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Author Topic: proofing papers  (Read 1999 times)

michaelbiondo

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proofing papers
« on: November 28, 2008, 02:39:51 pm »

Does anyone have any experience with proofing papers?
When I send images to be published I normaly send files in RGB along with a match print, Results so far have ben reasonably good.
What would be the advantage of using a proofing paper (other than simulating paper stock)?
and when using this paper is it neccessery to convert to CYMK? (I am using a epson 9880)
Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated....

Osequis

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« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2008, 05:50:13 pm »

I do color proofing on Canon and HP proofing papers. I'm getting good results with CMYK and custom color profiles I made matching or surpassing matchprints.

But... I printed a few on satin papers from HP, Kodak and Canon and the results are good enough (always on CMYK), so is not necessary doing it on "proofing paper" at all, just try the media have the finish of the final stock because there's a REAL difference between glossy, satin and matte that can be noticed before going to press and will help to avoid mistakes, specially in color saturation and reds in cmyk.

I must mention we use a RIP (posterjet) to do the job and we have a different set of linearized curves for each of the presses/operators we proof, 3 in total.

Now, if you currently have a working workflow with good results you should consider not changing anything and keep it that way or ask the printer what they think about it.

I preffer receiving files in RGB since a lot of customers don't know a thing about color profiling and when they convert to CMYK they screw the color too much, doing the conversion by ourselves benefits from our calibration and photoshop curves.

Obviously this is my personal experience and there's a lot of more skilled people here who can help you.
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digitaldog

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« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2008, 07:00:19 pm »

Quote from: michaelbiondo
Does anyone have any experience with proofing papers?
When I send images to be published I normaly send files in RGB along with a match print, Results so far have ben reasonably good.
What would be the advantage of using a proofing paper (other than simulating paper stock)?
and when using this paper is it neccessery to convert to CYMK? (I am using a epson 9880)
Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated....

I'm about to test some Proofing Papers on Epson. But doing cross rendering shouldn't require/demand it. You do want ideally to convert from RGB to CMYK for the final process, then back to RGB for the proofing device (assuming its not capable of accepting CMYK data directly, something that requires a 3rd party driver for most ink jets). The key is using an Absolute Colorimetric intent which simulates paper white from CMYK process onto ink jet. Then you have to trim away all non printable areas to view properly.
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michaelbiondo

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« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2008, 08:05:56 pm »

all very interesting, Currently I am sending the match prints on the ilford gold fibre silk along with RGB files, all my monitors are calibrated and I am using a light box to view the prints. I am thinking of leaving all of this alone and letting the pre-press guys handle the conversion.
Thanks

Schewe

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« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2008, 02:50:53 am »

Quote from: michaelbiondo
I am thinking of leaving all of this alone and letting the pre-press guys handle the conversion.


Nothing wrong with that approach but, in an ideal world, you COULD get an accurate CMYK profile for the printer's press and paper and if nothing else, soft proof the CMYK while still in RGB mode to make sure that what it WILL look like when printed is what you expect. The CMYK process can only handle colors a certain way and with the K plate generation, images can look dead even when they are accurately separated. By soft proofing in CMYK and tweaking the RGB files, you'll have greater control over what your images will look like even if the prepress guys do the seps. And, you could send the printers RGB (but I strongly suggest NOT sending ProPhoto unless they pass an intelligence test) and send them a CMYK cross-rendered proof as Andrew suggested. This kinda splits the difference but still leaves the actual separations in their hands with you knowing what it should look like.
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michaelbiondo

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« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2008, 07:16:41 pm »

OK, sounds great, thanks. Let me see if I have this right...

1) In RGB softproof to CYMK using printers (or generic) swop profile
2) tweek image, then convert to CYMK using perceptual wachamacallit
3) convert back to RGB using absolute colormetric wachamacallit
1) make a print on  proofing paper (epson) with the caned profile (the pseudo proof)
4) go back to the tweeked RGB (adobe RGB) file and send that version to the printer along with pseudo proof
5) hope for the best

sounds to simple to be true....

Schewe

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« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2008, 08:46:40 pm »

Actually, it's even easier...when you soft proof, you can use the soft proof as the source in the Print dialog...so, there is no reason to actually convert to CMYK to make a cross-rendered proof. Keep the file in RGB.
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michaelbiondo

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« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2008, 09:40:14 am »

that is great Thanks
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