Photoshop gurus - need help!

[my99vdub]

(if this belongs in a different forum, moderators, please move)

Hi -
Can I ask the Photoshop gurus a question or two (or three)?
(well, that was one)

I have managed to get a consulting gig for a photgraphic artist who is looking to get Photoshop CS to talk nicely between the computer/monitor, scanner and printer and come out with the same colors.

I read (from Adobe) that one can create a color profile - question: is the profile associated ONLY with Photoshop? can the Canon scanner and fancy Epson printer use that same profile?

This person has some incredible photos and to make all this the worse for the wear, she got talking into moving away from the Mac to the Dell world of computing so it's big time frustration there too (besides not getting all the elements to appear the same using Photoshop).

I tried to walk thru the Adobe Gamma wizard to set the monitor, but scanned photos do not appear the same on screen as the actual photograph - is that normal?

Can one of the gurus give me a high level method of getting the monitor, scanner and printer to talk friendly to each other so that my customer doesn't end up having to adjust all the color settings every time a print is desired?

Any good websites with *free* beginner setup info for Adobe Photoshop CS? The problem I'm having is that I read one manual, say for the scanner, and it says to use this profile and then the printer manual says use this other profile - am I going about this the wrong way thinking that there's one setting to use to to get everything to play nice (and look the same)?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Beth

[Fowvay]

I turned off that feature all together. It made my photos look like crap.

[jdesigns]

Take a look at Colorvision's ColorPlus and Spyder2.

These use a colorimeter and software to calibrate your monitor so what you see on the monitor is what gets printed.

I ordered the ColorPlus last night. I too, need correct colors for my prints. I'll let you know if it helps.

I tried using Adobe's Gamma, but I must have done something wrong because my photo's are a tad bit too dark compaired with the prints.


Anyone else help?

[gilligan]

I was having that problem also so I shut off the color management and it doesn't do it anymore. In photoshop go to edit and down to color settings and turn off the color management policies. not sure if that will fix it but it is worth a try.

[my99vdub]

Sounds like *less is more* almost - will have to try these things next week when I go back for the round of me against Adobe, ha ha.
Seems like things are best when left alone from the suggestions you folks have - and just let each individual component take care of itself.

I might see if the customer is interested in the colimeter but guess finances are a big consideration - goofball relative installed all this software from their personal copies and now the *activation* fun is rearing its ugliness . . . onward.

Thanks!

[hannaco]

Color management can be a bit of a pain because not everything is in the same color space. The monitor is RGB, the printer is CMYK, and the scanner could be either. Then Adobe has their own color space that is a bit of a super set of the others. Enough to make you scream. Then you need profiles for the inks and papers that you use. Just changing paper can change the way the colors look.
One place to look for answers is Jon Cone's place. He has been doing this for a number of years, and is quite good at it.

Consider looking here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/cm/xrite/optix.html This product will allow you to make ICC profiles of the scanner, monitor, and printer so everything looks the same.