Printing a correct color target for custom profiling

Here is how to print a target of patches, for use in creating a custom color profile. (Note: this requires that you either have your own spectrophotometer, or are printing a target sent to you by someone you hired to create the custom profile for you.)

A target image is composed of hundreds or thousands of little color patches. The profiling software knows exactly what those colors are. So if printed correctly (as in “unaltered”) then the spectrophotometer can read t he printed value; compare it to the correct value, and create a profile. Obviously then, when you print that target on your computer, you do NOT want anything to change the colors accidentally! In other words, “color management” must be OFF.

Macs are notoriously difficult to print a “pure, unmanaged” color patch target without corrupting it.

The usual advice used to be to use Adobe’s Color Print Utility (CPU), but unfortunately, CPU is no longer supported on Catalina or later.

However, if you are printing from a Windows machine, you can still use the Adobe CPU: (https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/no-color-management-option-missing.html)

Most pros will say to use Print Tool from Roy Harrington. I too recommend this product and use it for all my printing, but it’s not free. ( http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRprinttool.html )

Or you can use the (free) software you already have: ColorSync Utility. It’s in your “Utilities” folder.)

Here’s how to print an unmodified, clean target.

1. run colorsync and choose file/open and load the target
2. choose Print and select your desired printer
3. select “color matching” from the popup menu
4. choose any profile, except “automatic” – I use ARGB1998
5. from the same popup menu choose the top item: “colorsync utility”
6. from the “Color:” menu, choose “Print as Color Target”7. Finally, select “Print”

HTH

Tracy