Printing profiles without Photoshop

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Having swapped my 1400 over to pigment inks and finding out the supplier no longer has the profiles for it, I need to send some proof sheets off to get them profiled. However, I don't actually have Photoshop, I use GIMPhoto for everything (and now GIMP 2.8). In order to create a profile, I need to print without using one at all. GIMP's print options are terrible to begin with, but it doesn't let you pick "no profile" like Photoshop does, it defaults to sRGB. So I need to figure out how to print the test images profile-free. If I have to I can bring the printer to someone's house that has Photoshop (or even dig out my old Student version of PS 6) but I'm curious to know if any free (or costs less than 3 figures) software out there lets you use and remove profiles.

I'm going to be sending off an email to Irfanview to see if their latest versions that seem to support ICC profiles actually use them to print, or just allow you to add/edit/remove them.

 

[mikling]

Some packages support ICC profiles for monitors only and not for print...despite the indication that color management is supported so check first. If you own an SP1400, you are fortunate as it will allow the use of ICCs without fully color managed printing software. Most vendors don't know know about this including some Epson reps at photo show printing clinics.

From the question posed it looks like you might be heading down the path of confusion, so a little more reading might be required about how profiles work. There is a color space that must be defined so that an image will be interpreted by the photoediting software properly. You see, a certain shade of color will carry a different value inside the file depending on what color space it has been created in. So in essence you need to indicate somehow what "language" the image is speaking. sRGB is the most popular and that is why it defaults to that. This data is sometimes embedded into the file and the software is able to tell but some software ignore if it cannot handle or translate it and some images don't have it and then the software defaults to sRGB.

Finally, with the SP1400, many people don't realize that Epson packages a superior driver for their 13" and up printers that allow them to use ICC profiles without color managed software. All that is necessary is to tell the driver what profile is to be used and the color space (input profile) that the image is coming with. It is very very briefly mentioned in some manuals since they expect that most users will use color managed software with this category of printer. There are some limitations but they are minor for those who initially want to use ICCs but don't posses color managed software. If the limitations are significant then, it is likely that the user is at a level where a software upgrade is called for. In essence you let the photoediting software allow the printer to manage color as normal but within the driver dialog, you get to the advanced features and you can select the input profile or color space (sRGB for most non color managed software and PS cameras. and the rendering intent ( a whole different story really but just use perceptual as it probably won't matter much for sRGB) and the profile you had acquired) I believe black point compensation is always used within the driver.
My driver download packages for Epson has the illustrated details for this but the above should provide sufficient info to use the feature.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Yes, I noticed the driver has an option for ICC profiles. I have a website bookmarked at home that tells you how to use it with an Epson. My main concern is what is the software doing before it sends it to the Epson driver? If I print out of software that has zero color management (like Publisher) or directly out of the Print Wizard, is something being done to the file before it reaches the driver?

Windows does some kind of color management because you can assign ICC profiles to printers through the Properties dialog(ue) box. So would "general printing" have two profiles applied, first by whatever is assigned through Windows, then through the profile selected by the driver? I don't even know how this would work with non-photo color printers that don't have an explicit "use no profile" option in the driver, where you always have to pick from various settings, like "document printing" "photo enhancement" "draft mode saves you money by having to reprint it anyway because you can't read it" and "go ahead and use all the ink at once".

I'm just surprised there is so little software out there (especially photo printing software that comes with your printer/scanner/camera/etc) that properly supports profiles, especially for actual print output. I care more about what comes out of the printer than what I see on the screen, eventually I might get a good screen and a calibration unit. Yes, I know for best output I need good profiling for both screen and printer, but I'm sure there's plenty of photographers out there who don't even have a monitor that's good enough to work well with profiling. I'm planning on focusing more on art prints/gicle than photos right now, anyway.

 

[mikling]

Color management is complicated enough for the ones who WANT to use it with Photoshop. Applying it to the masses who don't have a clue is looking for support issues.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I may eventually need to buy Elements, though this is really the only thing that I do that I can't do with GIMP. It seems to completely ignore paper size settings, I am starting to suspect it cannot handle more than one printer installed, including Windows Fax, Office Document Image Writer, and other virtual printers that nearly every system has. I normally edit in GIMP, export to TIF, and then print through Windows Print Wizard or Irfanview without profiling, but up until now I've been using an Epson R340 with OEM ink (bought 10 sets at auction for less than refills would have cost). I'm down to 2 sets now. The R220 with pigments printed more than acceptably to me without profiles, but the 1400 is a little off.

My answer from Irfanview was less than helpful: "This is for viewing/loading ... All ICC options will aply after the image is loaded ... so you print what you see." I'm assuming that's a yes, but it's not clear enough to be sure. Irfanview isn't for commercial use anyway so I'll have to find an alternative. I'll be more likely to buy Corel than Photoshop, since I don't actually use most of its features (I learned on Photoshop 6 and find GIMP 2.8 to be above it for most things).

 

[pharmacist]

There is a free program from Adobe which can be downloaded to print profiles with any color management disabled. I have read something about this at dpreview.com

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Hmm, I searched that forum last night to see if I could find anything but maybe I wasn't using the right keywords.

I wish Adobe Reader would do this.

 

[mikling]

http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/no-color-management-option-missing.html

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Thanks! At least something good came out of a bug in the software.

Of course I'll still probably need to buy Elements or Corel to print once I get profiles. Can't win 'em all. Also keeping an eye on Qimage.

 

[stratman]

Excellent find mikling/pharmacist!

I have to say I am a believer that QImage has better output when cropping or magnifying images compared to Photoshop CS4. I used it to adjust and print scans of early 1900's B&W images with a printer profile from mikling. Nice.

Try the trial version of QImage Ultimate to see for free.