Probably every professional photographer and those who make money by photographing at weddings, selling photos to stocks, etc., thought about the combination of "camera - computer - printer". I think that not all of them know, and bind the created profile to the monitor... Among other things, for correct color rendering, the profile is necessary for both the printer and the programs for working with graphics. For example, the most popular photo editor Adobe Photoshop.
Color reproduction or correct display of colors on the monitor and when printed on the printer, has always remained a stumbling block of digital photography and preparing a layout for printing. The reason for this is the individual color rendering parameters on each device in the image prepress cycle.
At the time of shooting one of the frames, the digital matrix of your camera registers the color itself and the intensity of its glow on each photosensitive element (point), forming an image, and its result is recorded in a file that we can observe on a computer monitor and other playback devices.
The color of the points of the resulting image is described by codes that lie within a certain color space. A color space (color model) is a coordinate system in which each combination of numbers has a specific hue).
The color models are as follows:
RGB CMYK XYZ HSV (HSB) HSL RYB LAB PMS (Panton) LMS Munsell NCS RAL ProPhoto YUV YCbCr YPbPr YDbDr YIQ
Color models or color management systems differ in gamut. Graduates of Moscow State University of Printing Arts will probably immediately remember Mr. Andreev and his lectures on prepress processes :).
Most cameras used for professional photography provide the photographer with the choice of color space for saving photographs. It is worth considering that when shooting in RAW format, the color space is not selected, since from this format you can generate an image file in any color model.
When you open digital image files in all sorts of programs or print them, color profiles continually convert these images from one color space to another to display colors correctly.
If you have problems printing (incorrect color rendition relative to the monitor) on a home printer, then do not grab the setting of the printer under the monitor. Start profiling the bundle
you need to start with the monitor and only then think about setting up the printer.
How to achieve correct color reproduction:
- First load the correct profile for the monitor, ideally created manually with a calibrator.
- Make sure the monitor is calibrated. Then find or manually create the correct printer profile for the exact consumable you are printing (paper type, ink).
P.S. When changing the type of ink or paper, a new profile must be used !!!
Most common color spaces sRGB and Adobe RGB... Most commonly used in digital cameras sRGB, it is also used for converting images and subsequent publication on the Internet, because most browsers work with it correctly.
True, this color space has a slight sRGB drawback - a bias towards the red zone, which causes a reddish tint in the photo due to the high sensitivity to the white balance setting. In turn, the Adobe RGB space has approximately the same balance of red and green, which reduces the sensitivity to white balance errors. Note that Adobe RGB performs well, for example, in photographs of autumn landscapes, when, along with warm colors, it is necessary to display many shades of green.
WideGamutRGB and ProPhotoRGB color spaces are necessary for special cases: to perform accurate color correction and maintain maximum hue. For example, professional photographers, as a monitor or printer that supports these color profiles is rare.
The camera creates image files containing information about the coordinates of pixels in a specific digital space, and the computer, defining a coordinate system - a color space, reads
these numerical values \u200b\u200band reproduces the image.
Common problems for inexperienced photographers
- The lack of identity between the camera and the monitor: the image on the camera display looks colorful and saturated, and on the computer monitor fades.
- Lack of identity between 2 monitors or a monitor and a photo printer: the colors of a photo processed in Photoshop look correct on the monitor on which the processing was performed, and when viewing a photo on another monitor or a printout on a photo printer, color distortions become noticeable.
Founded in 1993 by Adobe, Agfa, Apple, Kodak, Microsoft, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems and Taligent International Consortium for Color (International Color Consortium, the abbreviated name is indicated by the abbreviation ICC) with the aim of developing a universal color management system without reference to a computer platform. Their fruitful collaboration has resulted in a standard against which any color device can be assessed. Thus appeared color profiles and the concept arose profiling devices for working with color (monitors, printers).
Probably, many have noticed that color profile file extensions denoted as .icc and .icm.
What is a monitor (printer) profile and what is it for
Color profile is a file containing a description of the specific characteristics of the equipment and the optimal values \u200b\u200bof the settings for its correct operation with color. For example, a printer profile might contain information about the amount of ink required to pass through nozzles. This information has a beneficial effect when reproducing a specific shade on a specific type of paper after receiving the finished (processed) image in Photoshop (photo prepress).
Monitor profiles take into account its real capabilities (color gamut, type of backlight) for optimal display of the image on the screen, taking into account the fact that the original image could have been created by a camera with a profile with a larger color gamut than the monitor can physically display with its matrix.
Profiles are a connecting link (adapter) that allows devices to work smoothly and smoothly with color, and the user can achieve stable and predictable color rendering when transferring images from a camera to a computer, and from a computer to paper and other types of media.
Factory Monitor Profiles
Everyone noticed that the new monitor comes with a CD with drivers and utilities for setting. Actually, the driver itself is not required for the monitor to work, but the profile for the monitor, which is hidden under them, is a useful thing (not always :)), since the manufacturer supplies it to optimize color reproduction.
By running the installer for your monitor software, you will install the .icc or .icm files in the following folder: C: \\ Windows \\ System32 \\ spool \\ drives \\ color.
Unfortunately, the standard profiles of many monitors leave much to be desired. The reason for this is the standardization of the profile for the entire line, without taking into account the fact that each of its copies has individual characteristics of color rendering. This is especially true for inexpensive models, where the quality of the matrix and the uniformity of the backlight are far from ideal.
Manually creating a monitor profile
Now you know that a monitor profile is not limited to information about its technical characteristics and features, but also contains a configuration file that can fundamentally change the color balance
by changing the signal coming to the monitor from the video card.
Attention! Follow this link for a table of calibrated color profiles for different monitor models and recommendations for hardware settings.
Printer Profiling | Installing a profile on a printer
With that how to install a profile on a monitor we figured it out, and now we may need
printer profiling... Especially if the print quality after installing the profile on the monitor began to lame.
Factory Priiter Profiles
Of course, all printers have a factory profile, which, as usual, is recorded on a disc with the bundled software or can be downloaded from the manufacturer's official website. But it is not a fact that such a profile will provide the correct color rendition when printing photos, even observing the use of original consumables (one or several types of branded paper and ink) recommended by the manufacturer during operation. The main reason for the possible incorrect color rendering when using the factory profile is that there is no consideration of the individual characteristics of the printer. Probably, it will be enough for many users, but only in the absence of alternatives and strict quality requirements.
Custom Printer Profiles
Most will complain that the original supplies are quite expensive, not to mention that they are simply not suitable for professional photographers with a creative approach to their work. But when using third-party paper and inks, you can experience significant color deviations, which will be to blame for the inappropriate color profile. Any professional printer knows that slight changes in paper density and ink viscosity affect the result, so with a photo printer, we will get a photo with the correct color rendition by changing the print configuration. Third-party custom profiles cannot be used on the printer, as an ink-to-paper error is inevitable (various settings). The way out of this situation is to create an individual profile for your paper and ink. If you get serious about the issue, then you will noticeably correct the color rendition.
2 ways to create a profile for a printer
I must say right away that we will create our own profile for the printer at home without using special equipment.
1 way. Using the Color DarkRoom plugin for Photoshop.
This method consists of printing a test scale one by one. The user visually changes the setting of curves and RGB channels until the display of the test target is as close as possible to its display on a calibrated monitor.
Attention! If the monitor is not calibrated, there is no point in setting up the printer.
Method 2. Create a profile with a scanner for home use.
The essence of the process: you need to print a profile card (test target) and scan (without color processing). Next, load the file obtained after scanning into the Pantone Colorvision Profilerplus plug-in in Photoshop, which will generate a new profile for the printer in semi-automatic mode, based on the difference in color rendering of the reference image of the test target in the original scanned image file.
The disadvantages of this method are the possible color deviations of the scanner. You can "finish" the results using the aforementioned Color DarkRoom plugin. Even despite the difficulties, these methods are an excellent option for profiling printer... Of course, the color accuracy of a printing press is impossible to achieve, but gain control over color and predictable results when printing photos.
Professional printer profiling
To achieve maximum color accuracy on a printer, profiling must be done using an expensive instrument - spectrophotometer.This device is much more accurate than an office or home scanner. With the help of it, you can more accurately take readings from printed targets, conveniently, and build a profile with minimal errors. Of course, buying a spectrophotometer for home use is impractical, since the service of specialized companies dealing with professional profiling of printers... It is possible that you use the spectrophotometer of your friend or acquaintance, or temporarily borrow a device at work.
So, to get a professional profile for your printer, you need to print test targets according to the requirements published on the website of the profiling company and send them in an envelope at the post office (or courier). Make sure from reviews or user advice that the company provides high quality services.
As a result, you will get the most accurate profile for your printer, but remember that each profile is suitable for only one type of paper and ink, that is, when changing consumables, you need to create new profiles.
The method is expensive, so think in advance, maybe you can limit yourself to independent profiling the printer.
Datacolor's SpyderPrint hardware and software suite allows you to quickly and accurately at home generate profile for printer for certain ink and paper.
Installing a profile to a printer in Windows 7 is similar to linking a profile to a monitor (see the instruction "How to install a profile on a monitor"). The only difference is that in the device selection window, instead of a monitor, you need to select a printer.
Working with color profiles in Photoshop
Calibrating your monitor, profiling your printer ... And the color optimization doesn't end there. You ask: "What else?" The fact is that many professional graphics programs have a standalone color management system. These systems were needed when operating systems did not yet fully support ICC profiles. The developers of photo editors and graphics programs initially focused on the independent internal settings of each individual program, since full support for iCC profiles at the OS level appeared starting with the version of Windows 7.
It should be borne in mind that the image observed on the monitor or on the print is not the original picture, but only an interpretation created by the profile from the original graphic file. In other words, it is an attempt to fit a wide-gamut color space into a small bottle of color limitations for a particular device: monitor or printer. Thus, the real original reference image, with all the information about colors and shades, is the one that exists digitally in the Photoshop window with a given color profile.
It is important to have the ability to preserve the quality of the image at the initial stage, without first losing all the information about it with a narrower profile, and open it with the correct initial settings of the working space of the photo editor program. Otherwise, all efforts to calibrate the monitor and profile the printer will not have much impact on the end result, since it will still not be possible to gain control over the color.
When creating a new file in Photoshop, you should immediately set a color profile for working with the image. This will not affect the display of the picture on the monitor, but will set the "real" color frames for the original image.
In the "File" menu, select the "New" command and in the dialog box open the list of expert settings by clicking the arrow next to the "Advanced" item.
Pay attention to the appeared selection list of the working color profile, item "Color Profile".
At this point, you should select a color profile in which the original image will be processed. It is from this "source" that the color management system will convert the picture into the color profile of the monitor for display on the screen and into the color profile of the printer when printing, so it is important not to make a mistake with its choice so as not to lose quality.
The best choice would be to rely on the following rule: the source color space in which the source image files are received must be the same as the working color space.
For example, if the Adobe RGB color space was set in a digital camera during photography (many cameras allow you to choose a color space), then it is better to use the Adobe RGB profile (1998) as the working space of the Photoshop photo editor.
The sRGB IEC-61966-2.1 space is suitable for files without an embedded profile, that is, if you are working with images obtained using an unknown digital camera or scanner model. This color space is ideal for web design, but not very well suited for photo editing and professional printing, as it tends to lose tints of cyan. Profile
Adobe RGB (1998), on the other hand, is more suitable for prepress photography, it is accepted as the standard for editing RGB images intended for conversion to CMYK (images are usually converted to this space when printed on most printing machines).
If you plan to print photos on your home inkjet printer in the future, you can choose the “with a margin” quality profile - ProPhoto RGB as the initial working space in Photoshop. This type of RGB space has a wide range of colors, well suited for maintaining gamut
images in RAW format when they were initially converted to RGB, but if the original image was taken in JPEG with a standard Adobe RGB profile, then it is better to choose Adobe RGB as the working space)
