Colour Management in Elements – Newbie question

B
Posted By
Brian
Jan 31, 2006
Views
321
Replies
3
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Closed
Hi, I posted this question originally in rec.photo.digital and a reply sent me here. Can anyone help?

I’m just getting into using Elements and have books by Scott Kelby and Mikkel Aaland. Kelby says set up the options for full colour management and Aaland says go for No Colour Management.

What are the pros and cons of each option for an amateur with an injet printer? What should I do about the printer’s colour management option?

Brian

(For email change closed to open)

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CJ
C J Southern
Feb 2, 2006
Hi Brian,

Colour Management can be a complicated beast – so the "ultimate answer" really depends on how far you want to go (if you’re totally committed you’ll setup D50 lighting in your room – paint the walls neutral gray – calibrate your monitor – generate a profile for your camera – and generate a profile for each type of paper you use in your printer).

For starters, you’ll no-doubt be using an uncalibrated monitor – which means that the colours you see on the screen are not what’s in your images – whether it’s close or a long way out is anyones guess.

The next issue is when you send data to the printer – it’s sent as RGB data which means that the printer is told how much red, green, and blue to print – unfortunately it doesn’t actually define what shade of red, green, or blue – a good analogy might be if you’re following a map that says "take 30 paces East, and 50 paces North" – where you end up depends entirely on how long your paces are, which unfortunately aren’t defined.

So, where to from here? Unless you have the correct icc profiles for the printer/paper combination you’re using, then you’re probably better off turning off colour management in PS and letting the printer do it. The most important thing is to ensure that the correct type of paper is selected in the printer driver. If this gives you good results then it might well be close enough for you – if you’re not happy with the outcome then you might have to experiment.

By the way, what kind of printer are you using?

Cheers,

Colin

PS: If you’re a glutton for punishment, grab a copy of Real World Colour Management, 2nd edition.

"Brian" wrote in message
Hi, I posted this question originally in rec.photo.digital and a reply sent me here. Can anyone help?

I’m just getting into using Elements and have books by Scott Kelby and Mikkel Aaland. Kelby says set up the options for full colour management and Aaland says go for No Colour Management.

What are the pros and cons of each option for an amateur with an injet printer? What should I do about the printer’s colour management option?

Brian

(For email change closed to open)
B
Brian
Feb 2, 2006
On Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:19:24 +1300, "C J Southern" mentioned:

So, where to from here? Unless you have the correct icc profiles for the printer/paper combination you’re using, then you’re probably better off turning off colour management in PS and letting the printer do it. The most important thing is to ensure that the correct type of paper is selected in the printer driver. If this gives you good results then it might well be close enough for you – if you’re not happy with the outcome then you might have to experiment.

By the way, what kind of printer are you using?

Cheers,

Colin

PS: If you’re a glutton for punishment, grab a copy of Real World Colour Management, 2nd edition.
Thanks for that, Colin. I’d come to the conclusion that leaving colour management off was probably the best plan at the moment – it is the default option after all. I was just puzzled by the way two ‘experts’ had opposing advice for setting up Elements.

wrt the printer, I effectively don’t really have one. I’m currently using a 5 or 6 year old Canon BJC3000 but am looking for a new one. To be fair the 3000 does produce some nice prints at times, but it’s very hit and miss. My research so far leans me towards another Canon, possibly the IP8500, but the decision is still a few weeks away.
CJ
C J Southern
Feb 2, 2006
"Brian" wrote in message

Thanks for that, Colin. I’d come to the conclusion that leaving colour management off was probably the best plan at the moment – it is the default option after all. I was just puzzled by the way two ‘experts’ had opposing advice for setting up Elements.

You’re welcome. I think the issue writers have with advice is that the correct answers vary depending on a number of variables.

wrt the printer, I effectively don’t really have one. I’m currently using a 5 or 6 year old Canon BJC3000 but am looking for a new one. To be fair the 3000 does produce some nice prints at times, but it’s very hit and miss. My research so far leans me towards another Canon, possibly the IP8500, but the decision is still a few weeks away.

You’d do well to give strong consideration to of the new Epson K3 inked models like the R2400 or 4800 (smaller siblings to my 7800 and the 9800) – do a bit of googling – all the experts are giving them top notch reviews.

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