Having only recently upgraded to Photoshop 7, all my image files have been saved as Photoshop 4 files. Photoshop 7 has different color management tools than 4, so I won't even attempt to explain what I haven't bothered to learn myself...yet.
Years ago I learned how to calibrate my monitors on a very basic level, and it has always worked for me. The type of photography I do generally requires minimal manipulation in the digital realm, since I do it all in the camera via film/filtration/lighting. But some of my images can include skin tones, bright colors and a relatively wide contrast range, so they can be somewhat demanding when it comes to printing.
If I am photographing for publication I use in-camera methods as much as possible to make an image that will reporduce well. I don't think much of leaving problems to be fixed in Photoshop, unless it would take more time to do so in-camera or a problem cannot be reasonably addressed except through digital manipulation.
Most of the time all I need to do with a scanned image is sharpen it and I use a Photoshop plug-in called TestStrip
http://www.vividdetails.com to automatically expand the dynamic range of the image. TestStrip does this step without altering the image's overall color balance, something that often happens in PS 4, requiring further adjustments. I have no idea if it is the same with PS 7, but it sure speeds up the work-flow to use TestStrip in place of PS for basic adjustments.
Essentially all I have to deal with are the variables introduced by converting a film image into a digital one.
Unlike a lot of my peers, I use Apple's ColorSync control panel to calibrate my monitors. The most crucial step in my experience was changing the monitor color temp setting to 6500 degrees Kelvin. Otherwise, I just followed the visual, low-tech calibration steps and saved the profile.
It has been six years or so, but I seem to remember that I also had prints with excessive blue, and the switch to a 6500 color temp made all the difference. It makes sense, because a warming filter counteracts blue on film, but I could be mistaken about such a conversion from monitor-to-print. if I am, someone will no doubt let me know!
I have done this with two CRT Macs and two different Epson printers, and the prints look great. My test image is a delicately-lit woman welder that has pale skin, a yellow hard-hat (yellow can be especially tricky to accurately reporduce on an inkjet...), a bit of white t-shirt and a background with lots of contrast.
ColorSync is OFF; it seems to be a lot more trouble than it is worth...at least in my experience it is. I let the Epson driver handle the image conversion and I like to use the driver image controls to make small adjustments, primarily regarding contrast, but I don't need to do it very often. That is the beauty of having images that print close to how they are rendered on your monitor.
When I print black and white images I use color ink and the duotone presets in the Photoshop Goodies folder.
It is important to remember that like photographing for offset or web printing, going from a monitor RGB image to ink on paper means the image is going to change somewhat, but I think that most people can learn to judge how to create a digital image that reproduces nicely on an inkjet.
Mind you, all my prints are done using Epson paper. Paper is an important variable and I have found that I get the best results if I use Epson paper and ink. It sure is the easiest way, and I am definitely into
easy.
Of course, you aren't using an Epson printer, but maybe this info will be helpful anyway...
[ 03-19-2003, 01:38 PM: Message edited by: Mayo ]
