Colour Issues with new mac and Affinity.

[Sarah T]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping for a bit of advice. I have just purchased a Mac and have installed affinity Photo for the purpose of Mug sublimation. I previously used windows and Photoshop and never had any problems. . I have installed the ICC profiles required for Affinity but the colours are not printing correctly. Ive spent all day trying to sort it out but having no luck and unable to contact Ink Experts. Desperately in need of help if anyone has had a similar issue or might know how I go about fixing this. 

 

Thanks Sarah 

[thomaso]

Hi Sarah T,
welcome to the Affinity forums!

With your description, only colour space / profile settings come to my mind.
For example, in…

– the Affinity layout document,
– possibly linked resource files,
– a possible export setting,
– the printing dialog or,
– the chosen printer driver in macOS preferences.

To detect a possible reason for your colour issue it might help to get more info about these settings, for instance by uploaded screenshots of the according dialog windows.

[howardpearse]

Yes we have the same issue with Affinity Designer- 

Ink Experts have supplied us with the ICC codes, which we were able to use a few times, but now the 'colour matching' option- that was in the print dialog in AD- no longer shows up, therefore you can't select the ICC code. 

Have done a bit of research online and noted a few people citing driver issues an/ore operating system/filepath issues on both OSX and Windows.  We are using a MacBook on Monterey- but have tried doing it on Catalina with no success.  

I've noted that people have cited the same problems using both Affinity Photo and Designer- so I presume the same solution might fix both platforms..

Any ideas?

 

Howie P

[INKERBOO]

Hi Sarah I am having a very similar issue. I understand Thant ink experts openly do not offer support due to the fact apple are a nightmare with their colour management and apparently icc colour management is ignored or unsupported.....

it is very frustrating.... I previously. was able to access a 'Colour Matching' option in affinity designers print settings which no longer shows up but this was where I was ale to set ink experts icc. codes. the colours on those prints came out really vibrant and beautiful.... but as I can't access this the colours on my mugs is totally unmatchable...

I today tried my partners told slow pc laptop... which gave me colour management options and I was able to change the colours a bit but still not the same as before for some reason.

 

if you learn anything new please share as I will be following! 

[Sarah T]

Hi, Thank you for your replies. Sorry to hear you're having issues too.

Below are some screen shots of my print settings, are these similar to yours? I have tried printing with the Epson color controls option selected instead of colour sync and the results are much better. I wonder if the problem is with Ink Experts ICC profiles. I will try to contact them tomorrow to hopefully resolve the issue and let you know how I get on. 

[thomaso]

Thank you @Sarah T for your feedback.

14 hours ago, howardpearse said:

but now the 'colour matching' option- that was in the print dialog in AD- no longer shows up, therefore you can't select the ICC code. 

10 hours ago, INKERBOO said:

 I previously. was able to access a 'Colour Matching' option in affinity designers print settings which no longer shows up

As long both of you don't tell what installation was changed before your print colour options disappeared, just a note for mac users: If print options don't show up then the selected printer driver might be a reason. When installing a printer macOS by default offers its standard protocol "Bonjour" which prefers Apple's "driverless" technology "AirPrint". If you choose instead the IP protocol when installing a printer it offers to select a printer driver file. Depending on the driver it might possibly solve the issue of missing print options. The availability of printing options is primarily a matter of the printer software than of Affinity or the OS.

 

[INKERBOO]

HI thank you for those details Sarah, I see you have the Colour Matching option which is a good start! And thank you Thomaso! I am going to look into these settings! My Mac auto updates I think I was an issue since Monterey, possibly the system before that!! thank you : ) 

[claudiocazal]

So…did anyone solved the “color matching” dissapeared issue?

I coould install using the Epson Drivers, instead of Apples native drive, but the mac doesnt let me chose other installation option but only through airprint. For me, doesnt appear the color matching option and I  am having the same problem with sublimation ink, as Sarah.

[thomaso]

17 hours ago, claudiocazal said:

the mac doesnt let me chose other installation option but only through airprint.

What/where did you try? Did you choose to add a network printer by specifying its IP address? This option wants you first to type a name for your printer, then it will allow you to choose a specific printer driver file from your disk.

>> Add a network printer by specifying its IP address – (…) use: Display the appropriate software for the printer. If you don’t see software for your printer, choose Select Software, then select your printer in the Printer Software list. If the Printer Software list doesn’t include your printer, try downloading and installing the printer software (also called a printer driver) from the printer manufacturer. You can also try choosing generic postscript or PCL printer software from the pop-up menu depending on your type of printer. <<

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh14004/mac

[claudiocazal]

Hi Thomaso!

I tried avoid the airprint way. I checked and the driver that is running is the last one, V. 13.x, what looks that the driver used is the one I download from Epson’s. I noticed that the mac driver shows just few setting options and the driver from Epson gives me options, such as choosing the ICC/ICM print/ink profile. But the result disappointed me!

[claudiocazal]

On 1/24/2024 at 4:00 PM, thomaso said:

What/where did you try? Did you choose to add a network printer by specifying its IP address? This option wants you first to type a name for your printer, then it will allow you to choose a specific printer driver file from your disk.

>> Add a network printer by specifying its IP address – (…) use: Display the appropriate software for the printer. If you don’t see software for your printer, choose Select Software, then select your printer in the Printer Software list. If the Printer Software list doesn’t include your printer, try downloading and installing the printer software (also called a printer driver) from the printer manufacturer. You can also try choosing generic postscript or PCL printer software from the pop-up menu depending on your type of printer. <<

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mh14004/mac

T,

I performed the installation through ethernet, Usb cable and wifi. There is no difference. I printed a color test page and pressed with a thermic plain press using exactly the same configuration with a Win and Mac. The result using Win are the correct because is what I get when using Corel. But the result using affinity in my iMac M1 2021 are odd:

IMG_1122.HEIC

(Mac at left and win at diret: the gray scale in Mac is blueish)

IMG_1123.HEIC

(Mac on left and Win on right: the Mac blue is greenish)

IMG_1124.HEIC

(Win on left and Mac on right: the gray elements are blueish)

IMG_1110.HEIC

(after using the Epson Driver, downloaded from the manufacturer, the setup shows the ColorSync option and let me apply am ICC/ICM profile, confirming the Epson driver installation, instead of the Mac one) 

[claudiocazal]

I tested printing through a PDF file exported from affinity. I used the same color profile and the result was the same. So, there is something uncommon when printing direct from affinity or an epson driver bug. What is happening?