ICC Profiles and Colour

[Giverly]

I have chronic illness which causes brainfog so I'm struggling to get my head around colour issues and sublimation (and can't read long instructions).

I've got as far as using what seems to be the correct ICC profile (previous mugs and coasters have been slightly off colour wise and I want to get this right).

With the ICC profile for our printer (Ricoh AficioSG2100n), using Photoshop CS6 when I print it seems to be missing the strong turquoise element I see on the screen (it prints this as grey). I haven't yet sublimated this printout onto a mug, partly because I can already tell it's not going to give the desired result, unless the colour changes dramatically when heated.

Do I maybe need to do something to calibrate the screen? What would you advise?

Brief advice much appreciated!

[Giverly]

BTW I've just printed a print test page and it is the same. Cyan is a grey-y blue and magenta a dull purple.

Am I just being too hesitant to sublimate these? Will they suddenly transform to brighter colours?

[webtrekker]

Printed colours are TOTALLY different to sublimated colours. You'll not know until you sublimate the print onto a mug or other item.

[Giverly]

OK I’ll have a go at sublimating a couple of these and see how they turn out.

Are they likely to become brighter though? I’d expect the other way around: printed colour becomes duller when sublimated.

[webtrekker]

No, the printed colour is usually dull and lacklustre. The pressed image should be totally different, more vivid and near to the colours you were expecting.

[GoonerGary]

Bear in mind that even though your printed product will be much brighter than your transfer. Sublimation cannot print the same range of colours as your screen will show (without getting too technical). Avoid the brightest 'neon' colours in your designs.