Printing
Aperture: Add Watermarks To Contact Sheets
2007-06-16
Aperture can add watermarks to images as they are exported, but what do you do if you want to watermark contact sheets? It would seem that the only way would be to export each image with a watermark and then reimport them and print them as contacts. There is a better way, but it needs a reasonable amount of set-up. It involves using Automator to add a watermark to the contact print PDFs created by Aperture.
I create a contact print with Aperture by saving as a PDF and then import into an empty transparent Photoshop document as a raster image background:
On top of that I add white Bagelturf watermarks by making one and then option-dragging to add more. It turns out that the technique of positioning the watermarks so that they match the images is just too much trouble, so instead I recommend that the watermarks just be scattered randomly or kept very small and used in a fine grid so that each image has at least one readable one. There is probably a Photoshop feature for doing this that I don't know about or doesn't exist in my copy of Photoshop LE.
I delete the background layer and create a full-page watermark document that is all transparent except for the watermarking scattered all over the image. I save it as a PNG to preserve the transparency and to keep the file size small.
Next I launch Automator and create a new workflow. First I drag PDF:Watermark PDF on, followed by Preview: Print Image. I set up the watermark action by adding the watermark file that I created previously with the Add.. button and adjusting the settings so that the watermark image is positioned correctly. This takes experimentation since the example image is not very helpful. I set up the Print Images action so that the orientation and printer selection is what I want. I have seen comments that this technique only works with the default printer, so you may find yourself wrestling with that.
And ignore the red text that says that the PDF files from the Watermark PDF action will not flow into the Image Files input to the Print Images action.
If you want to change the useless example document used in the action, replace the file called Bears.pdf in System > Library > Automator > Watermark PDF.action. Open the action with a control click and select Show Package Contents. It's in the Resources > English.lproj folder on a system that is using English language settings. If you want to get really hacky, you can examine the python script that does the watermarking that lives in the Resources folder.
Next I save the workflow as as a plug-in for a print workflow and call it Watermark3x4:
As long as the watermark image is correctly positioned I am done. To use this workflow from Aperture, I select my images and go to File > Print. I change the contact print settings to get it the way I want it (on one or many pages), but I don't press Print. I press Preview instead.
When Preview comes up and shows the first contact print page it has no watermarks.
To add the watermarking, I click the Print icon and then select the PDF button. I click on Watermark3x4 on the drop-down menu that appears and the pages print immediately. I click Cancel to get out of Preview.
The workflow I created lives in the Library > PDF Services folder in my home folder. To get rid of it I just drag it to the trash.
I create a contact print with Aperture by saving as a PDF and then import into an empty transparent Photoshop document as a raster image background:
On top of that I add white Bagelturf watermarks by making one and then option-dragging to add more. It turns out that the technique of positioning the watermarks so that they match the images is just too much trouble, so instead I recommend that the watermarks just be scattered randomly or kept very small and used in a fine grid so that each image has at least one readable one. There is probably a Photoshop feature for doing this that I don't know about or doesn't exist in my copy of Photoshop LE.
I delete the background layer and create a full-page watermark document that is all transparent except for the watermarking scattered all over the image. I save it as a PNG to preserve the transparency and to keep the file size small.
Next I launch Automator and create a new workflow. First I drag PDF:Watermark PDF on, followed by Preview: Print Image. I set up the watermark action by adding the watermark file that I created previously with the Add.. button and adjusting the settings so that the watermark image is positioned correctly. This takes experimentation since the example image is not very helpful. I set up the Print Images action so that the orientation and printer selection is what I want. I have seen comments that this technique only works with the default printer, so you may find yourself wrestling with that.
And ignore the red text that says that the PDF files from the Watermark PDF action will not flow into the Image Files input to the Print Images action.
If you want to change the useless example document used in the action, replace the file called Bears.pdf in System > Library > Automator > Watermark PDF.action. Open the action with a control click and select Show Package Contents. It's in the Resources > English.lproj folder on a system that is using English language settings. If you want to get really hacky, you can examine the python script that does the watermarking that lives in the Resources folder.
Next I save the workflow as as a plug-in for a print workflow and call it Watermark3x4:
As long as the watermark image is correctly positioned I am done. To use this workflow from Aperture, I select my images and go to File > Print. I change the contact print settings to get it the way I want it (on one or many pages), but I don't press Print. I press Preview instead.
When Preview comes up and shows the first contact print page it has no watermarks.
To add the watermarking, I click the Print icon and then select the PDF button. I click on Watermark3x4 on the drop-down menu that appears and the pages print immediately. I click Cancel to get out of Preview.
The workflow I created lives in the Library > PDF Services folder in my home folder. To get rid of it I just drag it to the trash.
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A New Mac Printer
2007-05-13
I actually have two of them. The first started to have printing problems and needed a good cleaning inside the optics to fix. But I found a secondhand one at Weird Stuff for $30 and it worked perfectly, only having ever printed 1200 pages. So I kept the first one for spares and carried on with the new one for another couple of years. Printer cartridges are available, but they are getting pricey, so recently when the toner started to run low I went searching for a replacement.
The result is that I now have a $100 laser printer that is a fraction of the weight, much, much faster, and takes cheap cartridges -- a Brother HL-2070N. It comes with a Mac driver and runs Ethernet or USB and has a print queue built in in case I ever need to talk to it with a PC.
It's not a Postscript printer like the Laserwriter, so the host does the RIPping. But that is OK. The host is much faster than the printer and the network is 100BaseT, so the result is that it beats the pants off the old one. The Mac driver installs and works just fine. The printer can be configured and monitored via a web browser. It isn't any good at printing photos. But again that's fine by me.
Any takers for two unwanted Apple Laserwriter Select 360s?
Aperture: Optimizing For Your printer
2007-01-02
Apple has a long and useful Knowledgebase article all about setting up and optimizing your printer, your system, and Aperture for printing.
Aperture: Improving Printed Output
2006-08-15
Clint Thayer posts at DPReview this advice for getting printer color correct with Aperture:
Aperture is unique in that it contains a wide gamut space natively. There is no need to set up a "color space" within Aperture since it will encompass any space you throw at it.
But- getting the most from it means a few adjustments might be in order. I have found that since I repurchased Aperture, I am getting terrific printed results from it now. But only after I discovered a few items that enabled me to pre-calibrate my entire workflow from image acquisition to final printing.
If you haven't already done so, here are a few things that may help:
1. Recalibrate your Mac Monitor for 2.2 gamma (Aperture loves 2.2 gamma). Use the Mac monitor calibration feature built in to Mac OS if you don't have a custom program to do so. Choose 65K white point. Your clients are likely going to use 2.2 gamma for on-screen proofs, and you'll find a better match between what you see in Aperture and what you print.
2. Choose Wide Gamut RGB in Aperture's proofing profile. This will most closely simulate the cameras widest color range and is the closest match to viewing Adobe RGB.
3. Aperture always converts the color space to sRGB when exporting to JPEG, TIF or PSD. However, there is a single exception: When choosing a RAW Adobe RGB image for EXTERNAL EDITING (round trip to photoshop), the TIF or PSD image presented in Photoshop maintains the Adobe RGB color space- and that expanded color space is brought right back into Aperture as a version when you save.
So, it is best for printing if you can work within the largest gamut possible and preserve the highest level color space. That's why its best to print directly from Aperture and not from an exported version that has been converted to sRGB. And Aperture is the best reason for shooting AdobeRGB in camera.
4. Set up printer color management and presets:
When possible, use ICC paper profiles and TURN OFF printer color management. Aperture's 32 bit engine works best when fully exploiting true paper profiles- and is weakest when using built-in printer color management which can result in some of the complaints we've been hearing about.
I use the Canon i9900- and here is what I do as an example:
A. Open print dialogue box or print presets.
B. Click "printer settings" and TURN OFF printer color managment AND select the proper paper type. Click done.
C. Select your PAPER SIZE in Aperture dialogue.
D. Always choose Portrait or Landscape-- Don't choose best fit (It's unpredictable)
E. Under ColorSync Profile, select the ICC paper profile that matches the paper you are using. In my case I selected Canon i9900 SP1 (which is pro glossy).
F. Make sure Black Point Compensation is ON.
G. Choose a Gamma of 1.15
H. Choose Fit Entire Image under layout options. This will give you the maximum resolution without cropping the image (if that is what you want to do). Or scale the image to a smaller size. Aperture will adjust up or down the native image according to your paper size. Don't worry about DPI or printing resolution. That is accomplished internally according to your settings.
I. Make sure Border Options slider is all the way to the left.
J. Click SAVE AS from the left panel and choose a name for your new preset.
And, while you are at it, do a few more SAVE AS routines for all the paper sizes that you use. So I have set up (4) of them called "Canon Pro Glossy 13 x 19 landscape", "Canon Pro Glossy 13 x 19 portrait", "Canon Pro Glossy letter size landscape", and "Canon Pro Glossy letter size portrait".
Aperture REMEMBERS EVERYTHING under these set-ups INCLUDING your printer settings set up. All you need to do is select your preset and forget it.
Now, load your paper, choose your preset and PRINT. What I have found is the best color matched viewed images to printed images I have ever worked with. And its easy to do.
Aperture is unique in that it contains a wide gamut space natively. There is no need to set up a "color space" within Aperture since it will encompass any space you throw at it.
But- getting the most from it means a few adjustments might be in order. I have found that since I repurchased Aperture, I am getting terrific printed results from it now. But only after I discovered a few items that enabled me to pre-calibrate my entire workflow from image acquisition to final printing.
If you haven't already done so, here are a few things that may help:
1. Recalibrate your Mac Monitor for 2.2 gamma (Aperture loves 2.2 gamma). Use the Mac monitor calibration feature built in to Mac OS if you don't have a custom program to do so. Choose 65K white point. Your clients are likely going to use 2.2 gamma for on-screen proofs, and you'll find a better match between what you see in Aperture and what you print.
2. Choose Wide Gamut RGB in Aperture's proofing profile. This will most closely simulate the cameras widest color range and is the closest match to viewing Adobe RGB.
3. Aperture always converts the color space to sRGB when exporting to JPEG, TIF or PSD. However, there is a single exception: When choosing a RAW Adobe RGB image for EXTERNAL EDITING (round trip to photoshop), the TIF or PSD image presented in Photoshop maintains the Adobe RGB color space- and that expanded color space is brought right back into Aperture as a version when you save.
So, it is best for printing if you can work within the largest gamut possible and preserve the highest level color space. That's why its best to print directly from Aperture and not from an exported version that has been converted to sRGB. And Aperture is the best reason for shooting AdobeRGB in camera.
4. Set up printer color management and presets:
When possible, use ICC paper profiles and TURN OFF printer color management. Aperture's 32 bit engine works best when fully exploiting true paper profiles- and is weakest when using built-in printer color management which can result in some of the complaints we've been hearing about.
I use the Canon i9900- and here is what I do as an example:
A. Open print dialogue box or print presets.
B. Click "printer settings" and TURN OFF printer color managment AND select the proper paper type. Click done.
C. Select your PAPER SIZE in Aperture dialogue.
D. Always choose Portrait or Landscape-- Don't choose best fit (It's unpredictable)
E. Under ColorSync Profile, select the ICC paper profile that matches the paper you are using. In my case I selected Canon i9900 SP1 (which is pro glossy).
F. Make sure Black Point Compensation is ON.
G. Choose a Gamma of 1.15
H. Choose Fit Entire Image under layout options. This will give you the maximum resolution without cropping the image (if that is what you want to do). Or scale the image to a smaller size. Aperture will adjust up or down the native image according to your paper size. Don't worry about DPI or printing resolution. That is accomplished internally according to your settings.
I. Make sure Border Options slider is all the way to the left.
J. Click SAVE AS from the left panel and choose a name for your new preset.
And, while you are at it, do a few more SAVE AS routines for all the paper sizes that you use. So I have set up (4) of them called "Canon Pro Glossy 13 x 19 landscape", "Canon Pro Glossy 13 x 19 portrait", "Canon Pro Glossy letter size landscape", and "Canon Pro Glossy letter size portrait".
Aperture REMEMBERS EVERYTHING under these set-ups INCLUDING your printer settings set up. All you need to do is select your preset and forget it.
Now, load your paper, choose your preset and PRINT. What I have found is the best color matched viewed images to printed images I have ever worked with. And its easy to do.
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