The quality of your print will be highly dependent on choosing the correct settings for your print job. There are a few factors you should take into consideration before you go to print your document:
Color Mode: RGB vs CMYK
Projected light displays such as Monitors, TVs, and Projectors use the RGB (Red/Green/Blue) color mode. Printers use the CMYK (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black) color mode. These contain different ranges of colors and an image viewed in RGB on a monitor will not look exactly the same as an image printed in CMYK; some of the colors in the RGB spectrum simply aren’t reproducible in CMYK and the computer/printer has to do its best to match them. We recommend converting your image to CMYK before performing color-correction. To do so in Photoshop: Go to Image > Mode > CMYK Color. You will be informed that this will convert your image to a different color profile. See the next section, Color Profile.
Color Profile
Color Profiles determine how the colors of an image appear (whether viewed on a monitor or printed media, or when captured by a camera or scanner). Ideally, the color profiles of each device along the chain from capture to editing to output should be calibrated to match. If a hardware color calibrator (a device that measures light output/reflection and creates a profile based on this) is not available, we recommend using a common Color Profile, such as sRGB, for each device. To set the Color Profile when editing a document in Photoshop:
- Go to Edit > Convert to Profile
- Choose the appropriate Color Profile
To set the Color Profile when printing from Photoshop:
- Go to File > Print
- Choose “Photoshop Manages Colors” under the Color Handling section
- Select the appropriate Color Profile under the Printer Profile section
Resolution
Resolution represents two different but related concepts depending on whether you’re editing an image or printing an image. In general, it refers to the quality of the image, and will often be represented as DPI (dots per inch). Higher is usually better, but care should be taken when increasing the resolution from its “original” amount as distortion, blurring, and pixelation can occur. We usually recommend capturing your image in the highest resolution possible, as this will give you the most data in your source file to work with. When you go to print, you should resize your image to a resolution that is “appropriate” to how the final product will be used. For example:
- 5×6 photo: 6″ – 2′ View Distance, High resolution, 720-1440 DPI
- 36×24 poster: 2′ -4′ View Distance, Medium resolution, 360-720 DPI
- 72×24 banner: 4′+ View Distance, Low resolution, 150-360 DPI
Your printed resolution should not be too far in excess of your file’s actual resolution, as it will only increase print time / ink usage without improving quality. If your file is only 300 DPI, it will not contain sufficient information (enough dots per inch) to benefit from a print resolution higher than 360 DPI. Some software/drivers/printers can attempt to interpolate data to improve image quality but this can’t be guaranteed. To set your resolution when editing your document in Photoshop:
- Go to Image > Image Size
- Enter an appropriate resolution under the Document Size section.
Be aware that increasing your resolution can drastically increase your file’s size, print time, and impact your computer’s performance. To set your resolution when printing your document from Photoshop:
- Go to File > Print
- Click on Print Settings
- From the Layout menu, choose Printer Features
- Under Resolution, choose an appropriate resolution.
Paper Type
Colors appear differently on different types of paper, whether they are Matte, Glossy, Fine Art, Watercolor, Vinyl, etc. In addition to choosing a Color Profile that matches your paper type, the printer driver may have a setting for Paper Type (or Media Type). There are usually a limited number of options available, but you should choose the type that most closely matches the paper you are using. To set the paper type in Photoshop on an Epson 3880:
- Go to File > Print
- Click on Print Settings
- From the Layout drop down menu, choose Printer Settings
Choose the appropriate paper type from the Media Type drop down menu.