Need some advice on proofing a large magazine editorial

[michaelbiondo]

OK, This is what I have gathered so far.

Get a profile from the printer, if that is not possible then submit a RGB file and let the printer do the rest.

I think Stephen has a point and that my issue may be in visualizing the difference between viewing an emissive image on a monitor and a viewing a reflective image on paper.

I know this is basic stuff but 80% of the work I am now doing is for web view only, when I recently printed a project for a client I saw in the prints certain color tints and contrast values that were in the original file but I really did not pick up on until I looked carefully at the print.

There is something for me in the process of making and viewing a print where I am able to fine tune and refine the image.

The only problem with process is that it is time consuming and expensive, but for this particular project I think that I will have to find the money and make the time (or is it make the money and find the time?).

My preferred printing paper is Canson infinity baryta satin on an epson 9880 with a canned profile (monitor is very close to the print)

Maybe there is a lesser expensive paper I could use??

Damn, 38 years of being a photographer and I am still learning and having to re-learn stuff.

Thanks everyone!
MB

[elliot_n]

I print all of my editorial images before sending the digital files to the client. I print for the reasons you state (picking up on details which, for whatever reason, are not apparent on the monitor). Once I've made any additional corrections to the digital files, the prints go straight in the bin. The process is neither time-consuming nor particularly expensive. I print with an Epson 3880 using Epson Premium Semi Gloss paper (no need to use a more expensive 'fine art' paper). I use a custom profile, but it's very close to the Epson canned profile. I make A4 prints for single pages, and A3 prints for double page spreads. [Note - this is nothing to do with CMYK conversions or CMYK proofing. It's just part of my process for retouching RGB files.]

[digitaldog]

G7, the old TR001 etc are colorimetric definitions of output with specifics for the printer to actually achieve. IF (big if but absolutely possible) a print house conforms to such standards, all one needs is to find the associated ICC profile for conversions to CMYK and soft proofing. Just as if you owned say an Epson 3880 and wanted to print on Exhibition Fiber paper, you could download Epson's profile for that printer and paper and off you go. Yes, not all ICC profiles (even from Epson) are equal due to attributes such as the software used to build the profile and many other factors. But the point is this: you need an ICC profile that correctly defines the output for soft proofing and conversions. If you don't have such a profile, don't consider soft proofing with a profile that doesn't define the output and absolutely do not convert that data to that CMYK output color space. It's that simple.
If you can't do this, you can't cross render to proof the data. You don't have the recipe for CMYK!
So for the OP, you need to contact the printer and ask about an output profile. They may provide one. They may state their output conforms to an output standard like G7. That may or may not be true but it's a good start (and there are ways to confirm if this is true or not).
Lastly, you really want the print shop to provide contract proofs! And if possible, you want to take those contract proofs to the press run!