Topic: monitor calibration and making prints (Page 1 of 1)

Hey,

I am a bit confused about my calibration use. I understand why it is done and what it does etc. I use it as my workspace profile while doing photopost production - I believe this is correct. but the question is, when I send it off to the printer do I send it with my monitor calibration, or srgb as the assigned profile? I think it is the srgb, but wanted to be sure.

thanks

bill

Calibrating your monitor brings it to a standard. Your printer's printers should also be calibrated, bringing them to that same standard. So, you don't need to send your monitor's profile with your files.

As for which color space your files should be in, you should ask your printer. Most likely, it's sRGB. (WHCC requests sRGB.)

Good luck.

great, that is pretty much what I figured (and I do use WHCC - love 'em), but I wanted to be sure I understood it.

thanks

bill

You should find everything you need here: http://whcc.com/faq.htm

I guess I am a bit confused. where do I "apply" the monitor calibration profile? is it done in the view>proof set up portion of photoshop, or is it done somewhere else on the computer? nothing seems to address this.

I understand I convert the color profile to srgb for an image once it is ready to go, and I assume once my monitor is set to the standard, then it should match up fairly decent with what I see on the screen.

do you use the printer profiles that whcc has as downloads when you print?

I don't know why I am so thick about this. but when I look at the info in photoshop or at whcc, it just seems kinda greek to me.

thanks for the patience.

bill

You don't apply your monitor profile to the image. The monitor profile just assures that your screen is showing you what you should be seeing. It's like adjusting the brightness/contrast on your TV, but using a standard setting that was established so everyone sees the image the same way.

Then you work on your image in a particular color space, typically sRGB or Adobe RGB. (Go to Edit>Color Settings. Choose U.S. Prepress Defaults [for example], which should have Adobe RGB under the RGB working space. When you open/create an image, make sure the image is also using Adobe RGB. If there's a mismatch, there will be an asterisk next to "RGB" in the image's title bar.)

When you save the image, make sure to check the option to embed the color space.

I don't do anything with any WHCC printer profiles, since I don't print at home. If I did, I wouldn't use a printer profile for their equipment anyway, I'd use a profile made for whatever printer I have.

By the way, how are you calibrating you monitor?



(Edited by Wes on 04-25-2006 19:23)

I am using the monaco optix (or something like that) for the calibration.

I understand the calibration is assigned to the monitor, but where? I have the profile file, but not sure where I apply it. there is all kinds of info on how important color management is, and why to calibrate, but they never seem to say where you then apply the profile.

then when I send it to whcc I convert to srgb (which is their preference). I realize you would not use their printer profile for printing at home as it is printer specific. but since a person uses their printers I was wondering if it made sense to apply that profile.

thanks

bill

It's explained on page 82 of your user's manual, downloadable here.

thanks again for the patience.