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Using color management when printing


    When you print a color-managed RGB or CMYK document, you can specify additional color management options to keep color consistent in the printer output. For example, suppose that your document currently contains a profile tailored for prepress output, but you want to proof the document colors on a desktop printer. In the Print dialog box, you can convert the document's colors to the color space of the desktop printer; the printer profile will be used instead of the current document profile when printing. Because various RGB profiles are available in the Print dialog box, you can send color data as RGB values to printers.

    When printing to a PostScript printer, you also have the option of using PostScript color management. In this workflow, Illustrator sends the document's color data along with the document profile directly to the PostScript printer and lets the printer convert the document to the printer color space. The exact results of the color conversion can vary among printers. To use PostScript color management, you must have a printer that uses PostScript Level 2 or later; it is not necessary to install an ICC profile for the printer on your system.

    Note: PostScript color management is not recommended when printing files that contain transparency.

    For information on profiles and color-managed workflows, see About color management.

To color-manage a document while printing:

  1. Choose File > Print.
  2. Under Print Space, choose an option for Profile:
    • To print using the document's current color profile, choose Same As Source. No conversions will be performed on the colors of the document when it is printed.
    • To print using a different destination profile, choose that profile from the list.
    • To print to a PostScript printer and have colors managed at the level of the printer, choose PostScript Color Management.
  3. For Intent, choose the rendering intent to use when converting colors to the destination profile space. For more information, see Specifying a rendering intent.