Printing from Photo Lab 8

Hello everyone.

I am having problems with Photo Lab which I cannot resolve; if there are any known solutions to this please point me to them I do not wish member’s time wasted when answers to it have previously been provided.

I have spent many many hours on Google searches and YouTube but I cannot find any help on this I hope someone here may have the answer. Much that I have found seems conflicting, does Photo Lab 8 need a colour profile and if so which one? Can colour profiles really be generated by the user and if so which one? If I’m asking irrelevant questions or not being clear please be patient with me I’m in my eighties now and very confused over this.

I have recently upgraded to Photo Lab 8 from 4 and am well pleased with it. The problem concerns the printing of photographs. In the print screen using the Colour profile Managed by the printer selection everything works perfectly but as I post process mainly in Photo Lab I’d like to try using Colour profile Managed by DxOPhotoLab.

When I try to do this, Colour profile Managed by DxOPhotoLab, a PL file explorer type page opens showing “C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color” in which are listed many ICC File type files. Some have .icc extensions and some .icm. These files are dated from March 2005 to December 22. I do not know how the files originated. I do not know if one has to be selected and if so which one. Where to from here?

My computer is running Windows 10 Home version.

My monitor is an Acer KB242HYL
VERSION No. KB242HYL bix
DATE Dec 2021

The printer paper I am using is Canon Pixma A4 Glossy Photo Paper “Everyday Use” 200 g/m² GP-501

Most, but not all, of my photographs are taken using my Canon M6 mkll camera.

My post processing is mostly done using DxO Photo Lab and sometimes AffinityPhoto.

In DxO Printer settings
Name Canon MG7500 series Printer (actually MG7550)
Paper size A4 (or as required)
Orientation Landscape (or as required)
Resolution 300 dpi (or as required)

In Printer properties Preview before printing is always selected.

I do not use Soft Proofing.

If any other information is required please say and I will do my best to provide it.

Kind regards,

Oliver

In which case, you should select the profile for that paper. What follows is based on PL7 but I doubt PL8 is different. It should be enough to get you started:

  1. In Photolab click file | Print
  2. In the Print window that appears work your way down the various settings on offer in the right hand panel:
  • Printer settings:
    Select your printer, paper size, orientation and resolution (I’d use 300 dpi if I had a Canon printer but others here are likely to advise a different value).
    Now click on ‘Printer Properties’ and in that dialog find the setting(s) that ensure color management is turned off. This step is essential but I don’t have a Canon printer so I can’t advise you where this setting is within the Printer Properties dialog. having down that OK out of that dialog to get back to PL.
  • Color and sharpness:
    Set the first dropdown in Color profile to ‘Managed by DxO Photolab’ and from the second dropdown choose the paper type you are using. Leave ‘Rendering intent’ at the default of ‘Perceptual’. Note the reminder to turn off color management in the Printer properties window. You can ignore that, providing you followed the instruction above. leave the Sharpness slider at the default of 50.
  • The rest of the settings for Layout, Margins etc. should be self explanatory.

@stuck already pointed out what to do when printing with color management by DxO Photolab … which means you choose the appropriate paper profile from your indicated source.

→ Your installed printer driver should come with a profile for your Canon GP 501. ←

Otherwise, stick with what you know and what works → color management by the printer. (The printer module for PL8 is no different.)
:man_shrugging: