Prints are over saturated - excessive print contrast - since upgrades?
Prints are over saturated - excessive print contrast - since upgrades?
- Subject: Prints are over saturated - excessive print contrast - since upgrades?
- From: Russ Widstrand <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 29 May 2014 18:38:18 -0700
Friend Dennis Dunbar introduced me to this ColorSync user group. Moab included in this email as well.
Problem Overview:
Files printed in Lightroom 6 months ago, do not print the same from LR today. Even though print settings are the same, same paper, same .icc profile, same printer, same monitor and same monitor calibrator. Prints are contrasty, especially deep blacks (blocked up) and prints are over saturated. The monitor looks flatter than the print (opposite of normal). Print settings have been triple checked. We have been printing in this workflow for years, we are typically adding more contrast and a bit more saturation to our RAW files. That has all reversed in the last batch of printing, since upgrading to Mavericks and LR5.
Possible culprits:
-An old monitor? SypderPro calibrator does not alert to any issues, monitor is still able to reach target brightness. And as the file and .xmp settings have not changed, but the resulting print has, it seems to rule out the monitor
-Mavericks upgrade? A "black clipping" "bug" has been reported with Mavericks, though this seems to be related to monitors, perhaps not prints. Could ColorSync upgrade in Mavericks have broken things? relating to LR 5? or .icc paper profile? Again, all print settings have not changed, icc profile is set correctly.
-LR 5 upgrade? Hard to distinguish LR from Mavericks, as the move from LR 4 to LR5 took place around the same time as Mavericks, hard to pick out which could be the culprit if either.
How to troubleshoot?
My client and I, both veteran color printers and photographers, are stumped by this over saturated and contrasty printing, completely antithetical to normal expectations (monitor vs print). How can I troubleshoot these "internal" and virtual digital processes, of which I have little to no control over, and no way to bypass, ie colorsync, printer drivers, osX and Lightroom, etc? If there is no "fix" how should we address historical files vs. new files, super confusing and frustrating, surely this cant be right?
ANY HELP ON WHERE TO START TROUBLE SHOOTING WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
Thanks Russ
Russ Widstrand Photographer
503 459 7020
Website • VCF Contact Card • Twitter • LinkedIn • Facebook
Equipment:
Apple 23" LCD monitor (pretty old, 10yrs)
SypderPro 3 monitor calibrator & software (up to date)
Mac OS 10.9.3 Mavericks (up to date)
Lightroom 5.2 (up to date, though not to 5.4)
Epson 3800 printer
Moab Entrada Bright Paper & ICC (up to date)
LR Print settings
Epson Driver Off
Enhanced Matte Paper
1440 dpi
Moab Entrada Bright.icc
Relative Intent
16bit
No print sharpening
No printer adjustments
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