OS X Yosemite color management (Page 2): My Nikon D7100 Color Space menu option only gives me two choices: sRGB or Adobe RGB. Is aRGB a Canon designation perhaps?

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

Davethehiker wrote:

I can only tell what I do because the print shop told me to do it this way.

My camera is set to aRGB. I save files two ways:
1) TIFF and aRGB for things that will be printed.
2) I use PhotoShop to covert the above files to sRGB and JPG for uploading to the Internet.

It's been working for me.

My Nikon D7100 Color Space menu option only gives me two choices: sRGB or Adobe RGB. Is aRGB a Canon designation perhaps?

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

Lundberg02 wrote:

You should use either the profile that is listed as your display type, for example iMac or if you have a Dell monitor its profile will have been installed when you set it up; or a profile created for your monitor by a calibration device or by one of the eyeball calibrators like SuperCal (this is plenty good enough for an sRGB monitor). All those other profiles are used for comparison purposes like soft proofing. They have nothing to do with a normal screen to print workflow.

My color management menu lists 4 iMac profiles: iMac, iMac Photo Pro, iMac Photo Pro 1, iMac Photo Pro 2, and iMac Photo Pro 3, as well as about a dozen others, including a half dozen for Nikon, a few for Adobe, etc.
I'm not trying to get colors to "look right" on my monitor - I'm looking to get them to match my Canon Pixma printer output colors. Or, should I be doing the reverse - looking for a printer profile that will match my camera/monitor colors? I have to confess, this whole color matching business makes my head ache.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

jerrypoller wrote:

My Nikon D7100 Color Space menu option only gives me two choices: sRGB or Adobe RGB. Is aRGB a Canon designation perhaps?

aRGB is an abbreviation for Adobe RGB.

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

Davethehiker wrote:

aRGB is an abbreviation for Adobe RGB.

Thank you - my embarrassment will diminish with time - but I won't forget the lesson.
:thumbup:

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

jerrypoller wrote:

Thank you - my embarrassment will diminish with time - but I won't forget the lesson.
:thumbup:

LOL :-P

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

jerrypoller wrote:

I have to confess, this whole color matching business makes my head ache.

As well it should. It's a remarkably complex topic!

I spent many, many hours studying this topic. When I was using a PC I used a "Spyder" color calibration tool. In those days I was printing my own prints, buying paper with printer profiles for my printer. I was doing okay.

A few years ago I switched to Apple (MacBook Pro). I found a local high end print shop. I now give them them TIFF files in Adobe RGB format and have been pleased with the results. I'm sure there are more rigorous techniques I could be using, but this works for me.

My wife is an art teacher. She tells me she took a three credit course on just color. This color stuff ain't easy.

mrd Loc: Eastern NC

I set my color space to Adobe RGB and printer (Epson R3000) to Adobe RGB, Prints match what I see on the monitor,(Mac).

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

mrd wrote:

I set my color space to Adobe RGB and printer (Epson R3000) to Adobe RGB, Prints match what I see on the monitor,(Mac).

This may be another stupid question, but since I'm on a roll, how would I set the color space on my Canon Pixma 970 printer? I can set my camera color space, and my monitor color space, but I can't find a program or screen with a printer color space/profile selection.

:-(

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

jerrypoller wrote:

This may be another stupid question, but since I'm on a roll, how would I set the color space on my Canon Pixma 970 printer? I can set my camera color space, and my monitor color space, but I can't find a program or screen with a printer color space/profile selection.

:-(

Like I said, I no longer do it this way. I simply send my stuff to a local printer and let him worry about all this stuff. However, if you want to print it yourself, check this link out:

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/profiles/inkjet-printer-color-icc-profiles-red-river-paper.html

I had great success doing this way years ago. These people make a large variety of papers and let you download profiles for many printers. Good luck.

jerrypoller Loc: Huntington, NY

Davethehiker wrote:

Like I said, I no longer do it this way. I simply send my stuff to a local printer and let him worry about all this stuff. However, if you want to print it yourself, check this link out:

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/profiles/inkjet-printer-color-icc-profiles-red-river-paper.html

I had great success doing this way years ago. These people make a large variety of papers and let you download profiles for many printers. Good luck.

Thanks!

:)

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

To get consistant output you have to have a color managed workflow. Calibrating your monitor is step 1 of 3 steps. People always stop there and thats why their prints can be inconsistant. DO NOT use a profile in your MAC, calibrate the monitor for yourself and use that profile. Once calibrated, set a reminder to do it by-weekly.

Step 2 is soft-proofing. You have to soft-proof your images using the paper / printer combination you plan on printing them on weather you print them, or if you send them out. If you send them out, get that info from the printing company, many have these profiles on their website for download. Each paper has different capabilities for color, so does each printer, hence soft-proofing. Soft-proofing will allow you to bring colors back into gamut that the paper/printer combination cannot reproduce.

Step 3 is outputting to the profile the printer needs. If printing yourself deciding which intent is better;Relative or Perceptual. Then you must prevent the printer from handling color since you have already done that by this point.

Of course you can simply check the box that allows the printer to handle everything. Just don't be surprised when you get terrible results.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Capture48 wrote:

To get consistant output you have to have a color ... (show quote)

This is where I get the majority of my stuff printed:
http://84signshop.com/
I'm lucky in that they located just two miles from my house and I'm on a first name basis with them.

They are a Mac house with Mac computers all over the place. I should drop by and them how they calibrate their monitors and do mine the same way. If my Mac is calibrated the same way theirs is, one would think it should all work out.

I love this place! The only downside is that I have found is that they print everything with a low gloss finish. I can not get anything printed as high gloss. I was told the the "ink" they use is low gloss in nature. I don't understand what that means.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Davethehiker wrote:

This is where I get the majority of my stuff print... (show quote)

Makes no difference how they calibrate theirs. You calibrate your monitor so what you see on the screen is represented as best the monitor is capable. You do not use the same profile as them you have to calibrate for yourself.

If you mean to find out what tools they use, I would not bother. A commercial shop probably uses a MUCH more expensive calibration unit that you need. XRite for instance has the colormunki, only good for monitors $170. use the Pantone Colormunki if you need CMYK (Printer) calibration as well as monitor about $370.

Commercial calibration units can run in the thousands of dollars, but you don't need that for an iMac monitor.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Capture48 wrote:

If you mean to find out what tools they use, I would not bother. A commercial shop probably uses a MUCH more expensive calibration unit that you need. XRite for instance has the colormunki, only good for monitors $170. use the Pantone Colormunki if you need CMYK (Printer) calibration as well as monitor about $370.

Commercial calibration units can run in the thousands of dollars, but you don't need that for an iMac monitor.

Yes, I meant to ask then how they calibrate their Monitors. I have an old Spyder screen calibration tool but have not used it it for a decade or on my Mac.

Actually, I'm already pleased with the colors they give me on my prints. I don't know why I'm concerned about it.