Preparing a file to be printed at a local printer

[sactowriter]

Hi,
I would like to take a couple of my image files to a local printer to be printed on quality paper so I can give them to some friends. From what I have been able to gleam from the Light Vortex site, I will need to create a  profile which uses Adobe colors and resample my images to a size for printing. That is the some total of my rudimentary knowledge on this subject--it's not much. The resampling I can probably figure out, but creating the profile has me stumped. Can anyone point me in the right direction? The printer at this printer is an HP large scale printer.

Thanks,

Rob

[RickS]

Ideally, you'll already be working in a device independent colour space, e.g. sRGB, AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB.  See the default RGB profile in the ColorManagementSetup dialog under the Edit menu.  I normally use AdobeRGB because it matches the gamut of my monitor and gives a reasonable gamut for printing as well.  You'll also want to check the global options at the bottom of the dialog to make sure that colour management is enabled and that you are embedding colour profiles in RGB images.  If you're already set up like this then your files will contain a suitable colour profile for printing.

If your default RGB profile is not a device independent colour space (by default it often seems to be set to the profile for your monitor) then you may be able to save the day by using the process ICCProfileTransformation to convert the colour profile of youe images to a device independent space like AdobeRGB.

Resampling is easy.  For best results you may also need to tweak the brightness and contrast of the image and also do some additional sharpening.  There are whole books devoted just to printing colour images...  fortunately, it's not too hard to get OK results.  It's tougher if you're a perfectionist

Cheers,
Rick.

[sactowriter]

Rick,
Thanks for your response. My profile is called sRGB IEC61966-2.1  I took the tiff file prepared under this profile to the printer today (without resampling) and it just printed garbage. I tried to use ICCProfileTransformation but the only profile listed to convert it to is the default listed above. I don’t see where I can access the RGBAdobe profile in either color management or the ICC process.

Rob

[RickS]

Rob,

sRGB is a perfectly good colour space to use apart from having a small gamut.  I'd say the problem was more likely the use of TIFF features that weren't supported.  I'd stick with a sample format of 8-bit or 16-bit unsigned integer, no compression, and embedded ICC profile for best compatibility.

I don't think it is your problem, but you need to click on the "convert to the specified profile" button in ICCProfileTransformation if you want to specify a new profile for the image.

Cheers,
Rick.

[pscammp]

Rob

sRGB IEC61966-2.1  is the common ICC profile used for images posted to the internet but wont give you good results if you send it to a printer,
generally printers will use sRGB or one of the wider gamut's like AdobeRGB if they have the capabilities to do so. sRGB appears to be the most
common from a quick search for printers here in the UK although I have no doubt there will be lots that do the higher quality gamut's.

AdobeRGB ICC profiles are available for download from the Adobe site if you do a Google search, once installed, they will be available in PI's
colour management to pick from.

If you are going this 'Printing' route then it is a must to get a monitor colour calibrator to get you monitors colours, brightness and contrast set up correctly.
I got a 'Colormunki Display' for my monitor. The monitor rendition very closely matches the test print I got back from the printers so I was well happy. Cheap
monitors are probably going to have problems calibrating correctly due to them not being capable of displaying enough colour variations, I had this problem
so I have invested in an ASUS 24 inch ProArt monitor which supports nearly 100% (if not 100%) of sRGB, and, it does gaming very impressively too.

When colour calibrating your monitor, it will end up shockingly dim as most people are so used to having their screens overly bright without realising it, so much
so that I got the ColorMunki to make my screen overly bright at 140 cd/m2 whereas the recommended setting is more like 100 - 120 cd/m2. When I compare my
test image to the screen (image being viewed inside PI) it is clear that the screen rendition is a little brighter due to me forcing the extra brightness so I'm going
to have to go back to the beginning and calibrate my monitor going along with recommended settings and I'm sure I'll be smack on.

It doesn't take long for your eyes to adjust to a monitor which is calibrated correctly and what you see on the screen in PI will be almost exactly what you get back
from the your printers.

Very Satisfying   

Paul

[sactowriter]

Thanks guys, for your responses and for the great ideas. I’ve learned a lot from what you said, and thanks to your words, I was able to get some really beautiful pictures printed today.

Rob