morgan
06-03-2007, 09:00
ok so I want to try to get together some kind of guide for people who are having trouble getting good colour representation from thier prints from photobox (or whichever print house they use). So far this is my workflow. It seems to work very well, but if anyone has any suggestions/questions please shout as I'm definately not saying this is the only/ideal way.
I've used photobox as the example. for thier smaller prints they use the FujiFilm Frontier 370, and the Polielettronica Laserlab for larger stuff. In theory, for other online developers, just download the icc profile of the relevant printer and the process will be the same.
The following is mainly from a post on ocuk by Chief Wiggum, but has been reworded slightly. The guts is the same though.
1. Monitor Calibrated using Hardware Device (Gretag McBeth Eye One Display 2)
2. Shots taken in Raw (Colour profile on Camera, SRBG, Adobe RGB, ProPhoto not relevant)
3. Download and install the following profiles(C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color)
For Matt Prints (http://www.kmatt.co.uk/photobox/FujiCA_04_07_06_MATT.icc)
For Gloss Prints (http://www.kmatt.co.uk/photobox/FujiCA_04_07_06_GLOSSY.icm)
4. Then in Photoshop/Bridge import the image, 240dpi, sRGB.
5. To soft proof the image in Photoshop
> Go to View / Proof SetUp / Custom
> From the drop-down list select the Fuji paper profile - eith Matt or Gloss.
> Select 'preserve colour numbers' (this will show the image as it is
presently printed)
6. Make the required adjustments so that the on-screen image appears
as you want it printed. Normally this means just a saturation change if you have done the work in bridge.
7. Save the image as a 8 bit jpeg, Quality setting between 8 and 12 depending on print size, (6x4 I just choose 8). Untick attach icc profile.
8. Upload and order!
Now the parts I think that may be subjective, or may not be right are:
a) Would it be better at any stage to convert the file to profile (edit>convert to profile in cs2). When would be a good time to do this (if at all)
b) are the settings in the proof setup correct - (ie should 'preserve colour numbers' be ticked or unticked)
reason why I want to get a clear understanding on this is that I want to setup a very easy to use faq site helping people on how to print the right way...any help appreciated
I've used photobox as the example. for thier smaller prints they use the FujiFilm Frontier 370, and the Polielettronica Laserlab for larger stuff. In theory, for other online developers, just download the icc profile of the relevant printer and the process will be the same.
The following is mainly from a post on ocuk by Chief Wiggum, but has been reworded slightly. The guts is the same though.
1. Monitor Calibrated using Hardware Device (Gretag McBeth Eye One Display 2)
2. Shots taken in Raw (Colour profile on Camera, SRBG, Adobe RGB, ProPhoto not relevant)
3. Download and install the following profiles(C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color)
For Matt Prints (http://www.kmatt.co.uk/photobox/FujiCA_04_07_06_MATT.icc)
For Gloss Prints (http://www.kmatt.co.uk/photobox/FujiCA_04_07_06_GLOSSY.icm)
4. Then in Photoshop/Bridge import the image, 240dpi, sRGB.
5. To soft proof the image in Photoshop
> Go to View / Proof SetUp / Custom
> From the drop-down list select the Fuji paper profile - eith Matt or Gloss.
> Select 'preserve colour numbers' (this will show the image as it is
presently printed)
6. Make the required adjustments so that the on-screen image appears
as you want it printed. Normally this means just a saturation change if you have done the work in bridge.
7. Save the image as a 8 bit jpeg, Quality setting between 8 and 12 depending on print size, (6x4 I just choose 8). Untick attach icc profile.
8. Upload and order!
Now the parts I think that may be subjective, or may not be right are:
a) Would it be better at any stage to convert the file to profile (edit>convert to profile in cs2). When would be a good time to do this (if at all)
b) are the settings in the proof setup correct - (ie should 'preserve colour numbers' be ticked or unticked)
reason why I want to get a clear understanding on this is that I want to setup a very easy to use faq site helping people on how to print the right way...any help appreciated