XChange prints different colour in greyscale  SOLVED

This Forum is for the use of End Users requiring help and assistance for Tracker Software's PDF-XChange Printer Drivers only - Please do not post requests for older versions of PDF-XChange or the PDF-Tools/OFFice2PDF applications here

Moderators: TrackerSupp-Daniel, Tracker Support, Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team, Chris - Tracker Supp, Sean - Tracker, Tracker Supp-Stefan

Post Reply
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

I've had this issue for a while but would like to address it here for a possible resolution or at least and explaination.
In short, the PDF-XChange print driver is print greyscale object in a "sepia" tone colour. The application I'm using is Autodesk Revit, Windows 11, lated PDF X-Change, etc.

I have attached two images shaowing the PDF X-Chage printer does, and what another PDF driver does. The other driver (greyscale) is the expected behaviour. Up until the last PDFX update all was working as expected. As far as I can see all settings in PDFX are set on default. Not sure what changed either with the app, PDFX or Windows or a combination. I know I can force a greyscale in PDFX but I have colur on on pages as well which need to stay in colur. It just the greys get changed. I can live with the other driver, but PDFX is more efficient.
Attachments
Image 002.png
Image 003.png
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Mcafferty

This could be related to the Color profile that is in use, which would usually only change with a windows update. The first spot to check would be in the Editor preferences (Ctrl+K) under "color management", the RGB dropdown in most cases, using the "monitor RGB" option at the top of the list is the best option, however in certain cases, you may wish to use another.
I would recommend that you try the sRGB option that is usually readily available on windows devices next, and after that, try each of the others. Note that changing color profiles will not only change how our printer generates the output, but also how other printers do, and how the Editor itself renders your pages. You may need to try a few different options before finding the correct one for your monitor/devices.

Following that, it could be an issue with the document itself possibly reporting it is using RGB colors, but actually givign us CMYK values, or vice versa. It is rare, but happens on occasion. I would need to ask to see a copy of the file in question if the above does not help, so we can identify what the actual issue is.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

Thanks for the response Daniel. I have trie a few variations within PDFX but with the same results. If it's of any value I have attached a default output from PDFX and one from the PDF24 driver.
Attachments
PDFX-default.pdf
(152.46 KiB) Downloaded 103 times
PDF24-default.pdf
(308.63 KiB) Downloaded 117 times
User avatar
Dimitar - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 1778
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:01 am

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Dimitar - Tracker Supp »

Hello, Mcafferty

Thank you for the files provided.

Please go to this folder:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\

...and temporally move all of the color profiles you see there ( all the ICM and ICC files) to some folder.

The system will not allow you to move all of them but this is OK. Just move the ones you can.

Then please try again to print files and see if everything is OK with the colors.



Regards.
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

Thanks for the suggestion. I was able to remove all but 3 of the files. I created a PDF with PDFX but still have the same sepia tone shaded results.
User avatar
Tracker Supp-Stefan
Site Admin
Posts: 17823
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Mcafferty,

Sorry to hear that this is still an issue for you.
I can not see this mentioned above - so can you please check which build of our products is currently installed on your machine, and if it is not the current latest (365) - can you please try to update and see if that helps?

Kind regards,
Stefan
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

My current version:
Image 001.jpg
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Mcafferty

Thank you for the confirmation, From what I see on this end, the docuemtn you sent earlier appears to be correct and does not have the sepia tone you mention, so this is certainly something caused by the color profiles on your system changing the appearance, but why that appearance is happening exclusively with documents generated by our printer is still a mystery to me.

My first suggestion would be to try printing with our XPS engine, instead of the default (GDI) to see if that helps.
You can change the engine in use while printing from the printer preferences/properties:
image.png
Please try this, then print with the XPS engine and let me know if it helps. If it does that can at least be a temporary workaround for you. After the test print, you can set XPS as the default engine for future use by following the steps here:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowle ... e-Printers

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

The XPS setting didn't seem to make any difference. I agree it's some sort of configuration within PDF XChange. I base this also on something I haven't tried before. I have the PDFX Editor open, I did a screen capture of an image with greys in it, pasted it into the pdf I had open and all the greys of the capture changed colour.

How can I totally and absolutley remove PDFX so I can reinstall it again as a virgin install? I suspect using Windows uninstall won't be enough as bits and pieces will most likely be left behind.

The attached file was printed using XPS mode.
CCC-231522-00_Wheeker_v22.pdf
(79.76 KiB) Downloaded 107 times
User avatar
Dimitar - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 1778
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:01 am

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Dimitar - Tracker Supp »

Hello, Mcafferty

This is our Cleanup tool that will help you do that:

https://www.pdf-xchange.com/PDF-XC ... p_Tool.zip

However, I'm pretty sure that the problem is in the color profiles.

Perhaps one of the profiles that you did not manage to move is the one that is causing this problem.

May I ask you to restart your computer and then try again to move them all?

Regards.
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

I see from one of my co-workers that he is experiencing a similar issue. I suspect it's graphic card related as we have the same system setup (NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU and ViewSonic VA2456 Series monitors).

I'll see if I can't get those profiles all deleted as well.
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Mcafferty

Is it safe to assume that your focus on the color profiles means that the cleanup tool Dimitar shared did not help at all in this case?

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Mcafferty »

Unfortunately the cleanup tool didn't render any different results. The attached examples are from post cleanup and re-install of PDF Xchange and PDF24 within the same app.
Attachments
PDF-Xchange_Standard.pdf
(295.53 KiB) Downloaded 100 times
PDF24.pdf
(427.94 KiB) Downloaded 101 times
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Mcafferty

Thank you for confirming. These two files look identical on my end, so it does appear to be a Color profile error on your end.

Have you tried removing all color profiles from the windows color profile folder, and then restarting our Editor? Restarting again and adding the profiles back in 1 at a time to see which causes the issue to appear? That should help you to locate the cause of the issue, and make a decision how to handle it. If you could send us a copy of that particular file, the Dev team may be able to take a look and find some workaround to help this profile function correctly.

For reference, windows stores color profiles here:
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
Mcafferty
User
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:26 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale  SOLVED

Post by Mcafferty »

It looks like the issue is resolved :D . Previously I couldn't remove some ICM file due to Windows permission settings. Once I gained control of the 'color' folder I was able to delete ALL of the ICM files and now my PDFs created by PDFx look "normal" again.

Thank you for your patience and guidence. Have the greatest of holidays and all the best for the new year ahead.
User avatar
Chris - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:33 pm

Re: XChange prints different colour in greyscale

Post by Chris - Tracker Supp »

Glad our team was able to assist.

All the best to you in the new year.
If posting files to this forum - you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded - thank you.


Chris Attrell
Tracker Sales & Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
Post Reply