Cs4PSD InDesign Epson SP1400/PM-G4500 Benq G2400w Colorsync Huey

Question

Situation: printing a 30pg book from indesign onto my Epson printer.
Problem: colors are do not match screen, while printing from Ps and Id
Possible reasons:
1. non-postscript printer
2. monitor uncalibrated
3. settings in colorsync
4. settings in psd
5. huey is not insufficient as a monitor calibrator. need another color management hardware: screen-to-papaer matching, thingy???
6. maybe i need to create new profiles: monitor profile, paper profile
What i know/ What I have been told/ What I've already performed:
printing from epson desktop printer:
1. keep images at RGB
2. save as eps8bit-but this is for outsourcing to a printer company
3. if all else fails, when colors don't match, print in illustrator or acrobat
4. printer head and alignment has been performed numerous times
5. ink has been changed every 2 -weeks
6. settings in psd:
Adobe RGB (1998)
U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2
7. test printed on epson super fine paper in CS4 PSD
"document: Epson sRGB" also "document: Adobe RGB (1998)"
"photoshop determine color"
"SP 1400 1410 PQIJ"
Results:  prints still look bad
What i don't know:
1. i'm guessing this printer isn't post-script, does it need to be in order to match what i see on screen and on paper
2. how to create new profiles, do i need to???
3. CS4 still unstable with epson 1400/ pm-g4500
4. huey: after calibration in a dark room, creates a monitor profile that has more red tint. is this right?
Hardware:
Japan Epson PM-G4500 (U.S. epson Stylus Photo 1400)
using the epson driver: 12571.dmg -(u.s. driver, i can't read the japanese version), so im using their paper profiles are shown in PSD
Benq G2400w
5 default settings: using the sRGB setting: un-edited
Huey Monitor Calibrator
??? 1.0.4 software update, sometimes appears on the desktop menu bar, sometimes not. somewhere it is said i might need to extract files and place into preferences, don't know details, so can't perform this task
OSx: 10.5.6
SystemPreferences/Displays/Color/DisplayProfile/ D65 G1.8 A??? turned off Huey and Calibrated by eye
then applied Huey. it came out to d65 G2.2 A0.00. cannot be edited---Huey GAVE MY MONITOR A MORE RED Tint
CS4 Psd 11.0.1
CS4 Indesign 6.0.1
Colorsync:checking a total of 82 profiles    13 bad files??? don't know if this is relevant to the problem
when opening file:
Embedded: Epson sRGB, so I Discard and use Adobe RGB (1998)
saved as tiff, jpeg, psd
PSD settings:
RGB: Adobe (1998)
CMYK: U.S. SWOP
Color Management:
Document (Profile: Adobe RGB (1998)
Photoshop Manages Colors
Printer Profile: SP14001410 PQJI ("super fine paper")
people have mentioned to turn of colorsync to improve color matching. cannot turn of colorsync in psd. it is grayed out and is autmatically selected.
so, i opened the  "preview" software:
file/print/colormatching/ the option to choose color sync or epson is there. but i have to select one.
Suggestions, anyone
1. Do i need a rips software: ex. Colorbyte's product, "Imageprint" my epson is only a sp 1400/pm g-4500, so is this necessary?
2. Get a different monitor?
3. Buy a different monitor calibrator?
4. Do i need to trash/replace anything in the preferences?
i know i have a monitor calibration problem, but i also have a printer problem. What should I do? I've seen test screens available on the internet, but I don't want to make corrections just by eyesight. Is this my only option left?

Answer 1

Rich....answers below you questions.
--agree, i think the monitor [i have] is for purely gaming. big mistake on my part. i will try to pick-up a huey pro. if i recall correctly, huey pro allows you to edit the profiles. i could be wrong. are there any monitors you suggest, IPS??? i think that's what they're called? i just found a name-drop on the apple web store;p --"eizo"
If you are serious about color matching, start with a monitor profiling package.  Your monitor may be more than good enough, so save the money.  You'll need a monitor profiling package anyway, so start there.  Then, if that doesn't cut it, get a new monitor.  Unless you are doing high end work and have money to burn, you probably don't need an Eizo.  Nice, but expensive.
Second, you need an accurate printer profile for your printer/paper/ink combination, and you need to print with the correct settings and profiles.
-- to tell you the truth, for this project, i will be using non-epson paper. i will research these vendors for their paper profile, if available- Kokuyo. yes, its non-epson, but their are some cool papers out there that are "dying" to be used by someone.
Profiles provided by paper and/or ink manufacturers vary tremendously.  Even the good ones are only good for printers that closely adhere to the "standard" used to generate the profile.  If your printer happens to be coincide with the standard, great.  But, even then, some profiles are well made and others are not.  Try them and see how they work.  If they work great, fantastic, but you still need to compare your results to a properly calibrated and profiled monitor, otherwise, forget it.
...ambient lighting and viewing lights will also affect your perception of the viewed print, so they need to be controlled.
--I'm using 2 flourescent lights. one, close to the screen to the left and the other a ceiling type for the entire room.  i've tried huey both at night and during the day. checking the monitor,  colors, and prints, i preferably, do during the day.
You probably have bigger fish to fry, so save the lighting for later.  If you can, look at your prints using filtered daylight (e.g., soft, indirect light from a north facing window, with the sun in the south.  Don't hold the print next to a green or red wall, bright yellow curtains, etc).  Filtered daylight will give you fairly accurate representation of the colors in your print.  When ready for viewing lights, we can talk again.
...then you will need a postscript RIP, but that seems unnecessary, especially at this level.
--i'm trying to stay "low-brow" as long as possible. Is messing with the curves the best work around, so far. the work ahead of me looks daunting. ;p
Don't get a RIP, especially at this point.  Get the basics handled and it is highly unlikely you will need a RIP.
I don't have a Huey, but I have heard mixed reviews on them.
--are there any that you suggest?
i1 Display is a decent, cost effective package.  Check with www.Chromix.com and see what they suggest.  This package will ONLY profile monitors, not printers.  If you want to generate your own printer profiles, be prepared to spend a lot more money.
  other questions:
1. are you using color sync throughout your workflow? No...I am working on a PC, which doesn't have colorsync.
2. there were 19 damaged profiles out of 39 in my color sync. is it important i fix these? Not even sure what this means.  Check with a Mac person.
3. from what i understand so far, there are profiles for the following:
a. epson paper
b. monitor
c. photoshop/ and illus.
Am i missing the concept here?
If all the files in this book were created with an embedded EpsonRGB, theoretically I should print to epson with the printer profile set as: EpsonRGB. its one straight line, but i'm guessing this is one way. i have yet to test it. the other way of course, is to zero out all variables, use working profile when opening in psd and then print... that's what i've got to work out still.
I am guessing EpsonRGB is probably their captive name for sRGB, but I don't know.  You really need to understand the concepts before getting hung up on details.  Real World Color Management is the place to start.  Typically, you will be dealing with three types of profiles....Monitor profiles so your images display accurately, printer profiles (inkjet, press, etc) which will make sure your colors print accurately, and working space profiles (sRGB, Adobe RGB, ProPhoto RGB, etc).  They all tie together, using a device independent, mathematical model of human vision as the universal translator.  Get the book.
4. i presume printing the book as a pdf on acrobat is one "work-around" solution.
It depends what you mean by work-around.  Yes, you can output to PDF, but you still need to make sure you are not screwing up the color by improperly implementing color management.  The principles still apply.  You can hose the color in a PDF too if you don't handle it properly.
5. from what it sounds like creating a post-script is not necessary, so i'll focus more on the pdf printing in acrobat
If you are talking about sending a job to a printing press, I'd send InDesign or PDF files to your printer (or Illustrator for simple layouts).  The commercial printer will RIP the file and create plates for the press.  So, you don't have to create postscript yourself.  For simple inkjet prints, you normally don't need a postscript RIP.
6. come to think of it, i've had problems with printing on cs3, using the above mentioned monitor.
a. is this right? 1. calibrate the screen first.but how do i tell psd to tell the monitor that its too red: a.) color sync? b.) soft proofing
Again....Read Real World Color Management.  You need to understand the principles first.  Asking detailed questions without having a solid understanding of principles is the long, hard way.  A monitor profiling package will calibrate and profile your monitor, bringing it back to standard benchmark.  You want consistency and accuracy.