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
Hi,
can I use these ICC under Windows OS, too ?
Comment by Giuliano — August 7, 2009 @ 1:23 am
No, I’m sorry. They are for Mac only.
Comment by Tracy Valleau — August 7, 2009 @ 8:09 am
This is a gold mine! Thanks!
Comment by Steve Zmak — October 12, 2009 @ 12:23 pm
Thanks for these profile. It’s not easy to find ABW profiles and more for CANSON.
I’m still looking for platine rag ABW profile.
See you…
Comment by GhezoArt — February 21, 2010 @ 7:10 am
Dear Dave,
I just stumbled on your blog tonight looking for profiles for Canson Photographique. But I’m confused as to your instructions. Under the first set of profiles you say that they were made with “No Color Management/printer manages color, perceptual RI, ABW set to Normal.” But then under your second set of profiles you say to use “Photoshop manages colors plus select the appropriate ABW profile.” So I’m confused as to the appropriate settings in page setup in order to use your profiles.
Thanks.
Christy
Comment by Christy Stebbins — March 22, 2010 @ 7:37 pm
Dear Tracy,
My apologies. I addressed my comments to “Dave”!
Christy
Comment by Christy Stebbins — March 22, 2010 @ 7:38 pm
Hi Christy
The difference here are the words: “made” and “use”. When you make a ABW (Advanced Black and White) profile (using hardware that reads the printed output) you want that profile to be neutral; to be showing ONLY the differences between the computer and the printer. So to create a profile, you have to make sure that you’re not accidentally influencing the output, and are only adjusting for the printer itself. ABW is used without Photoshop Manages Colors, because you’re going to use the ABW controls to manipulate the gray-scale images. (The instructions in the Epson manual specifies this.) In short, ABW wants the gray-scale image without any adjustments whatsoever, so that you can make the changes in the driver.
Now, when I created the ABW profiles, I did exactly that: sent the image directly to ABW, with no adjustments at all. That gave me a printout that would contain -only- whatever shifts in tone that were generated by the printer and paper combination. I read that with my hardware (ColorMunki) and produced a profile which adjusted for those shifts in tone, and brought them back to linearity (a nice smooth transition from black to white).
That’s how the profiles were -made-.
But to get any benefit from them, you have to actually -use- them in the workflow so that they can linearize the tones as they go out to the printer. Therefore when you’re Using the profile, Photoshop is set up just as you would for a color profile.
You’ll still use the ABW part of the driver, but now you’re getting accurate, linear, grayscales into it, and thus instead of using the ABW controls to correct for non-linear tones, you’ll be using them to artistically adjust to your desired preferences.
Did that clear it up?
Tracy (aka “Dave”
Comment by Tracy Valleau — March 22, 2010 @ 7:56 pm
ta appreciated p.
Comment by peter tea — June 26, 2010 @ 11:08 pm