Re: Totally confused by color management

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:22:45 -0400, louise <louise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I'm running Win XP, and Photoshop 7. I have a Sony CRT and
I have the profile for the Sony Monitor. I have a Canon
digital camera.

I just purchased an HP Photosmart 8250 (vivara inks - seven
ink cartridges, etc). I am using the paper recommended for
the printer.

I am totally confused as to how to organize the different
color settings in PS.

The photos produced by the Canon have the standard embedded
srgb ie66 etc. profile.
My working space is Monitor - RGB Sony Triniton etc.

So first I am asked if I wish to use the embedded profile or
the working space. So I choose the working space because
that is the monitor image from which I'll be adjusting the
photo - is this correct?

My plan is to make a print on my HP 8250.

So I go to image/mode/assign profile. Here I am given a
choice of:
don't color manage
working RGB - Sony Trinitron etc.
or.....a large dropdown list of many different printers,
srgb settings etc. Should I choose the profile for my
HP 8250 with the paper I'll be using?

If I choose the profile for the HP printer, the picture on
the screen looks much less color accurate than it does if I
choose the RGB Sony Triniton. So this is very confusing to
me. Which should I choose and more importantly, why?

Then I adjust the levels, colors, brightness, etc. of the
image on the screen and I'm ready to print.

I have a new set of options :-)

The printer allows me to choose either
Colorsmart/srgb
Adobe RGB
Managed by application

Once again, which do I choose? Since I've told PS to use
the printer and paper, should I choose managed by application?

My monitor also has a setting for sRGB. When I used this
setting, all my prints had a very mild blue tint.

It seems that when I use Adobe RGB, the colors are vibrant
but everything is a drop too red and this also sometimes
happens with Colorsmart/sRGB.

Thanks to all who read this long post and as I'm sure is
obvious by now, I don't really understand the "art" of color
management. I've tried several times to study the help
menus in PS, but I can't really understand much more when
I'm done.

All help, clarifications, links to clarifications, greatly
accepted.

TIA

Louise


Hi there Louise. Well, first, it's not all that difficult. I
have an HP 7550 printer, so I know the software that comes with HP
printers.
The first thing you need to do is to calibrate your monitor. You
can do a rough calibration using Adobe's color calibration feature
that's built into PhotoShop, but you're better off getting a
calibration package like Pantone or Monaco. These packages come with
software and a colorimeter. A colorimeter is a sensor that attaches
to your monitor, and takes an accurate measurement of the colors as
the calibration software is running. They are easy to use and only
take a few minutes.
Once you have your monitor calibrated, you need to calibrate your
printer. They do make packages to do that, but they are expensive, so
you're better off using one of the online companies that do this.
I've used Cathy's Profiles numerous times with good success, and she
only charges $40 per profile. ( http://www.cathysprofiles.com/ )
The first thing that you need to do when printing is to turn off
all of the automatic settings in the printer's software. To do this,
when you go to print, you have a window that pops up that says Print,
and has a button that says "Properties". Click on Properties and you
will see another window that has numerous tabs at the top (Quality,
Layout, Features, etc.). Click on the "Quality" tab and you will see
a button that says, "HP Digital Photography"...click on it. You will
see numerous "auto" features like Contrast Enhancement, Digital Flash,
etc. Make sure all of these boxes are unchecked, and the Smart Focus
is turned off. Every time you try to print at "Best" quality, these
boxes will always be checked, so you need to uncheck them each time
you open PhotoShop.
When you calibrate your printer, you will need a profile for each
type of paper that you are going to use, so you might want to get a
profile for the paper you use the most first, just to see if you're
satisfied with the profile.

Talker
.