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<\/a><\/p>\nIn the previous two articles I presented the concept of a color space and what happens behind the scenes when you move the image from the camera to your computer.\u00a0 See Color Management Made Simple – Color Space<\/a> and Color Management Made Simple – From Camera to Computer<\/a>.\u00a0 In this article I\u2019ll be covering the all important aspect of getting your prints to look like what you see on your monitor; that is, from Computer to Print.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the Camera to Computer article we discussed a couple of key factors that are also at play when we take our images to the print.\u00a0 Each medium has its own unique color characteristics.\u00a0 Colors are rendered differently on paper than they are on your monitor.\u00a0 We saw in that article that colors are stored in our digital cameras as a set of three numbers that specify the amount of red, green and blue in a particular color.\u00a0 And we said that those three colors had to be altered to compensate for the color biases of a particular medium.\u00a0 The example we gave was of a photograph of a gray card displayed on a monitor that had a slight red bias.\u00a0 A color profile <\/strong>of the monitor was used to make the translation from the camera numbers (50,50,50)\u00a0 to the monitor numbers (48,50,50) in order to make the colors accurately rendered on the monitor.\u00a0 And we illustrated it this way.<\/p>\n Pretty much the same process is at work when we go from the monitor to the print.\u00a0 And more.\u00a0 So let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n I want to share with you a bit more of what\u2019s going on in your computer.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll use the graphic below to show you what I mean.\u00a0 The heart of color management is the CMM or Color Matching Module.\u00a0 This is a program that does these number translations we\u2019ve been talking about, translating a set of RGB numbers that render a particular color on one device to a different set of numbers that render the same colors on a different device.\u00a0 There are different CMMs.\u00a0 Some of them come with your computer’s operating system such as ColorSync for the Mac and Windows Color System for Windows.\u00a0 Adobe has written their own that can be used when you print from Lightroom or Photoshop or Elements.<\/p>\n Now then, let\u2019s begin at the bottom of the graphic where we have our photograph file (TIFF, PSD, JPEG).\u00a0 One of the functions of Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw or Aperture is to convert the image in our RAW file to one of these formats.\u00a0 The RAW file has no defined color space.\u00a0 It\u2019s what the camera\u2019s sensor captured. But these other formats require a color space.\u00a0 And these programs, called RAW image conversion programs, will apply the color space you choose to the converted file.\u00a0 In the example above the RAW file was converted to the proPhoto RGB color space.\u00a0 In Lightroom you can specify the color space in the Preferences dialog (Edit | Preferences) on the External Editing tab.<\/p>\n This is important because it lets the CMM know the color space you worked in.\u00a0 And proPhoto RGB is the preferred color space because it\u2019s the largest (the 96 Crayon box).\u00a0 But remember, the color space is not stored with your RAW file but only with the TIFF, PSD, etc.<\/p>\n How the CMM actually works to display the image on the monitor is pretty clever.\u00a0 It uses the photo\u2019s imbedded color space information (proPhoto RGB in this case) as the starting point. It then converts all the colors from the image file into an internal universal color space, a space that is virtually unlimited.\u00a0 This represents the true colors of the image.\u00a0 Then from this color space it converts the image\u2019s colors to the monitor\u2019s color space using the ICM profile file that was created when you calibrated your monitor.\u00a0 Pretty complicated, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you glad you didn\u2019t have to figure that out.\u00a0 But the simple fact is that the monitor faithfully displays the colors of your image.<\/p>\n At some point we\u2019re ready to print our photograph and the CMM does the exact same thing when preparing an image for the printer.\u00a0 Again, it starts with the color space of the image (proPhoto RGB), converts it to the internal universal color space and then, using a different type of profile file for printers, the ICC profile, translates the RGB numbers so the colors are rendered accurately on the print.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk a little bit about ICC profiles and why they are so important.\u00a0 I\u2019m assuming you are printing your photographs on a high quality dot matrix printer (I use an Epson 4800).\u00a0 But the same applies if you are sending your photos to a lab.\u00a0 There are two components to a photographic print \u2013 the paper and the ink.\u00a0 First the paper.\u00a0 They come in different colors and surfaces.\u00a0 We generally think of photographic papers as being white.\u00a0 But not all whites are created equal.\u00a0 Some papers contain varying amounts of whiteners that can make them really white.\u00a0 And other \u2018natural\u2019 papers will have a warm tone.\u00a0 And then there are the different surfaces \u2013 glossy, metallic, luster, matte, canvas and more.\u00a0 The color of the paper and its surface will affect the final color of your print so an ICC profile needs to take that into account.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the ink.\u00a0 First off, you only want to buy the ink created by the printer\u2019s manufacturer.\u00a0 There\u2019s a surprising amount of sophisticated engineering that goes into developing an ink.\u00a0 And the colors are consistent, stable and resist fading.\u00a0 And that\u2019s very important.\u00a0 Also you need to use the inks for your model of printer.\u00a0 The number and types of inks has become more sophisticated over the years but your printer will only work with the inks that were created specifically for it.\u00a0 All this is leading up to this statement: you need a different ICC profile for every combination of paper and ink.\u00a0 Yep, that\u2019s right \u2013 every paper and ink combination.\u00a0 There\u2019s got to be thousands of them.\u00a0 And that\u2019s also true.<\/p>\n Where do you get these ICC profiles?\u00a0 From the paper manufacturer\u2019s website is one source.\u00a0 It\u2019s definitely in their interest to provide the ICC profiles for all major printers and the inks specific to those printers.\u00a0 You can also pay a company to create custom ICC profiles for you by printing a color pattern they provide on the paper of\u00a0 your choosing and sending it in.\u00a0 They will measure each color patch the same way you did when you profiled your monitor and produce an ICC profile from the readings.\u00a0 And, if you want to do it yourself, Colormunki has the ability to do the same right in your own studio.<\/p>\n There are three things you need to remember when you print.\u00a0 One, tell your print program which ICC profile you\u2019re using.\u00a0 It will communicate that to the CMM so it knows how to translate the colors in your print file.\u00a0 Two, you need to tell the print program (Photoshop) to do the color management.\u00a0 And three, you need to tell your printer NOT to do any color management.\u00a0 Printers like to be helpful or at least think they\u2019re being helpful by \u2018enhancing\u2019<\/em> your photographs when you print them.\u00a0 But believe me, you do a much better job of enhancing them than they every could.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a picture of the Photoshop print dialog that points out where you make the first two choices.\u00a0 The third setting is in your printer\u2019s Properties dialog and will be different for every printer.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s recap all three articles.\u00a0 First, there are different color spaces which are like bigger or smaller boxes of Crayons.\u00a0 The world we see with our eyes is the largest color space of all.\u00a0 Our digital cameras see most of that.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the big 120 count box of Crayons.\u00a0 The color spaces we use when we work on our photographs are more limited with proPhoto RGB being the largest commonly used color space (96 Crayons) and sRGB being the most limited (48 Crayons).<\/p>\n Every medium or device we display our images on has it\u2019s own unique color profile which is to say it distorts the colors in its own unique way.\u00a0 To get consistent results we need to be able to correct the distortions of each medium or device and we do that with a powerful program call the CMM (Color Matching Module) and profile files.\u00a0 That way, when we print out photographs the colors we expected to see are what actually get printed.<\/p>\n But wouldn\u2019t you know it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite that simple.\u00a0 There are still more thorny issues to come that we\u2019ll take up in the next article.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a hint \u2013 gamut errors and rendering intent.\u00a0 So stay tuned.<\/p>\n Share your thoughts and experiences and leave a comment; we love to hear from you.\u00a0 And it enriches everyone\u2019s experience.\u00a0 And please feel free to share this with friends, on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc., or even on your own blog or website.<\/p>\n Join me on an upcoming workshop.\u00a0 Click here for more details.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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