Photoshop Elements >
Color Management >
9 - Printer Profiles
Your prints will be of higher quality if you use printer profiles.
A printer profile optimizes the use of a certain
combination of printer, ink set, and paper type.
You need a different profile for each combination
of printer, ink set, and paper type.
When you set up your printer, profiles were probably installed.
Profiles of other combinations of printer, ink set, and paper
type, are available from the following
Printer Manufacturers
Canon
Epson
Hewlett-Packard
Paper Manufacturers
Go to Paper Manufacturers.
Third-party Vendors
Cathy's Profiles
CHROMIX
Digital Domain Makers
of QImage, an image
manipulation program, and
Prism, a printer
profile maker
Dry Creek Photo
Inkjetmall.com
Giorgio
Trucco Photography
Homemade
You can create your own profiles with hardware and software,
such as the PrintFIXPRO from
ColorVison.
How to Install a Profile
Windows
XP
Windows XP users can download the
Microsoft Color Control Panel Applet.
You can use the applet to install new profiles, and to review
which profiles are already installed.
If you don't use the above applet, right
click on the profile and select Install Profile.
Then, close and restart Photoshop Elements.
Profiles are located on the path below.
If you can't find the folders below on your computer, go to
Hidden Files &
Folders.
C: > Windows > System32 > Spool >
Drivers > Color
Vista
To install, right
click on the profile and select Install Profile.
Then, close and restart Photoshop Elements.
Profiles are located on the path below.
If you can't find the folders below on your computer, go to
Hidden Files &
Folders.
C: > Windows > System32 > Spool >
Drivers > Color
XP & Vista Bug
If you're replacing an existing profile with a newer version,
you can't right
click on the new profile and select Install Profile.
Instead, you must delete the original version of the profile
from the Color folder.
To do so, go to C: > Windows > System32 > Spool > Drivers >
Color.
Then, right click on the new profile and select Install
Profile.
Windows 7
To install, right
click on the profile and select Install Profile.
Then, close and restart Photoshop Elements.
Profiles are located on the path below.
If you can't find the folders below on your computer, go to
Hidden Files &
Folders.
C: > Windows > System32 > Spool > Drivers
> Color
Two Possible Problems
Problem #1 - Profiles Don't Appear on the Menu?
If you're using Photoshop Elements 8.0, the printer profile
may not appear in the drop-down menu
when you're printing.
Do the following.
1) Go to:
C: > Windows > System32 > Spool > Drivers
> Color
2) Copy the printer profile (Ctrl + c).
3) Go to:
C: > Program Files > Common Files > Adobe > Color > Profiles
> Recommended
4) Paste the printer profile (Ctrl + v) into the Recommended
folder.
Problem #2 - No Scroll Bar
When printing, sometimes the scroll bar doesn't appear when
you're using the drop-down menu for selecting the printer
profile.
Try using the up and down arrows on your keyboard if this
occurs.
Mac
With Mac OSX 10.5, profiles are located here:
Library > Colorsync > Profiles
With Mac OSX 10.3 or 10.4 profiles are located here:
Library > Application Support > Adobe > Color >
Profiles
To install, copy and paste the profile into the above
Profiles folder.
Then, close and restart Photoshop Elements.
The ColorSync Utility can be used to manage your profiles.
Don't Use a Profile Twice
As described earlier, make sure the printer is not performing color management.
1) In Photoshop Elements, go to File > Print, or press Ctrl +
p.
2) Look for the Color Management section.
In earlier versions of Photoshop Elements, you must select Show
More Options.
3) Look for Color Handling.
4) Change it from Printer Manages Color to
Photoshop Elements Manages Color.
Home or Lab
You can use printer profiles at home and with many labs.
In the next section, we'll look at home use.
Then, we'll look at how you can use printer profiles with labs.
