which printer/which os?
if mac:
The issue is as follows:
If you are using an Epson printer and Apple computer with the latest operating system, the latest version of Photoshop (CS4) and one of the latest Epson drivers, you cannot print a file with no color management.
I know that this sounds almost absurd, but it is a fact.
A clear consequence of this is that making a profile becomes impossible (however, there is a workaround, read on).
Please note that I am being somewhat vague on naming specific printer models, OS versions, and driver versions. The reason is that it appears that this is a very complicated issue. Different people have problems with different printer models, OS versions, and driver versions. The problem also seems to appear with Photoshop CS4, but not earlier Photoshop versions like CS2 or CS3.
Some people, for example only experience the problem with drivers that are 6.5xxx and later, some experience the problem with earlier drivers. Some people have the problem with Leopard, while others have it only with Snow Leopard, and so on.
This has lead to much confusion and huge frustration.
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WHAT TO DO?
I decided that this issue was important enough that I needed to contact a number of senior people in the right places. I first contacted some people I know at Adobe and Epson. I also contacted a number of the most knowledgeable folks on color management. By the time you read this, I should be in direct contact with senior executives at Apple also.
I must say that most of us tend to under-appreciate the incredible zeal and dedication that some of these people have. In a matter of hours after my first email, dozens of emails were circulating and everyone was engaged in trying to understand and resolve the issue.
Whether at Epson, Adobe or independently, everyone jumped in and tried to contribute. I, for one am beyond grateful and impressed. There are too many people to mention here without sounding like an Academy Awards ceremony. I know they will all be reading this, so I would like them to know that all photographers owe them a debt of gratitude for their contributions.
The top award for incredible dedication, brain power and making things happen at warp speed goes to Eric Chan at Adobe. On Saturday night (Halloween), Eric was at it big time trying to resolve the issue, sending me emails, asking me to do some tests and so on. By about 1 AM Eastern time (Eric’s time), it was clear that he had figured out the root problem, as well as a workaround.
By early Sunday morning, an email from Eric went out to all individuals involved detailing the root issue and the workaround.
All of us in the photographic community owe Eric a HUGE THANK YOU!
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THE WORKAROUND
For anyone having this problem, here is the workaround:
Open (untagged) profile target image in CS4.
Edit -> Assign Profile... -> Adobe RGB. Click OK.
File -> Print...
Set Color Handling = Photoshop Manages Colors.
Set Printer Profile = Adobe RGB.
Set Rendering Intent = Relative Colorimetric.
Uncheck Black Point Compensation.
Click Print...
In the Epson driver, disable color management, and choose whatever driver settings you normally want to use for printing on your chosen paper (e.g., 16-bit, appropriate media type, thickness, High Speed = Off, etc.)
Print.
Please note that it does NOT matter that Adobe RGB is used as the profile in the workaround. You could use Pro Photo RGB instead, for example.
It DOES matter that you choose the exact same profile in the “Assign Profile” dialog box and the “Print” dialog box. Make sure that you DO NOT choose “Working RGB-xxxx” as the printer profile.