Adobe Illustrator CS3 - Manual (Page 420)

ILLUSTRATOR CS3
User Guide
414
2 Select a PostScript printer from the Printer menu. To print to a file instead of a printer, select Adobe PostScript®
File or Adobe PDF.
3 Select Color Management on the left side of the Print dialog box.
4 For Color Handling, choose Let PostScript® Printer Determine Colors.
5 (Optional) Set any of the following options. In most cases, it is best to use the default settings.
Rendering Intent Specifies how the application converts colors to the destination color space.
Preserve RGB Numbers (for RGB output) or Preserve CMYK Numbers (for CMYK output) Determines how Illustrator
handles colors that do not have a color profile associated with them (for example, imported images without
embedded profiles). When this option is selected, Illustrator sends the color numbers directly to the output device.
When this option is deselected, Illustrator first converts the color numbers to the color space of the output device.
Preserving numbers is recommended when you are following a safe CMYK workflow. Preserving numbers is not
recommended for printing RGB documents.
6 Click Setup (Windows) or Printer (Mac OS) at the bottom of the Print dialog box to access the operating system
print settings.
7 Access the color management settings for the printer driver by doing one of the following:
• In Windows, right-click the printer you are using, and select Properties. Then locate the color management
settings for the printer driver. For most printer drivers, color management settings are labeled Color Management
or ICM.
• In Mac OS, select the printer you are using, and select the color management option from the pop-up menu. For
most printer drivers, this option is labeled ColorSync.
8 Specify the color management settings to let your printer driver handle the color management during printing.
Every printer driver has different color management options. If it’s not clear how to set color management options,
consult your printer documentation.
9 Return to the Illustrator Print dialog box, and click Print.
See also
“About rendering intents” on page 149
“Using a safe CMYK workflow” on page 134
“Printing with color management” on page 139
Printing gradients, meshes, and color blends
Printing gradients, meshes, and color blends
Files with gradients, meshes, or color blends can be difficult for some printers to print smoothly (without discrete
bands of color) or at all. Follow these general guidelines to improve the printed results:
• Use a blend that changes at least 50% between two or more process-color components.
• Use shorter blends. The optimum length depends on the colors in your blend, but try to keep blends shorter than
7.5 inches.