My inkjet prints have different colors than I see on the screen
Week of January 23, 2005
Q: I have been using a Canon Digital Rebel with an Epson Stylus Photo inkjet printer. The printer uses six inks, which I have been told is the minimum needed for accurate color reproduction. Still, my photo prints are extremely color shifted and do not look like my computer monitor. I was given aftermarket (non-Epson) ink cartridges with the printer. Could they be causing the problem?
-Greg Hope, Pleasant Hills, PA
A: There are many reasons why inkjet prints do not look like the image on the computer monitor, or do not resemble real photographic prints.
It is possible the aftermarket inks do not conform to the manufacturer’s specifications. If you want to repeatedly make accurate photo prints from an inkjet printer, it is important to keep things consistent. The easiest way to do this is to stick with ink and paper from the printer’s manufacturer. They designed and tested to work well with each other, and the printer’s software has preloaded settings for the paper so colors are reproduced accurately.
So, the first step should be to go to the manufacturer’s inks and paper. When you install the new ink, give your printhead several deep cleanings to remove remaining aftermarket ink.
Next is the issue of color management. All of the devices you use in the reproduction chain probably look at color a little differently. First, your digital camera records the image and interprets colors a certain way. When you transfer the image to your computer and open it in the software, the software will interpret the color and send the information to your computer’s video card, which takes the data, interprets it and send it to your monitor, which has a bunch of picture settings of its own, like a television does. Then the info is sent to the printer, with its own driver software and color settings.
By the time your picture has gone down this long and crooked path, it can be very hard to get an exact match of the scene down on paper.
Professional photographers use a device called a color calibrator to adjust their monitor and configure the computer and printer so what they see is accurately reproduced when they make prints, whether they print them out themselves or use a lab. Using a calibrator is easy- just load included software on your computer, plug the calibrator into a USB port, and hang it on your computer monitor. The software runs test patterns that the calibrator reads and uses them to automatically adjust the monitor. For serious digital photographers, it is the only way to go.
Not long ago a color calibrator required an investment of at least several hundred dollars. As digital photography has become more popular, prices have come down dramatically, making a calibrator affordable to just about everyone. Colorvision offers a calibrator for home users called the Colorplus. It does a great job and costs only $119. You can see it at www.colorvision.com.
If you do not want to go that far, there are two systems that will help you reproduce accurate colors automatically. Most cameras and printers support Exif 2.2, also called Exif Print. Epson has a system called PRINT Image Matching, which works much in the same way. The systems are not cross compatible, and to take advantage of them the camera, software, and printer must all support the system in use.
With Exif Print or PRINT Image Matching, when the camera takes the picture extra information is recorded on the digital file. The software takes this additional information and uses it to set the printer to make accurate-looking prints automatically. Both systems work well, especially the Epson PRINT Image Matching system.
Canon cameras like your Rebel support Exif Print. The latest versions of Epson’s printer software support Exif Print as well as PRINT Image Matching. Check the version you have and download the new copy if necessary if you want to try it.
