printer profiling

[dumainew]

Without the device to profile my printer I'm wondering how to find a generic printer profile for an Epson 50 ?
Looked on the Epsom website and don't see it.
Have calibrated my monitor, but the prints come out very dark and bluish.
Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Ellis Vener]

Profiles are paper specific (really printer + ink + paper) as every paper has different characteristics (like whiteness, ink load - how ink can this paper actually hold -, etc.)  so there is no over arching generic printer profile. If you are using Epson inks and papers Epson should have their own proofiels for your printer model + ink + paper characteristics. Once you step away from Epson papers you are on your own and will need a custom profile. Some on line retailers have made printer model + non-Epson paper profiles which are quite good. Try http://www.booksmartstudios.com to start with as their profiles are quite good.

[Tony Jay]

You are in the right ballpark in the sense that you are asing questions on the LuLa forum.

The best advice I can give you is to purchase the series of tutorials entitled "Camera to Print and Screen".
All the the information you need will be found there.
Once you have digested that tutorial series further questions can then be addressed by forays onto the web or by attending seminars or reading appropriate books.

The question and some of the information shared tends to suggest you really do need a good primer on colour mangement and printing.

Kind Regards

Tony Jay

[Ellis Vener]

I agree Tony: I was trying to keep it simple. Display profiles and printer +ink+ink profiles are two different things because your display and a P+i+P combination are two separate devices each with their own characteristics characteristics. The Luminous-landscape Camera to print tutorial series is easy to follow and the lessons are broken down  into easy to digest morsels.

Andrew Rodney also has a short (and free) primer covering the problem dumainew asked about: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

Short of makign your own profiles or havign them made for you I stand by my original suggestion of starting with Epson's profiles.