Use color management when printing

Last updated on Jun 2, 2026

Learn how to apply color profiles and printer settings to maintain accurate color output in Adobe InDesign.

Color management during printing ensures your document colors remain as consistent as possible when output to different devices. You can convert document colors to match your printer's color space, proof colors for specific output conditions, or use PostScript color management for compatible devices.

Use these procedures when printing color-managed documents to desktop printers, proofing devices, or PostScript output devices. Color management options let you override the document profile temporarily for a specific print job without changing the document itself. For documents without embedded color profiles, InDesign can handle color conversion based on your printer settings.

Before printing with color management, verify the following:

  • Printer driver and PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file installed for your output device
  • Color profiles created or selected for your printer or proofing device
  • Document with embedded color profiles (recommended)
  • PostScript Level 2 or higher printer (for PostScript color management option)

InDesign can manage color conversion when printing to desktop printers or proofing devices by applying the selected printer profile to your document colors.

Select File > Print.

Choose a printer preset from the Print Preset menu if one contains your desired settings, or adjust individual settings for this print job.

Select Color Management tab and then select the following:

  • Document from the Print section.
  • Let InDesign Determine Colors for Color Handling.
  • The ICC profile that matches your output device for Printer Profile. ICC profiles can be obtained from the printer company for some printers, or can be custom-created specifically for your printer. The profile can describe the paper type to be used or one can print on the actual paper to be used.
  • Preserve RGB Numbers or Preserve CMYK Numbers if you need to send color values directly to the device without conversion. Preserving color numbers sends values directly to the output device without color space conversion. This is recommended for safe CMYK workflows but not for RGB documents requiring color conversion.

Select Setup (Windows) or Printer (macOS) at the bottom of the dialog box to access the printer driver.

Turn off color management in the printer driver to prevent double color conversion, then return to the InDesign Print dialog box.

Select Print to output your document.