Group Abstract Group Abstract

Message Boards Message Boards

Incorrect color reproduction when printing

Posted 9 hours ago

The color reproduction when printing from a notebook, e.g., “Print Selection” of a Graphics, is terrible. For example, Yellow is printed as Magenta. See the attached notebook for illustration.

ChatGPT (GPT-5) says:

Wolfram Language renders graphics and color styles in the front-end color space (RGB), but when printing or exporting to PDF, the system internally converts to a PostScript color space, which sometimes uses CMYK or DeviceColor. This results in:

  • Color channels being swapped (e.g., yellow → magenta),
  • Transparencies being mixed incorrectly,
  • Or halftone colors (e.g., GrayLevel, RGBColor) being converted to incorrect device profiles.

This is particularly noticeable with colors with a high red or yellow component.

ChatGPT then provides a series of cumbersome workarounds designed to prevent the ColorSpace from changing. None of them are practical. The easiest solution is to go to File > Printer Settings > Printing Environment and change the setting from “Printout” to “Working”. However, this means that nothing will be printed anymore when you select some cell(s) and use "Print Selection".

I consider this change in color space during printing to be a Wolfram error. Does anyone have a practical solution?

(Wolfram|One, Windows 11, ThinkPad P4 Gen 2)

Attachment

Attachments:
POSTED BY: Werner Geiger
Reply to this discussion
Community posts can be styled and formatted using the Markdown syntax.
Reply Preview
Attachments
Remove
or Discard