Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
make a few adjustments in brightness and contrast during the process. The
profile created then tells other applications (like Photoshop) how to convert
or translate the color settings embedded from the capture device so that the
image is displayed accurately on the monitor.
How often should I calibrate?
Just like you may want to change the oil in your vehicle every 3000 miles or
wax and edge your skis to maximize their optimum performance periodically,
a monitor needs the same kind of regular tune-ups and care to perform well
over time.
• Monitors should be calibrated every 2–4 weeks depending on the amount
of usage.
• For the most accurate results, be sure to let the monitor warm up for at least
30 minutes in order to stabilize before calibration is performed.
• Periodic calibration will help maintain consistent color display on the
monitor over time.
Settings for calibration will vary depending on your output. If you are
working in your own closed loop system – that is your own camera, printer
and monitor – our best recommendation would be to work with daylight
settings, 6500 K and Gamma 2.2 as a starting point for most users. This setting
is usually best for working with Adobe 1998. If working with Piezography inks,
results have often been more accurate using a D-50 or 5000 K calibration
setting. You will need to experiment to find the best settings consistent with
your workflow and output variables.
IV. Software
Set photoshop color management policies and color
working spaces
The next step in our color management system is to set up the software
color policies to interpret the color information correctly on your calibrated
monitor! Just like the choices we have in setting the digital camera to a
specific color capture space, we will want to set Photoshop policies to match
the camera capture settings.
There are very few image browsers that offer control over the viewing color
space. Instead, most software applications can only display the images in the
color space of the operating system. In Windows XP, as well as most older
versions of Windows, that would be sRGB (remember that is the smallest
working space, which is not recommended for print reproduction work).
Images captured in the Adobe RGB working space will appear on screen
somewhat flat and desaturated when (incorrectly) viewed in sRGB.
Photoshop is, however, an incredibly color savvy software that offers the
best environment in which we can view Adobe RGB images, ProPhoto RGB,
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Color Management for Black and White
Photoshop default color working space and default color policies. Notice the RGB is set to sRGB
Photoshop color working space for Digital Darkroom print reproduction with inkjet printers
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Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
or images defined by any other color space. You can, with accurate color
display for each space simultaneously view an sRGB image in a side by side
comparison with an Adobe RGB image.
To specify color settings in Mac OS, choose Edit Menu Color Settings
and in Windows choose Photoshop Menu Color Settings to bring
up the color Settings Dialog Box in Photoshop. The dialogue box is the
single most important place where color management information is
gathered and controlled – one box, one convenient location. As incredibly
color savvy as Photoshop is, however, it unfortunately ships out to users
set with sRGB as the default working space, which is not the most ideal
setting for print-oriented photographers. It is therefore necessary
to make some changes in color setting policies before image editing
begins.
Photoshop Color Management Policies and the Editing
Color Working Space
Color Management Policies are simply a set of rules defining protocol for
opening files into Photoshop with or without embedded profiles. The color
working space specifies what colors (brightness and hues) will be available
when working in Photoshop. Whichever color working space you choose
to work in directly effects how many colors you will be able to see on your
monitor and potentially reproduce in the print. The color space choices for
image editing in Photoshop are Adobe RGB 1998, ProPhoto RGB, ColorMatch
and sRGB. (See “Set Up Color Working Spaces”, page 7 for definitions.)
Working Gray Policies
Grayscale does have its own governing profiles independent of RGB or CMYK.
However, it is important to note that the grayscale profiles do not contain any
information about the papers nor the color of the inks, which are all factors
in creating neutral values in producing a black and white prints with desktop
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Color Management for Black and White
printers. (See Phase 5 “Print Profiling and Printer Settings”, page 25 for more
information.)
The Gray working space determines how a grayscale image will look on
your monitor. Within the grayscale working space, we have access to
gamma settings, dot gain curves and the ColorSync Gray Working Space
(Mac only) as well as the ability to customize the dot gain to specific
requirements.
1. Gamma settings define the brightness of the midtone values on screen.
The choices of gamma settings enable you to base the display quality
equivalent to either a Macintosh (1.8) or PC (2.2) monitor, although there is
evidence that all monitors have become 2.2 these days, whether it is Mac
or PC.
Gray Gamma 2.2 is probably the best for most users, but feel free to
experiment. This setting anticipates the viewing conditions of a PC monitor
(important for web graphics), and the darkening is roughly equivalent to a
25% dot gain setting.
2. The Dot Gain settings, choices of either 10%, 15%, 20% or 30%, depend
on your printing conditions. The dot gain settings darken the on-screen
image, effectively anticipating the effect of the ink dot gain (or spread)
during on-press reproduction.
(To set your own dot gain profile, choose “Custom” from the top of the
pop-up.) Note that these values only lighten or darken the appearance of
an image, while the actual output values are not affected.
If you are outputting primarily to inkjet printers matching the Gray Working
space to the RGB color space is a good move. Simply translated if you
are working in Adobe RGB or sRGB, use Gamma 2.2. If you are working in
ProPhoto RGB or Colormatch RGB, choose 1.8. This prevents any additional
gamma adjustments as we switch back and forth between color and
grayscale images.
If you work in a prepress environment, it is best to match the grayscale space
to the dot gain of the black ink. North American Prepess 2 setting presets will
create this match. Consult your service provider for customized settings in
accordance with press specifications.
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Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
CMYK Working Space
Desktop inkjet printers from most of the major manufacturers (like Epson,
HP and Canon) actually require RGB data rather than CMYK data to produce
prints, even though these printers operate in a CMYK working space. What
this means to the average user is that the choice you make for CMYK settings
will have no influence in the actual image output (to an inkjet printer).
Therefore, the CMYK settings are better left to the default US Web Coated
(SWOP) v2 until you need to work with offset press. As press settings vary, you
need to consult your service provider for best conversion settings according
to the specifications of the printer and output variables.
CMYK working spaces are essentially printing processes characterized by
various ink-and-paper combinations, dot gain settings and separation options
such as ink limits. If you have a custom press profile, you would select it as
© Leslie Alsheimer
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Color Management for Black and White
your CMYK working space. When you perform a mode change to or from
CMYK, Photoshop will use the CMYK working-space profile for the conversion.
Photoshop will also use the CMYK working-space profile when you open a
CMYK image that lacks an embedded profile.
If you need to convert images to CMYK but do not have a custom press profile,
and one is not available from your printer, select one of the profiles provided
by Adobe, basing it on the type of printing process and paper that will be
used, such as US Web Coated (SWOP) v2.
As with RGB working spaces, Photoshop provides the ability to create
custom CMYK working-space profiles. This is useful if your print provider
does not have a profile but can tell you what separation settings to use when
converting your images to CMYK.
Spot Working Space
The Spot working space is somewhat similar to the grayscale space, but for
spot colors. The options available are a series of five preset dot gain settings
and the means for customizing the dot gain curve if desired. The Spot working
space provides a setting for spot colors, such as Pantone colors, that may be
used in the printing process. Similar to CMYK settings, spot settings are the
most crucial when working with offset press and depend on ink and paper
combinations to be determined. Leave this setting unchanged at the default
until press specifications require otherwise.
Color Management Policies
Color management policies therefore determine how to handle documents
that do not match your chosen color working space. These policies provide
guidelines for how Photoshop should proceed when a document is opened,
color data is imported into an active document with color spaces that do
not match the set policies. With specified predefined color management
settings, Photoshop can proceed within the user defined color management
workflow as standard protocol for all documents and color data that you
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Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
open or import. These color management policies look for the color profile
associated with a document or imported color data and compares the profile
(or lack of profile) with the current editing working space settings in order to
make default color management decisions for conversion and color display.
If the profile is missing or does not match the working space, Photoshop
displays a warning message that indicates the default action for the policy (as
long as the alert option is selected in the color settings). For a newly created
document, the color workflow usually operates behind the scenes; unless
otherwise specified, the document uses the working space profile associated
with its color mode for creating and editing colors.
In this text, we are going to set the color management policies to convert all
incoming documents to the specified working space. This simply means the
active radial button chosen will be to pre set Convert to the Working space.
However, you will always be able to choose otherwise.
Profile mismatches
If you are presented with an “Embedded Profile Mismatch” dialog when
you open an image, this means that the image was captured or created in
a different working space than your chosen working-space policies. This
warning dialogue is how you tell Photoshop to proceed with opening the
document. Your choices are the following: (1) Use the embedded profile
instead of the working space. (2) Convert to the working space and
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Color Management for Black and White
(3) Discard the embedded profile (do not color manage). In most instances,
it is best to go ahead and convert everything over to your set working space
in order to simplify and standardize your workflow, unless of course there is
reason to keep the image in the space in which it was created.
It is still important to note however that, the optimum color space will not
always be a match for what you set in the camera. With midtone heavy and/or
overly saturated Adobe RGB images captured from the D1X and EOS-1D,
for example, assigning the ColorMatch RGB color space often offers a more
realistic and pleasing color translation with problem images.
Missing profile
This warning dialogue box is not a good one to receive. This means that the
document file does not have any profiles or translators to convey information
about the color of the image. Photoshop will have no idea where this file came
from, nor how to translate its color information accurately and will have to just
guess at color. Photoshop can do a pretty darn good job at guessing, but that is
really like me giving a blank piece of 4 5 film to my students and asking them
to shoot the image and process it in the chemical darkroom without knowing
its ISO or film type. It would be fairly difficult for even a well-seasoned pro to
render a good exposure and development time with virtually no information
about the film. In this case the profile will need to be assigned. If you know that
the image came from an sRGB space or any other for example, you would first
assign sRGB, or the known space, and then convert to the working space. If the
incoming source is unknown, assign the working RGB and move on from there.
How to set: Photoshop color management policies
Setting up your Photoshop color management policies and preferences is
absolutely essential before you begin working in Photoshop. Remember,
these are the settings that specify the handling of color profiles associated
with the RGB, CMYK and Grayscale color modes in every document. This
means that the color management settings affect how images are displayed
on screen, and how Photoshop operates color separations. These profiles
are known as working spaces. Being aware of your color settings and image
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Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom
profiles will help you produce consistent color results for the most common
on-screen and print output conditions.
Edit Menu Color Settings You may choose a preset color management
configuration from the settings menu or customize one of your own. Adobe
sets the default workspace for web work, which is far too limiting for print
output with high quality photographs. We are going to create custom settings
for print output.
RGB Adobe RGB (1998) is today’s industry standard. This space is best
for RGB print production work. You may want to research ProPhoto RGB for
details on whether it might work for you.
Color Match this space can be an excellent choice when working with
offset press and converting to CMYK. It is also recommended for working with
Piezography ink sets.
sRGB is an excellent choice for images destined for the web.
Custom setting configurations
can be saved and renamed.
Choose RGB Working space
in accordance with workflow
and output variables. Adobe 1998
Save custom
is a good choice for most users
configuration
doing print production work.
with personalized title
and description.
Gray Policy
For most users 2.2
is an excellent choice.
Color Management Policies
standardize working space
protocol and activates alert
system for mismatches.
Save and Name
It is important to save your custom settings so that they can be reused and
shared with other Adobe applications that use the same color management
workflows, as well as with other users. The color management settings that
you customize in the Color Settings dialog box are contained in a preferences
file called Color Settings.
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Color Management for Black and White
Important note:
Lightroom Users need
to make sure that
the Photoshop color
management settings
match the output color
Comment space in the Adobe
Lightroom export
Enter your own description of the settings you just created for future reference. settings. Images may
have distinctly different
colors than in Lightroom
if the settings are not
congruent.
Note:
The default location
of the Color Settings
V. Print Profiling and Printer Settings file varies by operating
system; use your
Set up the print driver with correct profiles for output operating system’s
Once a color space tagged image makes it from the camera (or scanner) Find command to locate
and passes onto a calibrated monitor, and is edited through Photoshop and this file.
Lightroom, the next step is to pass the image out through the printer onto
paper or other surfaces. This phase of the workflow requires a print profile. A
print profile tells the printer how to translate and convert the colors from the
monitor so that the image outputs correctly onto the paper. This translation is
specified according to the type of printer, paper, surface and ink the image will
be output onto. Every paper, however, will require a different profile because
every paper, ink, printer combination has a different color gamut, or ability to
reproduce colors. For instance, glossy papers have the ability to produce more
saturated colors than matte surfaces. Most printers come with a number of
common paper profiles installed with their drivers. These “canned” profiles are
a great start in making the monitor to print color translation relatively well.
At some point, however, you might want to invest in custom profiles, made
specifically for your printer, paper and ink combinations. Custom profiles can
be purchased online at an exceptional price from Santa Fe Camera’s on-line
store: www.santafecameracenter.com or call (866) 922-6372 for more information.
Because every paper, ink, printer combination requires a different profile,
and the print settings in both the Photoshop and printer dialogue boxes are
neither simple nor user friendly, many common mistakes inevitably happen. If
the print driver options are not set correctly, using the correct profile, it will be
difficult to even come close to replicating the image you see on your monitor
to the output print. See Chapter 6, “Printing”, for more in-depth step-by steps
on print profiles and printer driver settings.
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