Printing CMYK

[spassig]

Hello

I read https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=128802.msg1092733#msg1092733.
But it isnt all clear.

So I ask here ;-)

I read in book from J. Gulbins, U. Steinmüller: 5. Auflage, Fine Art Printing für Fotografen, S. 83.
„Die Verwendung des CMYK Profils beim eigenen Tintenstrahldruck wird auch empfohlen."
The use of the CMYK profile for your own inkjet printing is also recommended.

I use the Epson SC P800.
I use the right ICC profiles for papers.
I print in CaptureOne.

I which way must I use the CMYK setting?
Normally is Export setting  Original TIFF 16 Bit Adobe RGB (1998) Full Size with ICC Profile: Adobe RGB (1998)

Must I change only to ICC Profile: > General CMYK Profile?

Jochen (Germany)

[digitaldog]

Unless you are proofing another CMYK process, zero reason to send CMYK data to that Epson. And the native driver will “barf” (produce awful output) from CMYK; it expects RGB.

[spassig]

Thanks Andrew for quick feedback.

My setting General CMYK Profile was only an example.
It was the second in the list
If I would use CMYK is my workflow right?
(I don't carry out CMYK yet)

Jochen

[digitaldog]

Thanks Andrew for quick feedback.

My setting General CMYK Profile was only an example.
It was the second in the list
If I would use CMYK is my workflow right?
(I don't carry out CMYK yet)

Jochen

Again, there is no reason to convert to CMYK to print to an Epson and without a driver that “understands” CMYK, you really can't.

[spassig]

OK.

The use of the CMYK profile for your own inkjet printing is also recommended. write J. Gulbins, U. Steinmüller.

The authors of the book are leading me down a false trail?
But in a German forum a writer say the same with CMYK.

Jochen

[digitaldog]

What are you wishing to print for what purpose?
IF you wish to proof another CMYK device like a press, then there are workflows and reasons to do this: WITHOUT the Epson driver.
Otherwise no.

[roonsmits]

CMYK is only used in the prepress world.

Back in the 90s I worked for prepress bureaus where we had RIPs like Barco, Scitex or Fiery. These were used for outputting Postscript files to film or off-set plates (CTP) for printing presses. Special PPDs were used for generating the PS files which in their turn were sent to the RIPs

Just use RGB in your workflow and you'll be fine, forget about CMYK.

[MichaelKoerner]

The use of the CMYK profile for your own inkjet printing is also recommended. write J. Gulbins, U. Steinmüller.

What edition of FAP do you read? Mine (5th edition from 2018) does not recommend CMYK any more, just mentions it.

The other contributors have already explained the reasons for using RGB very well, just let me add some additional cents:

No matter what kind of data you send to an Epson print driver, it only understands RGB "as an input format". If you'd send a CMYK file to it (by printing ot from PS, i.e.), this CMYK data gets first converted to RGB, then into single dots of C, M, Y, K, VM, VLM, LC, LK, LLK... which finally become printed. At this point, the driver behaves like a RIP, it "rasters the image".

A RIPs (like the above mentioned EFI Fiery) does more or less the same, but without using the printer driver. It has it's own way to "talk to the machine".

Thus, to some RIPs you can send CMYK WITHOUT being converted to RGB first, as they understand this language.

Of course a RIP finally does the same as a printer driver: It "processes the raster of the image" into C, M, Y, K, VM, VLM, LC, LK, LLK...

Now, as print driver and RIP do more or less the same, what would be a benefit of using CMYK then?

The answer has to do with the profiles used for conversion. When building CMYK profiles, additional parameters can be defined, for example the way black (K) and dark colours get ripped (UCR, Under Color Removal; GCR, Grey Component Removal. In german this topic is called "Unbuntaufbau").

In the early days of inkjet printing RIPs were far more used than today, that's what I think Uwe and Jürgen refer to CMYK in their book. Besides, GCR/UCR can be useful when it comes to ink saving and proofing, as Andrew mentioned.

But nowadays, it's totally fine to forget about CMYK workflows, fortunately ;-)

PS: PM me for explanation in german.