Specify options in the Print Job panel

    Print in draft mode

    You can use Draft Mode Printing to print contact sheets and quick drafts of a photo. In this mode, Lightroom uses cached photo previews when printing. If you select photos that haven’t been fully cached and print them using Draft Mode Printing, Lightroom sends their thumbnail data to the printer, and the print quality of those photos might not be what you expect. Sharpening and color management controls aren’t available using Draft Mode Printing.

     In the Print Job panel of the Print module, select Draft Mode Printing.

    Print to JPEG

    You can save photos as JPEG files in the Print module for sharing with a print service provider. When you print to JPEG, Lightroom lets you choose a resolution, apply print sharpening, and set the compression quality. You can also specify dimensions of the file and apply an RGB ICC profile and a rendering intent.

    1. In the Print Job panel of the Print module, choose Print To > JPEG File.
    2. Specify a resolution between 72 ppi and 600 ppi in the File Resolution box.
    3. Specify the amount of Print Sharpening desired: Low, Medium, or High.
    4. Specify the amount of compression using the JPEG Quality slider. JPEG uses lossy compression, discarding data to make a file smaller. Drag the slider or enter a value from 0 through 100.
    5. Specify custom file dimensions by selecting Custom File Dimensions and entering values in the width and height fields.
    6. Specify color management options.

    Set print resolution

    In the Print module, the Print Resolution setting specifies the pixels per inch (ppi) of the photo for the printer. Lightroom resamples the image data if needed, depending on the print resolution and the print dimensions. The default value of 240 ppi is satisfactory for most print jobs, including high-end inkjet prints. Refer to your printer’s documentation to determine its optimal resolution.

     In the Print Job panel of the Print module, do either of the following:

    • To control the print resolution, select Print Resolution and specify a different value, if necessary.

    • To use the native resolution of the photo (as long as it isn’t lower than 72 ppi or higher than 720 ppi), deselect Print Resolution.

    Sharpen a photo for print

    Print Sharpening lets you sharpen the image before it’s sent to the printer. Print sharpening is performed in addition to any sharpening that you apply in the Develop module. The amount of print sharpening that is automatically applied is based on the file’s output resolution and the output media. When Draft Mode Printing is enabled, Print Sharpening is disabled. In most cases, you can leave Print Sharpening set to its default option, Low.

     In the Print Job panel of the Print module, do one of the following:

    • (Optional) Select Print Sharpening and specify Low, Standard, or High sharpening using the pop-up menu on the right. Then, specify whether you are printing to Matte or Glossy media. Matte includes watercolor, canvas, and other nonshiny types of paper. Glossy includes luster, semigloss, photo gloss, and other shiny types of paper.

      Note: The paper type specified in the Print Job panel is used to calculate print sharpening. Some printer drivers may also include a paper type option in the Print dialog box that must be specified separately.

    • Deselect Print Sharpening if you don’t want any sharpening applied in the Print module. This option is useful when the sharpening you have applied in the Develop module produces the desired results.

    Print 16-bit color

     In the Print Job panel, select 16 Bit Output if you are printing to a 16-bit printer under Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) or higher.
    Note: If you select 16 Bit Output and print to a printer that does not support it, print performance is slowed, but quality is not affected.

    Set print color management

    You can specify whether Lightroom or the printer driver handles color management during printing. If you want to use a custom printer color profile created for a specific printer and paper combination, Lightroom handles the color management. Otherwise, the printer manages it. If Draft Mode Printing is enabled, the printer automatically handles color management.

    Note: Custom printer color profiles are usually created using special devices and software that generate the profile files. If printer color profiles are not installed on your computer or if Lightroom cannot locate them, Managed By Printer and Other are the only options available in the Profile area of the Print Job panel.
    1. In the Color Management area of the Print Job panel, choose one of the following from the Profile pop-up menu:

      • To use a printer color profile to convert the image before sending it to the printer, choose a specific RGB profile listed in the menu.

        Important: If you choose a custom printer color profile in Lightroom, make sure color management is turned off in the printer driver software. Otherwise, your photos will be color converted twice, and the colors might not print as you expect. See your printer’s documentation for instructions on turning off color managment in the driver software. Lightroom does not recognize CMYK printer profiles.

      • To send the image data to the printer driver without first converting the image according to a profile, choose Managed By Printer.

      • To select printer profiles to appear in the Profile pop-up menu, choose Other and then select the color profiles in the Choose Profiles dialog box.

        Note: Generally, you’ll choose this option if no profiles are listed in the Profile pop-up menu, or if the profile you want isn’t listed. Lightroom tries to find custom print profiles on your computer. If it’s unable to locate any profiles, choose Managed By Printer and let the printer driver handle the print color managing.
    2. If you specify a profile, choose a rendering intent to specify how colors are converted from the image’s color space to the printer’s color space:
      Note: The printer’s color space will generally be smaller then the image’s color space, often resulting in colors that can’t be reproduced. The rendering intent you choose attempts to compensate for these out-of-gamut colors.
      Perceptual
      Perceptual rendering tries to preserve the visual relationship between colors. Colors that are in-gamut may change as out-of-gamut colors are shifted to reproducible colors. Perceptual rendering is a good choice when your image has many out-of gamut colors.

      Relative
      Relative rendering preserves all in-gamut colors and shifts out-of gamut colors to the closest reproducible color. The Relative option preserves more of the original color and is a good choice when you have few out-of-gamut colors.