soft proofing

thaKing

so i've downloaded and installed the color profiles and was comparing my photos using the two...i've never done this before, so my question is, do i want my options to be just like the pic here: http://www.smugmug.com/help/display-color? meaning, if using ez prints i select their profile and perpetual...what about paper color and black ink (i'm using cs4), do i want those options selected?

if i select the options as found using the link above, my prints look pretty close, but if i select paper color or black ink, then there are differences...

Andy

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1123524

thaKing

Andy, thanks for the link, haven't seen that one before...

another question: if i know for sure i am going to use ez prints, for example, rather than soft proofing, couldn't i just set PS to utilize that color profile so that i get them looking the way i want initially - sort of bypassing the need to soft proof?

jfriend

thaKing wrote:

Andy, thanks for the link, haven't seen that one before...

another question: if i know for sure i am going to use ez prints, for example, rather than soft proofing, couldn't i just set PS to utilize that color profile so that i get them looking the way i want initially - sort of bypassing the need to soft proof?

No, your images must be uploaded in sRGB. That's what they need to be for web display and that's what both of Smugmug's printers require. You can view a simulation of your image in the printer colorspace using soft proof with the printer's profile, but you should not convert your image to that colorspace.

thaKing

jfriend wrote:

No, your images must be uploaded in sRGB. That's what they need to be for web display and that's what both of Smugmug's printers require. You can view a simulation of your image in the printer colorspace using soft proof with the printer's profile, but you should not convert your image to that colorspace.

not sure we're talking about the same thing...at home i have PS setup to utilize the profile i created during calibration...this is just the profile not the colorpsace...i still use sRGB with my calibrated profile...couldn't i instead tell PS (in the preferences) to use the profiles i downloaded? the images would still be sRGB, regardless of the profile i use...

note: i don't have PS on the machine i'm at to verify any of this, just going off the top of my head...

jfriend

thaKing wrote:

not sure we're talking about the same thing...at home i have PS setup to utilize the profile i created during calibration...this is just the profile not the colorpsace...i still use sRGB with my calibrated profile...couldn't i instead tell PS (in the preferences) to use the profiles i downloaded? the images would still be sRGB, regardless of the profile i use...

note: i don't have PS on the machine i'm at to verify any of this, just going off the top of my head...

I think you're talking about your monitor profile that was created when calibrating your monitor. That profile is required if you want to see accurate color on your screen. Switching that to the profile you downloaded would just make your display have very wrong color rendering. There is no reason or advantage to do that.

The document color profile should be sRGB. The monitor profile should be the one created when you calibrated/profiled your monitor. An output device profile (e.g. for a printer) that you download is what you use in soft proofing to see a simulation of what the image will look like on the output device. That's the ONLY place you should be using it.

thaKing

ok, i was thinking i could just have PS use that profile but i see what you mean about the output profile...thanks for clearing that up...

JaeSen

Photoshop Elements 7
Can you soft proof using PhotoShop Elements 7? I tried to find it and do not see that option anywhere. I am having issues with my prints coming out completely different than they appear on my screen. I have tried calibrating my screen using "Calibrize 2.0" but I use a laptop and have no way to manually adjust the contrast (only brightness). I think I will eventually need to use a Huey or the like, but trying to try other options before I go out and purchase another device.

I am new to the whole color profile/space thing so let me be sure I get this straight...

First I need to calibrate my monitor using some sort of colorimeter, I also need to upload the ICC Profile for my lab, then when I upload my files (my Nikon is set to sRGB) I need to soft proof them in Photoshop to see the way they will look in print??

I am very frustrated with this whole thing. I have read and tried nearly every tutorial I can find on color calibration, editing, soft proofing, color profiles/spaces etc. and I can never seem to find the info I need to make it work for me. I just want to be able to see my photos as they will print...is that too much to ask! :cry

I have the crappy prints I got back and was told to adjust my monitor to look like the prints...I have no controls to adjust my monitor, so now what?

jfriend

JaeSen wrote:

Can you soft proof using PhotoShop Elements 7? I tried to find it and do not see that option anywhere. I am having issues with my prints coming out completely different than they appear on my screen. I have tried calibrating my screen using "Calibrize 2.0" but I use a laptop and have no way to manually adjust the contrast (only brightness). I think I will eventually need to use a Huey or the like, but trying to try other options before I go out and purchase another device.

I am new to the whole color profile/space thing so let me be sure I get this straight...

First I need to calibrate my monitor using some sort of colorimeter, I also need to upload the ICC Profile for my lab, then when I upload my files (my Nikon is set to sRGB) I need to soft proof them in Photoshop to see the way they will look in print??

I am very frustrated with this whole thing. I have read and tried nearly every tutorial I can find on color calibration, editing, soft proofing, color profiles/spaces etc. and I can never seem to find the info I need to make it work for me. I just want to be able to see my photos as they will print...is that too much to ask! :cry

I have the crappy prints I got back and was told to adjust my monitor to look like the prints...I have no controls to adjust my monitor, so now what?

I'm not directly familiar with Elements 7, but no previous version of Elements has had soft proofing. Not even Lightroom has soft proofing, from Adobe - it's just full Photoshop that has it.

JaeSen

jfriend wrote:

I'm not directly familiar with Elements 7, but no previous version of Elements has had soft proofing. Not even Lightroom has soft proofing, from Adobe - it's just full Photoshop that has it.

Since my original post I ran across another forum where someone gave a pretty good alternative to it for Elements 7, but of course I am not sure what the result is in Photoshop so cannot accurately compare.

For those who have Elements 7 this is what the instructions were and what I did to test it out, it seemed to be pretty acurate to what my prints turned out like.

Under Edit, go to color settings, choose No Color Management. Then open an image, go to File and click print. Change the setting where it says Printer Choose Profile, to Photoshop Choose Profile. Then scroll through the profiles and choose the one you downloaded from your lab (or any others you may want to see the result). Again, I saw that the difference was pretty accurate with the prints I had made of my photos. Just be sure to go back into color settings and switch it off of the No Color Management when you are finished.

The problem I am still running across is to see the image as it will print WHILE I am editing rather than having to constantly "soft proof" it. I guess I will need to get a colorimeter to calibrate my monitor more accurately.