Need Input Re My Output/Monitor/Color Management

AndrewRodney · #8 08-07-2007, 04:39 PM

What Pantone process are you using (see below) and how is the job being printed? You have to work within the Pantone system all the way to print:

Quote:

Pantone is a brand name for an ink-matching system widely in the printing, graphic
arts, and the imaging industry. For many years, Pantone produced what
they call the Pantone Matching System, also known as PMS. PMS include a
number of guidebooks with the formulas for producing specific spot
colors on different stocks such as coated, uncoated, and matte surfaces.
A user picks a color from a guidebook they hope to reproduce and the
book provides the ink formulas.

PMS is designed to specify spot colors but not process colors. Pantone,
therefore, has what they call the Pantone solid to process guide, which
can compare a solid PMS color and produce the closest CMYK match.
Many software products, including Photoshop, provide this in a digital
form. Figure 7-8 shows the Photoshop color picker after a user picks
Custom (called Color Libraries in Photoshop CS2) and then one of the
many preset libraries in the color picker pop-up menu.
Photoshop supports other matching systems besides Pantone. The
reason it’s a good idea to have spot, process, and Pantone colors on your
radar is that sometimes a client will ask you to produce such a color on
a device that doesn’t use process inks. There are ways to get around this
but an accurate ICC output profile is key. With some software utilities,
you can take an output profile and have it calculate the closest RGB or
CMYK values for a certain process color for your output device. Due to
gamut issues, a 100 percent match for many colors isn’t possible.

ChrisPerry · #9 08-07-2007, 04:56 PM

How is it being printed? Pantone is INK - CMYK. You are viewing in RGB...completely different animal.
What are delivering, file wise? Adobe RGB, sRGB, or CMYK? What do the need for output - in other words, as THEY converting it?

For all the print work I did they wanted CMYK files, EPS or TIFF.
For all the lab (photo) work they want sRGB JPG or sometimes PDF.

As to the monitor, from what I've read only two can display the entire RGB colorspace, a smasung 20" for around $3k and some Eizo or LaCie for $5000 or so. That still won't help if you're trying to render a CMYK color in RGB!

AndrewRodney · #10 08-07-2007, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisPerry

As to the monitor, from what I've read only two can display the entire RGB colorspace, a smasung 20" for around $3k and some Eizo or LaCie for $5000 or so.

What RGB color space? Most displays are sRGB behaving devices. There are a few wide gamut displays. Some exceed Adobe RGB (1998) a bit, others are a bit shy (the NEC 2690 I just got is about 93% of Adobe RGB (1998))

IraParis · #11 08-07-2007, 08:19 PM

I sincerely appreciate everyone's replies, but it seems to get more convoluted at every response.
To bring it down to the most basic elements, here's the Million Dollar Question. I have to photograph an item that will be printed in a brochure. That is the only information given to me. I will deliver the file in the Adobe 1998 RGB color space. How do I deliver the most accurate file possible?

AndrewRodney · #12 08-07-2007, 08:24 PM

Accurate for what output? That requires an output profile.

You can give them a document in Adobe RGB (1998) and if they do everything correctly, it will produce a color appearance that attempts to honor what you saw to some degree. But without an output profile, there's absolutely no way to visualize this on your end or for them to take your RGB data and produce a CMYK version for their needs.

At the very, very least, if you're working in an RGB working space, do you have the display calibrated and profiled?

John_Vito · #13 08-07-2007, 08:54 PM

I just shot a jewelry and accessories catalog...Here's what I do and works well for me..

1) Shoot Raw with Canon DSLR

2) Color/exposure correct in Lightroom. I use a daylight balanced light illuminating product while matching screen.

3) Open in Photoshop for retouching and any final color tweaking.

4) Convert from ProPhoto 16bit workspace to Adobe RGB 8bit Tiff.

I don't convert to CMYK as I don't know how they will print or whom the printer will be and most of the time my clients don't either. My theory about keeping the file in RGB and not CMYK, is the RGB file becomes their "chrome film" that they have to match. I also place the RGB to CMYK conversion on someone closer to the printing process that may have more knowledge about the final output. Whomever converts the file to CMYK hopefully will see a color change and have my RGB “chrome film” file for reference. Also if final output is screwed up they can’t blame my images as they look great on the DVD I sent them.

ChrisPerry · #14 08-08-2007, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewRodney

What RGB color space? Most displays are sRGB behaving devices. There are a few wide gamut displays. Some exceed Adobe RGB (1998) a bit, others are a bit shy (the NEC 2690 I just got is about 93% of Adobe RGB (1998))

They are RGB - they don't have a colorspace so to speak. Not all monitors can reproduce the entire colorspace that is defined as sRGB or aRGB, just like my lab is RGB, but can't reproduce the whole gamut of adobe RGB, so giving them a file of that type means some colors will be shifted into ones that they can print. that is why CRTs are better for accurate color than LCDs, although LCDs are pretty good and it'a hard to find a CRT anymore.