Soft Proofing vs. monitor settings for printing

<p>I have Lightroom 5 and an NEC MultiSync PA242W with SpectraView II. What is the best way of using the Soft Proof setting in LR and the NEC monitor settings such as the Lighting Intensity cd/m2???</p>

<p>You shouldn't be adjusting your monitor brightness once you have it calibrated.</p>

<p><Chas></p>

<p>http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml</p>

<p>http://tv.adobe.com/watch/whats-new-in-lightroom-4/soft-proofing-images/</p>

<p>I understand I can change the cd/m2 setting using the SVII software. But clicking on Soft Proofing in LR also reduces the lighting to so I can edit for my printer. How do the two settings relate to one another? Which takes priority? Do I do both?</p>

<p>the softproofing is NOT 'reducing the lighting'. In worst case, with the 'Simulate Paper/Ink' button active, things will probably appear a bit flatter and duller. This is usually fixed w/ a slight additional adjustment in saturation and contrast curve for that softproof (paper). <br>

the monitor gets calibrated to mirror the brightness value of light in your viewing (and proofing) area. AND THEN LEAVE IT ALONE.<br>

For me, I know my living room wall with lights on is about 90 cd/m2 (via i1Display). I set my proofing light (which is next to my computer) (a low-temp Solux) so that I get about the same falling on a print (via wattage and distance). That (90cd/m2) is what I set the NEC/Spectraview to (maybe a bit less to half-ass compensate for the fact it's producing light, not reflecting it) and a contrast level of about 300:1 for the lustre-y papers I tend to use.<br>

In softproofing, I have 2 images on the screen, the edited version on the left and the softproof on the right. The goal is to make changes to the one on the right so that it mostly looks like the one on the left. LR will want to make a proof copy (a virtual copy w/ the softproof changes) so let it.</p>

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<p>How do the two settings relate to one another? Which takes priority? Do I do both?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Read the article I linked Alan. It discusses how you calibrate the display FOR the soft proof.</p>

<p>1. How do you adjust the edited one on the left first? Do you just use Native monitor settings? What are the lighting and NEC settings for the left? Do you do a completely different set of edits for let's say the internet? Or do you work from the left image?</p>

<p>2.When I click on Softproofing, the program seems to assume the printer I'm using and adjusts the soft proof image to that printer. Why and when would I use "simulate Paper/Ink"? It seems redundant.</p>

<p>3. How do you show both images on the screen at the same time?</p>

<p>4. What background is best to use on the screen for both the left and proof views? </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Adjust the image till it looks good then set the soft proof calibration to match what the simulate paper and ink provide, edit the VC so it looks as close to the original as you can (it will not be 100%), print, VC matches soft proof. </p>

<p>1. just to get you 'in the ballpark', set the monitor to 5500K, 100cd/m2, 300:1 contrast, 2.2gamma<br>

if you find the image too 'warm', then recalibrate to 6000-6500. The above #'s may require some tweaking as you learn more. Yes, if I was showing the images on a screen, I'd use the non-softproofed version. Once I decide to print it, I start down the softproof workflow</p>

<p>2. the program knows about the paper profile, it may semi-randomly pick one or a default. Change the paper profile to whatever you're printing on. The 'Simulate paper' button doesn't do what you think it does. It attempts to re-map the white point of the display to the white point of the paper (as found in the profile). It's been my experience that some papers will softproof 'better' w/ that button either on or off. A bit of experimenting here.</p>

<p>3. look on the left end of the toolbar above the filmstrip. You'll see what appears to be 2 rectangles next to each other.</p>

<p>4. I usually use 50% gray so so, nothing too dark (or bright) as I believe that too dark will force your pupils open more and you'll 'see' into the shadows more than you would on paper. Again, see what works for you.</p>

<p>Standard viewing conditions are D65 (6500K), 2.2 gamma contrast, 120 cdm2 Luminance as set by your spectrophotometer software and hardware, like a i1Display Pro, creating an accurate Display ICC profile for your monitor. You should re-profile regularly to account for monitor drift.<br />Your ambient working environment should ideally be around 30 cd/m2...basically a fairly dark room.<br />Soft proofing in any Adobe Color managed software uses an ICC output profile to mimic the look of the rendering intent to a specific printer on a profiled paper/printer combination.<br />If you see what you want, then use that ICC output profile and rendering intent in the print dialog box in LR or PS.<br />Thats it, prints should match your screen unless you have large areas of out of Gamut colors.</p>

<p>those conditions might work if the user was actually *viewing* the print under them but most likely, that is not the case.</p>