[Lunatique]

I'm about to send out the digital file for a piece that got accepted into Spectrum 13, but I'm tearing my hair out trying to do an accurate RGB to CMYK conversion. I can't for the life of me get the CMYK version to look the same as the original RGB version. I basically used Photoshop CS for the conversion, then usec various image editing tools to get the CMYK version as close to the RGB version as possible. Any ideas? (It's not an option to let them do it--they ask the artists do their own conversions.)

Edit: Nevermind. I went ahead and did all sorts of crazy layering, editing, tweaking, even retouching with a color layer..etc. It actually looks better than the original now.

[Tzan]

So after you do the CMYK mode conversion in PS it looks different in PS?

Maybe its because I'm still using PS 6.0, but it looks the same to me and prints fine.

If I have the CMYK image saved as a tif (for the printer) and open it with a default windows image viewer its messed up, too blueish. But when opened in PS it looks fine.

[B0b]

windows image viewer doesn't handle CMYK too well..

windows image viewer also doesn't accept profiles set in PS..

what you have to remember is that you can't get the same bright colours you see on screen with CMYK (1milllion � 20% of printable colour vs 16.7million on screen) colour you think is bright on the screen can display quite mute when printed.. its amazing how many people are disapointed the first time they make a print..

when i was starting out - my Mac was sat next to the Offset Lytho Printer - i used to chat quite abit with the Printer while a job was going through, i learnt alot - i also shot bromide onto film, made up plates etc.. it helped me alot when learning 4 Colour Process and the use of Pantone and spot varnish etc

TIFF and EPS is so 90's

[Lunatique]

Can anyone tell me if what I did was right? I basically took my RGB version and converted it to CMYK in Photoshop. I then tweaked the CMYK version to look as close to the RGB version as possible, including extensive usage of layers, erasing certain parts of layers, adding a color layer..etc--all to get it as perfect as possible. Now the CMYK version looks even better than the RGB version (due to the extensive reworking). Am I good to go, or did I do something futile and wasted my time?

[Loki]

Are they requesting CMYK's? Otherwise I'd totally leave it up to the publisher to do the conversion since the look of printed images depend on so many factors: the print colors, type of paper, type of printing, etc. etc.
So even if you make it look like your RGB, the end result could be something completely different. On the other hand it's been a sweet while since I've been doing print stuff


Good luck!
_________________
http://baustaedter.com/

[Lunatique]

Well, I got a reply from the publisher, and this is the answer:

"There are many steps between the printer and us.
Just make your file look the way you think it should.
We will take care of the rest. If you wish you can include a print for us to
compare against the proof."

[B0b]

it usually takes a saturation increase of 15-20 when converting from calibrated RGB to CMYK to fix any colour problems with offset lytho print (with all the print work i've done here in the UK anyway..)

[Don Jusko]

I'm an artist that designed a real color wheel from painting on location for 30 years. As it ends up, my color wheel also matches how the color elements in crystal also get darker.

Today I'm a giclee print man printing my own images.
Here is my documentation of the RGB and CMYK color differences on the computer and in print.

http://www.realcolorwheel.com/rcwplotter.htm

Here is my colorwheel and explanation of why it works.
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/colorwheel.htm

[/img]
_________________
Real Color Wheel for artists and photographers.
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/colorwheel.htm

[zzenn]

I can only speak for myself....

Whenever we do RGB to CMYK conversion, we simply convert in photoshop, then adjust if necessary. Use layers, curves, whatever you want. Just make sure the final image is one flat image.

The most IMPORTANT thing is that your display is calibrated. If it isn't, then no amount of color wizardry in photoshop will help you.

The same goes for converting to sRGB, in case you want to print photos at your local kinko, walgreens or whatever. The conversion will only look like it does on your screen, if your monitor is calibrated.

As long as it is calibrated, what you see is what you get. Of course you are doing the smart thing in converting to CMYK yourself, as SOMETIMES people use "illegal" colors, colors which simply cannot be reproduced by mixing cyan, magenta, yellow and black (or any other amount of dyes).
That can result in a really ugly picture, coming back to you, if the service provider simply converted to cmyk and didn't manually adjust for you.

edit: lol. I just saw this was posted in April. Anyway, how did it turn out?