Print Prism – Quick Start and Function Reference

I Overview

This quick start walks you through the full Print Prism workflow using a supported scanner (Canon G3xxx, G6xx, or G6xxx Series, Canon LIDE 300, LIDE 400, any Epson ET or XP model, Epson V39 II. See full list of supported scanners.):

Print the printer-target-42.tif test chart with no color management.
Place the target in the scanner in the corner of the glass near the arrow (trimming the target is not necessary as long as your target/sheet fits on the glass).
Open Print Prism, verify the proper scanner is selected, enter a profile description, and click Scan Target & Create Profile.

If you use software other than Qimage (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.), the key rule is the same: the target must be printed with no color management in the application and none in the printer driver. Refer to your application’s documentation for the exact steps.

II Before you start

One of the supported scanners: Canon G3xxx, G6xx, or G6xxx Series, Canon LIDE 300, LIDE 400, any Epson ET or XP model, Epson V39 II. See full list of supported scanners.
You can profile any inkjet printer and paper combination; however, the scanner used to read the printed target must be one of the supported models listed above.
The printer-target-42.tif file (installed into your Windows Pictures folder).
Photo paper you want to profile (for example, Epson Ultra Premium Glossy or a third-party paper).
Print Prism installed and activated. To activate, simply enter your email address when Print Prism prompts you to complete online registration (internet connection required). If you are using Print Prism on a PC without internet access, contact us for manual activation.
Optional, but recommended: Qimage for target printing.

For the most reliable profiling, print the target at least 5×7 inches in size. Using 8.5×11-inch or A4 paper and printing the chart Fit to Page is ideal.

III Print the profiling target

Print the target containing color patches directly from Print Prism:

Open Print Prism.
Under Project in the top left of the Print Prism window, click Print Target....
Near the bottom of the Print Target dialog, first select the printer where you will be printing the target.
The first tip under the print preview will tell you whether Print Prism was able to turn color management off in the driver. If not, do that manually in the driver.
Next following the tips under the print preview, first click the Properties button to open the printer driver for the selected printer.
Using the printer driver dialog, be sure to select your media type, paper size, and print quality, then click OK to close the driver settings.
Note that you can save these driver settings for future use: see buttons next to the Properties button.
Click the Print button to print your target.

Remember to use identical driver settings when using your profile. Qimage Ultimate is recommended because it allows you to save printer setups with all settings including the profile and driver settings to avoid mistakes.

IV Place the target in the scanner

Before scanning, it is best to let your printed target dry for a minimum of 30 minutes, preferably one hour.
Colors on most prints will shift for about 30 minutes on most printers and may take as long as an hour to stabilize completely on some media.

Position the target:

Lift the scanner lid on your scanner.
Place the target face down in the corner of the scanner glass marked with an arrow.
If you printed on a letter size, A4, or similar size sheet that will fit in the scanner, you can place the entire sheet in the scanner without trimming.
You can rotate the target in any orientation that is a multiple of 90°, as long as it fits fully on the glass.
Try to avoid any obvious skew; the chart should be reasonably straight.

V Scan the target and generate your profile

Print Prism now handles everything from scanning through profile creation in one automated step without the need for user interaction.

Note that due to Epson and Canon scanner driver limitations, your scanner must be connected via USB to utilize full automation in Print Prism. If you are unable to connect via USB, you will have to scan directly from Epson Scan 2 or Canon Scangear and then open the scanned images in Print Prism via Open File under Manual Workflow.

For a USB connection:

Open Print Prism.
Enter a description for your profile in Profile Description.
Click Scan Target & Create Profile.

Print Prism will scan the specified number of passes, detect corners automatically, and create your profile using the profile description you entered. If any part of the automated profiling process fails (for example if corners cannot be detected), the automated process will be stopped and you will be notified of the error and given instructions to fix the error and continue manually.

VI Function reference

This section describes the main Print Prism controls. Most users only need the automated workflow above: print the target, place it on the scanner, enter a profile description, and click Scan Target & Create Profile. The controls below are useful when you want to verify the scan, repeat part of the process, or troubleshoot a profile.

File and Help menus

Function	What it does
File > Show Printer Target in File Explorer	Opens the folder containing the printer target file. This is mostly for users who need to find the target manually. In normal use, click Print Target... instead.
Help	Opens Print Prism help and support information.

Project

Function	What it does
Print Target...	Opens the Print Target dialog so you can print the profiling target directly from Print Prism. Print Prism will attempt to disable printer-driver color management automatically. Before printing, use Properties to select the correct media type, paper size, and print quality.
Scanner Source	Selects the scanner Print Prism will use. For full automation, the scanner normally needs to be connected by USB.
Profile Description	Enter a clear name for the printer, paper, and settings being profiled. Print Prism uses this description to populate the scan file name and ICC profile name.
Scan Target & Create Profile	Runs the full automated workflow: scans the target, detects the target corners, reads the color patches, and creates the ICC profile.
Scan File Name	Shows where the target scan will be saved. It is populated from the profile description. Click the ... button to manually change the file name, the folder where the scan will be saved, or both.
Profile File Name	Shows where the finished ICC profile will be saved. On Windows, printer profiles are normally saved in the system color folder. Click the ... button to manually change the profile file name, the folder where the profile will be saved, or both.

Settings

Function	What it does
Scanner Spectral Profile	Selects the scanner correction used to interpret the scanned target colors. This is normally auto-populated when you select the Scanner Source, but you can verify or change it if needed. This is not the printer profile; it tells Print Prism how to read colors from the selected scanner model.
Passes	Controls how many scan passes are averaged. Multiple passes can reduce scanner noise and help Print Prism detect inconsistent patch readings.
Cool	Sets the cooling delay between scan passes. This helps prevent scanner heat or lamp changes from affecting repeated scans.
Observed Gray Cast	Optional neutral-balance correction. Leave it centered unless finished prints from the profile show a consistent neutral gray cast under your normal viewing light. Move the dot to match the cast you see in the print. You do not need to think about opposite colors or how to correct the cast: simply match the observed color cast.
Profile Shadow Detail	Normal is recommended for most profiles. Boost gives extra attention to very dark tones when prints look too blocked up in the shadows.
Perceptual Intent Exp.	Controls perceptual rendering expansion in the profile. L is the most conservative setting, M is moderate, and H is more aggressive. The M and H settings are normally used to help correct blocking of bright saturated colors and only affect perceptual intent. They are typically only needed when you regularly print very saturated colors.

Manual Workflow

Function	What it does
Open File...	Opens a previously saved scan. Use this if you scanned manually from Epson Scan 2, Canon Scangear, or another scanner utility. You can also reopen a previous scan to recreate a profile, for example after installing a new version of Print Prism.
Preview	Makes a preview scan so you can check target placement before creating the profile.
Scan Now	Scans the target using the selected scanner and current scan settings without immediately completing the full automated profile workflow. The scan is saved using the Scan File Name shown above.
Create Profile	Creates the ICC profile from the currently open or newly scanned target image. Use this after opening a saved scan or after making a manual scan.

Corner Detection and Adjustment

Function	What it does
Detect Corners	Automatically locates the four corners of the printed target. If automatic detection fails, follow the on-screen instructions and adjust the corners manually.
Cycle through target corners (eyeball button)	Moves the scan view to each target corner in sequence: upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. Use it to quickly verify that each detected corner is placed correctly. This can also be used during profile creation, so while the automated process is running you can check the corners and click Cancel at the bottom if you notice a problem.
1x / 2x / 3x	Changes the zoom level of the scan preview to make corner checking and manual adjustment easier.
Corner buttons / manual corner marking	Use these if you need to mark corners manually. Click the button corresponding to the corner you want to mark, then click the location for that corner in the scan. Accurate corner placement is important because the patch grid is calculated from those four points.

VII Profile generation messages

The Messages area is a running log while Print Prism scans the target and creates the profile. Most values are diagnostic and are mainly useful for support if something goes wrong. In normal use, do not try to optimize every number. Judge the profile by real prints.

The most useful quality indicator is usually Patch progression consistency. Good and Excellent normally create the smoothest profiles. Fair or Poor may indicate scan problems, an uneven target, heavy paper texture, insufficient drying time, incompatible paper, nozzle clogs, or other printer problems.

Message	Meaning
Exposure	The scanner exposure selected for the scan. Print Prism manages this automatically.
Patch sample size	The number of pixels sampled from each color patch. Larger printed targets usually produce larger sample areas.
Patches with high variance	Patches where the sampled pixels vary more than expected. A small number is normally fine. Many high-variance patches may indicate dust, glare, paper texture, scanner noise, or a target placement problem.
Collisions	A collision is where two different patches measure the same RGB value. Print Prism reports collisions detected and corrected during analysis. A message showing collisions reduced to zero means Print Prism resolved them.
Patches marked with X	Indicates patches at or near minimum/maximum brightness. A few clipped or extreme patches are common and can be handled. Large numbers may indicate incorrect print settings, wrong media settings, or color management accidentally left on.
Patch progression consistency	Rates how smoothly neighboring target patches progress. Good and Excellent are the goal and usually produce the smoothest profiles.
Paper white	The measured Lab color of the paper white. This varies by paper and optical brighteners and is mostly diagnostic.
Dynamic range	The usable tonal range captured from the print. As a rough guide, matte papers are often around 80%+ and glossy/luster papers are often around 88%+.
Lab space coverage	An estimate of the color volume covered by the printer/paper/target combination. As a rough guide, matte papers are often around 12%+ and glossy/luster papers are often around 19%+.
Printer profile usable range	The range of RGB values the scanner picked up from the printed target. A full range such as 0-255, 0-255, 0-255 is ideal, but ranges like 13-255, 26-255, or even 38-255 are normal depending on the media type and scanner used. Print Prism automatically makes the most of the available range regardless of the numbers.
Smoothing required	Indicates whether Print Prism needed extra smoothing to create a stable profile. None means the target data was already smooth enough.

These messages are not a scorecard. They are there to help identify obvious problems such as wrong driver settings, clipped targets, poor scan placement, or inconsistent patch readings. If the profile builds successfully and real prints look good, the numbers do not need to be chased.