Forums > Digital Art and Retouching > Your Color Management Workflow

Retoucher

Paul Snyder

Posts: 89

Columbus, Ohio, US

So I asked a question last evening about everyone's preferred color spaces/profiles, etc.  and there was so much varying information I decided I wanted to make a new thread dedicated to everyone's color management process/techniques/workflow.  I only got to take one color management class in college, and it really only covered the basics, so I'm interested to see what everyone's color management workflows are as it relates strictly to retouching. 

To make this more clear, I'm asking about the color profiles you use/how you establish this with clients, what software you use and how you balance your monitor, and any other specific prepress workflow you might have wished someone taught you before you went into the industry (or what might even be trends you're seeing now).

Color management is something that really interests me but since I still haven't been able to break into industry, it's hard to learn how everything works together and how things need to be done.

Aug 19 12 07:50 pm Link

Retoucher

Zorka

Posts: 193

Belgrade, Central Serbia, Serbia

All your questions are already answered in your previous thread, but you are obviously got lost in your own translation. (No worries, no one is born thought...)

Color management relies on an industry standard color profile format developed by the International Color Consortium (ICC) and it is used to achieve color consistency between different devices. (Ideally, this means the colors on your computer display accurately represent both the colors in the digital image and the colors you'll see in your publication when it's printed.) With color management a software application saves color files with embedded ICC color profiles. The application also reads ICC profiles when it opens a color file. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and QuarkXPress all support color management to help ensure consistent color as files move between these applications and various proofing and printing devices. For color management to work effectively, all applications you use to process a color file must support color management, and ICC profiles must be available for all output devices you use. If you plan to choose colors on your computer display, the computer display must be calibrated and have an ICC profile set.

With above being said, as an obvious beginner, you shouldn't be interested in some individuals color managing but rather in color management basics* (which definitely CAN'T be explained with only few sentences!). Once you learn this, than you can start to explore it further.

* Real World Color Management (2nd Edition), Lynda.com - Color Management Essential Training

Aug 19 12 09:49 pm Link

Retoucher

Pictus

Posts: 1379

Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Some interesting links:

Practical guidelines and references for digital photographers
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/WGuidelines.pdf

Lots of good stuff at http://digitaldog.net

Everything you thought you wanted to know
about Color Gamut and RGB Working Spaces

High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/ColorGamut.mov
Low Res (YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0bxSD-Xx-Q
The benefits of wide gamut working spaces on printed output
http://digitaldog.net/files/WideGamutPrintVideo.mov

Photographic colors that exceed the very small sRGB color gamut
http://ninedegreesbelow.com/photography … olors.html

COLOR MANAGEMENT & PRINTING
Color Management Guide by Arnaud Frich
http://www.color-management-guide.com/m … ation.html
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/color- … inting.htm
Soft Proofing with Lightroom 4
http://digitaldog.net/files/LR4_softproof.mov
http://digitaldog.net/files/LR4_softproof2.mov

Using Printer Profiles with Digital Labs
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/using_ … ofiles.htm

Why are my prints too dark?
http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_ … o_dark.mp4

Lighting Your Workspace
http://www.creativepro.com/article/the- … a-comeback
http://www.color-image.com/2012/02/moni … -proofing/
https://housecraft.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/spectral_responses2.png
http://housecraft.ca/eco-friendly-light … mperature/
http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/ind … c=102190.0


DPI, PPI, printer resolution
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-for … pling.html
http://www.rags-int-inc.com/PhotoTechStuff/Epson2200/

Beyond Adobe RGB
http://www.naturephotographers.net/arti … 203-1.html

Monitor Luminance Sensitivity
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/Cali … ivity.html
http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php

Monitor sharpness test
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/sharpness.php

Display Calibration Hardware Capabilities
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/Cali … dware.html

Spyder4 vs i1Display Pro
http://www.gamutprints.com/2012/04/i1di … ck-review/
Spyder5 vs i1Display Pro
http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/ind … c=107619.0

The Right Resolution - inkjet
http://www.digitalphotopro.com/techniqu … ution.html
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum … #msg446993
"here's a simpler guideline for Epson printers; if your image's native size is less than 360PPI, set the resolution in LR to 360 for the output resolution, if the image's native size is above 360 but less than 720PPI, set the resolution to 720PPI in LR.
For Canon and HP the numbers are 300/600PPI..."

Aug 20 12 12:48 pm Link