Printing and profiling

Printing and profiling

I must confess to having only a basic knowledge of the whole issue of profiling and printing but over the years I have picked up a number of tips which others may find of interest.

When you capture a digital image via your camera it will automatically select the colour space which is a term used to describe the range of colours that will be represented in the image. For most normal applications this will default to sRGB which is ideal for e mail attachments, printing via the high street or on line and for displaying images on a web page. Some cameras however allow you to select an alternative colour space Adobe RGB, which increases the range of colours that can be reproduced, but requires software processing to optimise the image.

All of my images are captured with the camera set to the Adobe RGB

Most monitors use the sRGB colour space and it is worth noting that if you set the camera to Adobe RGB the image on screen can appear a bit muted and lacklustre – this is normal.

Once the image appears on the screen the fun begins!!!

Monitor profiling

Does the screen image look right – is it too red, green or blue etc. A good trick is to photograph a colour chart, for example a paint chart you can pick up in a DIY store, and hold the chart up to the monitor. You are looking for colour accuracy not brightness or contrast and bear in mind a computer screen will always appear brighter and more intense a printed object. Another test is to check skin tone on people portraits as the human eye seems particular sensitive to skin tone. If everything looks OK - great but the chances are that it won’t, particularly if you are using an older monitor or a laptop. There are a number of options ranging from zero cost to very expensive. A good starting point is a package called Adobe Gamma which is available as a free download from Adobe but is often included automatically on many computers. It takes you through a series of visual checks and asks you to adjust your monitor settings if possible to create a monitor profile which will become the default setting. I have used Adobe Gamma for many years and it gives fairly good results; it is certainly better than doing nothing and it is free!! You can also obtain professional colour charts and one I have used in the past is called a digicolour target (see image) which does not seem to be currently available but I am sure there are plenty of others around. Again the idea is that you photograph the chart and compare the results on the screen to the printed chart supplied adjusting the monitor settings until the results are OK. The best option however is to use a device called a spectrophotometer which physically reads the colour of a series of colour patches displayed on the screen and then automatically calculates a monitor profile which is loaded automatically on computer start up. The device I use is a Colormunki – not cheap at £350 but also does printer profiling.

Printer Profiling

If you have your images printed on the high street or on line there is little you can do to ensure that the end result matches your screen other than ensure that the image is either taken or converted to the sRGB profile. The high street stores in particular will work well with most images but anything unusual in colour terms for example if you have used a filter will often get “optimised” out unless you make specific requests. One company that gets good press is www.promamimaging.com – they supply a profile for you to download and you then convert your image to this in Photoshop before sending it to them.
The other point worth making is that black and white is often not well supported on the high street and this is the case when home printing may be better.

I home print A4 prints for my website and up to A3+ prints for exhibitions and competitions and it has taken me a long time to get the print to match the screen

The basic issue is that whereas once a monitor is either calibrated or producing satisfactory results it will stay like this for some time; the printed image has to be translated by either software or the printer itself and this will vary with the ink and paper used as well as the settings on the printer so there are many variables all of which affect the result.

Stage 1 therefore is to always use the same inks – I have an Epson Printer and stick to Epson original cartridges – not cheap (even from 7dayshop.co.uk) but consistent and good lasting properties. A good alternative is Jettec but whatever you use always use the same brand otherwise you will be constantly producing scrap.

Stage 2 is to use if possible the same brand of paper in whatever style – gloss, semi gloss or matt – you like. I personally use Ilford Galerie and get consistently good results – it is often available on special offer as well. Companies like Ilford have print profiles available free of charge on the website and you can download these so that they can be selected in your printer options dialogue box. If you however use say Epson inks with Epson paper on an Epson Printer then provided you make the correct settings the results should be fairly good.

The final stage is if at all possible to profile your individual printer which is again where the spectrophotometer comes in – in my case the colormunki - this asks you to print out a test chart and then scan it with the device which will produce an individual print profile for that paper and ink set up.

It is worth remembering that no print can have the brilliance or contrast of a computer monitor or digital projector – indeed my monitor is turned down to quite a low brightness and contrast setting but with the correct set up and perseverance you can produce very high quality accurate prints at home