Printing Profiles - Please help me get my head around this

djs

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Name
Daniel
Edit My Images
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Okay.

So I've finally got round to setting the large format printer up (HP Z2100 GP)

I've calibrated my monitor, and the printer using the printers built in i1.
I've also made a profile for the canvas that I'll be using.

So....I open up Photoshop and sort the Custom Proof Setup as directed by the manual.

I now open up my image in Photoshop. I make sure the Proof Colours are showing (CMD/Ctrl + Y).

There's a BIG difference in contrast and colours when I choose to show the proof colours.
From what I understand...when "Show Proof Colours" is selected, it's simulating what the printer will actually print?

Is this correct so far?

I want to make my print look like the original image. But there's a huge difference in the original, and the "proof colours" version. Adjusting the contrast and saturation of the image just completely destroys it.

For example, here's what I see on my screen.

"show proof colours" - not selected
Original.jpg


"show proof colours" - selected (this is how the print will turn out when printed on canvas)
Proof%20colours.jpg


Am I missing something? I'm struggling to "get" this.

Thanks in advance!

djs
 
Last edited:
Daniel

You are getting there. Soft proofing is designed to show you what the image will look like on the print. OK so it looks bad on the soft proof, but when you print it without any corrections does the printed result resemble what the soft proofed image is like. ( You may not get 100% match but it should be close enough.) If it does match then the soft proof is working well.

Now you need to make the image print correctly.

The way I do it is to make a duplicate of the image and place the two side by side. Apply the Soft Proof to the duplicate. Now with the duplicate selected make adjustments to density, contrast and colour until you get a match to the original. Now print the duplicate, with these adjustments included. ( make a note of all the adjustments you make so you can save these as an action. ). You should now get a print that resembles the original image that you produced.

Effectively what you have done is produced an offset to compensate for the characteristics of the printer.

Don't forget to ensure that the print dialogue is set up correctly for printing with profiles.

John C
 
Many thanks John! Much appreciated!

Yep, the soft proof looks pretty much what the actual print looks like.

I guess the problem now, is managing to get the soft proof to look like the original.

Everytime I make any adjustments it just makes it look horrible. I can't make any contrast or saturation adjustments without the skin turning alien-like.

I'll give it another go and see how it goes!

Thanks again!

Daniel
 
John,

Just a question!

Would my "Colour Settings" make any difference to this?
Are the settings correct?

Colour%20Settings.jpg


Thanks
 
Daniel

Looks OK to me. The only thing I would suggest is to tick the profile mismatch boxes, so they act as an alert.

John C
 
you want to have the working space RGB as adobe RGB


from experience I've found some canvas give you prints lacking in contrast and saturation even after profiling. Try adjusting the actual profile if you can to adjust contrast and saturation so the soft proof matches the edit
 
Adobe RGB has a larger colour Gamut than sRGB, and will most likely be a better match for your printer. so using Adobe RGB as the working space is an option. However your monitor probably won't be able to accurately display the wider gamut.

When making adjustments, turn on the Gamut warning for the proof image. [Shift CTRL/CMD Y] Any area's that go out of gamut will be displayed grey (if you haven't changed the prefs) Your Rendering intent will determine how these out of gamut colours are handled. TBH it's best if you don't overdo the adjustments then you don't have to worry about this.

I'll assume you use curves adjusment layers for contrast. If so, change the blend mode of the adjustment layer to luminosity. That way it won't affect saturation when you apply lots of contrast.

Change the saturation last and keep an eye on that Gamut warning.
 
You may find that it's not possible to match the ideal display image, simply because the material/printer/ ink combination just can't produce the range you need. In this case I suspect it may be the canvas material as POAH has said.

If there is a " canned" profile for your printer/ media combination, have a look at using this as a test. This simply verifies you profile, if the results are not dissimilar.

If you are on a Mac you could use the Colorsync utility to compare the printer profile to either your monitor or sRGB colour space. Several "Art" papers I have used do have a much smaller gamut than I can see on my monitor . This limits what you can do as far as saturation and density.

Try increasing the contrast and see if it makes a significant difference.
 
I would also try Settings - Euro Prepress 3
and Working Space RGB - Adobe RGB

Dave
 
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