Proof Color

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Posted By
GordonGraham
May 19, 2005
Views
189
Replies
3
Status
Closed
When I choose the "Proof Color" menu item for a color sampler (from the eyedropper menu within the Info palette), what exactly is it showing me?

Is it the value that the actual color is mapped to using the currently selected soft proofing profile?

If so, are these then the color values that are sent to the monitor (and mapped again by the monitor profile) when I turn soft proofing on? (I understand that they must pass through a conversion in and out of PCS along the way.)

If I select the monitor profile as the current soft proofing profile, are the "Proof Color" numbers then showing me the values that the monitor profile maps the "Actual Color" values to?

Thanks!
Gordon
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GordonGraham
Jun 5, 2005
Anybody?
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Curvemeister
Jun 6, 2005
OK – I’ll give this a shot, though there are others here who may give a better answer.

When I choose the "Proof Color" menu item for a color sampler (from the eyedropper menu within the Info palette), what exactly is it showing me?

Is it the value that the actual color is mapped to using the currently selected soft proofing profile?

Yes, and if no proof is selected the last proof settings you used are displayed.

If so, are these then the color values that are sent to the monitor (and mapped again by the monitor profile) when I turn soft proofing on? (I understand that they must pass through a conversion in and out of PCS along the way.)

Right again. There is an additional step to soft proofing involving use of the Absolute Colorimetric intent of your display profile to create the proof.

If I select the monitor profile as the current soft proofing profile, are the "Proof Color" numbers then showing me the values that the monitor profile maps the "Actual Color" values to?

Yes. These would be the actual RGB values sent to the monitor for display, with the caveat that soft proof provides options that are not used for normal display. You may control the intent of the proof, and also whether the black and/or white points are used. Photoshop’s display function always uses perceptual, and always does black point compensation and white point mapping.

Mike Russell
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GordonGraham
Jun 6, 2005
Hi Mike,

Thanks so much for the answer! I appreciate the help. I’ve used the proof colors a couple of times to help me understand how out of gamut colors were getting mapped, but I wasn’t sure that I correctly understood what they meant. Thanks for helping to clear it up.

Gordon

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