Gamut, Photoshop Bleeds & Color a Test Book

I received my test book today. My main objective was to evaluate for color & contrast and to better plan for gutter & trim issues.

I use a 24” iMac calibrated by a Pantone Huey.This is a very bright display—even at lowest setting.

The ICC profile provided by Sam Edge: http://www.blurb.com/assets/colormgt_dpreview-v3-1.pdf
was helpful.

Most photos were shot in RAW with a Canon 5d. Apple’s Aperture was used to process the raw files.

Heavy “photoshoping” including some Gamut correction. Uncorrected Gamut inserts use bright green to identify. (In the printed book, “out of gamut” images actually printed very well.)

You can view the photoshop created images at:
http://thephotographerisadoctor.smugmug.com/
The password is : blurb

The yellow notations are comments made after receiving the printed book.

The final book will be a 13×11. These pages are cropped for the less expensive 8×10; therefore some the composition looks strange .

I had no complaints about Blurb. Blocked shadows are an inherent problem of book printing. My photos looker brighter on screen—checking the histogram & lightening the shadows would have helped. (Viewing the screen through squinted eyes can approximate the final print.) We’ll see when the final is published.

It is not meant to be a demo—just a way to answer a few of my questions. Maybe you’ll find it helpful, too.

Allen

After comparing the test book with the Photoshop images, I’ve found a way to produce a screen view (for my iMac 24 on lowest brightness setting) that very closely approximates the book result (better than “squinting”) :

In PS,
1) create a new blank layer [Layer>New], Soft Light mode & 44% Opacity .
2) Fill with Black [Edit>Fill], 100%(uncheck transparency)
3) Keeping this “preview filter” on top, adjust shadows, etc as needed.
4) Be SURE to DELETE this layer before exporting!!

44% may not apply to your monitor, so this is NOT a “recipe for your success”.

Good Luck…

New to Blurb & Color Profiling, or are you a Pro who just wants to see what specific colors REALLY look like in print? This Book Will Help!
(This is NOT a replacement for keeping calibrated monitors and using correct profiles… BUT it certainly does help in finding the right color to use in your project!!!)

GREAT FOR BLURB BOOK MAKERS! See how a Specific Color Value will look once printed through Blurb’s printers. Or use as a reference in picking the right background color for your project!
_______________________________________________________

RGB Color Guide | For Print & Web Design

by HG Design Studios, LLC
Heather N Grimmer

Published March 2009.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9823082-0-2

RGB Color Guide | For Print & Web Design, is a valuable studio resource for professionals and students, as well as “DIY Website Designers,” and those using RGB Automated Conversion Commercial Print Venues.*

Included inside this Book is a charted guide of RGB Color Values, a
charted guide of Web Safe Color Hex Values, Color Gradients, Image
Resolution Comparisons, and Color Isolation Cut-Out Pages.

Whether meeting with a client in order to choose the perfect “RED,” or
finding just the right color for the Web, this reference book will be your next project’s most valuable resource companion.
_______________________________________________________
(To ensure accuracy choose the same Workflow and Paper Type when
ordering this book as the book you will be creating.)

Softcover, Available in:
Regular Paper, No Custom Workflow
Regular Paper, w/ Custom Workflow
Premium Paper, w/ Custom Wrokflow

-(Check Blurb Book Title to determine book print type)

Hardcover out soon…

SEE THE BLURB BOOK HERE:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/611650

Need Help or would like to submit feedback? Email me! publishing@hgdesignstudios.com

I believe if you calibrate your monitor properly and submit images in sRGB space, Blurb does a pretty good job in printing them out. I just got my book back and the images are bright and vivid, but a shade less saturated than the originals. Afterall, we’re dealing with a 4 color printing process here. For prefessionals, you can join Blurb’s B3 service, which gives you an ICC profile and a dedicated calibrated printer. That’s what I’ll try next.

 As for adjusting the image color so that it will fit into the printer color space, most people suggest using the Photoshop level, curve or saturation tools. The problem is the adjustments apply to the entire image even though only a small part of the image is out of gamut. One possible quick workaround is to use the color space conversion tool. Assuming you have an original image in sRGB space. You can convert it to the printer profile color space; select the appropriate rendering intent (e.g. perceptual, relative, absolute) that you think looks the best. After the conversion, convert the color space back to sRGB again. Check to see if there is any areas that are out of gamut using the View -> Gamut Warning selection. If everything checks out, bring the sRGB image into SmartBook.

For a more detail write up on this, check out my blog:

http://www.inspirationpointstudio.com/IPS/Gallery/1793811A-8957-48A7-8949-5FBF569113DD.html