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Gray turning blue when printing


Edubarca

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Hello my friends. Perhaps this is not the correct thread to ask my concern but I think someone can help me. I build card models of aircraft etc. Several airplanes are metal colour and when scanned they come out grey. This is not exact but acceptable since metal colours are not possible to print. But every time I print a gray colour, for example, a wing which also has other markings in colours like red, blue, yellow etc. the gray comes out bluish, the other colours, exact. I have tried several issues like changing gray shades etc. with no luck. I print with a laser printer. Any comments? Thank you!!
 

Edubarca

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I have also tried several types of cardboard and the results are the same. I also have my drawings in CMYK
 

Edubarca

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If you post an image, we may be able to assist.
Thank you very much but the problem is that the image appears correct gray tone on the PC screen but when printed, it appears bluish. In order to fit it here, I reduced it from 600 dpi to 300 dpi. Here it is:
 

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  • Yak 11 - 1.jpg
    Yak 11 - 1.jpg
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Eggy

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Just an in between question...is your monitor calibrated the right way?
 

Edubarca

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Yes sir. It is perfect. I know this becuase when I print with any other colour (CMYK) it comes out accurate. The problem is only with gray.
 

Eggy

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I rarely print something so I'm not exactly qualified to answer your question.
So let's wait until someone suggests a solution.
 

Eggy

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While waiting for a specific solution may I suggest you take a look at a tutorial by Lee Varis, which is a very known photographer, and where he explains the how to correct your settings for using CMYK.
I know it's kind of technical but maybe it is in a way of use for you now and in the future.
 
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Isac

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On my monitor which is an IPS panel and calibrated, the grey areas do seem a blue colour. What software are you using to print your image?
I have read the CMYK colour and they are: C=30, M=21, Y=19 and K=0. This is actually a shade of blue. If you re-colour the "Grey" sections of the image to the following C=23, M=18, Y=19 and K=0 then you may see a grey print instead of the blue. This is only a suggestion and not a guaranteed fix.
 

Edubarca

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Sorry for late reply. I discovered that the problem is not perhaps my work. It is the laser printer I am using, The owner told me that he was having problems with one of the toners. Anyway,. I would like to change the colour numbers using the numbers you gave me. I didn't find how to do it. It just appears swatches or color but no possibility of changing the numbers CMYK.

Another issue, since I mainly use Photoshop for my card models, I need to draw curved lines. Is there an easy way to do this? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
EDUARDO
 

IamSam

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Another issue, since I mainly use Photoshop for my card models, I need to draw curved lines. Is there an easy way to do this?
How are you doing it now?

I recomend the Pen Tool.
 

thebestcpu

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Hi Edubarca

I am not sure why you are using CMYK with a laser printer yet if you have the option to change your workflow to RGB, I suggest just staying in sRGB.

Independent fo the above comment, your gray color is simply blue and it is noticeable. If you wnat a good match to gray, the color needs to be gray and not off gray as a starting point.

There are many ways to correct this yet I masked off the color areas and then coverted the rest of the image to B&W (e.g. a B&W adjustment Layer is just one approach

In the image below, your original is on the left and the corrected version on the right where the blue is no longer included in the grey area.

To get good colors both the monitor needs to be color calibrated with a hardware device such as from Xrite or Datacolor, and printing has to be done with the correct settings in the printer device driver and settings in Photoshop. It is not commone for laser printers to come with ICC profiles yet that would provide the best match.

I suggest starting with removing the blue from your gray tones and if that is not adequate, we then proceed with tracking down your color management issue (and if possible using the sRGB color space and not CMYK)

Just my opinion of course

John Wheeler

Yak-11---1-adj.jpg
 

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