designing for print

C
Posted By
chris22
Aug 21, 2004
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259
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3
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Closed
After designing something for print on my Sony vaio laptop i viewed it on my PC monitor and it looks darker and not as good. So i calibrated my PC monitor and it makes only around 5% – 10% difference. Now how do i know what the print is going to look like? Viewing the same image in PS7 as CMYK i can see a big difference between the two computers so which one will it look like when printed? Also for those of you who design stuff for print do you contact the printers you are going to use and get specific color profile settings you use before starting the job? Thanks.

Im new to designing stuff for print so any general tips would be great.

almos forgot, is there anything particular i should do if what im designing will be used for both web and print? thanks again.
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H
Ho
Aug 21, 2004
Generally, CRTs make better proofing devices than laptop screens (or any other LCD monitor that you didn’t pay $3000 for). Further, Adobe Gamma was not meant to calibrate LCDs.

Assuming you have created a passable monitor profile, your next step is to contact the printer BEFORE you start converting your RGB images. (ALWAYS save an original RGB of every image. The reasons for doing so are too numerous to list, just trust me on this one.) IF (and it’s a big if) your printer has an intelligently implemented color managed workflow, you can get profiles for his proofing/output devices which will make your soft proofing and CMYK conversion go much smoother. In any event, ALWAYS ASK about the conversion parameters, especially if you are doing color critical work and/or spending a lot of money. Even if neither of those last two items applies to this job, or the next, pretend that they do. Get in the practice early on of avoiding surprises on press and you’ll save yourself a lot of time, grief, and money.

Oh, and if your printer is not up to speed on color management, that doesn’t mean that he does not produce good work, but he will have to work closely with you in order for *you* to produce good work. If you ask about CMYK conversion parameters (dot gain, UCR, GCR, max/min dots, max ink, etc.) and you get met with a blank stare or vague answers ("whatever, just bring me something and I’ll make it work"), one word: flee.
GH
Gary_Hummell
Aug 21, 2004
If you are designing a color project on an uncalibrated system and then view it on another system whether calibrated or uncalibrated, there is virtually no chance you will get any agreement. I suggest:

<http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps7-colour/ps7_1.htm>

Working with any printer will be difficult until you have an accurately calibrated system and have a reasonable understanding of color management.

Gary
G
Gener
Aug 21, 2004
Generally, CRTs make better proofing devices than laptop screens (or >any other LCD monitor that you didn’t pay $3000 for). Further, Adobe >Gamma was not meant to calibrate LCDs.

I just got a Toshiba laptop, and installed PS-CS. Adobe gamma has no effect on the screen.

Would removing Adobe Gamma from the Windows XP startup be a good idea?

Gene

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