Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 4/22/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I'm trying to print an invitation to my HP B9180 printer and I've used Pantone
colors in the design, but the colors come out really dull and not at all what
they appear as on screen. I have calibrated my monitor. I do own a Pantone
Matte swatch book and I was trying to use that to select my colors, but when
that didn't work, I switched the colors to Solid Pantone Process colors, but
they didn't come out either. I do have Illustrator set up to manage the color
process (I also remembered to tell my printer to let application manage
colors). I can't figure out if it's a problem in Illustrator or with my printer.
Thanks for any light you can shed.

ANSWER: HI Elizabeth,

Neither are to blame. Rather it is the fact that you are trying to replicate a spot color using process colors on your printer. Unless you have some magical spot color ink cartridge, you are always going to have color shifts due to the conversion. The easiest fix is to convert your spot colors to CMYK in Illustrator before you print. Then go to View>Proof Colors.

This will show you more accurately on screen.

Thanks

Kevin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the information. Should I then only design with CMYK colors for my printer and forget about spot colors? Also, I've tried printing the CMYK orange on this invitation and it's just as dull and horrible as it's spot counterpart. Is there something about orange? Also, I've tried to switch it so that my printer controls the printing (to see if this made a difference), but Illustrator deselects this option for me - it says I have to print to a postscript printer (which an HP is not, right?). Does Illustrator not let my printer select the color? I've also tried redoing the colors in all CMYK and they're still pretty dull (in particular the orange).

Answer
Hi Elizabeth,

If you are only going to your home printer, then yes you should be designing in CMYK and only use the spot colors as reference. HP is a postscript printer depending on your model. You should double check and make sure you have installed the latest drivers after you installed CS2. You should be able to select the printer color then.

Depending on the quality of your printer and the colors you are choosing, it can end up looking dull when printed. Go by the numbers of your CMYK values and not what you see on screen. For instance if there is any kind of K or C values in your orange, this will significantly dull the color even if it looks ok on screen.


Thanks

Kevin