Iain Denby Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 I just can't get my head around this colour managment thing...calibrating everything and producing ICC profiles etc. As a consequence, I leave PS on the defaults and match my prints to what I see on screen, which is 95% accurate. So at least I know I will be printing the same as I see on screen. But I know to work this way is very risky and unprofessional. But, I've seen my images on other computers, the web and in magazines etc and the images look pretty much the same as they do on my system, so it can't be far out. Also I was shocked to discover that a large local Marketing/Advertising Agency didn't calibrate their system iether, they just used everything 'out of the box'! So, it leaves me wondering that to calibrate your own set up is fine, but only od real use if everyone else does too. What do you guys do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 i leave everything as default. never concerned us or given us problems, and never even come close to worrying about it before now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 i used to try to calibrate my system, but it would only cause more problems in the long run. now i just use the defaults, and for the most part i am happy with the settings. the only thing that concerns me is going back and forth between mac and pc. different default gamma settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 I leave pretty much everything as is. Only thing that I use are the epson ICC profiles that they provide with the plotter we use. When printing from PhotoShop on a specific media, it makes a TON of difference. (at least to my eyes....most people who looked at it probably wouldn't even notice the difference) -Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jeff Mottle Posted April 22, 2004 Administrators Share Posted April 22, 2004 Iain, Did you read the document I created for Smoothe? http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/showthread.php?t=900&highlight=ICC Near the end. There are a number of variables that MUST be controlled to ensure proper matching. Two of the most important are a controlled environment AND a light box for viewing prints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmanahan Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 The company I work for has spent a lot of time callibrating all our monitors, printers, two types of paper output, outside printshops we use and our projectors also. We brought in a color management consultant who setup up everything and we have two people that maintain and trouble shoot. The samples I have seen have been pretty impressive though, prints on different paper from mac or pc that all look very consistant and when we share files we know the color won't shift. This process just finished and there are a lot of steps to follow to print out so I will need a cheat sheet because if you or someone else misses one button click in your setup it throws off your color. You have to constantly re-callibrate because of degredation of monitors and printers, maybe once a year. The other thing is once it leaves our office we then have no control. pmanahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jeff Mottle Posted April 22, 2004 Administrators Share Posted April 22, 2004 You have to constantly re-callibrate because of degredation of monitors and printers, maybe once a year. pmanahan Yeah CRT monitors do have a shelf life as far as being able to bring them to a set value. I have a dual Viewsonic pro monitor setup and they are only 1.5 years old. I calibrate them monthly and this las time I was not able to bring them to spec. Close but not to the reccomended illuminance. Typically the red guns are the first to go. The other thing is once it leaves our office we then have no control. Yes and no. But at least you have a calibrated file with embeded profiles. If someone else in a calibrated environment prints your file, they too will be able to see and print exactly what you do. The results of the big survey I did show that only a very small percentage of people in our industry actually work in a calibrated environment. THis is really shocking considering our trade is color. Of course I'm not that surprised. While most do use a color management system (the "I know know this color of red will print this way if I do this" method). Which is great as long as you are still at the company. As soon as you leave or the file needs to be printed elsewhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Denby Posted April 22, 2004 Author Share Posted April 22, 2004 The other thing is once it leaves our office we then have no control. pmanahan This is what I'm getting at really. If you have a fantastic callibrated sysytem, it's fine whilst it's under your control. I recently saw 4 different copies of one of my visuals: My print, in a magazine, on a leaflet and on a huge presentation board. Each version was completely different. As far as I know, the leaflet and presentation board was produced by the same company. So is it worth worrying about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jeff Mottle Posted April 22, 2004 Administrators Share Posted April 22, 2004 So is it worth worrying about? I think so. Even if your work never leaves your office, you are now guranteed that you can print properly internally. If your images are always done by "feel" to get the right color, what happens when you get a new printer or a new monitor, or new staff? If your images are withing spec and are properly profiled and your equipment is calibrated, it will not matter what new hardware you bring into the workflow, you will always be guranteed to be able to produce exactly the same way. Trust me know from experience having been on both sides of the fence. The past place I used to work was done by "feel" and when the print head blew in our dye-sub printer even the new head caused headaches becuase our image had all been "tweaked" for the old print head. I'm not even talking about a new printer or new model, just a new print head. The same goes for monitors. Two identical monitors of the same age if set to the same Brightness, contrast and color temp will not look the same. You must use a special calibration tool to ensure they are within the same spec. Bottom line, I personally feel our industry needs a massive education into the benefits of color calibration and should invest the time and money into ensure they are set up properly. I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel and believe it or not you can see EXACTLY what you see on your monitors on a printout if you are srt up right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 So is it worth worrying about? I think it is. Those prints represent you, and while you cannot control how others handle your files, if you give them a good file to begin with you have the best chances of a good result. And if it ISN"T good, you can't point a finger. I have not gone to the extents that Jeff did a year or so ago (didn't buy a hardware calibrator though I really should) but I have made some efforts. Start by using the profiles that come with your monitor (actually, start by using a CRT for color-critical work), install them in the display driver control panel. Set and use a lower color temperature. It is reccommended to use 5000K, but I simply canot get used to the heavily yellow screen. So I use 6500K and it has been great. Then run Adobe's screen calibrator, then USE it as a preview in Photoshop. Mine mostly adjust brightness that was always off when I posted images to the web--I wondered why, using the PS monitor profile preview solved that. Select a default color space that makes sense--my digital camera uses sRGB which is good, but your better choices are Adobe-1998 or what I chose--ColorMatch. Do not use a color profile on your scanner--otherwise everything will be 'biased' twice, thus degraded. Don't convert images to other profiles if you can avoid it. That's pretty much it on the Photoshop side. Printing involves use of very targeted printer profiles and careful use of print driver settings, but that's another story. Many years ago I had a situation where I was doing changes to a watercolor I had scanned into Photoshop. I was able to make prints that were dead-ringers for the original--lay a test strip on the painting and you couldn't tell where it was. Perfect--right? No, the shop that was making prints pointed out just how skewed my file really was, colors all over the place. I had matched my monitor and printer to a totally messed-up Photoshop color environment. It was fine for me, just stunk for anyone else. In short, don't go crazy, but do some basic settings, it is worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmanahan Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 Send a color sample with your work when you send it out so printers have something to go by. Not perfect but many printers don't look at what they print they just print it, this gives them a target. pmanahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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