[Darthchaffinch]

Just been (trying!!) to understand colour management guide here - not really understanding much of the detail and am wonderring if I need to worry about it. I have a bog standard Dell LCD monitor and am looking at this in terms of prining and touching up photos in Photoshop CS4.

Thanks (again.....!)

[OrbitalPete]

Don't get bogged down in it; unless your a professional who spends a lot of time moving betwen on screen and print media you really don't need to worry. Just be aware of these things:

1. Anything dispalyed on an electronic display needs to be in RGB. it will have relatively bright greens and blues.

2. Anything for print should be converted to CMYK. When you convert an RGB image to CMYK It will look dull on screen. This is because CMYK has a very different gamut (spread of colours) to CMYK. CMYK does yellows and dark blues much better, but is a bit lacking on the bright green end of the spectrum.

But to all intents and purposes, don't worry too much

EDIT: This is a handy guide, but remember it's displaying on an RGB screen so it not a true representation of the colours available in CMYK

EDIT 2: And as far as sRGB / Adobe RGB: Adobe RGB preserves a wider range of colours at the expense of steeper gradents between them. The every day user is unlikely to notice much difference; don't get caught up in it. If you don't already know the differences between them stick with sRGB as it's the monitor standard. Adobe RGB is a bit better for conversion to CMYK if you send a lot of stuff to print.

[Darthchaffinch]

Thanks Pete, that's really useful. I'm printint out at home (A4 max) on my bog standard canon mp600 printer- so I reckon I won't see any difference. Reading up about all this has hurt my brain.

[eddiewood]

Originally Posted by Darthchaffinch

Thanks Pete, that's really useful. I'm printint out at home (A4 max) on my bog standard canon mp600 printer- so I reckon I won't see any difference. Reading up about all this has hurt my brain.

Sony dSLR has creative style set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

Windows PC is set to use Adobe RGB (1998) in the colour management tab.

Photoshop is set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

Canon MP610 is set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

If you don't use Canon ink and paper you will get a HUGE difference between what it looks like on screen and what it ends up like on cheap paper. The Canon's are very fussy about paper, it took me ages fiddling with the printer driver colour properties to get a good output on Tesco paper.

[OrbitalPete]

Originally Posted by eddiewood

Sony dSLR has creative style set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

Windows PC is set to use Adobe RGB (1998) in the colour management tab.

Photoshop is set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

Canon MP610 is set to use Adobe RGB (1998).

If you don't use Canon ink and paper you will get a HUGE difference between what it looks like on screen and what it ends up like on cheap paper. The Canon's are very fussy about paper, it took me ages fiddling with the printer driver colour properties to get a good output on Tesco paper.

The problem in all this being that chances are your monitor is only capable of displaying sRGB

[eddiewood]

Originally Posted by OrbitalPete

The problem in all this being that chances are your monitor is only capable of displaying sRGB

Doesn't matter how my monitor displays it, 99.9% of people viewing my images don't have a calibrated monitor, so as long as my monitor looks "about right" compared to the printouts, I don't bother with it.

It's how it prints on my printer that is important, not how it looks on my monitor.

[OrbitalPete]

Absolutely, but it's worth pointing out that in that system any manipulation you make when processing your photos is being done with you looking at a monitor which is not displaying the actual colours you're working with, or ultimately the colours you're printing. Even if you have your printer set up as being in an RGB colour space, it's still printing CMYK.

Basically while your software will not be changing the colour modes when dealing with files, you're working in one colour space, looking at a monitor which is displaying it in a second colour space, then you're printing it ina third colour space. So even though it may appear everything is dealing with it in one way, for the average joe you are far far better off not getting too bothered about it.

As you say; home printers are notoriously fussy little buggers. For most people I still reckon that if you account for the number of prints the average digital photographer makes, the cost of printers and ink, the short lifecycle of said printers, and the general nuisance you're better off getting the few prints you do want done professionally, where you're getting the benefit of commercial quality printers, inks, and media.

[eddiewood]

The point is that setting the same colour space gives you a fighting chance. Anyway, after many hours of experimentation it works well for me so I shall continue as I am.

[Some Bloke]

It's probably been mentioned already, make sure you calibrate your monitor as a starting point.

[Darthchaffinch]

thanks Blokey- can't really afford a spydery thingy after shelling out for camera kit (and new baby!)

[dazza74]

I print stuff quite regularly and the key thing I've found is to let photoshop handle the colours and disable the colour management at the printer end if you do this and your still not getting the output matching the screen then it's down to correct calibration of your monitor. In my experience your media and the accuracy of that profile your using will have more of a bearing on your overall output.

Converting to CMYK I'm not to sure about say you sent an image out to a printer and he owned one of the newer HDR range of printers e.g. epson 7900 with dedicated Green and Orange Inks

[Some Bloke]

Originally Posted by Darthchaffinch

thanks Blokey- can't really afford a spydery thingy after shelling out for camera kit (and new baby!)

No problem Sir.
If you've got the receipt for the baby maybe you take it back to the outlet where it came from and exchange it for a calibration device

[Darthchaffinch]

Originally Posted by some bloke

no problem sir.
If you've got the receipt for the baby maybe you take it back to the outlet where it came from and exchange it for a calibration device

lol

[dazza74]

Originally Posted by Some Bloke

No problem Sir.
If you've got the receipt for the baby maybe you take it back to the outlet where it came from and exchange it for a calibration device

I think it's stricly Sold as Seen no returns policy from the outlet you mention