setting up priting profile

[johnson1975]

ok - I am not a computer guy, but I am doing my best. I am attempting to help my wife get her programs etc.. all set up.

Wife currently shoots with 5dM2 and she shoots in RAW-sRGB. I have Spyder 3 Express and have Calibrated my Dell 220wa Monitor. She edits her photos in Lightroom 3 and CS5.

My problem is her prints are not matching the printer (ACI) and the color correction fees are really adding up. I have been reading that we can obtain printer profile from ACI - however, I have no clue what to do with this information once obtained?

We have CS5 and Lightroom all set as sRGB, 300 dpi - she saves images in JPEG for printing.

Is setting up color profile easy? Can I do this for more than one printing lab? Do I have to do this in Lightroom and CS5? She generally opens the photos in Lightroom and then will transfer over to CS% for final editing.

Thank You for any help.....I have been reading on this stuff and my head is about to explode

 

[Rephargotohp]

ICC profiles from Print Labs are used to "Soft Proof" soft proofing is a simulation of what you image will look like after run through the printer and the effect of the paper will look. The lab should have profiles for all their paper types.


You can't really soft proof in Lightroom, even though there is a plugin available it doesn't work well because you can't change your file in real time

First: close Photoshop

When you get the profile, unzip it and then right click the file and say Install Profile, It should install in the correct folder on your computer. If the profiles come with other instructions follow them but this is a general how to.

Once installed open Photoshop and open your image

Go to View> Proof Set-up> Custom

Drop down the list till you find the ICC profile you want for the lab and paper you want.

You will have choices of rendering intents, Use either Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric.

Click OK

Pressing crtl Y will toggle between the standard image and the soft proofed image (You will see the profile in the image border)

You will now see the effect that that machine and paper has on the image so if you see some oddities you can make some changes to your Print file(make a separate Print copy) to counteract and negative effects.

Make sure your images is saved with the Color Profile that the lab uses for Printing DO NOT SAVE IT WITH THE SOFT PROOFING PROFILE, Use either sRGB or Adobe RGB depending on what the lab desires and embed the profile.

Good luck,it isn't always easy to match a lab sometimes. Sometimes there are just little things that are off in what you are doing that affect the Print negatively, Sometimes, labs just suck

 

[Rephargotohp]

Here is one other thing about Lightroom. Do not compare your print to the RAW file in Develop Module in Lightroom. In The Develop Module of lightroom, the RAW file is displayed in Pro Photo RGB color space, which is wider gamut than sRGB. The colors will appear more vibrant than whena SRGB copy is made. Instead if you MUST view in Lightroom, Open the sRGB JPEG and compare to that file. Lightroom will honor the SRGB profil on that JPEG.

You are best off comparing your print to the sRGB JPeg In photoshop, which has better color managment.

Also realize that an LCD screen is Backlit and a Print is front lit and will look different. Also Proofing your print should be under correct lighting, You can use sun light or get a proofing lamp in the with lamp the same Color temp as your Monitor. A lot of CFL bulbs now have K Rating on them. I use 5000K CFL to proof my images

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, that looks like a lot of good info above.

You edit in your working color space (Prophoto RGB being the best/biggest option)...but you have to convert/assign the image to (probably) sRGB before you send it out for printing.
You use the printer's profile for soft proofing.

Check out this article, and then look around the site and do some reading. A lot of really great info there. They also have videos that you can purchase...great info there as well.
Understanding Soft Proofing

 

[johnson1975]

thank you for info......we are contacting printer now and requesting profile...

 

[KmH]

she shoots in RAW-sRGB.

Raw has no color space. Is your wife shooting for clients?

She may have set the camera to sRGB but that will only affect the JPEG Basic that is embedded in the Raw file so the camera has a thumbnail it can show on the camera's rear LCD. The camera cannot show the Raw image data file as an image, or as a histogram, on the camera's rear LCD.

FWIW, the histogram the camera displays on the rear LCD is from that same JPEG basic embedded in the Raw file.

ProPhotoRGB is a color space larger than the human eye can see.

Computer displays use the RGB color model, prints are made using the CMYK color model, factors that add to the back lit/fore lit situation.

Color mangement and printing are fairly complex and necessarily technical subjects, but are well short of rocket science.

Here is some reading that may be helpful for you and your wife: http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adob...ly/prophotographer/pdfs/pscs3_renderprint.pdf

 

[Rephargotohp]

Actually, Only Giclee, Inkjet and Press prints are CMYK. Digital C prints that most people get are Done with an RGB Laser

 

[KmH]

Actually, giclée is just a high quality an inkjet print.. The word "giclée" was created by Jack Duganne. - Giclée - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

C-prints are indeed CMYK.

There are 3 main dye layers in the chromogenic print emulsion on the paper that contain Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow dyes.

The RGB laser, or LED's, are used to project the image onto the light sensitive emulsion.

Chromogenic color print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia