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This is not my stuff, I found it on a site. My question is, how good is this advice?
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How to convert a photo to print high quality in a four color process.
First off when you download or receive one of the photos, it is in a Jpeg format.
What you need to do is convert it into a Tiff. Assuming you have Adobe Photoshop, you simply need to do the following.
1) Open (or launch) the photo in Photoshop.
2) Go to the Menu – select Image – Mode – then CMYK (which by the way stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black – the four process colors)
3) Go to Image – Image Size – And click on the Resample Image Box (lower
left) so NO checkmark appears. Right above, you will see three boxes that will allow you to type in information… they say Width: Height: & Resolution. Change the resolution from 72 to 300. Please note that the original measurements will change in the Width: and Height: Boxes to a smaller size. NOTE: Steve’s original (72 Resolution) images are usually sized at 34.222" x 22.889" and will re-size down to 8.213" x 5.493" when rez-ed up to 300 Resolution. Please make sure you have correctly UNchecked the Resample Image Box in this step at the beginning. Now close the Image size box by clicking OK in upper right corner.
4) If you have no sense of color – and like what you see – Select File at the top left of the menu and drag down to Save As. Then select where you want to save the photo. Give it a name and then toggle the Format Box down to TIF. Click the Save Button in the lower right. A new Tiff Options window will pop up asking you if you want to save this tiff for the inferior IBM PC format or the most excellent Macintosh format. Your choice here – depending what you are driving. Leave the LZW compression unchecked. Then click Ok
This photo is now ready to print in any magazine, brochure or catalog.
BUT WAIT…. You might want to do a little color correction before closing this beast.
I can’t tell you all the secrets because this is where I make the big bucks. But here are a few tips…
1) In the Tools panel there is a little tool that looks like an Eye Dropper… select that and place it over some of the contrasty parts of the photograph. Make sure the color information palette is open so you can read the color values (Menu – Windows – Show Info).
2) Pick what you think should be the whitest part of the photo. Wave the little Eye Dropper over it and look at the Info Palette. The whitest area should always have at least 2-3 points Cyan… maybe 1-2 points Magenta. 0-1 yellow, 0-1 black… Now remember… that’s the WHITEST Point. Number plates and other white parts of the motorcycle and riding gear need a little more 5-6… 8-9… Cyan… a little Magenta… some yellow… very little black… except in the shadow areas. Confuse you yet?
I find the best and quickest tool for quick color correction is the Selective Color Palette (Menu – Image – Adjust – Selective Color). At the top of the box you can toggle the Color Box to select the color you want to tweak (Red, Yellow, Green, Blues, White, Natural, Black). Select the color you want to change. Remember, always start by checking the color values of the area of the photo you want to change first by using the Eye Dropper and referring to the Info Palette. You can color correct a photo quite a bit with this tool. Here are some pointers for the basic motorcycles… the greenest, brightest part of a Kawasaki should read around 95 Yellow and 55 Cyan. (I try to keep the 100 percent values down to 95% because – believe me – the printer usually overprints or plugs the color) Honda colors should read 95 Magenta – 85 Yellow. Suzukis are about 95 Yellow 10-13 Magenta and 5 cyan… AGAIN… these values are for the purest part of the fenders, tanks, etc… NOT in the shadow areas. KTMs… usually 95Yellow, 55-66 Magenta should do the trick. THEN there are the YAMAHAS!!! Most magazines make them look PURPLE!!! This really drives me nuts… it must really make marketing guys at Yamaha cringe. The Yamaha color is tough to get but basically it is full of Cyan… I try to keep it at 95. The problem is that everyone prints them full of Magenta also. You need to set it at around 70 points. For some reason with digital… the Yellow always creeps up into the blues… so make sure to pull the yellow Waaaaay down to about 7-12 points.
Color is definitely in the eye of the beholder… and the printer… and the press… and the paper…. but a little tweaking in Photoshop can definitely help improve any photo improve on color.
Okay… two more tips:
The brightness/contrast tool is good for brightening up those dark photos (Menu – Image – Adjust – Brightness/Contrast).
Sharpening: I find using the Unsharp Mask tool works best. (Menu – Filter – Sharpen – Unsharp Mask) Once open you will find three sliding scales to adjust… Amount: Radius: and Threshold: Set the Threshold at 0 (zero). set the Radius at 1.0. You can then adjust the amount to the necesssary focus amount. Usually… these photos NEVER need sharpening… but I find about 64 to 90 on the Amount seems to do the trick to make them crystal clear.
Okay… I hope that gets some of you novices enough knowledge to get a raise.
I know I am going to hear a ton of different opinions on how to adjust color from the rest of you pros… but remember… Opinions are like Digital Cameras… everyone has one.
=====================================================
How to convert a photo to print high quality in a four color process.
First off when you download or receive one of the photos, it is in a Jpeg format.
What you need to do is convert it into a Tiff. Assuming you have Adobe Photoshop, you simply need to do the following.
1) Open (or launch) the photo in Photoshop.
2) Go to the Menu – select Image – Mode – then CMYK (which by the way stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black – the four process colors)
3) Go to Image – Image Size – And click on the Resample Image Box (lower
left) so NO checkmark appears. Right above, you will see three boxes that will allow you to type in information… they say Width: Height: & Resolution. Change the resolution from 72 to 300. Please note that the original measurements will change in the Width: and Height: Boxes to a smaller size. NOTE: Steve’s original (72 Resolution) images are usually sized at 34.222" x 22.889" and will re-size down to 8.213" x 5.493" when rez-ed up to 300 Resolution. Please make sure you have correctly UNchecked the Resample Image Box in this step at the beginning. Now close the Image size box by clicking OK in upper right corner.
4) If you have no sense of color – and like what you see – Select File at the top left of the menu and drag down to Save As. Then select where you want to save the photo. Give it a name and then toggle the Format Box down to TIF. Click the Save Button in the lower right. A new Tiff Options window will pop up asking you if you want to save this tiff for the inferior IBM PC format or the most excellent Macintosh format. Your choice here – depending what you are driving. Leave the LZW compression unchecked. Then click Ok
This photo is now ready to print in any magazine, brochure or catalog.
BUT WAIT…. You might want to do a little color correction before closing this beast.
I can’t tell you all the secrets because this is where I make the big bucks. But here are a few tips…
1) In the Tools panel there is a little tool that looks like an Eye Dropper… select that and place it over some of the contrasty parts of the photograph. Make sure the color information palette is open so you can read the color values (Menu – Windows – Show Info).
2) Pick what you think should be the whitest part of the photo. Wave the little Eye Dropper over it and look at the Info Palette. The whitest area should always have at least 2-3 points Cyan… maybe 1-2 points Magenta. 0-1 yellow, 0-1 black… Now remember… that’s the WHITEST Point. Number plates and other white parts of the motorcycle and riding gear need a little more 5-6… 8-9… Cyan… a little Magenta… some yellow… very little black… except in the shadow areas. Confuse you yet?
I find the best and quickest tool for quick color correction is the Selective Color Palette (Menu – Image – Adjust – Selective Color). At the top of the box you can toggle the Color Box to select the color you want to tweak (Red, Yellow, Green, Blues, White, Natural, Black). Select the color you want to change. Remember, always start by checking the color values of the area of the photo you want to change first by using the Eye Dropper and referring to the Info Palette. You can color correct a photo quite a bit with this tool. Here are some pointers for the basic motorcycles… the greenest, brightest part of a Kawasaki should read around 95 Yellow and 55 Cyan. (I try to keep the 100 percent values down to 95% because – believe me – the printer usually overprints or plugs the color) Honda colors should read 95 Magenta – 85 Yellow. Suzukis are about 95 Yellow 10-13 Magenta and 5 cyan… AGAIN… these values are for the purest part of the fenders, tanks, etc… NOT in the shadow areas. KTMs… usually 95Yellow, 55-66 Magenta should do the trick. THEN there are the YAMAHAS!!! Most magazines make them look PURPLE!!! This really drives me nuts… it must really make marketing guys at Yamaha cringe. The Yamaha color is tough to get but basically it is full of Cyan… I try to keep it at 95. The problem is that everyone prints them full of Magenta also. You need to set it at around 70 points. For some reason with digital… the Yellow always creeps up into the blues… so make sure to pull the yellow Waaaaay down to about 7-12 points.
Color is definitely in the eye of the beholder… and the printer… and the press… and the paper…. but a little tweaking in Photoshop can definitely help improve any photo improve on color.
Okay… two more tips:
The brightness/contrast tool is good for brightening up those dark photos (Menu – Image – Adjust – Brightness/Contrast).
Sharpening: I find using the Unsharp Mask tool works best. (Menu – Filter – Sharpen – Unsharp Mask) Once open you will find three sliding scales to adjust… Amount: Radius: and Threshold: Set the Threshold at 0 (zero). set the Radius at 1.0. You can then adjust the amount to the necesssary focus amount. Usually… these photos NEVER need sharpening… but I find about 64 to 90 on the Amount seems to do the trick to make them crystal clear.
Okay… I hope that gets some of you novices enough knowledge to get a raise.
I know I am going to hear a ton of different opinions on how to adjust color from the rest of you pros… but remember… Opinions are like Digital Cameras… everyone has one.
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