Lightroom's BW prints darker than Photoshop's?

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

Is there any reason a Photoshop file printed from Lightroom would be darker than that same file printed from Photoshop?

The files in question are RGB BW 16-bit files printed using Epson’s Advanced Black and White, no toning.  I use a P800.

My paper presets call for printing ABW Normal, not Dark, but some images that I print from Lr look as if my print preset was overridden by Lr and the resulting print has the tonality I can achieve in Ps by changing from ABW “Normal” to “Dark”.  In my workflow, when I print from Lr and observe the darkening (i.e., with respect to the same file printed in Ps), I select my paper preset using the “Print Settings...” button on the lower left of the Print Module and then “Print” using the button on the lower right.  I always use “Manged by Printer” in the Print Job panel.

I recall (only vaguely, I’m afraid; I hope I recall correctly) reading on one of these forums that there might be some anomalous behavior if one prints from the “Print” button on the lower right of the Print Module instead of starting with the “Printer...” button.  Could this be an explanation?

I am aware of the many benefits of printing from Lr, but my usual workflow has found me printing from Ps.  Some recent needs to print many images in a short time has made me want to use Lr to print, at least for a while, but I’d like to see the prints looks as they did when I printed them in Ps, which I consider the “standard” of how the prints should look.

My interest here is in only black and white.

I don’t know what other information I can provide that would be helpful, but will be pleased to provide it if someone needs it to understand and then explain what I’m observing.

Thanks in advance...

[Mark D Segal]

For starters, it would be prudent for the first print in the series to start it off using the PRINTER button on the far right of the interface. This takes you into the driver where you should check that all your printer driver settings are the same as you had them when printing from Photoshop. If necessary, make a Preset of the them. See if that helps. From then on, as long as you don't need to change anything in the driver, you can use the PRINT button just to the left of the PRINTER button on the right side of the interface. Apart from the ABW settings, especially make sure the Media Type is correct in the driver.

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

Thank you, Mark. I will try that on a few of the images tomorrow.

I observe tonight that the “Print Settings...” on the lower left gets me to the same window I get when I select “Printer...” from the far right, and the selection of presets I find in each is the same (and is the same as when I print from Photoshop).  Is there something going on that makes the “Printer...” button preferable to the “Print Settings” once the “Page Setup...” has been checked?  The media setting is for Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster, which is the paper I’m using.

[Mark D Segal]

They do both take you to the driver. The one on the left ("Print Settings") allows you to create settings and save them without triggering a print. The one on the right ("Printer") also allows you to make driver settings, but once done, the options are to Cancel or Print. It is prudent to use this latter one for the first print in a series whose driver settings will remain the same, just to make sure all is correctly set-up before you hit Print. For successive prints using the same driver settings, you can use the "Print" button immediately to the left of the "Printer" button. It will respect the settings you made in "Printer", without re-opening that dialog.

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

Thank you, Mark.  As you see, I never considered that useful distinction.

With appreciation.

[Mark D Segal]

You are welcome. Hope it helps solve the issue you raised. Please keep us informed.

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

Yes, I am eager to start with this tomorrow.

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

This morning I made two sets of four prints each from two BW PSDs, printing the same file twice in Ps and twice in Lr, using my previous preset for Advanced Black and White Normal and a new preset for Advanced Black and White Dark in each application.

My results failed to reproduce the anomalous behavior that prompted my original post; the tonalities of all eight prints were what one would expect.

In for each Lr print today, I used the far lower left button to specify the P800 (in previous work I was using the “default” of “any printer” for the 11x8-1/2 paper, although I can’t imagine that would have been causing the behavior I observed) and the far lower right button to select the preset.  For the Ps prints, I followed my normal workflow, which never gave a problematic print.

My working assumption now is that prior to my original post I must have been overlooking something somewhere, but I believe I have a good understanding of which settings to check on to make consistent results and had double-checked my preset before posting.

I’d be grateful for any further thoughts on what might have caused the results I observed (see original post).

With thanks again to Mark and any further respondents.

[Mark D Segal]

Glad you resolved it.

[Jeffrey Saldinger]

If the problem recurs I will try again to figure out what happened.  Thanks again, Mark, for guiding me through this.

I have just posted a related question on the Printing forum about Advanced BW Darker vs Dark vs Normal