Print Prism
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Print Prism Quick Start

Guided workflow for printing the target, scanning, and creating a printer profile.

Supported scanner models: Canon G3xxx, G6xx, or G6xxx Series, Canon LIDE 300, any Epson ET or XP model, Epson V39 II. See full list of supported scanners.
Watch the 12 minute instructional video (creating a printer profile from start to finish).
Overview Requirements I. Print the target II. Trim & place on scanner III. Scan the target IV. Profile details V. Detect corners VI. Generate & use profile

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, any Epson ET or XP model, Epson V39 II. See full list of supported scanners.):

  1. Print the printer-target-41.tif test chart with no color management.
  2. Trim the target and place it on the scanner glass.
  3. Scan it directly in Print Prism using Preview and Scan Now.
  4. Mark or auto-detect the chart corners.
  5. Create an ICC printer profile and start printing with it.

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, 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-41.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

Locate the target file installed by Print Prism:

  • Open Windows Pictures.
  • Find printer-target-41.tif.

Using Qimage (recommended)

  1. Open Qimage.
  2. Select the printer you want to profile on Qimage’s Printers and Settings tab.
  3. Set the printer media type and paper size exactly as you would for normal printing on that paper.
  4. In the Printer profile dropdown, choose OFF.

For most Canon and Epson printers, Qimage’s AI will automatically disable color management in the driver when you select OFF. If you want to verify this:

  • Click Properties in Qimage to open the printer driver.
  • Confirm that the driver’s color mode is set to something like None or No Color Adjustment.

Disable sharpening for the target print:

  • In Qimage, drop down Print Sharpen and choose 0 (OFF).

Load the target file in Qimage’s thumbnail browser:

  1. Use the folder browser above the thumbnails and navigate to your Windows Pictures folder.
  2. Click on printer-target-41.tif.
  3. On the right panel, make sure the Crop toggle switch is off.
  4. On Letter or A4 size sheets, set the print size to Fit to Page so the chart fills the sheet.
  5. If printing on larger media, simply print the chart at original size (10.3 x 7.5 inches).

Now print the target:

  1. Load your chosen photo paper in the printer.
  2. Click the Print button in Qimage to print the target.

Do not adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, or apply any additional edits or filters when printing the target. The chart must represent the printer/paper/ink combination with no extra corrections.

At this point, the target has been printed with color management off in both Qimage and the driver, at a size large enough for accurate scanning. You can now close Qimage if you like.

IV Trim the target and place it on the scanner

Before trimming or 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.

For best results, trim off the white border around the printed chart:

  1. Cut along the dotted line so that only the black border around the target remains.
  2. There should be no white paper edge surrounding the chart.

Removing the white border allows the scanner to see the lid’s white surface as the background, without being influenced by the paper color itself.

Position the target:

  1. Lift the scanner lid on your scanner.
  2. Place the trimmed target face down in the middle of the scanner glass; do not push it into a corner.
  3. If you printed on 8.5×11-inch paper, after trimming the chart will be roughly 10.5 × 7.75 inches.
  4. You can rotate the target in any orientation that is a multiple of 90°, as long as it fits fully on the glass.
  5. Try to avoid any obvious skew; the chart should be reasonably straight.

V Scan the target

Print Prism now handles the scan directly, so you do not need to work in Epson Scan 2 or Canon ScanGear.

  1. Open Print Prism.
  2. In the panel titled “Step 1: Select Scanner” (upper left of the main window), make sure your supported scanner is selected via the top scanner selection button.
  3. Directly under the scanner selection button, the Scanner Spectral Profile button will automatically be selected to match the scanner chosen in the prior step.
  4. Note: if you use the "Open File" button to open a previously scanned target instead of scanning directly, please verify the Scanner Spectral Profile matches the scanner used.
  5. Next in the panel titled “Step 2: Import A Scanned Target”, click the Preview button.
  6. In the preview window, confirm that the target is:
    • fully visible on the glass,
    • near the center of the glass and not pushed into a corner, and
    • reasonably straight.
  7. If the target looks crooked, reposition it on the glass and click Refresh in the preview window. You can keep refreshing until the placement looks good, then click Close.
  8. Set the desired number of Passes.
  9. Click Scan Now.
  10. When prompted to save the scan, enter a descriptive file name such as Epson ET-8550 Ultra Glossy - Print Prism and click Save.
  11. Print Prism will then ask whether you want to copy that same description to the Profile Description and Profile File Name. Choosing Yes can save time and keep everything named consistently.

After the scan is saved, the scanned target will appear in Print Prism’s manual adjustment window. Print Prism will usually rotate the target automatically so it is right-side-up.

You can pan the view using the scroll bars or by click-and-dragging the image. The upper-left of the correctly oriented target contains a white patch; the lower-right has “Printer-Target” text below the color patches. If the orientation is wrong, use the rotation buttons on the right side of the window to rotate in 90° steps.

VI Enter printer profile details

In the Print Prism panel titled “Step 2: Specify output profile details”, the fields may already be filled in if you chose to copy the scan description after saving the scan.

  1. In Output Printer Profile Description, enter a useful description for the profile. For example:
    • Epson ET-8550 Staples Glossy
    • Canon G620 Pro Luster (PP)
    • Epson ET-8550 Epson Ultra Premium Glossy (PP)
    Adding (PP) at the end can help you remember that this profile was created by Print Prism.
  2. Click the down arrow button under the description to copy the description to the file name, or...
  3. Click the … button next to Output Printer Profile File Name, confirm the file name, and click Save.

    4. The description you entered in the previous step is used as the default file name and Print Prism defaults to saving in your Windows system color folder (where all profiles are found).

    Optional: Neutral tonality and normal shadow detail give the most accurate results but you can select the creative options for "Warm" tonality if you prefer warmer tones and/or shadow "Boost" to lightly lift detail in deep shadows.

VIICheck target orientation and detect/verify chart corners

Print Prism will typically pick the proper orientation of the target but let's confirm it is not rotated before we continue.

  1. Use the scroll bars next to the scan image or click/drag the image to move around and locate the top left corner of the printed target if not already visible.
  2. In the correct orientation, the white color patch is in the top-left corner and the black corner with “Printer Target – PP…” text is in the lower-right.

With the target correctly oriented in the manual adjustment window, you can now mark the four corners.

  1. Click the Detect Corners button above the scan.
  2. Print Prism will search for the red corner indicators on the target and automatically place the corner markers if possible.

In most cases:

  • All four corners will be found automatically.
  • A small punch-out box will appear near the center of each color patch, showing where the patch values will be sampled.

Scroll around the image or drag to pan and confirm that the punch-outs sit well inside each colored square and not on borders or gaps.

Manual corner adjustment (if needed):

  • If auto-detect fails to detect all four corners or misses a corner, you can place corners manually.
  • Drag/ scroll the image in the view window until a corner is visible.
  • Click the matching corner button and place the marker on top of the red bracket where the color patches meet the black border.
  • Do not place corner markers on the outside edge of the black border.
  • Repeat steps for the 3 remaining corners.

VIII Generate the profile and start using it

Once all four corners are correctly marked, Print Prism will analyze the target and display statistics in the panel titled “Step 4: Generate the profile” at the bottom of the window.

Interpreting the stats:

  • You’ll see the overall exposure, the number of clipped patches, dynamic range, and coverage of Lab space.
  • A small number of clipped patches is normal. Anything under roughly 300 clipped patches is generally acceptable.

If you see a large number of clipped patches or other problems, consider rescanning:

  • Make sure the lid is fully closed and flat.
  • Use Preview again and confirm that the target is near the center of the glass, fully visible, and reasonably straight.
  • If needed, reposition the target and use Refresh in the preview window until the placement looks right before scanning again.

Create the ICC profile:

  1. When you’re satisfied with the stats, click Create Profile.
  2. Print Prism will process the target; this can take a minute or two.
  3. When finished, the ICC profile will be saved to the file name and location you selected earlier.

Using the new profile in Qimage (or other software):

  • When printing with the new profile, set your application and printer driver to the same settings you used when you printed the target (same printer, media type, paper size, quality, etc.).
  • In Qimage:
    • Select the same printer and driver settings as before.
    • Choose your new ICC file in the Printer profile dropdown.
    • Turn Sharpen back on (default is 5).
    • Optionally, save this combination as a printer setup for quick reuse.
  • In other software (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.), configure the application to use your new printer profile and ensure the driver’s color management is still disabled or set to “Application Managed Color”.

You now have a custom ICC profile tailored to your printer, ink, and paper combination, ready for high-quality, color-managed printing.