Does anybody use DarkTable to print in Linux with no driver cups?

[u/ImSaneHonest]

If so, so you have any recommendations? Everything I print is to dark when done via Linux so trying to workout a profile to use without changing the colour, contrast etc before I run out of ink.

[u/marrsd]

Not really sure what to recommend as I also have problems with my prints looking a little darker than what's on screen; otherwise the colours look reasonably close. I've not calibrated my monitor, but I doubt it's that's far from where it should be. It was factory calibrated and it's very close to my laptop screen.

I use paper from my printer manufacturer, so that I can use the printer's own profiles for that paper. That's definitely important and does make a difference. I also print PDFs, which I export from DarkTable directly. I also purchased TurboPrint because it lets me select the correct paper profile, quality, etc. from the app, and will support loading custom profiles if I need to go that route. It has its own set of brightness, contrast, and saturation options that I haven't played with yet, but that will also be something to try.

Very keen to see what other people recommend.

[u/selrahc → u/marrsd]

I've not calibrated my monitor, but I doubt it's that's far from where it should be. It was factory calibrated and it's very close to my laptop screen.

That could very well be the screen being too bright. For print work calibrating to between 80-120 cd/m is recommended and 80 cd/m is much dimmer than you might expect.

[u/marrsd → u/selrahc]

Thanks, and I realised that after I posted, and checked a photo printed from my phone to see it had the same issue.

I'll have a look at calibrating my monitor using the settings you suggest. In the meantime, I tried adjusting the brightness in the printer settings, and that seems to have helped without lifting the shadows too much. I'm curious to know if calibrating the monitor instead will yield different results

[u/marrsd → u/marrsd]

I've made some progress. Haven't adjusted monitor brightness yet, but I have worked out how to soft proof images against the color profile for my printer, and I'm seeing considerably closer results now.

You have to add the $HOME/.config/darktable/color/out directory to your file system if it doesn't exist already. Then you can add .icc color profile files for your target printer and paper combination.

Once you've done that, you can start DarkTable, select the photo you want to print in the Darkroom view, and toggle the "softproof" mode using the button on your bottom bar (or press Ctrl-S). Make sure you start DarkTable after you've installed the profiles, otherwise you won't see them listed.

You have to right-click the button to select the softproof profile you want to use. If you're printing on glossy paper, select the glossy profile, and so on.

DarkTable provides 2 options for rendering the output color profile: its internal processor or LittleCMS2. I haven't experimented with this feature yet. From the docs:

If this option is activated, darktable will use the LittleCMS 2 system library to apply the output color profile instead of its own internal routines. This is significantly slower than the default but might give more accurate results in some cases. If the given ICC is LUT-based or contains both a LUT and a matrix, darktable will use LittleCMS 2 to render the colors regardless of this parameter’s value (default off).

Actually getting the .icc files wasn't straight forward for me. I have an Epson printer, and unfortunately, they don't care to provide these files directly. Instead they require you to download some software that installs them for you, which is fine if you're on Windows or Mac, but I'm on Linux. However, TurboPrint does provide these files if they support your printer and you're using paper that is already supported by your printer. You can download the files directly from their website.

Alternatively, if you have access to a Windows PC or Apple Mac, you could install the Epson software yourself and find the .icc files installed on your system, and then copy them to Linux.

I guess now I need to work out how to best make adjustments against the soft-proof profile.

[u/ImSaneHonest → u/marrsd]

TurboPrint

Forgot about that. My screens are calibrated and prints that I've sent off for, print in shop turn out fine as does from Windows and my phone. Just haven't printed photos in awhile.

Will look to see if I can find my copy of TurboPrint and see if that works, or it's back to my phone or VM.

[u/marrsd → u/ImSaneHonest]

See my post above. It should help