Problem printing grey text

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Denise - 27 Oct 2005 16:57 GMT

Hello

Using Office 2002 SP3, Windows 2000 V5.0 SP-4.

One of my users is having a problem printing text with a grey font colour
in Word. She is using RGB settings to get the grey, but the text is coming
out with a heavy blue tinge. The problem varies from printer to printer,
with some exaggerating the hue more than others.

The user has experimented with autoshapes, colouring them black then
increasing the transparency to get a grey. Unfortunately, this doesn't
seem possible with the text, but this is the sort of thing she's looking
for.

Have any other users experienced this problem and come up with a solution?
It seems to be the way that each printer processes the colour that is
causing the problem. My user needs to be able to print a 'true' grey from
every printer, without a hint of blue (or any other colour).

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Denise

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Bob Buckland ?:-) - 02 Nov 2005 07:38 GMT

Hi Denise,

I'm not sure what a 'true gray' would be, but what RGB
value has been selected. 190-190-190 is considered in
a number of charts to be plain 'gray'.

Gray's are a combination of red/blue/green settings so
'without a hint of color' may be a bit hard to achieve
but part of the difficulty comes from both the screens
and the printers being independently 'settable' by users
to what 'looks good' to them. While the displays can
be calibrated and have corrections to be 'truer' there
are the issues of, as you mentioned, the quality setting
of the color printing at any given time, the way colors
are mixed, the color profile used/not used by the printer
and Windows, the graphics subsystem version in Windows
the state of color remaining in the printer for each cartridge.

If there is no color wanted then setting the printer via
its properties to 'greyscale' may be a better way to go and
unless the users are planning on 'comparing' their printouts
each user may think what they have is satisfactory?

=============
Hello

Using Office 2002 SP3, Windows 2000 V5.0 SP-4.

One of my users is having a problem printing text with a grey font colour
in Word. She is using RGB settings to get the grey, but the text is coming
out with a heavy blue tinge. The problem varies from printer to printer,
with some exaggerating the hue more than others.

The user has experimented with autoshapes, colouring them black then
increasing the transparency to get a grey. Unfortunately, this doesn't
seem possible with the text, but this is the sort of thing she's looking
for.

Have any other users experienced this problem and come up with a solution?
It seems to be the way that each printer processes the colour that is
causing the problem. My user needs to be able to print a 'true' grey from
every printer, without a hint of blue (or any other colour).

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Denise>>

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Tom Ferguson - 02 Nov 2005 08:57 GMT

As a start, I would check to see what, if any Image Colour Management
(ICM) profile is being used when printing. For that, navigate to Color
Management in the printer driver settings. Try printing with no profile
selected.

Also, check the printer driver settings and see if there is a "grayscale"
printing checkbox. Some printers will print black by mixing colours if
there is any colour on the page and if that is not checked. Of course,
the printer will render everything in grayscale.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

: Hello
:
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
:
: Denise

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Denise - 02 Nov 2005 16:11 GMT

Hi Tom/Bob

Thanks for the replies. I must admit I'm a little bamboozled with
information!

The user has tried various RGB combinations and all have the blue tinge.
She has also spent long periods 'twiddling' with printer settings. The
problem is that grey is now part of our corporate colour scheme, and
documents need to be printed in colour by both staff and external clients.
The user is under pressure from above to find a solution, but it sounds
like a rethink is in order. Funnily enough, my solution of "don't put grey
in the corporate colour scheme" didn't go down well...

Thanks for your help

Denise

> As a start, I would check to see what, if any Image Colour Management
> (ICM) profile is being used when printing. For that, navigate to Color
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>:
>: Denise

Reply to this Message

Tom Ferguson - 02 Nov 2005 18:34 GMT

"The user has tried various RGB combinations and all have the blue
tinge."

This is a symptom of a color-matching problem. The problem is usually
that the ICM profile in use is wrong or mis-applied.

The ICM profile is supposed to cause the color data sent to the printer
be adjusted so that your printer's output colours will match a standard.
There are also ICM profiled for monitors. The problems in getting a good
match are many and the result is a compromise.

I find that the blue tinge is a frequent result of the system. Usually
the result is better if you let the color data from the application stand
without any adjustment. Colours are usually brighter and greys are better
rendered.

To that end, I suggest you look into ICP profiles and their application
in Windows/Office/Word.

Tom
MAMVP
Windows Shell/User

: Hi Tom/Bob
:
[quoted text clipped - 57 lines]
: >:
: >: Denise

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Suzanne S. Barnhill - 03 Nov 2005 00:06 GMT

I'm late getting into this, and perhaps this is entirely irrelevant, but is
the problem still evident if the gray is selected from the bottom of the
palette, the part that appears to be grayscale? To wit:

1. Format | Font: Font color: More Colors...

2. At the bottom of the Standard tab there are hexes with various shades of
gray. On the right side of the Custom tab, there is a slider for grays.

My assumption would be that a gray selected from this palette would be
printed using black dots, though I suppose this assumption is incorrect,
since I see that there are RGB values for the colors on the Custom slider.

Signature

Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

> "The user has tried various RGB combinations and all have the blue
> tinge."
[quoted text clipped - 91 lines]
> : >:
> : >: Denise

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Denise - 03 Nov 2005 11:51 GMT

Hi Tom/Suzanne

Thanks for the input. The user has tried taking the greys from the hexes
and altering them but, as you say, there are RGB values associated with
them. I notice that none of the samples she gave me have greys straight
from the hexes - they have all been adjusted. I will get her to try using
unadjusted greys to see if that makes any difference.

I will also look into ICP profiles to get a better understanding of what's
involved.

Many thanks to everyone for your help. I will update you on any progress!

Denise

> I'm late getting into this, and perhaps this is entirely irrelevant, but is
> the problem still evident if the gray is selected from the bottom of the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> printed using black dots, though I suppose this assumption is incorrect,
> since I see that there are RGB values for the colors on the Custom slider.

Reply to this Message

Tom Ferguson - 04 Nov 2005 00:49 GMT

Sorry. Slip of brain or finger: ICM profile rather than ICP.

Signature

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User

{Snip}

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Denise - 04 Nov 2005 11:07 GMT

> Sorry. Slip of brain or finger: ICM profile rather than ICP.

Me too! I knew what you meant, though. Thanks Tom.

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GOGU@loaning.co.uk - 04 Nov 2005 23:43 GMT

> > Sorry. Slip of brain or finger: ICM profile rather than ICP.
>
> Me too! I knew what you meant, though. Thanks Tom.

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