Free ABW (Advanced Black and White) Profiles for the Epson 3800 and Macintosh

NOTE: 12/25/09 – As of 10.6.2, these profiles will not show up in Photoshop. Apple made some kind of change that wreaked havoc on ICC profiles in OS 10.6.2. I’ll try to get these fixed, or perhaps 10.6.3 will fix them. (My fixes, when available, will not be as complete, since I don’t use some of those listed papers any more.) See my more recent blog post “Suddenly, gray borders on photo prints” for more details.

I’ve posted here my Epson Advanced Black and White (ABW) profiles for the Epson 3800 printer with K3 inks, and the Macintosh computer. (Note: profiles are posted as I create them.)

Included in the single zipped archive are ABW profiles for 17 papers:

Canson Arches Museum Velin Rag Canson PhotoGloss Premium Canson PhotoSatin Premium Canson Rag Photographique Epson Enhanced Matte Epson Premium Luster Epson SemiMatte Epson Velvet Fine Art Epson WaterColor HawkMountain Sharpwing Luster Hahnemuhle Bamboo Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta Legion Entrada Natural Mitsubishi Gekko Blue Mitsubishi Gekko Green Museo Max Red River Ultra Pro Gloss

Click here to get the profiles.

NEW PROFILES – to get around the 10.6.2 ICC profiles issues are below. They include:

Epson Enhanced Matte Epson SemiMatte Epson Velvet Fine Art HawkMountain Sharpwing Luster Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta Legion Entrada Natural Mitsubishi Gekko Blue Mitsubishi Gekko Green Museo Max (write if you want one of the others)

Click here to get these revised profiles.

NOTICE! These profiles were made for MY setup, and are therefore provided AS IS. In exchange for getting them for free, you acknowledge that they may be completely unsuitable for you, and you are using them at your own risk.

The profiles were made using “No color management / printer manages color” setting with perceptual RI, and ABW set to “Normal” and all other settings to zero. Prints were allowed to try for 24 hours prior to measurement.

The paper manufacturer’s recommended paper setting was used in all cases.

The way the names will appear in the profile list in Photoshop is this:

Each will begin with ABW_ (making it easy to keep them all together.)

Next is the manufacturer’s code: CA = Canson/Arches HK = HawkMountain HN = Hahnemuhle MU = Museo LP = Legion Paper (Moab) MB = Mitsubishi (Gekko) EP = Epson RR = RedRiver

next is the paper

If a number follows, it is the weight of the paper

and finally the paper setting used EM – enhanced matter; VFA – velvet fine art; WC – watercolor; PL – Premium Luster; PG – Premium Glossy; PSG – Premium SemiGloss

To use these profiles, do this:

Place the profile in your ~/library/colorsync/profiles folder.

When printing, choose “Photoshop manages colors” and select the appropriate ABW profile. Set the rendering intent to perceptual.

In the print driver dialog, be sure you have selected the proper paper, and set it up for ABW printing, using the same settings as I did when creating the profile.

Remember that matte paper really needs 12-24 hours to dry, and will look darker when first removed from the printer. If after 24 hours, what you’re seeing is too dark or too light compared to your (properly calibrated) monitor, then repeat the print, choosing darker or lighter from the ABW popup, instead of “Normal.”

Thanks to Roy Harrington, maker of QuadTone RIP <http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html>, for his permission to use his script to convert my raw numbers into actual ICC profiles and distribute them.