Anyone have a workable Color Management workflow?

rubaiyat

rubaiyat

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I think on this a lot.

This question came up again for me today when I was in my favorite bookshop, reading all those expensive graphics books I have finally trained myself not to buy. :) Having no more room to shelve them.

3 of the books dealt with current print production and as usual there was no workable advice on how to color manage files to pre-press. All the usual headings and a few spotty index entries but absolutely nothing when you looked at the actual content.

Is everyone burying their heads in the sand on this?

How do graphic designers confidently go from desktop to paper?
 
A color-correct, calibrated (daily) monitor, and an accurate printer color profile (and a lot of making sure images and the like are exactly spec'ed as they need to be, which involves removing/changing any embedded profiles that could conflict).

What is the exact process for doing this? Trial and error. Wasted film and/or paper. Lots and lots of time.

If there's a better way, I surely haven't found it. ;)
 
You're asking the core issue that plagues every print designer! It's a tough one to answer but basically I use a Pantone color book as a base of operations to pick CMYK colors, because they are standard colors Printers shoot for.

Just remember PMS/Pantone colors do not equal CMYK, they are just a starting point.

In the end, it's how the press is handling your files that you need to be concerned with - a good relationship with your printer is essential for figuring out which colors look the best (closest to your impression of them) on press.

Proof, proof, and proof again if you have to to get the colors right.
 
As I thought, the good old methods.

Close relationship with printer, references, proof and test.

I keep telling Adobe and anyone else who will listen, that most of their workflow doesn't work in real life. You need to have a real tight and trusted relationship with a printer. Ideally it should be in-house, that way everyone wears the responsibility and there can be honesty and no hiding details & blame-shifting.

ElDiabloConCaca

I have difficulty with the monitor calibrating.

1. It is quite clear the lighting is uneven on my iMac 24" - which part am I calibrating?

2. There are problems with excessive brightness and generally it seems uncalibrateable.

3. I really do not have a dungeon with dim lighting and grey walls to work in.

4. I have not found a printer who trusts what I have done is accurate, and I don't blame them.

5. Printers are still slow and painful when it comes to setting up color management.
 
It's going to be very difficult to obtain a correctly calibrated monitor on the iMac 24". The LCD panel is just not a "professional" panel, and, as such, you're only going to be able to take it so far. Uneven lighting is just the tip of the iceberg -- if you're serious about color-correctness, then you'll need to obtain a professional LCD monitor.

The iMac's monitor is glossy and meant to "enhance" the image -- meaning, make it more saturated and brighter than it really is. This type of image is what most home-users demand -- it's not suitable for color professionals, though.

Color calibration is just a bag of hurt, and there's no easy way through it. You will suffer with your monitors, and you will encounter a lot of trial and error -- there's just no two ways around it.
 
You are right; there is surprisingly little info out there on this subject, especially when you think about how much is getting prepared for print every day. Here are some basics:

First off, I would recommend investing in some display calibration hardware (if not already in use). Personally, I use the X-Rite Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter. You probably would be fine to re-profile your display every 2-4 weeks; you can decide this by seeing how much it drifts over time using one of the utilities that verifies the profile's accuracy.

While working in Photoshop, you'll want to set up soft-proofing so you will alway see roughly how image will appear after it gets converted, and you can take steps to avoid trouble (mainly how Photoshop handles out-of-gamut color).

Incidentally, I am still using a high-end CRT until it dies, at which time I'll probably look at one of the expensive Eizo displays. All the LCD displays I've worked on, I was not that happy with.

Basically, I would suggest doing all your work in an RGB working space, then convert to CMYK according to the needs of the project. If going to a commercial printer, use GRACoL2006_Coated1v2.icc (or sometimes your printer may want you to use their own custom profile). For web offset publication work, use SWOP2006_Coated3v2.icc. It is probably best to keep profiles embedded.

There is really a lot to learn on all this to do it right, if you want the images to really look their best. For the past 7 years, I have worked independently, serving a group of print designers online, preparing all their photos for print. It's all I do here. Designers like that we each get to do what we specialize in doing, the quality exceeds anything in their past, and that there is room for healthy markup of my hourly rates.

Good luck!
 
I guess getting down to the practicalities:

1. Suitable computer

Are any of the most popular computers capable of being color calibrated. I think most of the backlit iMac screens can be ruled out. That leaves the latest LED models, Mac Mini and Mac Pros or MacBooks with external monitors.

2. Suitable monitors

Eizo seems to be the manufacturer of choice. I have located this handbook. From what I read you would need the ColorEdge CG303W, CG245W, and CG243W (brochures) costing from US$2000 - $3200 each plus calibrating equipment.

My concern with all LCD/LED monitors is the variability of color and viewing angles. Also whether the low quality of Apple's graphic cards are up to driving them to a suitable accuracy.

2. Suitable calibrators

Eizo has an EasyPIX just for calibrating cameras to their monitors and printing stock. Is the Xrite the only pro calibrator out there now for monitors?

3. Suitable Operating Systems

OSX has some fatal flaws in its ColorSync filters and Print Engines which use those filters. How do Windows 7, SPARC and Linux shape up?

4. Workflows

It seems to me that all the workflows are like a house of cards depending on each party doing their part correctly and trusting the others to do what they say they are doing. In my experience that does not happen in any process unless it is managed from beginning to end by the same organisation, and even there often not.

Color profiles can be completely wrong and unless actually verified along the entire chain of steps, the point of failure is hard to determine.

5. Ignorance reigns supreme

It is like the emperor's clothes. Nobody wants to be the first to say there is nothing there. I speak to so many printers who quite clearly don't have a clue, along with most graphic designers, I am still left mystified how they are skirting the problems and producing printable material. Not that there isn't lots of bad stuff coming out.
 
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