The Differences Between Apples and Apples
18 September, 2012 by
The Differences Between Apples and Apples
Jon Cone

A quick update for our Mac customers struggling with various versions of the Apple OSX operating systems since 10.4.7

The short of this is that the Apple OS has been growing (from a painful color management perpective) since the introduction of 10.5. And we here at Piezography now need to provide some instructions for users who have different combinations of Mac OS and Photoshop.

Our Windows users have a pleasant ride because they use a standalone version of QuadTone RIP. Mac Users must use the File / Print command and that calls Apple (literally) into play. Mac OS notices the user attempting to not use color management and rushes in to avoid something potentially disastrous (or why would they interfere?) from happening. From Apple standpoint – the only inks and printer systems are those provided by the OEMs. And the OEMs do not provide black and white printing systems. They provide color systems that can print black & white with color inks. Therefore, Apple insures that every print job running through their OS is color managed either intentionally or unintentionally. And they do this with good intentions. But, they forget about a segment of users who expertly print without the need of color management.

And no…Adobe is not at fault here. In fact, they have been trying…even to the point of releasing their own printer utility. But, in the latest versions of Mac OS – Apple intercepts the utility. What is needed is a standalone QuadTone RIP printer driver for Mac and we have been testing one for Roy Harrington. Like everything Roy does, this is an exceptional new piece of software. My understanding is that release is forthcoming. I wish we had had a standalone like this years ago as it could have really changed the way we offered Piezography to Mac Users. It has many exciting bells and whistles.

And kudos to Dana Ceccarelli of  both InkjetMall and Cone Editions Press for putting in all the weeks of research to determine what exactly was happening in the many possible combinations.

So,  look for your current combination below and modify your print settings!

MAC OS AND PS Combos

A) PRINTING FROM 10.4.11 WITH PHOTOSHOP CS3 OR BELOW:

  1.  Set Photoshop Color Settings Gray Working Space to: Gamma 2.2
  2. Open image in Photoshop by assigning or converting image to Working Gray Gamma 2.2
  3. To print, select Doument: Gamma 2.2, Color Handling: NO Color Management and either Realitive Colorimetric (with Black Point Compensation ON) or Perceptual rendering intent.
  4. Select the curve and resolution in QTR as normalThis is the normal Piezography K7 workflow as it has been since time immemorial.
    Above is the normal Piezography K7 workflow as it has been since time immemorial.

B) PRINTING FROM 10.5.8 WITH PHOTOSHOP CS5

  1. Make a custom Gray Working Space of Gamma 2.0 in Photoshop’s Color Settings
  2. Open the image in Photoshop using the embedded profile
  3. Assign Working Gamma 2.0 to image (Edit> Assign Profile)
  4. To print, select Document: Gamma 2.0, Color Handling: Photoshop Manages Color, Profile: sRGB and either Realitive Colorimetric (with Black Point Compensation ON) or Perceptual rendering intent.
  5. Select the curve and resolution in QTR as normalAbove with the Gamma 2.0 we are trying to compensate for the Mac OS converting the image prior to printing. This works well.

C) PRINTING FROM 10.6.8 WITH PHOTOSHOP CS5 + 6

  1. Set Photoshop Color Settings Gray Working Space to: Gamma 2.2 and RGB to: Adobe RGB(1998)
  2. Open the image in Photoshop using the embedded profile
  3. Convert the image to Adobe RGB(1998)
  4. To print, select Document: Adobe RGB(1998), Color Handling: Photoshop Manages Color, Profile: Wide Gamut RGB and either Realitive Colorimetric (with Black Point Compensation ON) or Perceptual rendering intent.
  5. Select the curve and resolution in QTR as normalThe above version actually requires getting the grayscale image into the world of color – hence the conversion to Adobe RGB(1998). This works well.

D) PRINTING FROM 10.7.4 WITH PHOTOSHOP CS5 + 6

  1. Make a custom Gray Working Space of Gamma 2.0 in Photoshop’s Color Settings
  2. Open the image in Photoshop using the embedded profile
  3. Assign Working Gamma 2.0 to image (Edit> Assign Profile)
  4. To print, select Document: Gamma 2.0, Color Handling: Photoshop Manages Color, Profile: sRGB and either Realitive Colorimetric (with Black Point Compensation ON) or Perceptual rendering intent.
  5. Select the curve and resolution in QTR as normalWe think Apple took a step back again to the internal CM of 10.5 .  We try to correct for Mac OS conversion of the file prior to printing. This works well. 
 
The Differences Between Apples and Apples
Jon Cone
18 September, 2012
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