Topic awaiting preservation: iMac G5 & PS7 & "giclée"

Sorry about the length of this but I think the background is necessary.

I'm about to help a friend set up his new system which is: (pretty nice)

Machine Name: iMac G5
Machine Model: PowerMac8,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 2 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz

He has PS 7 which he really doesn't know and that's what I'll mainly be helping him out with and on the basics and a few advanced features I won't have a problem. The problem I will have is a bit more technical...and deals with monitor and printer calibration the PS work space and "giclée." Defined here... if you're not familiar... http://161.58.72.119/fineart/editions.asp (The artwork there is pretty nice too.)

Anyway my friend is an artist specializing in photo-realism. He uses mostly coloured charcoal and then gets the finished pieces (some rather large 2'x3' & bigger) printed using the "giclée" method.

Well he has now decided to jump feet first into the digital world. As one might expect with a photo-realism artist he is obsessivley meticulous, completely driven and there's no doubt in my mind that he will master his tablet and the 'tools' of PS.

I just want to get him off to a reasonably good start ... starting with the variouos calibrations.
As far as monitor and printer calibration goes I found this http://www.macworld.com/2005/07/secrets/augustdigitalphoto/index.php which I'll be able to handle and as soon as he finds out about a 'Colorimeter' he'll likely get one of those I'm sure.

But now when it comes to the PS 'workspace' , mode (cymk I asume) resolution and all that 'behind the scene stuff' I'm at a bit of a loss. Embedding?

How do we work with the "giclée" printer for example. Do we go to him and ask for a 'print' of a colour bar? Do we ask the 'printer' for a ColorSync profile of his monitor? What questions do we ask the 'printer' to ensure compatibility, as close as possible?

When it comes to my friends printer is there a specific type of paper he can use for test purposes or is that a complete waste of time?

Clearly the questions could go on forever and I really don't expect lengthy answers but 'direction' to resources that would help me get him going in the right direction, with that 'behind the scenes stuff... would certainly be greatly appreciated. I've surfed around but have not been able to find a lot. But that's probably because I don't really know what I should be looking for. =)

Again... sorry for the length and thanks for what comes back.

Hey.
First - make sure PS 7 runs native under OS X. I can't remember if it does or not. If not, your friend will want to upgrade to CS or CS2, as I can't see the point of buying a G5 and running Photoshop in Classic.

The Colorvision monitor calibrator you reference in that link has gotten good reviews. I think that's a solid choice. If I read your post right, your friend will be using an outside vendor for the final output, right? (As opposed to making the final prints himself.) If that's the case, that vendor should be consulted early in the relationship. If they specialize in fine art output they should be able to provide profiles that would at least be a starting point. I myself wouldn't ask for a color bar from which to make my own profile. There are a great many variables - type of ink and substrate used being the most obvious variables. Your friend should have a consultation with them to narrow down his preferences for paper. The vendor should then be able to supply him with a printer profile, but that will probably need some tweaking.

"Do we ask the 'printer' for a ColorSync profile of his monitor? " - No - you ask for a colorsync profile of his printer, based on the ink set and substrate you plan to print on. His monitor profile is specific to his monitor and won't be of any help. You friend should calibrate his own monitor (with something like the Spyder2), but then either tag or actually convert the file being sent to the vendor with the vendor's output profile. That's an important step: I personally would save a copy of the file(s) being sent to the vendor with the vendor's output profile. Keep a "master" file that isn't specific to that vendor in case... well, in case your friend wants to do something else with it. If you make your art in a wide gamut color space (AdobeRGB for example) ANY printer profile will need to compress the color range into a smaller gamut. Best to establish a master file/vendor-specific file work flow.

"mode (cymk I asume)" - dangerous to assume. Get the output vendor involved at EVERY step. If they do this with artists they should have a customer service rep to meet with, or at least printed guidelines. In any event, your friend probably won't want to *create* the art in CMYK. If necessary, convert to CMYK at the end, because good CMYK conversions are nearly always specific to an output device.

Make sure your friend understands that profiles are powerful but they aren't magic. They will make things "pretty good" pretty consistently. They might get you 90% of the way there 85% of the time, but artists aren't about "pretty close" are they? There will undoubtedly be several proofing rounds before your friend signs off on an edition, and you should make certain to be clear on what the proofs cost. Also make sure your friend understands that it is nearly impossible for output on paper to duplicate the monitor image.

I gather that your friend has an ink jet printer he will want to use as he develops an image. I don't have first hand experience, but I have been told that the profiles for newer printers are quite good these days. Assuming you have a monitor profile, a printer profile for your vendor and a printer profile for your studio printer, ColorSync can theoretically be told to make the studio printer mimic the vendor's printer. This is getting pretty esoteric but I gather it's done all the time so there should be information out there.

Bottom line: get a feel for the vendor you are considering using for output. Do they treat you well? Do you get the sense that they work with (and thus understand and appreciate) the needs and problems of "real", serious artists? If so, that vendor becomes a very valuable consultant, and you and your friend should tap their expertise in every way you can. You are probably going to be paying them a goodly sum of money - you should get more from them than just spatters of colored pigment on paper.

Wow! What can I say Steve other than a huge 'Thank you.'

As I was posting I was thinking to myself I bet Steve would know something about all this but I wonder if he even lurks around here these days or have the time to reply even if he does. Pooof... like a good Halloween ghost... =)

I was less than clear (a familiar state) but my friend has had several giclée's printed however a few came back with not the 'desired' colour. Not an abomination but as you say 'artists aren't about 'pretty close' are they?

With the info you've provided I'll certainly be able to get him going in the right direction and then some. =)

Again.. huge 'Thanks' and it's nice to know you're still hangin' around. =)

"it's nice to know you're still hangin' around" - you bet. But the magic combination of

time to write
+
a question I feel competent to answer

doesn't happen that often anymore.

I've been following the "where is everyone" thread and found it too depressing to add my "me too".
Sigh.
Anyway - good luck to your friend. I've been in a few artist's studios and seen numerous stages of development of an image and I just want to reinforce that profiles only get you part of the way there. They are important, but art is largely nuance and, so far as I know, there is no ICC profile for the artist's inner vision.

Oh - I forgot to say: one of the primary bits of info your friend should get from any output vendor is a resolution recommendation.

Two pretty high profile output shops you might want to investigate are
Code Editions: http://coneeditions.com/
and
Nash Editions: http://www.nasheditions.com/

I'm not suggesting that you would want to use either of these two, but their sites might contain tidbits that would be helpful. Jon Cone and Graham Nash were both pioneers in this field (starting off with very expensive Iris printers which were originally used for prepress proofing), and continue to be sort of the standard bearers.

More 'big' Thanks Steve.

I didn't get into the whole calibration/profile side of things for quite some time (not that I know all that much about it now) but even the basics made a considerable difference and a few tweaks here and there and it was hard 'not' to see substantial improvements. So making my friend aware of all this... pretty much from the beginning will, I 'm certain, reduce the old 'What the hell's going on here' factor. At least that's my story and... I'm sticking to it. =)

Thanks again.