Expert: LizaL - 3/21/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I am switching from psd5.5 to CS, running on a MAC OS 10. The problem is the images look totally different in different versions. The CS is an unsaturated, washed out version of 5.5. The printed copy looks fine. I've tried Color settings to emulate ver5. Done all the calibration, etc. Helps a little. I need to have the onscreen look as close to the print as possible. Someone mentioned individual adjustments to alpha chennels, black point compensation?, curves?. (I do silk screening with up to 14 colors and break down my alpha channels to each color). Any suggestions?
Answer -
Hi Ron,

It sounds like you've covered all your bases; I would have first suggested monitor calibration, and also adjusting your color settings.

Let me ask you a couple of things:

1. These are CMYK images, right? (You're probably aware by now that CMYK images will look "washed out," as compared to RGB images. This is typical, due to the way Photoshop assigns a different percentage of the inks to each pixel.)

2. When you open an existing image, do you ever get a dialog box informing you that the color profile does not match... etc.? If so, have you tried discarding the color profile for that image? (And you'd do that in that same dialog box.)

3. Along the same lines, have you tried, in Color Settings, changing your working environment to Convert to Working CMYK? This is found in the Color Settings dialog box, in the second section (Color Management Policies, the second pop-up menu).


Adjusting levels and curves are both viable ways to gain good color results. We could converse for hours about both levels and curves, but in a nutshell:

1. The Levels dialog has three sliders under the main window.  The one on the left controls the shadows, the one in the middle the midtones, and the one on the right, the highlights. Moving the left one to the right will increase the shadows, and conversely, moving the right one to the left will increase the highlights. The midtones can move either way.

You can also find the "clipping" point of any image by using Levels.

Clipping is the shifting of pixel values to either the highest highlight value (255) or the lowest shadow value (0). Areas of a photo that are clipped are either completely white or completely black and have no image detail. And this can be good, because it rids your image of unwanted detail, such as a cast over the photograph, or washed-out color.

Here's how:
With the Levels dialog box open, click on the left slider, just as before, but this time hold down the Shift and Option keys. Drag slowly to the right. You'll see the inverse of your image in the window. But when you stop sliding, your image should appear crisper.

Ditto the highlights slider.

Take a look at this: In this little movie I drag the sliders without holding down Shift and Option. Then I "clip" the image, holding down Shift and Option (I do it twice, with the highlights slider).

http://little-works.com/all_experts/levels.mov

(This might take a bit to load; my server's really slow tonight for some reason, plus this movie's 7MB.)

You'll see me using Undo, but also know that at any time, you can restore your image by holding down the Option key -- then you'll see the option Reset under the OK button, in place of Cancel.

Also, you can edit each channel, with the Levels dialog box. Up at the top of the dialog box, you'll see a pop-up menu that lets you switch.



Some people swear it's easier to use Curves, but I don't think so; I always use Levels, but I'm sure it's a matter of personal preference.

To use Curves, open the dialog box (Image pulldown menu>Adjustments>Curves), and you'll see a linear histogram -- a diagonal line over a grid. This line represents the neutral range of highlights and shadows in your image. You can click on that line to place a point, then drag that point up to increase the highlights of the image, and down to increase the shadows.

You can also be very precise by clicking on either side of a point that you've placed, to "anchor" that point, then dragging that point to adjust the shadows or highlights. This lets you isolate parts of an image for treatment.

A quick example:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/curves.mov

Same basic rules apply here, too, as in Levels: You can Reset your image, and you can work on separate channels, as well as the composite.


This is REALLY just the extreme tip of the iceberg when it comes to Levels and Curves, I promise you! As I said, we could talk about this and experiment for literally hours. But I hope I've given you some info to check into.

Finally, I'm sure you know that what you see on ANY monitor will never, ever be true to the printed image. I've been on enough press checks to have learned this, believe me! But really, it will never, ever match completely.

You can do what you can do on the production end such as monitor calibration and Color Settings, but colors will never be as true onscreen as with a printed piece.

If screen accuracy is a real issue for you, you might invest in a Spyder device:
http://www.colorvision.com/profis/profis_view.jsp?id=101


Hope this helps! And please post back if it doesn't. Also, if you'd like to send me one of your washed-out images so I can take a look and maybe lend a hand that way, feel free to email me at lizal@little-works.com

Lisa

I've pretty much covered all the bases. Calibration etc. If I use curves or, my favorite also, Levels, doesn't that also affect the original color values? things are printing well, I just can't see, on-screen, a close similarity to the 5.5 version, which is very close to the printed (tee-shirts) version.
Thanks for the prompt reply,

Ron

Answer
Yep, you're right, Ron! Curves and Levels both affect orginal color values. But in order to see your image "true" onscreen, if you're sure there's no problem with your hardware, then the only recourse you have is working with the software, and that means you'd be adjusting your images.

So this poses a real problem, if you're sure your monitor is functioning all right, and is calibrated.

The only thing I keep coming back to are color profiles, and especially the Color Settings dialog box. I just can't think of much else that would so greatly affect your onscreen display.


A couple of things for you:

1. Check out this Color Settings dialog box I set up. I didn't bother to yammer out the details here, LOL, but instead set up kind of a legend to go along with the screen shot. Let me know if this isn't clear.

http://little-works.com/all_experts/settings.png


2. Do you ever try soft-proofing your images? You can view a "soft proof" on your screen, which is supposed to simulate what the image will look like when printed.

Here are the steps for doing that, straight from Photoshop's Help menu:

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To display a soft proof:

  1. Choose View > Proof Setup, and choose the profile of the color space that you want to simulate:
         * Custom creates a soft proof of colors using the color profile of a specific output device or of specific papers used in a desktop printer. Follow the instructions after this procedure to set up the custom proof. This option is recommended for the most accurate preview of your final printed piece.

         * Working CMYK creates a soft proof of colors using the current CMYK working space as defined in the Color Settings dialog box.

         * Working Cyan Plate, Working Magenta Plate, Working Yellow Plate, Working Black Plate, or Working CMY Plates creates a soft proof of specific CMYK ink colors using the current CMYK working space.

         * Macintosh RGB or Windows RGB creates a soft proof of colors in an image using either a standard Mac OS or Windows monitor as the proof profile space to simulate. Neither option is available for Lab or CMYK documents.

         * Monitor RGB creates a soft proof of colors in an RGB document using your current monitor color space as the proof profile space. This option is unavailable for Lab and CMYK documents.

         * Simulate Paper White previews the specific shade of white exhibited by the print medium defined by a document's profile. This option is not available for all profiles and is available only for soft-proofing, not printing.

         * Simulate Ink Black previews the actual dynamic range defined by a document's profile. This option is not available for all profiles and is available only for soft-proofing, not printing.

  2. Choose View > Proof Colors to turn the soft-proof display on and off. When soft proofing is on, a check mark appears next to the Proof Colors command.
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Lastly, do send me a copy of one of your "washed-out" images if all else fails. I'd be happy to take a look at it under my monitor conditions, and see if I get the same effect.


Hope this helps!

Lisa