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I created an SVG file which I want to print at a shop which uses the Epson SureColor SC-P9500 with 12 color channels. They told me to bring a 16-bit Adobe RGB TIFF file (ideally I'd like to print with the primary colors of the printer, but I guess that's not possible).

Basically I don't care so much about the exact colors, but it would be cool if the RGB-green and RGB-blue in the SVG become as vibrant as possible (ideally primary colors of the printer). As far as I understand, Adobe RGB is just a meta information to the actual image data, so the image data consists of RGB-values and the colorspace information just tells the printer how to map RGB-values to CIE 1931 (which it then converts further to its internal, 12-dimensional colorspace). Is that about correct?

I used CloudConvert but they didn't let me choose the bit depth or colorspace information. Would it really make a difference for the printer? Or would it just use its internal colorspace for the RGB-values in the TIFF, presumably Adobe RGB?

If CloudConvert is not enough, is there a similar online tool which ideally lets me choose bit depth and colorspace?

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  • sRGB isn't an Adobe standard. Are you sure they don't mean "Adobe RGB"? Maybe check with them because sRGB isn't the same colour profile as Adobe RGB.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 16:37
  • Yes you are correct! I'll edit that...
    – fweth
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 16:39
  • You can convert an SVG to a TIFF using various software. Photoshop can render SVGs and export as TIFF, and so can Illustrator, even free software like Inkscape and GIMP.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 16:40
  • I used CloudConvert, do you think the result will be inferior? Alternatively I could try ImageMagick, but I don't want to install Photoshop or InkScape just for file conversion, that seems a bit overkill?
    – fweth
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 16:42
  • Also back to my question, what will the printer do if it finds no colorspace information in the TIFF? I'd like the printer to use the maximal colorspace it can handle...
    – fweth
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 16:47

2 Answers 2

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Epson does not claim their printer will reproduce the same color range as a RGB monitor which covers AdobeRGB color range. Epson claims that with certain paper and ink their printer can reproduce 99% of the color range used in this PANTONE color book:

enter image description here

The words in Epson's datasheet are carefully selected. There's actually zero information of how that 99% is calculated in math. Epson obviously hopes that people imagine under their scalps that the advertised printer prints nearly anything. But there's nothing which gives to the buyers a legal possibility to get their money back when they see, that in common indoor light conditions the printed colors do not look as vibrant as what's seen on bright large gamut computer screens.

I do not claim the printer is bad, probably it reproduces colors far better than common low cost home and office printers which use only CMYK inks. But only seeing the print results gives some info is it good enough for your purposes. Epson does not give such information in any exact guess-free format. I'm afraid that some hues are printed nicely and some others not at all so finely. But they surely have a math formula carefully prepared to show that there's no lies behind the claimed 99%.

As said by others, you can get installable AdobeRGB color profile for free. Today even GIMP can use it to show an acceptable estimate of the image shown in other AdobeRGB capable system. That's, of course, true only if YOUR monitor can display full AdobeRGB range and your system is properly calibrated to convert the RGB-numbers to visible light.

You simply open your image in GIMP and convert it to 16 bit AdobeRGB and save it as tiff to get what's wanted by the printshop.

But to see beforehand on your screen what's the output needs the color profile of the printer. You can well give an AdobeRGB image to be printed, but the colors are clipped or more likely flattened proportionally to what's physically possible.

That printer color profile should be used to preview the image in GIMP, Photoshop, etc... graphic program. Photoshop has offered this possibility longer than I can remember for common CMYK print processes and that's why people pay the premium for it. GIMP has recently also got that capability for previewing, but not for creating a CMYK file. Fortunately Epson's printers expect RGB files.

But how to get the proper color profile to be installed to your system for previewing? I do not know. Epson's support may answer or not. My best guess is that it comes with the printer driver software. Or it's not at all available. Start by getting the full user's manual for the right printer.

The printshop may have it. Or not. Ask if they can tell how you will get it, too. If not, they maybe can send to you a predicted AdobeRGB or sRGB image of the printed result. That's called sometimes soft proof.

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  • We have one of these, it really prints quite bright colors on the right paper. Its not quite monitor but good enough that i dont care. But then we dont have the best RIP software for graphic design as the service is more geared for photographers. Anyway its nothing compared to the sublimation printer transfered on white aluminium plate, which really looks almost like an ipad.
    – joojaa
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 21:07
  • Hey, I realized that for smaller formats, like A2, the print shop uses the Canon PRO-1000. Just curious, do you have any experience with this as well, is the situation similar as with the Epson, that you can't directly control the primary colors?
    – fweth
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 17:46
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An SVG is an RGB based file type. A Tiff can be RGB or CMYK. The printer is a CMYK device. The result will suffer greatly with the conversion to CMYK.What you see on the screen will most likely not be possible on the printer.I'd suggest you do a color test (if possible), or converti it on your computer in Photoshot to see more accurately what it will like like printed. —Brendan

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  • The OP's print shop is specifically asking for an RGB file though, with an Adobe RGB colour profile, so that is what should be provided. But you are correct that vibrant RGB colours won't likely print well at all, regardless of the print process.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 17:35
  • Well looking at the printer specs, it does have 12 colors, so it is not just a CMYK printer. And perhaps keeping your files at RGB helps to facilitate better colors in the output.
    – Brendan
    Commented Mar 3, 2023 at 20:58

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