This is a continuation of my outline of colour management for photography.    In the first thread I covered colour spaces, in this one I will cover how to use them, particularly in Adobe Photoshop.  

So you have your camera colour space set if it has this option. Most cameras default to sRGB and there are some good reasons to leave it on that even if you can change it.

If you are capturing RAW files then the colour space is set at the RAW processing stage. If you are looking for high quality prints aRGB is a good choice, process your images into 16bit files.  For commercial uses aRGB is the standard and will be the required colour space by the end user.  Non colour managed environments invariably use sRGB  for the: www , lab processing etc. an sRGB copy will be needed.  Files can be converted from aRGB to sRGB but not vice versa,  use the: convert to profile command in PS.

 

Working Space

The next thing to set is the working space of your image editing software. In Photoshop this is done by going to: Edit > Color Settings. There are a series of drop down boxes to choose from, here is an example for aRGB if you are producing sRGB images for the web, lab, etc then change the top box to sRGB.

Illustration 1

Images viewed in Photoshop will now look different to ones viewed on the web and in other Windows applications so you will need to proof your images to see how they will look in other applications.

 

Proofing your images

To proof your images go to: Proof Settings > Custom and set up a proof setting for sRGB by using the top drop down box.

Illustration 2

 After you have named this it will appear at the bottom of the list of Proof Settings

If you are printing your images and you have ICC profiles for the papers you are using then set up those while you are there. Use the top drop down box to choose the profile for each paper used and name the setting.   Leave the setting Relative Colorimetric and check Black Point Compensation.

Having done this you can now see the images as they will appear in various media by going to:   View>Proof Setting and checking the one you want from the list then clicking View > Proof Colours when you have an image open.    You can also view any out of gamut colours and correct this during your processing.

If you want to add any ICC profiles for paper used these files should be put in the folder : Windows/system32/Spool/Drivers/Color after you have done this they will appear in the drop down lists for you to choose from.   I don’t know the Mac operating system perhaps one of our Mac users can enlighten us on where to put profiles on that system.

 

Printing

Having gone to the trouble of having set up Photoshop to manage your colours then when printing it is important to choose the option: Let Photoshop Determine Colors in the print dialogue box that will appear when you select: Print with Preview.

 

 

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html