When it comes to printing with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, achieving consistent color output can sometimes feel like navigating a maze. Many users encounter discrepancies between what they see on screen and what comes off their Epson printer. A common point of confusion arises from how each software handles color management in conjunction with the Epson Print Driver. Let’s delve into a typical scenario and explore potential solutions to ensure your prints match your expectations.
alt text: Photoshop print dialog showing color management settings where Photoshop manages colors and the printer driver color matching is grayed out, indicating controlled color output.
One user, experienced with Photoshop’s straightforward color management, found themselves puzzled when transitioning to Illustrator. In Photoshop, as shown in the print dialog, the application takes charge of color conversion, sending a processed file to the printer driver. Crucially, the Epson print driver’s color matching settings are grayed out, signifying that the driver is not interfering with the color management process. This ensures predictable and consistent color output when your profiles are correctly set in Photoshop.
alt text: Illustrator print dialog displaying color management options where Illustrator manages colors, but the Epson printer driver’s color matching settings are still active and not grayed out, causing potential color conflicts.
However, the experience in Illustrator can be different. While Illustrator should also manage color conversion and pass a processed file to the Epson print driver, the Epson driver’s color matching section remains active. This indicates a potential conflict: both Illustrator and the Epson print driver might be attempting to manage color, leading to unexpected and inconsistent results.
The user initially hypothesized that setting the same printer profile in both Illustrator and the Epson driver might result in a harmless “double conversion.” However, the prints from Illustrator were significantly different from the Photoshop prints, which served as the accurate color reference. This discrepancy highlights that simply setting the same profile in both locations doesn’t resolve the underlying color management conflict with the Epson print driver.
Experimenting further, the user tried the “Preserve RGB Numbers” option in Illustrator’s print dialog. The idea was to send unconverted RGB data directly to the Epson driver and manage color solely within the driver settings. Unfortunately, this approach also yielded a different, and still inaccurate, color output. This illustrates that relying solely on the Epson print driver for color management when printing from Illustrator, especially when the application is also set to manage color, can lead to unpredictable results.
The core issue is the potential for double color management when using Illustrator with an Epson printer driver. To achieve color consistency, it’s essential to ensure that only one entity—either Illustrator or the Epson print driver—is handling the color conversion. Ideally, when printing from color-managed applications like Illustrator, you want the application to manage color and the printer driver to simply reproduce the data it receives.
To troubleshoot these color discrepancies related to your Epson print driver when printing from Illustrator, consider the following:
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Driver Color Matching Settings: Investigate the “Color Matching” or similar section in your Epson print driver settings. When printing from Illustrator with color management enabled in the application, this setting should ideally be disabled or set to “No Color Adjustment” or “ICM” (depending on your driver version and operating system) to prevent the driver from applying its own color conversions on top of Illustrator’s.
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Profile Mismatches: Double-check that the correct printer ICC profile is selected in both Illustrator’s print dialog and, if you are experimenting with driver-based color management, in the Epson driver settings. Mismatched profiles will inevitably lead to color inaccuracies.
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Workflow Consistency: For critical color accuracy, maintaining a consistent workflow is key. If your Photoshop prints are your reference, try to replicate the color management settings as closely as possible in Illustrator. This might involve ensuring both applications are using the same working color spaces (like AdobeRGB as mentioned in the original post) and printer profiles.
While the original user also encountered a separate issue with seamless patterns rasterizing incorrectly in Photoshop after importing from Illustrator, this might be related to rasterization settings or potential software bugs and warrants a separate investigation. Focusing on the Epson print driver settings and color management workflow is crucial for resolving the immediate color inconsistency problems between Illustrator and Photoshop prints. By carefully configuring your Epson print driver and understanding how Illustrator handles color, you can achieve more predictable and accurate prints from your design software.
