About printing

About printing 

Printing images to a desktop printer

Desktop printing considerations

Printing images

Positioning and scaling images

Printing part of an image

Printing vector graphics 

Using color management when printing

Printing with the printer driver's built-in profiles

Printing with custom profiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printing with custom profiles

Printing with a custom profile (for a specific paper and a specific printer) can potentially produce the best print results. Custom profiles are usually created using a third-party measuring instrument and software.

To color-manage a document while printing with custom profiles:

1. Open the document in Photoshop.
2. Choose File > Print with Preview.
3. Select Show More Options and choose Color Management from the menu.
4. In the Source Space area, select Document to reproduce document colors as interpreted by the profile currently assigned to the document.
5. In the Print Space area of the Print dialog box, choose the custom profile from the Profile menu.
6. For Intent, choose a rendering intent to use when converting colors to the destination color space. For more information on rendering intents, see Handling colors with a rendering intent.
7. Click the Print button. A second Print dialog box (for setting printer options) opens.
8. On Windows, click the Properties button to access the printer driver options. On Mac OS, use the pop-up menu to access the printer driver options. Set the print options for the quality you want. Since Photoshop is handling the color adjustment or color management options during printing, turn off all printer driver color adjustment options.
9. Click the Print button.

Printing with the printer driver's built-in profiles

sing the print driver's factory profiles is useful when you don't have custom profiles for the printer and every paper used with the printer. The print driver picks the best profile according to the paper type, resolution, and so forth.

To color manage a document using the print driver's factory profiles:

1. Open the document in Photoshop.
2. Choose File > Print with Preview.
3. Select Show More Options and choose Color Management from the menu.
4. In the Source Space area, select Document to reproduce document colors as interpreted by the profile currently assigned to the document.
5. In the Print Space area of the Print dialog box, choose Printer Color Management from the Profile menu.
6. For Intent, choose a rendering intent to use when converting colors to the destination color space. For more information on rendering intents, see Handling colors with a rendering intent.
7. Click the Print button. A second Print dialog box (for setting printer options) opens.
8. On Windows, click the Properties button to access the printer driver options. On Mac OS, use the pop-up menu to access the printer driver options. Set the print options for the quality you want. Specify the color management settings to let your printer driver handle the color management during printing.
9. Click the Print button.

Using color management when printing

Even though it is impossible to perfectly match all colors between your monitor and your printer, you can use color management to ensure that most colors are the same or similar enough so they appear consistent. By calibrating and characterizing your monitor and creating profiles for your printer and papers, the color management system in Photoshop knows the color spaces that your devices operate in and can correctly transform the color from one color space to another. The color management options in the Print with Preview dialog box let you configure Photoshop to transform the outgoing image data so the printer will print colors consistent with what you see on your monitor. For more information on color management, see Using color management to produce consistent color.
Note: Color management is also used to maintain consistent color when sending your image out to be printed on an offset press. For more information, see Printing images to a commercial printing press and Producing consistent color when sending images to press.

Printing vector graphics

If an image includes vector graphics, such as shapes and type, Photoshop can send the vector data to a PostScript printer. When you choose to include vector data, Photoshop sends the printer a separate image for each type layer and each vector shape layer. These additional images are printed on top of the base image, and clipped using their vector outline. Consequently, the edges of vector graphics print at the printer's full resolution, even though the content of each layer is limited to the resolution of your image file.

To print vector data:

1. Choose File > Print with Preview.
2. Select Show More Options, and choose Output from the pop-up menu.
3. Select the Include Vector Data option. If necessary, you can choose an encoding algorithm from the Encoding pop-up menu.

Printing part of an image

You can use the Print Selected Area option to print a specific part of an image.

To print part of an image:

1. Use the Rectangle Marquee tool to select the part of an image you want to print.
2. Choose File > Print with Preview, select Print Selected Area, and click Print.

Positioning and scaling images

You can adjust the position and scale of an image and preview how the image will be printed on the selected paper using the Print with Preview command. The shaded border at the edge of the paper represents the margins of the selected paper; the printable area is white.
The base output size of an image is determined by the document size settings in the Image Size dialog box. (See Changing image size and resolution.) Scaling an image in the Print with Preview dialog box changes the size and resolution of the printed image only. For example, if you scale a 72-ppi image to 50% in the Print with Preview dialog box, the image will print at 144 ppi; however, the document size settings in the Image Size dialog box will not change.
Many printer drivers, such as AdobePS and LaserWriter, provide a scaling option in the Page Setup dialog box. This scaling affects everything on the page, including the size of all page marks such as crop marks and captions, whereas the scaling percentage provided by the Print with Preview command affects only the size of the printed image (and not the size of page marks).
Important: The Print with Preview command may not reflect accurate values for Scale, Height, and Width if you set a scaling percentage in the Page Setup dialog box. To avoid inaccurate scaling, specify scaling using the Print with Preview command rather than the Page Setup command; do not enter a scaling percentage in both dialog boxes.

To reposition an image on the paper:

Choose File > Print with Preview, and do one of the following:
• Select the Center Image option to center the image in the printable area.
• Deselect the Center Image option and then enter values for Top and Left to position the image numerically.
• Deselect the Center Image option and then drag the image in the preview area.

To scale the print size of an image:

Choose File > Print with Preview, and do one of the following:
• Click Scale to Fit Media to fit the image within the printable area of the selected paper.
• Enter values for Height and Width to rescale the image numerically.
• Select Show Bounding Box, and drag a bounding box handle in the preview area to achieve the desired scale.

Printing images

Photoshop provides the following printing commands:
• Page Setup and Print display options that are determined by your printer, print drivers, and operating system.
• Print with Preview displays Photoshop's printing, output, and color management options.
• Print One Copy prints one copy of a file without displaying a dialog box.
Note: You cannot print images directly from ImageReady. If you have an image open in ImageReady and need to print it, use the Edit in Photoshop command to open the image in Photoshop. Keep in mind that ImageReady images open at screen resolution (72 ppi); this resolution may not be high enough to produce a high-quality print.

To print an image with its current options:

Do one of the following:
• Choose File > Print, and click Print or OK.
• To print one copy of a file without displaying a dialog box, choose File > Print One Copy.
Note: By default, Photoshop prints a composite of all visible layers and channels. To print an individual layer or channel, make it the only visible layer or channel before choosing the Print command.

To set printer and page setup options:

1. Choose File > Page Setup or File > Print.
2. Select a printer from the pop-up list at the top of the dialog box.
3. Set additional options, such as paper size and layout, as desired. The available options depend on your printer, print drivers, and operating system.
If you plan to scale the printed image, choose the Print with Preview command and use the scaling options in the Print dialog box rather than the Page Setup dialog box. The Print dialog box is more helpful because it shows you a preview of the scaled image. Also, you don't want to set the scaling options in both the Page Setup and Print dialog boxes. This applies scaling twice, and the resulting image may not print at the size you intended.

To set Photoshop print options:

1. Choose File > Print with Preview.
1.  
Print with Preview dialog box A. Preview print B. Position and scale image C. Specify options to prepare a file for prepress D. Specify the document's working space and choose a color management profile for printing on a desktop printer
2. Make sure Show More Options is selected. Then do one or more of the following:
• Adjust the position and scale of the image in relation to the selected paper size and orientation.
• Set the Output options. For more information,
• Choose Color Management from the pop-up menu and set color management options.
3. Do one of the following:
• Click Print to print the image.
• Click Cancel to close the dialog box without saving the options.
• Click Done to preserve the options and close the dialog box.
• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click Print One to print one copy of the image.
• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click Reset to reset the print options.
• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and click Remember to save the print options without closing the dialog box.

To preview the current image position and options:

Position the pointer over the file information box (at the bottom of the application window in Windows or the document window in Mac OS) and hold down the mouse button.

Desktop printing considerations

Because your monitor displays an image using light and a desktop printer reproduces an image using inks, dyes, or pigments, it is impossible for a desktop printer to reproduce all the colors that can be displayed on a monitor. However, by incorporating certain procedures (such as a color management system) into your workflow, you can achieve predictable results when printing your images on a desktop printer. Here are some issues to consider when working with an image that you intend to print:

• If your image is in RGB mode, do not convert the document to CMYK mode when printing to a desktop printer. Work entirely in RGB mode.
• If you want a preview of what your image might look like on any device for which you have a profile, use the Proof Colors command. For more information on proof setup and using the Proof Colors command, see Soft-proofing colors.
• For accurate color reproduction between the screen and the printed page, it's absolutely necessary to incorporate color management into your workflow. You must work with a monitor that is calibrated and characterized. It's also necessary that you have a custom profile for the combination of your printer and the paper you're printing on. Using the profile supplied with your printer will only give average results (although the results are better than using no profiles at all). For more information on producing consistent color

Printing images to a desktop printer

Unless you work in a commercial printing company or service bureau, you're probably printing images on a desktop printer--such as an inkjet, dye sublimation, or laser printer--and not to an image setter. Photoshop lets you control how your image will print.

About printing

Whether you are printing an image on your desktop printer or sending it to a prepress facility, knowing a few basics about printing will make the print job go more smoothly and help ensure that the finished image appears as intended.
Types of printing
For most users, printing a file means that the Adobe Photoshop application sends the image to an inkjet printer to print a photograph. Photoshop can send your image to a variety of printing devices to be printed directly onto paper or to be converted to a positive or negative image on film. In the latter case, the film can be used to create a master plate for printing by a mechanical press.
Types of images
The simplest types of images, such as line art, use only one color in one level of gray. A more complex image, such as a photograph, has color tones that vary within the image. This type of image is known as a continuous-tone image.
Halftoning
To create the illusion of continuous tones when printed, images are broken down into a series of dots. When printing photos on a printing press, this process is called halftoning. Varying the sizes of the dots in a halftone screen creates the optical illusion of variations of gray or continuous color in the image.
Note: Although inkjet printers also use dots to create the illusion of continuous tones, they use a different type of screen process that does not vary the size of the dots. Instead, inkjet printers use dots that have a uniform size and that are much tinier than the dots used by most printing presses.
Color separation
Artwork that will be commercially reproduced and that contains more than a single color must be printed on separate master plates, one for each color. This process is called color separation and most commonly uses cyan, yellow, magenta, and black (CMYK) inks. In Photoshop, you can adjust how the various plates are generated.
Quality of detail
The detail in a printed image results from a combination of resolution and screen frequency. The higher an output device's resolution, the finer (higher) a screen ruling you can use. Many inkjet printer drivers offer simplified print settings for choosing higher-quality printing.