Re: Colour management and photographers - another perspective.
Re: Colour management and photographers - another perspective.
- Subject: Re: Colour management and photographers - another perspective.
- From: Bob Marchant <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:41:54 +0100
On 24 Apr 2008, at 21:31, Niemann, Andy RBCM:EX wrote:
<SNIP>
Which brings me to the opinions expressed in another thread about
an ad
agency that used old tried and true methods to get their prints out
the
door with short time frames, rather than rejig their workflow to
follow
proper color management protocols.
IMHO , many of the methods used by agencies have been tried and
tested , but as to how true they are is another question entirely.
Without wishing to name any particular proofing product by name ,
one of the staple agency proofs still in use here in the UK as a
'golden standard' is way out of line with modern printing standards.
It's only relatively recently that there has been a move to ISO
standards (hurrah) , but there is still confusion in certain sectors
of the industry that should know better as to not just how CM
works , but how it can produce huge efficiencies in time and cost .
For the past months I've been talking to a print house who are
pitching for a contract to produce a monthly magazine for
photographers. They don't want to get involved in CMYK conversions
and want everything press ready. The first question I asked was what
was the CMYK target , or did they have an ICC profile they could
supply or recommend for file supply. After several days I got to
speak to their first CM expert . He told me that they had their in
house proofing system set up specifically for their press by a well
known supplier , and that they were experts at colour retouching ,
working for a number high level clients.
However , they couldn't tell me what the CMYK spec was , and
somebody had to get back to me. The person that got back to me told
it was SWOP coated. When I asked if this was what they proofed to , I
was told no , this was their default set up in Photoshop. I was also
told that it didn't really matter what CMYK space I supplied in as
apparently this was a matter of personal taste. So asked if it was
possible to speak to somebody else in the company who may know a
little more about their workflow. The next individual said that he
could provide me with an ICC profile of their proofer. I asked him to
clarify if this was a CMYK separation profile o ran inkjet profile .
He assured me that it was the CMYK destination profile. Two weeks
later I got a proprietary document that could only be used with his
RIP software. After pointing out that this was not an ICC profile ,
he sent me a .csf file . Yesterday I finally got sent an ICC
profile ....it's a renamed Adobe ISO coated profile with 350% TAC .
As to how this relates to their web press and their in house
'specially set up' proofing system , I'll let you know.
But I can be pretty sure that this company is charging a load of
clients for 'colour correction' for faults that they have caused by
their inept stab at colour management.And I would also bet that a
fair number of digital photographers have been in turn blamed for by
these clients because of the printers advice.
For this reason alone , it's essential for all photographers shooting
digitally to get a firm grasp of CM , and having a go at profiling is
a great way to start to understand the process from the inside out .
demonstrably more reliable and predictable and actually really do the
job they claim to do before new processes can take over.
Can't answer for all the manufacturers , but there is some good stuff
out there that does what it says on the box.
It's hard to
invest lots of time, pushing back deadlines thinking you will regain
that time with the newer and better workflow, only to have to spend
weekends away from your kids (or whatever the rest of life is for you)
in order to catch up again to where you were before.
Understanding the process will not only provide a much more efficient
workflow , but will also open up other revenue streams. So , more
time , more disposable income. Looks good to me ( kids and boat to
support <BG>)
Regards,
Bob Marchant.
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