Professional Print Technique
CANON iMAGE GATEWAY  
    

Colour Management (3): ICC Profiles of Inkjet Printers

- Bringing Out the Colour in Data Using Inkjet Printing -

ICC profiles are embedded in hardware, such as monitors and printers; in image data, to define the data's colour space; and in output media such as inkjet paper. By using these ICC profiles correctly in colour management systems, you can optimally express the output on each device of the colours contained in the data within the colour reproduction space.

Before explaining how to use ICC profiles effectively, we'll begin with a brief explanation of what the ICC profiles in inkjet printers are.

Device ICC profiles for Canon inkjet printers, such as BJ Colour Printer Profile 2000 and Canon IJ Colour Printer Profile 2005, are used by the colour management features built into operating systems, such as Windows' ICM and MacOS' ColourSync.

These ICC profiles are installed at the same time as the printer drivers are installed in the PC. They record the characteristics of the printer when genuine Canon inkjet printer paper is used. This is why Canon recommends the use of only genuine Canon inkjet printer paper when using ICC profiles such as BJ Colour Printer Profile 2000 and Canon IJ Colour Printer Profile 2005 for colour management.
However, the gamut that ICC profiles such as BJ Colour Printer Profile 2000 and Canon IJ Colour Printer Profile 2005 can reproduce is equivalent to sRGB. We recommend instead using paper ICC profiles that support the broad gamut of AdobeRGB.

Printer ICC profile selection window in Windows ICM

The file names of the Windows ICC profiles for Canon inkjet printers are CNBJPRN2.ICM for BJ Colour Printer Profile 2000 and CNBJPRN3.ICM for Canon IJ Colour Printer Profile 2005.

You can confirm that these ICC profiles are the ones used in ICM, Windows' colour management system. The files can be found under Start > Control Panel > Printer/Fax > Printer: right-click > Properties > Colour Management tab. You can select CNBJPRN2 or CNBJPRN3, among others.

The other ICC profiles here are ICC profiles for specific types of Canon inkjet printer paper, so do not select them.

Printer ICC profile selection window in MacOS ColourSync

The file names of the MacOS ICC profiles for Canon inkjet printers are BJColourPrinter2000.icc and CanonIJPrinter2005.icc.

You can confirm that these ICC profiles are the ones used in ColourSync, MacOS' colour management system. In Finder, you can find it under Go > Utilities > ColourSync Utility, click Devices > Select Printer, then click the triangle at left. In the window that opens, you can see Default mark next to BJColourPrinter2000.icc or CanonIJPrinter2005.icc.

The other ICC profiles here are ICC profiles for specific types of Canon inkjet printer paper, so do not select them.

How to print using the colour management feature of the OS

To use OS-internal colour management systems, such as Windows' ICM and MacOS' ColourSync, set the printer driver to print using the printer's ICC profile.

Notes:

  • Even if you have set the printer driver to use your operating system's colour management feature, you will still need to set the paper type and print quality in the basic settings of the printer driver.
  • In Adobe Photoshop CS, open File Menu > Print Preview > Display Other Options > Select Colour Management, then in Print Colour Space, set Profile to Printer-side Colour Management.

    • Set the printer driver to use Windows' ICM:

    Before printing, open the Basic Settings tab in the Printer Driver window. In Colour Adjustment, select Manual Adjustment, click the Settings button to open the Manual Colour Adjustment window and check the box beside Use ICM.

    In the latest printer drivers, the procedure is slightly different. Before printing, open the Basic Settings tab in the Printer Driver window. In Colour/Saturation, select Manual Adjustment, click the Settings button to open the Manual Colour Adjustment window and select ICM (Windows colour correction).

    Set the printer driver to use MacOS' ColourSync

    Before printing, select Colour Options in the Printer Driver window, then select Colour Correction: ColourSync.

    © Canon