although color management has been (allegedly) disabled in
the driver, there's something wrong between LR and the driver which
makes that both LR and the driver are still trying to manage colors. In
other words, the "No Color Adjustements" option of the driver doesn't
seem to work with LR.
The workaround (found after hours of hair pulling and paper and
expensive ink wasting):
In step #4,
1. Instead of selecting "No Color Adjustments", set Mode to "Custom |
ICM
2. Click Advanced...
3. Check "Show all profiles".
4. Select Driver ICM (Advanced)"
5. Set *both* the "Input profile" and the "Printer profile" fields to
the very same profile that you specified in LR.
That is, if you specified Pro38 PGPP (Premium Glossy Photo Paper) in LR,
then also select Pro38 PGPP in both "Input Profile" and "Printer
Profile". This has actually the same effect has disabling color
management in the driver (what "No Color Adjustements" should normally
take care of).
That's it. When printing, you'll get exactly the same color results as
when printing from QImage or Photoshop. No more dark prints. No more
color shifts.
One might think that the bug is in the Epson driver but in that case,
QImage would have the very same problem. So I tend to think that the bug
is on the Lightroom side.
Hope this helps.
Patrick

Colour (Color) Mis match printing from iPhoto/Mac

I have just purchased an Epson R340 and, while it prints perfectly well from the memory card, printing from my Mac results in poor quality prints. The photos are reddy tinged and (from photoshop) out of focus or blurred. This is also the case when I print from Quicktime. I have tried unchecking ColorSync in iPhoto as well as playing around with a few other set ups but nothing gives me the same quality as printing from the memory card. I am running iPhoto 6 and Photoshop CS. Has anyone encountered or managed to fix this problem?

Also note that you don't want color management turned on with both Photoshop AND the printer driver, as the colors will be managed "twice". This will cause that red shift you are seeing.
This is from Photoshop's help:
"If Photoshop is handling the color adjustment or color management options during printing, turn off all printer driver color adjustment options. If not, specify the color management settings to let your printer driver handle the color management during printing. It's important not to color manage in both Photoshop and the printer driver simultaneously during printing. This results in unpredictable color."

N79 video capture color shift

I have noticed that the video camera in my n79 is very sensitive to changes in light. Often I get a major color shift during a video capture seemingly for no reason, especially when shooting outside. Is this a defect or should I use a particular setting for video? Current settings are:
quality: High(TV);
scene mode:Auto;
video light: off(shooting video outside during day);
white balance: Automatic (this MIGHT be the culprit?);
Color tone:Normal.
Two stills from video are attached; one is unnaturally vivid (almost day-glo!).
Thanks for any suggestions.
Attachments:
dayglo.png ‏473 KB
normal.png ‏531 KB

Hi Bill,
Thank you for drawing my attention to the fact that neither QT Player nor WMP have color mangement built in. Not having worked a lot with video in the past it had really not occurred to me that mainstream players like QT and WMP in this day and age would not be color managed.
On your suggestion I went looking for MPC HC and discovered that it has had color management built in since version 1.4 (needs to be enabled - View\Renderer Settings\Color Management\Enable). Works like a charm. However, when publishing to the net I must assume that a lot of viewers are using non color management players such as QT, WMP and others, and thus getting a less than optimal viewing experience. Sad story...
Thanks again for putting me on the right track.

Color Shift in document being prepared for printer

This is about a book cover design being prepared to send to printer. It was on the back burner for a year. Synchronised color settings in Adobe Bridge to North American Prepress 2. Cleaning up palette (added unnamed colors and threw out unused ones). Converted all colors in palette to CMYK. A placed photo from Photoshop remains in RGB.
Two color warning dialog boxes have kept popping up:
"The RGB settings in this document are different than your current application color settings."
"The CMYK settings in this document are different than your current application color settings. "
I usually don't change what I don't understand because I'm afraid of a color shift.
At one point, however, I think I did: It suggested I change the RGB setting to Adobe RGB. I think I selected Adobe Working RGB. Since this is a document with print intent, I didn't think it mattered if I changed the RGB setting. I think it was previously sRGB. Seed right -- the Adobe RGB is more appropriate for print documents, right?
To make a long story short, the client is now complaining that the new PDF is different from the PDF sent a year ago. She printed the PDF on her inkjet printer and it is different also. The colors of the document elements in the older document appear much brighter, while the photo seems more subdued. The new document, the colors of the document elements appear duller and look less saturated, while the photo seems brighter and more saturated. The client prefers the colors in the old version.
I sampled each of the colors in the old PDF and the new PDF and they are the same (with the exception of one element in the old PDF that is RGB). So I know the problem is how the software is interpreting the color values, not that the colors have changed.
How do I get back the old colors for the document, which is ready to send to the printer?
I'm ever grateful for any help I can get.

I think the reason why this question is asked often is because the FAQ entry is pretty lame and incomplete, especially for Mac users that by default have a color managed browser and by default have a screwed up rendering mechanism for untagged images.
Depending on your version of Photoshop, you can convert to sRGB before or during the Save for Web operation.
cesspool13 wrote:
...I have been told that you are not supposed to embed the ICC profile in the document when saving for web because most monitors are untagged.
You convert to sRGB for the systems that do not fully support color management.
and...
You include the sRGB ICC profile for the systems that do support color management.
Doing both covers your bum in most situations. You may choose to omit the ICC profile if you are working on common interface graphics that do not require strict color management. The ICC profile adds a few kilobytes to the file size that are not necessary on lesser graphic elements on a web page.

How do I prevent the Darker Shade Box (color shift) around Vector Objects when Printing

Sorry in advance for the novelette. I am absolutely mystified and frustrated and would love some help! I've been working on this problem for about 30 hours over the last 4 days to figure out what the heck is happening and cannot find an answer through various forms of research.
Basically, when I print a JPEG, I am getting this area (a box) of darker shaded coloring around my heart and love text. I've tested it a million different ways and am at a loss as to what the problem is ... is it an application problem, a color profile problem between my applications and printer, an improper way that I saved my file, etc.
Here is a photo I took of the image printed out (so it is slightly skewed from camera distortion):
The details:
(1) I create graphic art and sell it online. I save all of my printable art as JPEG files because of my customer base (diy hobbyists that print on their home printers without much knowledge base nor graphic design software).
(2) I use both Adobe Illustrator (AI) and Photoshop Elements 11 (PSE11) to design and save my artwork.
(3) I insert JPEG images into Microsoft Word 2003 documents to "test print" since most of my customers use home printers to print. Since most people have this basic software, it is a good gauge of the kind of print out they might get using the same or similar software.
(4) My PSE11 color profile setting is the default sRGB. I have test printed many times and I get the truest colors with this color profile.
(5) My AI color settings are normally also an sRGB color mode, but on occasion, I use a CMYK color mode if I am creating a larger document that I know the customer will need to take to a professional printer to print out.
(6) I do my home printing (for proofs) on an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 (which has the 6 color ink cartridges).
(7) Until this printing problem occurred on this test print out, I always used the "photo enhance" option when I designate settings for my printer via the Microsoft Word documents.
IMPORTANT: This is when I have the color shift?? or color rendering issues?? and it is the only time. If I use the regular ICM/ICC color profile of sRGB, the printing issue doesn't occur. Instead, I have a solid color background instead of this one with the strips of lighter color on the top and bottom. However, I can't control how the customer prints, so I need to feel confident that whatever color profile setting they use, they will not run into this problem. I even test printed the documents over at FedEx and the darker box/color shift did not occur.
(8) The document in question only has 3 sets of objects: the heart, the solid colored rectangle colored background and the text. All 3 objects are vectors, they are at 100% opacity and there are no "special effects" applied.
(9) The image was entirely created in AI this time and exported as a maximum quality JPEG file, although you will see below that I tried many ways to create and save the file so that I didn't have the color band borders on top/bottom.
(10) I regularly use AI for part of my art, then I drag it to my PSE11 open document and it becomes a Vector Object (it cannot by copying/pasting into a PSE11 document). I also regularly export AI images as PNG files, then insert them into an open PSE11 document. This printing issue has not occurred until recently. Here is an example of a very complex AI image I created, then inserted into PSE11 just to add the background (the Teddy Bear and books are AI vector objects) that were exported as PNG files then inserted into PSE11 to integrate with the background image - I test printed with Photo Enhance and had no printing issues:
So, from the research I have done, it looks like it is a color rendering or color space issue with conflicting color profiles in the same document. I checked my color profile settings and both sRGB and CMYK were set to embed ICC color profiles.
I tried changing AI settings to Preserve Numbers (ignore linked profiles) for CMYK, but that didn't work.
I also checked and made sure that not only the document setup showed the sRGB color profile, but that all the objects within the document also were converted to sRGB as well for consistency. That didn't work.
I tried converting the document to CMYK along with the vector objects. That didn't work.
I tried saving the heart image as a PNG file alone, the "love" text as a PNG file alone, both the heart and text together as a PNG files alone. Once saved as PNG files, I inserted them into an open empty PSE11 document - as I normally do. I then added the background color I wanted. That didn't work - the print still showed the color changes.
I tried dragging each vector object separately and even as a group and got the same color change issue when printing.
I tried "expanding" and "outlining" the text before exporting as JPEG, before exporting as a PNG and before dragging as a vector object into PSE11. Expanding the text did not help the situation.
I tried exporting as Adobe PDF, then opening in PSE11, then resaving as JPEG. That didn't work.
I tried flattening transparency (even though there is no transparency in the AI file). That didn't work.
I tried rasterizing the image. That didn't work.
Thinking that the file might be corrupt, I started from scratch and redesigned the same heart and love text. Unfortunately, I had the same problem as before. At this point, my AI started becoming buggy and would not open new files. It happened repeatedly and I decided it was best to uninstall and reinstall AI (and maybe that would fix the problem).
I created just the heart in AI, then inserted it into an open PSE11 document (both after exporting as PNG and also by dragging as Vector Object from AI). It seemed to work. I could both drag the vector into PSE11 from AI and export from AI as a PNG, then insert into open PSE11 document with a background color - and it printed a solid background.
So, I thought that reinstalling and setting back to defaults worked. But, then I added the love text around the heart and tried exporting as JPEG files and the same problem continued to recur. Whether I dragged as a Vector object into PSE11 (the heart object and love text separately and also another time with the vector objects dragged as a group) or saved them as PNG files and inserted into PSE11 - I got the different shades of color on what should be a solid background. I even tried saving the PSE11 as a PSD file first, then resaving as JPEG and I tried saving as PNG and printing and this didn't help solve the problem.
I really think it is some color conflict issue but I can't figure it out. I am definitely not very knowledgeable about color profiles and how to sync all my devices, however, as I mentioned, this was not an issue until recently (and I think??? I recall changing the CMYK setting from Preserve Numbers to embed color profile a month or so ago - however, it should have been solved when AI went back to its defaults upon reinstall).
The reason I believe it is a color rendering/color space issue is because I could see the color output when I saved the JPEG with CMYK color profile versus sRGB color profile and the sRGB colors were much richer, not surprisingly. The top and bottom colors matched the sRGB printout and the middle darker box section matched the CMYK printout.
I am sure it is something fundamental or simple and I am completely overlooking it. I wish it were just a transparency issue, because people know how to fix or do workarounds for it. But, there are no vector objects with any transparency ...
If I missed some detail, I apologize. Any help would be a dream come true at this point! lol
Thank you!

Okay, I got motivated to try again. From doing a bit more research on troubleshooting AI printing problems, the Adobe article talks about print drivers. It was advised to uninstall and reinstall the print driver if the printing issue persists. So, I did. Unfortunately, I still had the same result after reinstalling and trying a test print! Ugh.
So, as Jacob said upfront, I seem to have an overactive print driver that is trying too hard (and it is a non-postscript printer which I realize is part of the problem).
There are so many variables in my situation as to how I create art and save/export art. I sometimes work solely in AI, sometimes solely in PSE and sometimes I use both programs to create. Consequently, I will:
(1) export directly from AI as JPEG if I am not adding PSE11 artwork.
(2) export directly from AI as PNG if I plan on inserting that image into PSE11 to add to artwork I have created in PSE11.
(3) drag vector objects as a Smart Objects directly from AI to PSE11 to add to artwork I am creating in PSE11 if I know I will playing with the vector object and resizing in PSE11.
So, I did a test print using scenario 2, where I inserted the heart and love text PNG (AI created vector object) into an old PSE11 document. This old document already had a vector object from AI with a solid background and I knew it printed correctly. So, after inserting this new PNG from AI into this old document, it printed correctly using the photo enhance mode.
However, I haven't had a chance to actually create new art in the older AI files (that I know print properly), resave as something else and try another test print (either by exporting as JPEG and printing in Word or by exporting as PNG file and inserting into PSE11 document, then saving as JPEG and printing in Word).
After testing the different possibilities of ICM settings within my printer, I found that the JPEG images printed out with the truest colors and best quality if I simply selected "no color management" from the printer. Shocker, huh? lol
MY SOLUTION: So, what I think I will simply do is add an instruction sheet with the printables I sell, explaining that the color profile setting should never be handled by the printer so make sure to turn off color management by printer (and if they feel they must use the printer for color management, make sure the setting is sRGB since I embed that color profile in my JPEG's).
Edited to add: Since my issue was never about how I could print a successful image (I knew I could simply change the color profile settings), but rather about how to make sure that customers would get consistent and high quality print outputs of my digital images, this seems like the best approach.
I don't think I will every really know exactly why I am now getting color shifts in the "photo enhance" mode when I did not have this problem a couple months ago - applying the same methods of creating artwork. I was concerned that I was saving/exporting using incorrect or mismatched color settings or something of that nature. However, since I went through the process of making my color spaces the same for everything, and I still have issue, clearly that is not the culprit. The only thing I can do to solve the problem and it is a straightforward solution anyway -> is to educate the buyer on how to print successfully (don't use photo enhance! ha ha).
Thanks again to everyone who chimed in and offered advice!

Color Shifts printing from CS3 Apps

I just loaded CS3 on my system (Mac OS 10.4.10, Dual Core Intel Xeon). I have an OKI5300 laser printer. I sent my client a pdf generated through Indesign, and we are both experiencing the same problem: severe color shifts in our print-out. Indesign prints color correctly, but both Acrobat and Photoshop (I recreated the design in Photoshop by copying and pasting the elements into it) were severely out of balance. However, Acrobat 6 professional, which I still have on my system, printed the original pdf file perfectly. Your suggestions on what to do about this problem.
Mary Moore

Problem resolved! I called in to support, as my CS3 package was brand new, and the CS rep figured it out. When printing from Acrobat 8 to a postscript laser printer, the program has a default setting in the print window, under advanced/color profile that says something like Color management by print device. He suggested I select No Color Management, use source profile. This I did and it worked. I think generally Adobe has, in the software, pretty good color management, so letting the software and not the hardware manage color is likely the best choice.
But you are likely right as well, i may also have to synchronize color spaces between software and devices.

Color Shift During Printing

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