Printing color accurately

    To print colors accurately, you must first adjust your monitor for accurate color and turn on ColorSync.

    Some colors you see on the screen can't be printed exactly as they appear. To get the closest possible match between colors on your monitor and printed colors, follow these guidelines.

Printing on your color printer

    When you print, make sure you are printing images with profiles and choosing the profile of your printer in the printer driver. This should match what you set up in the control panel.

    Note: If your output device does not support ColorSync, make sure you transform the image to the output device's profile before printing. Then print with color management "OFF."

    If you don't have a profile for your printer:
    Try reinstalling the software that came with your printer, or ask the manufacturer for a ColorSync or ICC (International Color Consortium) profile.

    Tip: If you're using a LaserWriter printer, choose Color Matching from the pop-up menu in the top-left section of the Print dialog box to select the ColorSync settings.

Using a professional printing press

    If you hand off your files to a professional printer, give them a copy of the profile you have selected as the system profile in the ColorSync control panel. This is the profile for your primary monitor. The profiles are located in the ColorSync Profiles folder inside the System Folder on your hard disk.

Related topic

 
Table of contents