Re: Colour workflow and management
Re: Colour workflow and management
- Subject: Re: Colour workflow and management
- From: Henrik Holmegaard <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 07:30:37 +0200
"Malcolm Lochhead" <email@hidden> wrote:
1. To capture scans in as wide an RGB gamut as possible.
No, use a gamut no larger than is necessary. Very wide gamuts don't
behave well in 8 bit production workflows. If you want to use the
full Lab capture gamut as working space, or an RGB gamut sized for
film such as EktaSpace, then you need to work in Newcolor 7000 in 16
bit RGB or 16 bit Lab.
For the rest of us mortals, work in ECI RGB free from
http://www.eci.org which holds all the pure ink tank colors of ISO
12647 or work in Adobe RGB which cuts some of the offset primaries.
2. Store these scans/images with any adjustment layers that may be used to
retouch and change the color locally or globally as a master file.
Or just store them as finescans.
3. Then convert this file to CMYK using ICC profiles to suit the resultant
print process, or to RBG for web production if required.
Yes.
What pitfalls are we likely to encounter?
There is no application that does not have pitfallls.
What tools do we need to set up
profiles for monitors, printers and scanners?
GretagMacbeth or Heidelberg, or Heidelberg or GretagMacbeth.
How is Color management
handled downstream in the prepress process?
There's a trend now towards saying that you shouldn't assume it is at
all. And therefore that you shouldn't embed ICC profiles. This is a
US trend.
Over here there is a move towards PDF/X-3, and away from PDF/X-1. The
idea in PDF/X-3 is that we stay in ECI RGB or Lab, and put the
simulations (aka separations) profile into the job. This way we can
proof remotely, and have all the late binding advantages without
worrying about repurposing CMYK or having CMYK look different in
different processes.
Do we rely on RIPs to convert
RGB to CMYK?
Never ever do this. Even the Adobe manuals now admit that you won't
get the same result from any two RIPs.
Profile the state of the printing mechanism your RIP drives, manage
color in front of the RIP, and send the RIP device CMYK.
Watch out for EPS and PDF nested in QuarkXPress and InDesign pages.
The nested objects will map to the CRD in the printer, if they are
CIEBased.
--
Henrik Holmegaard
TechWrite, Denmark