RE: Printing of photography
RE: Printing of photography
- Subject: RE: Printing of photography
- From: "Robert Rock" <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:40:57 -0500
- Organization: P. Chan & Edward, Inc.
I could not disagree more with Ken's suggestion that NO color target should
be used when photographing artwork. In my opinion, there absolutely SHOULD
be some known reference included in the photograph, perhaps a Macbeth
ColorChecker, or even an old Kodak Q-13 chart. Assuming that the image will
be reproduced from this digital capture later on, what would pre-press or
the printer use for a reference? You have to assume that they have never
seen the image and have no idea what it should look like. Instead of wasting
everyone's time sending proofs back and forth, it at least gives them a
visual reference that they are in the ballpark when proofing. Ken is right
that there are some issues that may affect color accuracy (metamerism,
etc...), but there still needs to be a base from which to start. The printer
or pre-press person needs to have some reference as to what the image should
look like. If there are no color bars or reference data in the image, the
first thing the printer will tell you before proofing is that 'he has no
idea what the image should look like and that all he did was output to
proof...'. After proofing, if further color tweaking and adjustments are
desired to more accurately match the original, then have at it. There most
certainly WILL be the need for tweaking of the color and/or tonal contrast,
if not for reasons that Ken mentioned, perhaps because of the inks used,
paper, type of dot pattern, etc...But again, I believe that there should be
a starting point or reference for the printer, and that should be dictated
by the use of a known color reference included in the capture. One can agree
or disagree with this, but bottom line is that 1) Many printers WILL require
it, and 2) What harm does it do to include it in the capture? You can always
give the instructions to ignore the patch if you so desire.
Bob Rock
-----Original Message-----
From: colorsync-users-bounces+rock=email@hidden
[mailto:colorsync-users-bounces+rock=email@hidden] On Behalf
Of Ken Fleisher
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 10:10 AM
To: David Ramsey; ColorSync Users Mailing List
Subject: Re: Printing of photography
On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 9:18 AM, David Ramsey
<email@hidden> wrote:
>
> 2 questions;
>
> 1) I am getting ready to photograph some works on paper for a museum
> and I was asked about including "color bars" in the photos. Because of
> the nature of the materials used in these works I have to adjust
> specific colors as we shoot (Color managed workflow and calibrated
> display). Colors are adjusted individually, for example, purples may go
towards blue reds towards magenta.
> So if I place color bars in the frame and will this not create havoc
> down the line since I am moving individual colors around? Also which
> color bars should I use if they are to be included?
I do not recommend including a color target when photographing artwork for
reproduction for the following reasons:
1. The camera's spectral sensitivities are different from a human's.
Because of this, the differences in the material on a color target and the
artwork can result in "observer" metamerism. (i.e. getting the color of the
target correct does not imply that the color of the artwork is correct.)
2. Because of observer metamerism, the color target is not a reliable
indicator of an accurate color capture of the artwork.
3. As you describe, if you make color edits to the image to make the artwork
correct, the colors on the target can no longer be used as a reference of
any sort, since those colors will necessarily be moved as well.
4. Trying to match the colorimetry of target colors all the way to the
printed page is an incorrect goal anyhow. If you do this, your reproductions
might be colorimetrically correct (if you are lucky), but will likely appear
dark and flat. Instead, you must try to match the color appearance, which
usually involves opening up the image and increasing contrast (many
perceptual rendering intents achieve this for us when printing, but not so
for image capture).
I recently spoke on this very topic at "Currentl Practices in Fine Art
Reproduction" which was a symposium at the Rochester Institute of
Technology. You can view a video of the talk at
<http://tinyurl.com/3x5rv6v>. This was a panel discussion on target-based
workflows and my part begins at 29 minutes into the video (though you may
find the entire panel interesting.).
Ken Fleisher
Color Scientist
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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