Ever wrestled with baffling error messages when trying to print from Photoshop? You’re not alone. For users aiming for accurate colour output from their Recommended Colour Printer, encountering unexpected warnings can be incredibly frustrating. One particularly perplexing issue involves ColorSync, a macOS colour management system, even when you’re deliberately trying not to use it.
This article delves into a real-world example of this problem, highlighting a confusing dialogue box that can appear when printing from Photoshop, specifically when you’ve chosen to let your printer manage colour – seemingly the very setting the dialogue box recommends! Let’s break down this head-scratching scenario, based on a user’s frustrating experience with Adobe support.
The user, aiming for printer-managed colour (often the recommended approach for many colour printers to ensure device-native colour profiles are used), was repeatedly bombarded with a ColorSync warning dialogue. This message, appearing twice with each print attempt, advised the user to “let the printer manage color.” The irony? They were already doing exactly that.
Here’s a snippet of the dialogue box they encountered:
Alt text: Photoshop ColorSync warning dialogue box during printing, recommending printer color management but appearing even when printer color management is already selected, indicating a potential software bug related to color output on recommended colour printers.
To clarify the issue, the user engaged with Adobe support. The exchange, unfortunately, didn’t immediately resolve the confusion. Initially, the support representative suggested switching to “Photoshop Manages Color.” While this action did suppress the warning, it sidestepped the core problem and wasn’t the user’s desired colour management workflow.
The user patiently explained that the warning was contradictory. The dialogue complained about ColorSync (which they weren’t using) and advised printer colour management (which was already selected). Despite providing a screenshot clearly showing the conflict, the support responses remained somewhat circular and didn’t directly address the illogical nature of the warning.
The support representative seemed to imply that the warning was inherent to using printer-managed colour, suggesting Photoshop couldn’t “detect the colour” properly in this mode and feared “colour mismatch.” This explanation, however, didn’t align with the warning’s explicit recommendation to use printer colour management.
After persistent clarification from the user, the support agent finally acknowledged the possibility of a bug within Photoshop, stating, “This is because the photoshop is not displaying the color and printing may produce different results… this is an error of the application.” They confirmed that the issue had been reported and that the development team was working on a fix.
This episode highlights a crucial point for anyone relying on a recommended colour printer for accurate output: software glitches can sometimes throw a wrench in even the most carefully calibrated workflows. While printer colour management is often the recommended setting for achieving predictable and device-specific colours, software bugs can create misleading warnings and unnecessary confusion.
Key Takeaways for Users of Colour Printers:
- Double-check your settings: When encountering unexpected colour warnings, meticulously review your Photoshop print settings. Ensure you’ve indeed selected “Printer Manages Color” if that’s your intention.
- Understand ColorSync: While the warning mentions ColorSync, it might be a red herring in this specific bug. Familiarize yourself with basic colour management principles to better diagnose issues.
- Software bugs happen: Even professional software like Photoshop can have glitches. If a warning seems illogical or contradictory, it might be a software issue, not a user error.
- Report issues: If you encounter similar problems, reporting them to Adobe (or the relevant software vendor) helps ensure bugs are identified and addressed in future updates, improving the experience for all users of recommended colour printers and design software.
While awaiting a fix for this specific Photoshop bug, users might consider using “Photoshop Manages Color” as a temporary workaround, though it’s essential to understand the implications for colour profiles and output accuracy for your specific recommended colour printer and workflow. Ultimately, clear and accurate communication from software is paramount for users to effectively utilize their colour printers and achieve the desired results.
