No sRGB colour space

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docrob
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Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:08 am

No sRGB colour space

Post by docrob »

I am evaluating TurboPrint for use with an HP PhotoSmart Pro B9180, running on OpenSUSE 11.1, with KDE 4.2.4.
The user guide, under item 10.2, shows 3 colour space profiles - 2 x RGB and 1 x CMYK. My installation only has the CMYK colour space showing, hence the colours are way off. I am currently using sRGB.
Can anyone please suggest a way to switch to sRGB?
zedonet
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Post by zedonet »

Hello,

the "Color Spaces" tab in the profiles administration dialog only shows profiles that have been added by the user (or, in the case of the ISOcoated profiles, by the TurboPrint installer).

The sRGB profile is already build-in (I'm sorry for the misleading picture in the manual). It can be selected in the TurboPrint Control Center: "Configure" -> tab "Color" -> "Color Space".
docrob
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:08 am

Post by docrob »

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am sorry, but I am still rather confused. As you say, the "Color Space" selection on the "Color" tab of the "Configure" page shows "sRGB (default)". However, if I select the "Profiles" button and the "Color Spaces" tab, it only shows "CMYK ISO Coated v2 (ECI)". I can load my own printer profile on the "Printer Profiles" tab and if I use the driver settings rather than let the application control the colour (e.g. for non-colour-aware applications), I expect the profile set here to control the print colour balance.
How does the CMYK "Installed color space" on the "Profiles" page interact with the sRGB "Color Space" under "Configure | Color |Color Space"? Is it necessary to delete the CMYK "Installed color space"?
zedonet
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Post by zedonet »

Please check if you actually selected an "RGB" Color mode, e.g. "Color (RGB)" on the "Colors" tab of the configuration menu.
If you select a CMYK mode (e.g. "CMYK Proof") you will only be offered the CMYK color spaces.
In the color management menues only additional color spaces are shown, the sRGB profile is already built in and cannot be changed or removed.
Of course you can add further profiles, like "Adobe RGB", etc.
The illustration in the manual might be misleading, as there is also an "sRGB" profile shown which is not the case in the current TurboPrint version. However, this built-in color space is offered in the print configuration dialog.
docrob
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:08 am

Post by docrob »

The "Color" tab is set to:
Intent: Perception
Color Mode: Color (RGB)
Color Space: sRGB (default)
The "Correction" and "Ink Ctrl" tabs are all at default settings.
The "TurboPrint Profiles" dialogue box "Printer Profiles" tab is set to a profile which I had done for a specific printer and paper combination, but generated under MS Windows, using Adobe Photoshop. The "Color Spaces" tab shows the default colour space "CMYK ISO Coated v2 (ECI)".
I am currently getting a magenta-heavy print, but this may be because the printer profile I am using is not correct for the Linux/TurboPrint combination. I will try deleting it. Should I also delete the colour space "CMYK ISO Coated v2 (ECI)" or will this make no difference?
zedonet
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Post by zedonet »

Hello,

the profile you generated under MS Windows should not be used - it is specific for HP's Windows driver. Different printer drivers have different color mixing and dithering techniques, so colors will not be correct.

There is no need to delete the colour space "CMYK ISO Coated v2 (ECI)" - it is used only if you select "Color Mode"="CMYK Proof" and "Color Space"="ISO Coated v2".
docrob
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:08 am

Post by docrob »

Thanks very much for your patience and for clearing this up. I now have a much better understanding of the settings in TurboPrint.
I was not expecting the previously generated profile to give spectacularly good results but it was a starting point. Your comments and the colour inaccuracy I did get indicate that a better starting point would have been to select something like HP Advanced Photo Paper Glossy and no additional profile. I will try this and see if I can get reasonable results, then get a new profile done for the ink/paper combination I use.

For interest, I am hoping to combine TurboPrint with Qimage, the latter running under WINE, which it is claimed to do. The results I am getting with Qimage on an old MS Windows XP machine are excellent, but I am having considerable problems getting it to run on Linux. If I get TurboPrint working satisfactorily, at least I'm half way there!

Thanks again for your help.
docrob
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:08 am

Post by docrob »

Just to add a final comment: I have now printed a number of test charts using the HP Advanced Photo Paper Glossy selection in the "Paper" type, since this gave the closest results (on MS Windows) to the paper I am actually using. These gave excellent prints, which were almost identical to those printed from Windows XP/Photoshop. My conclusion is that TurboPrint works and works well.

I am not clear on the exact differences between the Pro and Studio versions. The Studio version takes larger paper, but is the limitation only width? The HP B9180 can print up to more than 1m long, I believe, and I regularly print panoramas around 0.5m in length. I am not sure what the "Proof mode" does. For the sake of another 30 euros, I am happy to buy the Studio version just in case, but it would be a good idea to put a bit more info on the website.

Again, thanks for your help; you have another customer.
zedonet
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Post by zedonet »

TurboPrint Pro is sufficient to use the printer's maximum print size.

The additional features of the TurboPrint Studio version are:

- support for additional ICC color space profiles
- CMYK proof mode - this is important if you prepare documents for offset printing (in "CMYK" color mode, e.g. with Scribus) and want to proof-print such documents with correct colors
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