On 26 Jul 2016, at 16:49, Jorge . <chocolate.camera@gmail.com> wrote:
The particular CMYK combination I mean is the one I would automatically get in the likes of Photoshop by converting the grayscale image to the target CMYK color space using ICC profiles.
Jorge If your B&W image is small on the page then you can convert it to CMYK using whatever ICC profile the magazine suggests and there won’t be a problem. As the B&W image gets bigger and more significant then a conventional CMYK ICC profile will be a problem— in fact it is very likely to be rejected by magazines if you are submitting advertising repro. The conventional ICC CMYK profile uses far too much CMY for neutrals. If grey balance poor then your B&W single page may not meet your expectations. If grey balance is just slightly less than perfect then you may see differences between the left and right pages of double page spreads. It’s too tough a test for the printer, so you should avoid risking it. There are some GCR variants of common profiles available on the web. I know that BasICColor provide them and they’d work well. Pro shops usually build their own high GCR profiles or use non-ICC systems whose primary purpose is saving money through ink limiting. It’s worth getting a microscope on your favourite magazines and taking a closer look at those black dots. There’s a lot more K than most people expect and a lot more intervention than many expect — including advertising content on some titles. Regards -- Martin Orpen Idea Digital Imaging Ltd