Question: Since Update to MacOS 10.6 I cannot switch OFF the Color Management for my Canon printer to print my test charts out of my profiling application without any Color Management. What can I do?

Answer: It is true that for MacOS 10.6 some printer drivers do not allow you to switch off the Color Management. But to create working ICC profiles for a printer, it is essential to print the test charts without any applied color management. The following workaround will allow you to print your testcharts through Snow Leopard without color management.

Make sure you have the latest OSX 10.6 revision installed, which should normally also include the latest printer drivers. Alternatively, check on your printer manufacturers' website for latest printer drivers

Launch your X-Rite application to create a printer profile. When printing the test charts,use the following settings to switch off the color management:

• Under the Color Matching menu select ColorSync (not Vendor Matching)
• In the popup menu that appears select Generic RGB (not "Automatic"). Please note this step is critical to printing your testcharts without color management.
• Set up your remaining options for paper type, output quality, resolution as usual and print the charts.

You will now get correctly printed charts and the resulting profile will work correcly when you implement it from your imaging application. For example, if you are printing from Photoshop, select Photoshop Manages Colors in your print dialog box, select your desired profile and rendering intent, and set the appropriate paper type and quality options in your printer driver.