I need to determine if the print pipeline for a certain laser printer is RGB or CMYK. I used to know how to spin up a Photoshop file in a certain way and send to print.
With laser printers, Postscript drivers send CMYK color, while all others send RGB. With some printers you have several driver to choose from. I often do a *quick test* when working with a new laser printer, just to confirm it’s native color mode, and that a target is being printed without alteration. Visual profiling targets are really helpful here. Do do this I print both my Onsight RGB 8x10 Visual profiling target, and a CMYK P2P51H Expanded target. You can download these at https://www.on-sight.com/downloads/ <https://www.on-sight.com/downloads/> The other thing to note is *which application to send profiling targets from*. The Adobe Color Print Utility works great for RGB targets but often fails with CMYK targets to laser printers. Print CMYK targets from Photoshop - simply assign and print with the circa 1991 “US Web Coated (SWOP) v2” profile with RelCol and no BPC. A quick look at the printed targets will tell you which pipeline your driver uses. If the C, M, Y, and K ramps from the P2P51H Expanded target aren’t polluted with dots from other inks (IE; Yellow patches are 100% yellow with no other inks, Black patches are 100% blacks with no other inks, et) then it’s clearly a CMYK pipeline. If the P2P51H target has mixed ink ramps, and the appearance of the Visual RGB target has nice even transitions, excellent saturation and the litmus test at the bottom passes then you’re a go for RGB profiling with that same target. Good luck! Scott Martin www.on-sight.com Precise color science for printmaking professionals