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Printing in Black & White w/ Spot Color


J

JonQ52

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I have PS CS6 and like to do B & W prints. I print them on my Canon MX870 printer (4 color printer) ... they turn out quite nice. VERY Black & White.

Recently, I started doing B & W with a small highlight of color... like a photo of my daughter and her friends with just her red shoes in color.

The Black and White is now not truly B & W... it is slightly tinted ... purplish. I have tried adjusting the levels and contrast but it only changes the tinting to other tints... bluish, redish, etc. I use cmyk 300dpi (typical of what commercial print shops would use). Still no success.

Is there a fix for this? Or am I stuck having to send my photos to a printshop for printing??? or purchasing a $800 pro printer?????

Thanks for your advice
 
Calibrating you monitor is always on top of the list.

With any printing from Photoshop you should have PS handle color management and turn off all color management features or photo enhancement features in the printer settings.
Make sure you're using the proper ICC profile for your printer/paper combination.

Go to View|Proof Setup, enter the correct profile and toggle Proof Colors and Gamut Warnings, that will help you determine what colors won't print properly.
 
You might want to look into your cleaning procedure for your printer too. Inkjet printers are notorius for having clogged nozzels etc. Not familiar with that particular printer but I have a couple of other inkjets including a Canon IP 8000 wide format. It does a pretty good job keeping itself clean, but still bears watching. That sounds suspiciously like a printer problem instead of a software issue.
 
Steve said:
Calibrating you monitor is always on top of the list.

With any printing from Photoshop you should have PS handle color management and turn off all color management features or photo enhancement features in the printer settings.
Make sure you're using the proper ICC profile for your printer/paper combination.

Go to View|Proof Setup, enter the correct profile and toggle Proof Colors and Gamut Warnings, that will help you determine what colors won't print properly.
Click to expand...


Thank you Steve for your quick reply and suggestions. The results are still the same. The monitor calibration is not an issue. Color photos turn out quite precise... matching what I see on the monitor.When I print in ONLY Black & White... the printer prints a truly deep black (no hue). When I print the same black & white photo with small spot color added... the black has a pinkish/purplish hue as if the printer is using all the cmyk colors to create black instead of using only black ink. This has me stumped.
 
ALB Laser Engraver said:
You might want to look into your cleaning procedure for your printer too. Inkjet printers are notorius for having clogged nozzels etc. Not familiar with that particular printer but I have a couple of other inkjets including a Canon IP 8000 wide format. It does a pretty good job keeping itself clean, but still bears watching. That sounds suspiciously like a printer problem instead of a software issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks ALB for your quick response. The printer seems to to do a pretty good job keeping the nozzles clean. All my other photos... color and b&w seem to print quite nicely. It is only when I try to print B&W with a small amount of spot color added.
 
When you print in B&W are you setting your printer to grayscale?
That's what I have to to get good B&W on my Pixma Pro 9000.

Try an all black and white and make sure you're not set to grayscale.
I realize you can't do that with this image but I think you're printer settings may be the issue.
There's no reason I can think of why a B&W should print differently just because there's some color in the image.
 
Steve said:
When you print in B&W are you setting your printer to grayscale?
That's what I have to to get good B&W on my Pixma Pro 9000.

Try an all black and white and make sure you're not set to grayscale.
I realize you can't do that with this image but I think you're printer settings may be the issue.
There's no reason I can think of why a B&W should print differently just because there's some color in the image.
Click to expand...

I agree "There's no reason I can think of why a B&W should print differently just because there's some color in the image."....

So here's what I tried.
1) set printer settings to print grayscale (printing the image with spot color). = No Good. Bad Black.
2) set printer settings to print grayscale (changed image mode to grayscale (no color)) = No Good. Same Bad Black.
3) set printer settings to NOT print grayscale (with image in grayscale (no color)) = Better... not perfect but better Black.
4) Set printer to "Effects, Photo Optimizer Pro, Apply Throughout Page" = No Good. Same Bad Black.

Seems that number 3 is the closest to getting black, but that's without any "spot color" in the photo.

I am at a loss... ??? Not quite sure what to do. Perhaps it is time for a new printer? Dunno.
 
I just used the printer to "Copy" the B&W with spot color, but selected the Black Copy button. The result is pure black... black as black can be. Then selected the Color "Copy" button.... and of course it copied exactly with the poor black.

Seems that the printer prints black "Copies" in a truer black than it prints photos from PhotoShop. Wierd.
 
Hi Steve,

I ran across this on a Printer Forum.

"Canons as a rule use the black cartridge when black is greater than
60% IIRC. Softer greys use a mix of the color cartridges. There is
little you can do about this."

My printer is not as pro as yours. Mine is an "all in one". It has 5 cartridges cymk and another k. Why two k's... i dunno.

I am suspect that in order to get what I am wanting, I will need to pony up and get a more pro level printer.

Unless there is a way to trick the printer into thinking that Black is greater than 60% IIRC. I don't even honestly know what IIRC means unless it's "If I Remember Correctly" (text shorthand). haha.

Regarding my printer "Copy" buttons. They are on the machine. If you want to copy something in color, push the "Color Copy" button with your finger... ditto for B&W copy... push the "Black Copy" button.

Also, after doing the series of tests earlier and seeing the results... it reminded me that the Better B&W Prints were printed on our older printer, Canon i850, which is now deceased.

Non the less, our current printer, MX870, is not producing good quality B&W prints.
Do you have any other ideas?
Thanks for all your comments. I really appreciate it.
 
The extra cartridge may be PhotoBlack.
Printers can also have Cyan and Photo Cyan, Magenta and Photo Magenta, and other colors too like red, green, etc.

I think you'll the the best results setting your printer settings to grayscale for the best B&W.
This of course doesn't help you with your splash of color image.
 
Thanks again Steve for your suggestions and comments.

So.... I've been checking out the Pixma Pro-100 (8 color dye) printer and comparing to the Pro-10 (10 color pigment) printer.

Pro-100 $309 after rebate, Pro-10 $600 after rebate.

You seem like a pretty sharp & straight shooting guy ... so I am just curious if you have any opinions of the two printers?
Thanks
 
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