Advice needed Printing and Colour

[richard_john_edwards]

<p>Just to give some background on my question.<br>

Since the age of digital photography i have not had any colour images printed, The last time i printed colour was from a 4x5 colour transparancy, All my Black and white printing i did myself. I understand colour (we spent a lot of time at Uni with colour).</p>

<p>My dilema is that i am about to get a book printed. I have done all the work on my computer, including assesing the colour. I understand that different computers render colours differently depending on the Hardware and software and calibration. SO. what will my computer produce when printed. how can i know what result i am going to get and what colour casts my apear in the translation from my maching to book. What can i do to get the best match from my PC and what i see on screen to what i will see in the book.<br>

My knowledge in this feild is fairly limited so as much help as i can get would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Cheers Richard</p>

[MathewDH]

<p>Hi Richard,</p>

<p>There are several holes in your information. 1. Is this book going to be a press printed professional book in several thousand copies? 2. Or is it one of the current style low run photobooks that you are doing? 3. have you chosen the cover materials for the production?</p>

<p>The page layouts can be designed simpler by using Photoshop. This avoids the hassle of creating the book inside their templates online where there may be a photo limit, and the obnoxious backgrounds and image placement they may actually have automated in one of their designs. You can usually download from them the templates to work with. They will have the actual paper size with guide lines showing the edge of the paper after it is cut. This is useful if you plan on any bleeds on the edges. The first and last pages will be singles. I do recommend you open up both pages that face each other when doing the layout. This way each compliments the other in design and possible impact. Text for any page can be keyed in and styled together, along with the page numbers if desired. I recommend you saving each page as a PSD in case any changes are made later. If they are done, then flatten the image layers and save the whole pages as uncompressed JPGs for submission. This way, multiple photos, your choice of background, and the text, can be submitted as a single image download.</p>

<p>Color work for both will eventually be a four color process at the printing stage. If you are doing one of the low run editions and color is critical, I do recommend going with the six color process. This adds a light cyan and light magenta color pass that can smooth out any issues with the jagged look that can occur with the four color process. The companies who do the printing will want a JPG submission BUT look to see if they want it with an RGB or SRGB color profile. SRGB tends to a warmer color look and RGB tends to a cooler look. Some companies doing the books may apply the profile they need at submission time. This is assuming you used the wrong one or did not assign one at all. Photoshop tends to assign RGB of its own free will. The only way to actually see what your image will possibly look like is to print one in CMYK on the same type of paper. However, I do feel that the printed book may well be very accurate to your own color rendering. Also submit the images at 300 dpi, not 72 dpi which is crappy web quality.</p>

<p>I have done four books at Bay Photo. I recommend them as they do not print anything in the book beyond what you submit to them. No company logo will be printed on your book, nor will a barcode be printed on the back cover. The latter is important if you are placing a photo or two on the back cover and do not want this defacement of the look you have worked to create. First orders also get a 25% discount.</p>

<p>You may also find the Metallic paper that is available for the cover will provide an interesting look to the images. You might be able to get printed samples of the selected stock so you can see what the look may be in advance of your sending in the order.</p>

<p>CHEERS...Mathew</p>

[richard_john_edwards]

<p>Mathew, thanks for your response. The book initially will be 1 copy. The images are in sRGB, my undertanding is that they will be printed CMYK. It will be done via Blurb Boksmart, they have a template to use for images. The images will be 300dpi. recomended sizes are provided depending on image size on the page. The book will have a hard cover and a leaf cover.</p>

<p>My biggest concern is the colour rendering, the saturation and overal presentation of th eprinted images. I am happy with the way they apear on screen at this point and am curious to see what may be lost in the translation if anything at all.<br>

Obviously the producers of the book wont do any work on the images in terms of colour correction or other, what i give them, they will print.</p>

<p>Cheers Richard and thanks</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>Richard, is your monitor calibrated? Can you get the ink/paper profiles from the publisher? If your workflow is color managed using those two items, you can soft-proof your prints at home to verify the color quality.<br>

If you can't get profiles, or your monitor isn't calibrated, your results are purely a crapshoot. If you don't have a solid color reference point, you will get good repeatable results only by luck.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

[MathewDH]

<p>Hi Richard,</p>

<p>If you are going with Blurb or any future printing company, check to see if their software has automatic image correction running in the background. You should inquier about this before proceeding with the printing. At the Costco kiosks and at Bay Photo, in the submission process you find a place that allows you to turn off that software. It makes a lot of alterations beyond just color, such as contrast and brightness. When I am printing images, it always gets turned off so it does not screw up the look I have worked to create.</p>

<p>CHEERS...Mathew</p>

[puce]

<p>Hello Richard,<br>

Chas is right on the money. I recently did a book with Blurb's Booksmart software and downloaded their ICC color profile to use to modify my images in Photoshop. [i had previously calibrated my monitor.] I had about 3 copies printed and was very satisfied with the result. The problem that I see for you is that you say you have already completed your book. Sounds like you will have to convert each image and re-import the corrected images into the book template. It will be a bit of work but I think that it will be well worth it in the end. Try converting some selected images and softprofiling them and compare to unconverted and converted image to look for differences - that should show the problem. <br>

With regard to on-line templates, the Booksmart software allows you to either use theirs or create your own. I did a bit of both, so there is a lot of flexibility for the user.<br>

Good luck with that book, Aina.</p>

[richard_john_edwards]

<p>Charles, Unfortunately my monitir is not calibrated, So far i have relied on how i see other images on my monitor and make a judgment call, I know this is very sloppy and I need to get it calibrated, thanks for advice.<br>

Aina, I was not aware that they have an ICC colour profile, Thanks heaps for that, i will look to download it, calibrate my monitor and see how I go.</p>

<p>The advice here has been great and i appreciate it, Thanks a lot.</p>

[richard_john_edwards]

<p>If you are interested here is a link to the book. It may give you an idea on the colour, It would be good to get feedback from you if your monitor is calibrated and how it presents.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.blurb.com/books/3289167">http://www.blurb.com/books/3289167</a></p>

<p>Regards</p>

<p>Richard</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>Sorry, the link says Page not found.<br>

Having a fully color-managed workflow is the only way to get repeatable results when printing, whether in-house or out-sourced.<br>

<Chas><br /><br /></p>

[richard_john_edwards]

I got my book in the mail today, colours are fine, perhaps a slight cyan cast in greens, but ever so slight. As expected

the type of paper reduced some contrast, but generally I am satisfied. The black and white print on the glossy cover

came out as expected and I think it looks great. Thanks for all advice given.

 

Regards Richard