Colour Management for photographers made easy

Summary of contents (620 pages - 52 chapters)

N.B X-Rite equipment such as calibrators etc was recently rebranded as Calibrite, however the products remain the same.

1 - Colour Management Introduction

• Overview

• Saving money

• Saving time

• Colour management and consistency

• Summary

2 - Managing With Colour Blindness

• Statistics

• Age effects

• Tritanopia

• Deuteranopia

• Protanopia

• Cone monochromacy

• Achromatopsia

• Red X-Chrome contact lenses

• Preventative steps

• Testing your colour vision online

• Munsell FM100

• Eizo Color Universal Design

• Simulating colour blindness in Photoshop

• Colour blindness in art

• Summary

3 - The First Steps Towards Colour Excellence

• Introduction

• Lighting

• Lenses

• Camera calibration

• Zooms vs Primes

• Lens hoods

4 - Exposure

• Dynamic range

• LCD histograms

• Exposing to the right

• Handheld meters

• Sekonic L-308S

• Sekonic L-758D

• Sekonic L-478 LiteMaster Pro

• 18% Grey card

• Testing the limits

5 - Raw vs Jpeg

• The limitations of Jpeg

• Why you should shoot Raw

• Future proofing your images

• DNG vs Proprietary Raw

6 - Setting the White Balance

• Neutral vs Warm

• Colour temperature scale

• Colour temperature Raw file adjustments

• Daylight colour temperature

• Understanding different colour temperature scenarios

• Auto vs Custom White Balance

• White Balance presets

• The importance of accurate White Balance when shooting Jpeg

• The advantages of shooting a custom White Balance

• The importance of correct exposure for accurate White Balance

• The value of using a high quality grey card

• The ExpoDisc 2.0

7 - Colour Meters

• Why a colour meter is helpful

• Modern vs Old colour meters

• Sekonic C-700R

• Different spectrum curves in lighting types

• Colour meters for landscapes

• Using colour meters for precise control and understanding of the scene

8 - X-Rite ColorChecker Passport

• White Balance target

• Correcting the White Balance of Raw files in post production with a grey card

• The importance of an accurate White Balance when shooting Jpeg

• The Classic target

• Custom vs Generic camera profiles

• Matching colours with different camera types

• Creating camera profiles for different scenarios

• The Creative Enhancement target

• Practical uses of the Creative Enhancement target

9 - Summary Of First Steps

• Retouching anecdote

• Lost skills

• The camera is not important

• Keep it simple

10 - Apple Vs Windows For Colour Management

• Some history

• A modern comparison

11 - Setting Up The Working Environment

• How our environment affects our colour perception

• Munsell N8

• Ambient considerations

• The desktop area

• Room lighting

• The computer desktop background

• Monitor hoods

• Proof lighting

12 - Choosing The Right Monitor

• Monitor uniformity test

• Verifying the display gamut against your image

• Effective life expectancy of a new display

• The best manufacturers

• Different display technologies (IPS, TN Film, MVA and PVA)

• Minimum sizes and resolution requirements

• Contrast ratios

• Matte vs Glossy displays

• Understanding bit depth on displays

• Standard Vs Wide Gamut displays

• NEC MultiSync P232W

• NEC SpectraView Reference 242

• SpectraView II calibration software

• BenQ SW2700PT

• Laptop monitors

13 - Dual Monitors

• Size considerations

• Colour variation

• Video card considerations

14 - Monitor Maintenance

• How proper maintenance can affect the life expectancy of your display

• The effects of heat

• Controlling humidity

• Dust is your enemy

• Hard objects damaging the screen

• Avoiding shocks and vibration

• Electromagnetic interference

• Excessive usage and the screensavers

• Establishing a stable power supply

• Cleaning the monitor

15 - Colour Models

• RGB

• CMYK

• Lab

16 - Colour Spaces

• Reasons for applying a colour space

• Identifying a colour space

• Raw files and exporting to a colour space

• sRGB

• Why sRGB became so popular

• The limitations of sRGB

• Situations where sRGB is the best option

• Adobe RGB 1998

• The benefits of Adobe RGB

• When you should avoid Adobe RGB

• Coverage of Adobe RGB with a professional wide gamut display

• ColorMatch RGB

• Why ColorMatch RGB was created

• Modern use of ColorMatch RGB

• ISO TC130 committee colour space recommendation

• Pro Photo RGB

• The benefits of Pro Photo RGB

• The problems with Pro Photo RGB

• 8-bit vs 16-bit files in Pro Photo RGB

• Practical considerations with Pro Photo RGB

• A practical comparison in print between sRGB, Adobe RGB and Pro Photo RGB

17 - Converting Colour Spaces

• Reasons for converting a colour space

• Choosing a Rendering Intent when converting a colour space

• Previewing changes when converting a colour space

• Assigning a colour profile

18 - Calibration & Profiling

• Calibration & profiling to achieve accurate colour all over the world

• The difference between calibration and profiling

• ICC profiles

19 - Camera Calibration

• Basic camera calibration

• Controlling colours with Jpegs

• Humphrey Bogart would have chosen Raw

• Generic camera profiles

• Restoring correct relative colour values with a custom camera profile

• Consistent colour between different cameras

• The 3 step process of custom camera calibration

• Creating camera profiles for different light sources

• Additional points to consider with custom camera calibration

• Photographing the ColorChecker target

• Camera profiling using Adobe DNG profile editor

• Camera profiling using X-Rite’s ColorChecker Passport software

• Basic rules for creating excellent camera profiles

• Further refinements using the creative enhancement targets

20 - Monitor Calibration & Profiling

• The importance of hardware calibration for your display

• An explanation of the benefits from display calibration

• Selecting the active monitor profile in OS X and Windows

• Differences between a display and a printed image

• The perception of colour accuracy

• A few pearls of wisdom for best results

• How often should you calibrate your display

• Humidity with older calibrators

• Avoiding calibration software conflicts

• The correct settings

• The display White Point

• The correct gamma setting

• Luminance settings

• ICC version

• Contrast

21 - The Calibration Process

• Points to check before you start

• Attaching the calibrator to the display

• Regulating the calibrator

• Basic vs Advanced calibration modes

• ADC and DDC automated adjustments

• Advanced options

• Reviewing the results

• Saving the display profile

22 - Monitor Calibration Test

• Checking your monitor for defects

• Identifying banding issues

• A quick fix for image file banding in tonal transitions

• Checking for colour bias and variation across the display

• A practical summary

23 - Display Calibration For Video

• PAL

• NTSC

• SECAM

• REC 709

• Calibrating the display for video using i1Profiler

24 - Tablet And Mobile Device Calibration

• Introducing ColorTRUE

• ColorTRUE availability

• Connecting the calibrator to your tablet or smartphone

• Calibrators: ColorMunki Smile, ColorMunki Display, i1Display Pro, i1Photo Pro 2

• The calibration process

• Viewing images with calibration enabled

• Setting the White Point for the tablet or smartphone display

• Setting ambient light compensation

• Soft proofing CMYK on a mobile device

25 - Printer Profiling

• A basic explanation of printer profiling

• Typical lifespan of a printer profile

• The three types of printer profile

• Matching profiles to print conditions

• Checking your printer before making a printer profile

• Downloadable printer test sample

• The perils of double profiling in Windows

• Judging a good printer profile

• Troubleshooting printer profiles

• Viewing conditions to assess printer profiles

• Printer profiles supplied by the manufacturer

• Custom profiles through 3rd party suppliers

• Preparing test prints for remote profiling

26 - Making Your Own Custom Printer Profiles

• It’s no longer complicated creating your own printer profiles

• Allowing time for the test chart to dry properly before profiling

• Using the ColorMunki Photo wizard to create a printer profile

• Advanced profiling options on the i1Publish Pro 2

• Profile naming

27 - Scanner Calibration & Profiling

• Self-calibrating scanners

• Typical colour bias in films

• The first step in scanner profiling

• Using the ColorChecker Digital SG with i1Profiler

• Verifying the scanner profile in Photoshop

• Scanner profiling service

• The problem of scanner profiling with colour negatives

• VueScan Professional

• Coloraid IT8 calibration targets

• Fine tuning your scanner profile

• Verifying the scanner profile using iprof profiler

• Establishing the limits of your scanner

28 - Projector Calibration

• The reason why projector calibration is essential

• The projector calibration process

• Selecting the correct White Point for scanner calibration

• Setting the profile

29 - Recommended Calibration Devices

• What sort of calibrator do I need?

• DataColor Spyder4Elite Vs X-Rite i1Display Pro

• i1Display Pro

• ColorMunki Photo

• i1Display Pro vs ColorMunki Photo for display calibration

• ColorChecker mini

• Summary of printer profiling on ColorMunki Photo

• i1Publish Pro 2

30 - Display Calibration Software

• How display calibration software works

• Eizo ColorNavigator & SpectraView II

• Troubleshooting tip

• basICColor Display

31 - Printing Introduction & Paper Types

• Printing overview

• Paper types at photo labs - Fuji Crystal Archive

• Hahnemühle, Innova, Moab, PermaJet, Canson, Tetenal, St Cuthberts Mill and Harman

• Matte vs Glossy

• Choosing the right paper

• Downloadable printer test image

32 - Printing With Photo Labs

• Common complaints with photo labs

• When it makes sense asking the labs to correct your colour

• Main advantages & disadvantages of photo labs for printing

• Preparing images for printing through photo labs

• Choosing the correct colour space for photo labs

• Saving files in the correct format

• A bit more technical… soft proofing with photo lab paper profiles

• The photo labs you should avoid

• Inkjet printing through a photo lab

• Testing different paper types

• The practical case for using photo labs

33 - Printing With Inkjet Printers

• The emergence of inkjet printing in the digital age

• Dye vs Pigment inks

• Expected life time of inkjet prints

• Drying time for inkjet prints

• OEM vs 3rd party inks

• The four golden tips for saving money and stress

• Continuous ink systems

• The dangers of mixing ink types

• A big change in inkjet costs is imminent

• Refillable ink cartridges

34 - Rendering Intents When Printing

• The purpose of Rendering Intents

• Soft proofing the effects of Rendering Intents

• Relative Colorimetric

• Perceptual

• Choosing the right Rendering Intent

35 - Soft Proofing Images For Print

• What is soft proofing?

• Suitable displays for soft proofing images

• The limitations of soft proofing

• The correct soft proof settings

• Soft proofing as a method to save on material costs

• Selective layer adjustments for advanced users

• Obtaining printer profiles for soft proofing

36 - Page Setup

• An explanation of what Page Setup does

• Working around layout limitations

37 - The Printer Driver

• When do we need the printer driver?

• What happens when we use the printer driver

• Deciding where to handle the colour management

• Applying the printer profile

• Disabling all colour options inside the printer driver

• Selecting the media type

• The quality setting

• Being patient for the print

38 - Print Troubleshooting

• Most common problems

• Stop printing until you find the problem

• Checking that your display is properly calibrated

• Viewing your print under suitable lighting

• Avoiding snap decisions when viewing print colours

• Checking for clogged printer nozzles

• Checking ink levels

• The printer profile

• Quality limitations with certain materials

• Checking with photo labs

• Looking again at the original image

39 - Recommended Printers

• A4, A3 and large format printers

• Epson 1500W using Claria dye inks

• Canon Pixma iX6550 using Chromalife100+ dye inks

• Epson Stylus Pro 4880 using Ultrachrome K3 pigment inks

• Contract colour proofs in prepress

40 - Preparing Files For Prepress

• What is prepress?

• Practical realities and handing over control

• Display calibration settings for prepress

• Soft proofing on your display

• BenQ PG2401PT

• Remote Director cloud based soft proofing

• The number rule for working with clients and printers

• Digital vs Litho

• Work in RGB

• The advantages of an RGB workflow

• The problem colours for CMYK conversion

• Choosing the right profile

• The advantage of soft proofing with the correct paper profile

• ISO Coated V2 and Fogra 39

• International convergence in CMYK profiling

• US Web Coated (SWOP) v2

• Soft proofing with the correct profile while editing

• Custom proofing options

• Knowing the paper limitations for maximum highlights

• Hard proofing

• The dangers of printing without an hard proof

• Signing off a contract proof

• Equipment and materials used for hard proofing

• Insist on a Fogra control bar

• Forget hard proofing with your desktop printer

• RGB or CMYK

• Tiff or Jpeg and appropriate quality settings

• Correct file naming

• Supplying images on CD or DVD

• Including copyright information

• Image sharpening

• Ensuring the files are clear of defects

• Supplying images in the correct format and colour space

• File dimensions

• Resolution settings for different print media from newspaper to stochastic

• PPI vs DPI

• Online CMYK conversion

• Summary of key points

41 - Pantone Matching System

• Who uses Pantone?

• How the Pantone Matching System works

• Pantone Plus Colour Guides

• The myPantone App for Android and iOS

• Using Pantone to correct images for specific colours

• Pantone swatches inside Photoshop

• Using Pantone to help match tricky colours and black & white in CMYK

42 - Preparing Images For The Web

• Accepting the unmanaged reality of the internet

• Choosing the right colour space

• The best web browser for colour management

• Fixing colour management inside Firefox

• The right image format for web usage

• Resolution for web images

• Retina resolution web images

• Save for Web in Photoshop

• JPEG-OPTIMIZER

• JPEGmini

• Jpeg quality settings

43 - Colour Management For Video

• First steps

• Setting the White Balance & exposure

• Shooting a clip with a ColorChecker or Grey scale card

• Advice on working with more than one camera

• Keep your sensor clean…

• Post production tweaks to shadow, mid-tones and highlights

44 - Colour Grading In Video

• A brief explanation of colour grading

• DaVinci Resolve

• The media area

• Using an X-Rite ColorChecker Passport to create a custom profile

• Creating a colour profile when the light is different in another location

• Creative enhancements using Color Wheels

45 - Photo Editing Software

• Introduction

• Capture One Pro

• Lightroom

• Photoshop

• Photoshop Elements

• Pixelmator

46 - Capture One Pro

• Capture One Pro introduction

• A direct comparison with Lightroom at default settings

• The Capture One Pro interface

• Raw file colour space and exporting to smaller colour spaces

• Capture One Pro ICC profiling

• The exposure tab

• Exposure warning preferences

• High Dynamic Range settings

• Levels & Curves

• Color tab White Balance presets

• Skin tone adjustments

• Colour temperature adjustment and tint control

• The Color Balance wheel adjustment for technical and creative enhancement

• Non destructive black & white adjustments inside Capture One Pro

• Using the Color Picker tool inside the Color Editor for narrow spectrum adjustments

• Soft proofing images inside Capture One Pro

• Rendering Intents inside preferences

• Processing images

• Process Recipe options when exporting images

• Printing in Capture One Pro using a Mac

• Instructing Capture One Pro to handle the colour management in OS X

• Soft proofing the image prior to print

• Choosing the Rendering Intent while previewing the image

• ColorSync inside the the OS X printer driver

• Choosing the correct print settings inside the printer driver

• Printing in Windows

• Page Setup in Windows

• Letting Capture One Pro handle the colour management when printing in Windows

• The Print Settings menu

• Printing Preferences

• Disabling colour management inside Windows Printing Preferences using Epson or Canon

47 - Adobe Lightroom

• Lightroom Introduction

• Lightroom management of Raw files

• Colour spaces in Lightroom

• Exploiting the full data of Raw files in Lightroom

• Lightroom external editing preferences

• Presets in the Develop module

• Activating solo mode in the Develop module

• Lens calibration

• Camera calibration

• Lightroom process versions

• Basic editing

• Altering the White Balance

• Adjusting the exposure

• The clarity slider

• Vibrance & Saturation

• Tone curve adjustments

• Hue, Saturation & Luminance controls

• Advanced edits using the adjustment brush

• Exporting digital files

• Printing in Lightroom overview

• Soft proofing in the Develop module

• Histogram changes when a printer profile is applied

• Soft proofing using a virtual proof copy

• Soft proofing to view Rendering Intent differences

• The Print module

• Print to Jpeg settings for colour space, resolution, sharpening, size and Rendering Intent

• Print to Printer

• File ppi resolution for inkjet printing

• Print sharpening & media type

• 16-bit print output

• Avoiding key errors applying the printer profile

• Printing with a Mac

• Page Setup in Lightroom

• Print Settings…

• Ensuring ColorSync is enabled inside the printer driver

• Choosing the correct quality settings and media type

• Printing in Windows

• From Page Setup to Properties

• Turning off colour management inside the Windows printer driver on Canon and Epson

• Going to print

• Lightroom summary

48 - Adobe Photoshop

• Photoshop Introduction

• Colour management differences between CS6 and Photoshop CC

• Photoshop Color Settings

• Color Settings in Photoshop CC and CS6 compared

• Accessing color settings

• Choosing a preset in color settings

• Saving custom presets

• Pro Photo RGB in color settings

• Color management policies with color settings

• Mismatched profiles

• Use embedded profile

• Convert to working space

• Discard embedded profile

• Setting appropriate colour management policies

• Ways inside Photoshop to discover the colour space of an image

• Images with missing profiles

• Conversion options in color settings

• Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) engine

• Adobe Camera Raw preferences

• Sidecar .xmp files

• Sharpening preview images only

• Default image settings

• The cache size in Adobe Camera Raw

• DNG preferences with Adobe Camera Raw

• Jpeg and Tiff handling in Adobe Camera Raw preferences

• Processing Raw files in Adobe Camera Raw

• Similarities with Lightroom

• Lens calibration

• Camera calibration and process version

• Adobe Standard vs Custom camera calibration

• Basic editing in ACR

• White Balance adjustments

• Exposure

• The clarity slider

• Vibrance & saturation

• Tone curve adjustments

• Hue, Saturation and Luminance in ACR

• Advanced edits in ACR

• Exporting digital files in ACR

• Saving for web in Photoshop

• The file format options when saving for web

• The quality setting when saving for web

• Blur and Matte

• Progressive Jpeg option

• Optimized file size savings and compatibility

• Embed color profile

• Preview options for assessing your optimised web image

• Metadata when saving for web

• Resizing images for web usage

• File resolution when saving for web

• Assessing the previewed image

• Printing in Photoshop

• Photoshop Print Settings

• Profile risks for Windows users

• Printer setup

• Color management within Photoshop Print Settings

• The source colour space

• Choosing Photoshop for Color Handling

• Selecting the printer profile

• 16-bit printing

• Normal printing vs hard proofing

• Rendering Intent choice

• Black point compensation

• Previewing Match Print, Colors, Gamut Warning and Show Paper

• Changing the preview border area

• Description tool tips

• Position and size

• Print Marks & Functions

• PostScript Options

• Printing on a Mac

• Page Setup

• Color Matching and ColorSync

• Print Settings or Quality & Media

• Ensuring the quality settings match the printer profile

• Checking the ink levels

• Saving a preset

• Saving your settings

• Printing on Windows

• Print Settings….

• Printer properties

• Matching the correct quality settings and media type to the printer profile

• Disabling colour management inside Printer Properties

• Patience is a virtue when printing

• Photoshop Summary

49 - Adobe Photoshop Elements

• Introduction

• Colour settings options

• Raw processing

• Opening a Raw file

• Camera calibration & process version

• Basic Raw adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)

• Setting the White Balance

• The tint slider

• Auto vs Default settings

• Sharpening & noise reduction in ACR

• Exporting a Raw file

• Saving for web

• Quality settings for web usage

• Optimized & Progressive options

• Web image resolution

• Printing in Photoshop Elements

• Main print settings on Mac OS X

• Telling Photoshop Elements to handle the colour management in Mac OS X

• Applying the printer profile and choosing the Rendering Intent

• ColorSync settings

• Quality & paper settings

• Printing in Windows

• Main print settings in Windows

• Telling Photoshop Elements to handle the colour management in Windows

• Printer preferences

• Disabling colour management in the printer driver on Epson & Canon

• Summary

50 - Pixelmator

• Introduction

• Pixelmator features

• Colour management through Apple ColorSync

• Soft proofing CMYK

• Pixelmator handling of Raw files

• Converting colour space

• Image adjustments with layers

• Pixelmator tutorials

• Exporting images for web in Pixelmator

• Printing in Pixelmator with colour management

• Applying the printer profile

• Setting the quality and media type

• Rendering Intents in Pixelmator

51 - Troubleshooting & Colour Corrections

• Karyl’s law of colour management

• Lost causes; a pig in lipstick is still a pig…

• The easy fixes

• Using curves in Photoshop to colour correct

52 - Final Thoughts

• You don’t need to be a colour geek

• Concentrate on one area at a time

• Colour management is widespread nowadays

• Final acknowledgement

• About the author

• Glossary