I used to know how to do this but it has been so long since I have needed to I have forgotten how. 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. IIRC, the procedure was along the lines of make a CMYK document, and create a black square of equal parts of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Then slap a smaller 100% black square on top of the CMY square and send to print. Something like that. Does anyone know the correct steps? Thank you.
I vaguely remember something like that from a long time ago. Now I just ask the shop what they want and then hope somebody doesn't change the RIP or send the file thru differently. Henry Davis On Jan 8, 2020, at 5:12 PM, PPS Lists via colorsync-users wrote:
I used to know how to do this but it has been so long since I have needed to I have forgotten how.
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.
IIRC, the procedure was along the lines of make a CMYK document, and create a black square of equal parts of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Then slap a smaller 100% black square on top of the CMY square and send to print. Something like that.
Does anyone know the correct steps?
Thank you.
Well if you're using a GDI or Quickdraw print driver, you want to send it RGB data for it's eventual conversion to CMYK plus whatever other colorants. Chances are, you want to be sending this printer RGB data. Andrew Rodney http://www.digitaldog.net/ <http://www.digitaldog.net/>
On Jan 8, 2020, at 3:12 PM, PPS Lists via colorsync-users <colorsync-users@lists.apple.com> wrote:
I used to know how to do this but it has been so long since I have needed to I have forgotten how.
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.
IIRC, the procedure was along the lines of make a CMYK document, and create a black square of equal parts of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Then slap a smaller 100% black square on top of the CMY square and send to print. Something like that.
Does anyone know the correct steps?
Thank you.
Hi PPS Lists, I thought I should respond as the resident expert responded by telling you to do RGB, when your question was about CMYK. The approach you outlined sounds right in principle: create a CMYK image with some overlapping swatches in CMY and K. If the printer processes it as CMYK you will be able to see a difference in the amount of toner / ink deposited in the swatches depending on the mix. As long the the driver doesn't transform the image. Printing CMYK requires Postscript which means the both the printer and installed driver must support it. If the driver is PCL, it's RGB only. I would expect a CMYK image sent to an RGB printer would produce an error, or just produce a blank area for the image, but not sure. If the printer is Postscript, it can take either or both forms of data at once. You may need to select print dialog options pertaining to color to ensure the data are not massaged. In some devices, it learns what to do from selected ICC profiles. There is lore that says if you create a PDF this can make getting CMYK data to the printer easier. This discussion considers some gotchas from an Adobe perspective. https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/printer-color-management-is-not-passi... Save CMYK as PDF from Illustrator https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/81048/how-to-save-as-adobe...
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
On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 01:46 Scott Martin via colorsync-users < colorsync-users@lists.apple.com> wrote:
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/>
I dig your 6 Faces test image! I found it looking for test images to examine this new wcg display. Thanks for putting that stuff on web. Source for the other CMYK target Scott mentions, plus more (yes, of course, any one can google but I was just there;) Hutch Color Test Images http://www.hutchcolor.com/Images_and_targets.html /wire
Hey Wire! No, actually the P2P51H Expanded Ink Analysis target is not on the link you’ve provided but it is on my downloads page: https://www.on-sight.com/downloads/ <https://www.on-sight.com/downloads/> But of course you could use the non-expanded version… cheers. Scott Martin www.on-sight.com <http://www.on-sight.com/> Precise color science for printmaking professionals
On Jan 10, 2020, at 5:23 PM, Wire ~ via colorsync-users <colorsync-users@lists.apple.com <mailto:colorsync-users@lists.apple.com>> wrote:
Source for the other CMYK target Scott mentions, plus more (yes, of course, any one can google but I was just there;)
participants (5)
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Andrew Rodney
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Henry Davis
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PPS Lists
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Scott Martin
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Wire ~