I have weaned myself off of CS2 and switched all of my processing to CS3 in the last couple of weeks. The RAW adjustments are so much better in the new version, and I’ve grudgingly accepted its quirks (why won’t the sequencing in file renaming in Bridge reset to zero, instead of starting of at the last number used? Why won’t it at least give me a choice?). But the Print dialog function in Photoshop really has me in a lather.
Print dialogs are extraordinarily fussy procedures. There are so many choices that have to be made, and so many ways to get it wrong, and the language used to describe your choices is typically opaque. So why can’t a set of choices stick from one print job to the next?
Today I made several prints from my hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge this morning. Whenever I open Photoshop CS3, it has reset itself to the system default printer, my laser. I have to point it toward my Epson, and make the myriad of settings and adjustments in that dialog to choose the roll paper, not the tray, and have Photoshop color manage, not the printer. I make a print, then I open up another file, and Ctrl-P to make a print of that. All my print dialog choices have reset. Nothing sticks. I have not closed and reopened the program. Grrrrr.
For a discussion on the alleged logic behind Adobe’s Print Dialog, see John Nack’s Blog.
Aren’t I going to be fun to read when I get a Mac?
Adobe is working to make things better with Lightroom by working with OS makers (Apple/MS) and printer makers to streamline the process. IMHO it will be a uphill battle that will take a lot of time. Printer makers simply don't give a damn since their stuff sells anyway. At least they haven't been given a reason to care.
If you think it's bad on Windows, wait until you see the print dialog on the Mac. It's garbage.
Posted by: Dan | June 25, 2007 at 06:22 PM
I was shocked when I switched from printing on Linux to printing on Mac (via PS Elements). Getting a photo printer to work well under Linux was hell. It was a cakewalk on the Mac. But the print dialogue from the Linux applications was miles and miles ahead of the crap you get from Photoshop/Mac OS. It was flexible, powerful, told me what I wanted to know and didn't bother me with crap I had no interest in. It remembered my settings, so I didn't have to reset things each time. There's a reason they warn you to double-check your profile settings with each print. Sometimes it magically reverts to printer managed colour...
I never did figure out how to get roll paper working on the Mac. I wasted a good 10 feet of it in the process.
It's worth it for all the other things - an OS that KNOWS about calibrated monitors and can have separate ICC profiles for each one (though I have to trick Eye-One Match into profiling the second monitor), hardware that just works, vendor support, etc. I'm contemplating buying a dedicated RIP - ImagePrint in particular. That seemed to be more sane back when I checked it out. Kind of absurd to have to spend that much extra in order to get a decent print dialogue, though.
Posted by: Erik DeBill | June 25, 2007 at 09:34 PM