A GUIDE TO SOFT PROOFING

A GUIDE TO SOFT PROOFING

soft proofing information Definition: Soft proofing is a representation or simulation on a computer monitor of what an image is going to look like on an output device, such as a printer. Soft proofing only simulates the appearance of an ink-on-paper proof, also known as a hard proof. The actual image data is not modified by this process. The reliability of the soft proof depends upon the quality of your monitor, the profiles of your output devices, and the ambient lighting conditions of the working environment. A hard proof or a test strip is the most accurate kind of proof, since it is an actual print made using the same materials that will be used to make the final print. Test Strips: The Imaging Center offers a test strip package for the inkjet printers. Test strips are highly recommended because they allow you to see exactly what the final print will look like. Test strips should be checked for color accuracy, contrast, and resolution. Once a test strip has been approved, the file can be submitted for final processing. Complaints about color accuracy will only be considered if a test strip was printed and approved by the customer. Test strips are free! (within reason). Students can print the same test strip for free on two different types of media. Any additional test strips will cost $2.50, including tax. Test strips should be no larger than 2 by the width of your document and contain areas of the file that offer the best representation of color and contrast. Please label the file teststrip so it will be easy to find in your Print Me folder. Take note of which printer the test strip comes out of. Ask an IC Tech to write the printer name on the strip. Even though the printers are the same model and type, they were purchased at different times and are profiled separately. There may be small differences or variances between the two printers. Remember to create your test strip in the same exact way that you saved your final image. If you submit a test strip that is a.jpg file, it may print out differently than the.pdf file that you submit as your final file. Complaints will be disregarded if test strips were created incorrectly. 2

converting a color profile Before you can properly soft proof an image file, make sure that you are working in the correct color space. If not in the proper working space, you will not succesfully be able to soft proof your file. Color Space: The IC works in both an Adobe RGB and U.S. Web Coated CMYK (SWOP) v2 color space. We do not work in any other color space and will convert your file if necessary. How to convert a color profile in Photoshop: By converting a color profile, the color numeric numbers change. Edit menu > Convert to Profile. Under Destination Space, choose the color profile to which you want to convert the document s colors. Under Conversion Options, specify a color management engine and a rendering intent. Toggle on the Preview option. Click OK. 3

rendering intents A rendering intent is a method for translating from one color space into another. Rendering intents are necessary because of the different gamuts of devices and medias. There are four rendering intents: Absolute Colorimetric, Relative Colorimetric, Perceptual, and Saturation. In order to properly simulate what your file will look like, take the time to select the appropriate rendering intent. Absolute Colorimetric: Leaves colors that fall inside the destination gamut unchanged. Out-of-gamut colors are clipped. This intent aims to maintain color accuracy at the expense of preserving relationships between colors and is suitable for proofing to simulate the output of a particular device. Relative Colorimetric: Compares the extreme highlight of the source color space to that of the destination color space and shifts all colors accordingly. Out-of-gamut colors are shifted to the closest reproducible color in the desination color space. Relative Colorimetric preserves more of the oringal colors in an image than Perceptual. This is the standard rendering intent for printing in North America and Europe. The Imaging Center s RIP is also set to use this rendering intent. Perceptual: This method may shift all colors slightly in order to retain the tonal and color relationships throughout the image. It may sacrifice absolute color accuracy, but it is good for preserving tonality and natural hues in an image. Good for photographs. This is the standard rendering intent for the Japanese printing industry. Saturation: This method maps saturated colors in the source space to fully saturated colors in the destination space at the expense of tonality and color accuracy. This is only good for business presentation type applications where bright saturated colors are more important than the exact relationship between colors. 4 information on rendering intents gathered from http://help.adobe.com/

how to soft proof Soft Proofing: To soft proof in Photoshop, a number of set up steps are required. Ideally you should be viewing your image in the proper color working space. Do not soft proof from the monitor or scanner color space. Step 1: Click the View menu. Step 2: Select Proof Setup. Step 3: Click on Custom. Customize Proof Conditions: From this dialog box you can select the different printer profiles to simulate your image with. The Imaging Center has several different printer profiles from you to choose from (page 6). Make sure the Preview option is toggled on so that you can see the differences. Step 1: Select the device to simulate. Page 6 has a complete list of current printer profiles. Step 2: Select the appropriate rendering intent. Step 3: Select Simulate Black Ink. 5

how to soft proof Devices to Simulate: From this dialog box you can select the different printer profiles to simulate your proof with. The Imaging Center has several different printer profiles for you to choose from. Epson 9900_1: Premium Luster - IC_Epson9900_PremiumLuster_OG_F15.icc Premium Semimatte - IC_Epson9900_Semimatte_OG_F15.icc Enhanced Matte - IC_Epson9900_EnhancedMatte_OG_F15.icc Doubleweight Matte - IC_Epson9900_DoubleweightMatte_OG_F15.icc Singleweight Matte - IC_Epson9900_SingleweightMatte OG_F15.icc Cold Press Bright - IC_Epson9900_ColdPressBright_OG_F15.icc Exhibition Canvas Matte - IC_Epson9900_MatteCanvas_OG_F15.icc Epson 9900_2: Premium Luster - IC_Epson9900_2_PremiumLuster_OG_F15.icc Premium Semimatte - IC_Epson9900_2_Semimatte_OG_F15.icc Enhanced Matte - IC_Epson9900_2_EnhancedMatte_OG_F15.icc Doubleweight Matte - IC_Epson9900_2_DoubleweightMatte_OG_F15.icc Singleweight Matte - IC_Epson9900_2_SingleweightMatte OG_F15.icc Cold Press Bright - IC_Epson9900_2_ColdPressBright_OG_F15.icc Exhibition Canvas Matte - IC_Epson9900_2_MatteCanvas_OG_F15.icc Epson 4880_1: Premium Luster Roll - IC_Epson4880_PremiumLusterRoll_F15.icc Premium Luster Sheet - IC_Epson4880_PremiumLusterSheet_F15.icc Epson 4880_2: Enhanced Matte Roll - IC_Epson4880_2_EnhancedMatteRoll_F15.icc Enhanced Matte Sheet - IC_Epson4880_2_EnhancedMatteSheet_F15.icc Watercolor Sheet - IC_Epson4880_2_Watercolor_F15.icc Polar Matte Sheet - IC_Epson4880_2_PolarMatte_F15.icc Once you have the printer profile selected, you will return to your image. Next to the file name you will see that you are still viewing the image as the output device. You can toggle between the output device, in this case a printer, and the working color space (Adobe 1998) by using the selecting Proof Colors or by using the command, zy. 6

gamut warning Definition: A gamut is the range of colors that a color system can display or print. A color that can be displayed in RGB could be out of gamut (unprintable) with a CMYK setting. There are multiple ways too see if a color is out of gamut. In the Info panel, an exclamation point (!) appears next to the CMYK value when ever the cursor is moved over an out-of-gamut color. In both the Coor Picker and the Color panel, an alert triangle appears. When you select an out-of-gamut color, the closest CMYK equivalent is displayed. To select the CMYK equivalent, click the triangle or the color patch. Photoshop automatically brings all colors into gamut when you properly convert an RGB image to CMYK. Please note, that some detail in the image may be lost, depending on your conversion options. You can identify the out-of-gamut colors before converting to CMYK by using the Gamut Warning command. Find Out-of-Gamut Colors: View > Proof Setup, then choose the proof profile on which you want to base the gamut warning. View > Gamut Warning (ñzy). All pixels outside the gamut of the current proof profile are now highlighted in gray. Your image may print out with clipped or incorrect colors. information on gamut gathered from http://help.adobe.com/ 7

Location: Taubman Center - T631 [next to the 24 hour lab] general information Phone: 313.664.1507 General Hours of Operation: Monday-Thursday: 8:00am - 10:00pm Friday: 8:00am - 3:00pm Saturday-Sunday: Closed Methods of Payment: Cash CCS SmART Card The Imaging Center does not accept credit or debit cards. Print Ready: The IC does not alter your file in any way. All files must come in ready for print. Order Changes: If an order is canceled or changed while the print job is being processed or after the job has already finished, you will be charged for the completed print output. Digital Output Services: Please make sure that the all forms are filled out completely and legibly. It is required that students leave a current phone number for possible questions about their print job. Each file to be printed must be individually listed with the correct file name on the form. Monitor Calibration: The monitors in the IC, including the soft proofing station, are calibrated on a weekly basis. We use X- Rite i1profiler software and hardware to calibrate our monitors. To simulate daylight and the IC paper selection, the color temperature of our monitors are calibrated to 6500 degrees Kelvin. 8 Remember the range of reproducible colors available for a printed out photographic image will always be smaller than the range that can be displayed on a monitor.