using EZprints profile

HarlanBear

I am new to SmugMug and want to take advantage of printing with EZprints. I also want to make sure I have my images profiled correctly for printing. I have a few questions about using the eZprints ICC profile in my workflow. I shoot in raw, convert in ACR and then save the image as a PSD file. I then bring the image into PSCS2 and do fine tuning there. Then save for the output; PSD of archive, sRGB for the web or other printer profiles if printing. Is there a reason I should not convert the image to EZprints profile when I bring it into PS, do adjustments and then save? I understand that I can softproof it using the EZprints profile and then make adjustments, but wondered if it is easier or better to convert it right away. And if I do that, can SmugMug accept the image with the EZprints profile or would I then save it as sRGB. Any help here would be appreciated.

HB

Andy

HarlanBear wrote:

I am new to SmugMug and want to take advantage of printing with EZprints. I also want to make sure I have my images profiled correctly for printing. I have a few questions about using the eZprints ICC profile in my workflow. I shoot in raw, convert in ACR and then save the image as a PSD file. I then bring the image into PSCS2 and do fine tuning there. Then save for the output; PSD of archive, sRGB for the web or other printer profiles if printing. Is there a reason I should not convert the image to EZprints profile when I bring it into PS, do adjustments and then save? I understand that I can softproof it using the EZprints profile and then make adjustments, but wondered if it is easier or better to convert it right away. And if I do that, can SmugMug accept the image with the EZprints profile or would I then save it as sRGB. Any help here would be appreciated.

HB

Hi, welcome
Do your final output in sRGB and if you need to soft-proof do so in CS2 using the Profile. We have a great tute on soft proofing, click "How To" in the Dgrin navbar.

Once you have a gallery of shots to share, link me to it and I'll review it for you and let you know how they'll print

HarlanBear

Andy wrote:

Hi, welcome
Do your final output in sRGB and if you need to soft-proof do so in CS2 using the Profile. We have a great tute on soft proofing, click "How To" in the Dgrin navbar.

Once you have a gallery of shots to share, link me to it and I'll review it for you and let you know how they'll print

Hi Andy and thanks for the quick response.
So if I understand, the workflow would be: make changes in PS with sRGB as the profile, softproof the image with EZprint profile and, if it looks good, smiply send it to my smugmug gallery. If it needs adjusting after viewing in softproof, click "OK" and work on it. Then when I like it, convert it to sRGB. I don't mean to be a pain but want to make sure the images look and print the same at smugmug.

Thanks,

Andy

HarlanBear wrote:

Hi Andy and thanks for the quick response.
So if I understand, the workflow would be: make changes in PS with sRGB as the profile, softproof the image with EZprint profile and, if it looks good, smiply send it to my smugmug gallery. If it needs adjusting after viewing in softproof, click "OK" and work on it. Then when I like it, convert it to sRGB. I don't mean to be a pain but want to make sure the images look and print the same at smugmug.

Thanks,

you should be in sRGB while you are working on the image in PS.

Rhuarc

So should if I'm going tobe using EZ Prints then I shouldn't be using Adobe 1998 space at all? I was under the impression this was better to work in since it had a larger color space. I just finished all my wedding photos and uploaded in Adobe 1998. I guess I needto go back and redo all of them using sRGB and make sure they look ok then? :cry

HarlanBear

Andy wrote:

you should be in sRGB while you are working on the image in PS.

Okay, I think I've got it. I'll send you a link to my gallery when I have the pics up.

Thanks again

Andy

Rhuarc wrote:

So should if I'm going tobe using EZ Prints then I shouldn't be using Adobe 1998 space at all? I was under the impression this was better to work in since it had a larger color space. I just finished all my wedding photos and uploaded in Adobe 1998. I guess I needto go back and redo all of them using sRGB and make sure they look ok then? :cry

http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998

sRGB please.

HarlanBear

Andy wrote:

http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998

sRGB please.

Okay, here's the link to my galleries so far.

http://mburkey.smugmug.com/Photography

Also, notice that EXprints profile seems to have most change with reds. Any hints on how to adjust for the color shift?
And thanks again for all your help. Much appreciated.:D

Here's one that shows a shift in red when softproffed using exprint profile in PS, but once I load it up on SM along with the converted ezprint profiled image, it does not show as much.



Any ideas?

Thanks.

Andy

HarlanBear wrote:

Okay, here's the link to my galleries so far.

http://mburkey.smugmug.com/Photography

Also, notice that EXprints profile seems to have most change with reds. Any hints on how to adjust for the color shift?
And thanks again for all your help. Much appreciated.:D

Here's one that shows a shift in red when softproffed using exprint profile in PS, but once I load it up on SM along with the converted ezprint profiled image, it does not show as much.



Any ideas?

Thanks.

Stay tuned, I'm looking now.

Andy

HarlanBear wrote:

Here's one that shows a shift in red when softproffed using exprint profile in PS, but once I load it up on SM along with the converted ezprint profiled image, it does not show as much.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

The red awning is out-of-gamut for the printers. Let's look.

Your original shot:


Soft Proofing, we see this in Photoshop:


And this would be the approximate color substitution at the printer in the lab:


Does this help?

HarlanBear

Andy wrote:

The red awning is out-of-gamut for the printers. Let's look.

Your original shot:


Soft Proofing, we see this in Photoshop:


And this would be the approximate color substitution at the printer in the lab:


Does this help?

This helps a lot, Andy, thanks for taking the time.

And this is what I see using the softproof, as well. Not the worse thing, but different.

This is why I was wondering if it is a good idea to convert the image to ezprints profile in Photoshop and then work on it. Or why it is a bad idea to work in ezprint profile, at least for prints destined for printing using ezprints services. Theory is you would see how it will look when printed at ezprints. It would then be converted to sRGB for display on SmugMug. Or am I missing something in the conversion to sRGB or working in the exprint profile? To me, this is akin to working with a non-callibrated monitor. The image on screen would not match the printed image.

Andy

HarlanBear wrote:

This helps a lot, Andy, thanks for taking the time.

And this is what I see using the softproof, as well. Not the worse thing, but different.

This is why I was wondering if it is a good idea to convert the image to ezprints profile in Photoshop and then work on it. Or why it is a bad idea to work in ezprint profile, at least for prints destined for printing using ezprints services. Theory is you would see how it will look when printed at ezprints. It would then be converted to sRGB for display on SmugMug. Or am I missing something in the conversion to sRGB or working in the exprint profile? To me, this is akin to working with a non-callibrated monitor. The image on screen would not match the printed image.

I'm just real careful around highly saturated colors - use the soft-proof and you will get to know when to do the same.

jfriend

Soft proof, not convert to the EZPrints profile

HarlanBear wrote:

This helps a lot, Andy, thanks for taking the time.

And this is what I see using the softproof, as well. Not the worse thing, but different.

This is why I was wondering if it is a good idea to convert the image to ezprints profile in Photoshop and then work on it. Or why it is a bad idea to work in ezprint profile, at least for prints destined for printing using ezprints services. Theory is you would see how it will look when printed at ezprints. It would then be converted to sRGB for display on SmugMug. Or am I missing something in the conversion to sRGB or working in the exprint profile? To me, this is akin to working with a non-callibrated monitor. The image on screen would not match the printed image.

You aren't supposed to convert it to the EZPrints profile. You want to leave it as sRGB, but soft proof it using the EZPrints profile. This will show you how it will print from the EZPrints profile (within the limits of the screen) while you work on it. I don't usually do all my work in this mode (though you can), but I do check images from time to time when I see vivid or unusual colors or before printing an enlargement.

To soft proof with that profile in Photoshop CS2:

• Add the profile to your Photoshop by downloading it and then go View/Proof Setup/Custom/Load
• View/Proof Setup/Select the EZPrints profile (if it isn't already selected)
• View/Proof Colors (this will attempt to render the image like it will be printed on a printer with the selected profile)
• View/Gamut Warning is optional (this will show you in gray where the profile is clipping colors).

HarlanBear

jfriend wrote:

You aren't supposed to convert it to the EZPrints profile. You want to leave it as sRGB, but soft proof it using the EZPrints profile. This will show you how it will print from the EZPrints profile (within the limits of the screen) while you work on it. I don't usually do all my work in this mode (though you can), but I do check images from time to time when I see vivid or unusual colors or before printing an enlargement.

To soft proof with that profile in Photoshop CS2:

• Add the profile to your Photoshop by downloading it and then go View/Proof Setup/Custom/Load
• View/Proof Setup/Select the EZPrints profile (if it isn't already selected)
• View/Proof Colors (this will attempt to render the image like it will be printed on a printer with the selected profile)
• View/Gamut Warning is optional (this will show you in gray where the profile is clipping colors).

Got it. Thanks Andy and Jfriend, much appreciated and the info on proofing helps. Jfriend, I took a look at your gallery (some remarkable images!) and noticed one photo of the Golden Gate Bridge which looks pretty saturated orange/red and wondered if you've seen it printed through ezprints? Guess we just work carefully with certain colors and sat, like Andy said, eh?

jfriend

HarlanBear wrote:

Got it. Thanks Andy and Jfriend, much appreciated and the info on proofing helps. Jfriend, I took a look at your gallery (some remarkable images!) and noticed one photo of the Golden Gate Bridge which looks pretty saturated orange/red and wondered if you've seen it printed through ezprints? Guess we just work carefully with certain colors and sat, like Andy said, eh?

Thanks for the kind words on my photos. If you're looking at the one I think, the Golden Gate bridge photo is overcooked and would probably not print that saturated (I haven't printed it). It's from my first few months of owning a dSLR and getting back into photography.