I need help with a colorspace workflow!

[Ron F]

Lately I've come to appreciate the fact that if I scan my own negatives and make my own color corrections that have to worry about whether or not the person printing my pictures is going to scratch my negatives or if they are capable of properly color compensating a negative. However, I'm getting hung up on some of the finer details of the do-it-yourself-ness of converting negatives to printable files - primarily in the color space department.

I've been working on putting together my "digital darkroom" and so far have amassed the following:

3ghz P4 Windows computer with a decent graphics card
Viewsonic 19" LCD monitor (VP930B)
Gretagmacbeth Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter
Nikon LS 50 Coolscan V ED
Silverfast 6 Ai (potentially)
Photoshop CS (I've got a brand new CS upgrade in the box, now I need a previous version to be able to install it)

I've used the Eye-One to calibrate my monitor to 6500k, 2.20 Gamma, and 120 cd/m^2, but this is based only on the Eye-One's recommendations. Should I be using different settings?

I've been using the Coolscan V with the stock Nikon software to scan b&w and color negatives, but don't know which color space is the best for this task. I guess that sRGB is supposed to be a standard, but would a wider gamut color space like Adobe 1998 be a better choice?

I've also noticed that the Nikon software doesn't seem to want to let me load in the Gretagmacbeth monitor profiles that I create, so I'm considering buying Silverfast 6 Ai since I've found a copy that's compatible with my scanner and at a good price. Does anyone out there have any experience with Silverfast Ai?

Photoshop is the next thing I need to tackle. Should the colorspace I scan with be the one I use in Photoshop or (as an example) is it okay to scan in sRGB, work with Adobe 1998 in PS, and then save the file in sRGB?

Which brings me to my final question: all the labs around me are using Fuji Frontiers; what color space should I be saving my files as to make sure they come out to match my monitor? I had read somewhere that the Frontiers use the sRGB color space, but I haven't seen anything real definitive about that. I would ask this question to the people at Wal-Mart but I hate it when people give me blank stares when I ask them a question that they should know the answer to.

I'm sure this is all standard information that they teach graphic arts students, but I was a math major with a chemistry minor so... yeah....

Anyway, I'd be glad to hear recommendations on any one of my questions or just some information on what other users are doing for their color management workflow.

Oh, and I'm in the market if anyone has a real retail version of an old version of PS that has a legally transferable serial number 🙂

Thanks.

 

[jano]

Hi. First step, make sure you correctly calibrate your monitor 🙂 Let's assume you've done that.

Please note that monitor profiles are loaded into windows/mac and should not be applied to your image files, as you mentioned nikonscan wouldn't let you apply the monitor icc files. Again, you shouldn't be doing that. Monitor calibration simply ensures your monitor displays colors correctly.

Next, in your head, chose a color space you want to work with. I stick with sRGB because all my ultimate outputs require it. Sure, adobeRGB or proRGB have larger gamuts, etc etc, and why I discount this is out of scope here. Chose one.

One you've chosen this color space, configure your photoshop color management settings to use this as your default. I further check the option to notify me when the file I open is not in my color space, and allow me to decide if I want to continue to work in it, or convert it to my default working colorspace.

The nikon software tags the files with it's own sRGB space (calls it Nikon sRGB). Provided you did the above correct, then when you open the scan in PS, it will ask you whether you want to convert it to your work space, or leave it as is. I *think* there may be a setting in nikonscan which won't tag/assign a profile to your scan, and in this case, when photoshop opens, it'll tell you the file has no profile. In this case, you need to find the nikon sRGB icc file and assign it to the file, then convert to your working space.

If you want to make your life easy, then just stick with sRGB for your frontier printers. If you wish to get fancy and have the absolute BESTEST OF BEST outputs, check [url="http://drycreekphoto.com/]Dry Creek Photo[/url] to see if they have a profile for lab nearby (if they don't, see whether your lab would be willing to sign up on their system -- and if not, and you still insist upon it, you can do it yourself for a small fee).

If you can get a printer profile, then here's the short of what you do:
- edit your file in your chosen working space.
- save your file as the master
- use photoshop's soft-proofing feature with your printer's profile, making adjustments, if necessary, in your working profile until the soft-proof of your printer space looks right
- convert your image to your printer's profile
- save the image, without embedding the profile
- when you give the file to your digital printer, tell them:
- to disable ALL auto corrections
- to turn off any options
- no color, contrast, or sharpness enahancements
- your file is color calibrated with ICC
- why all that repetition? Some of the operators may not understand one or more, and that way you cover all the basis. You may want to have a talk with the employees there to double check they know what they are doing.

It's a lot to digest, but once you get it, it's not really that hard. Let me know if you still have questions 🙂

Jano

 

[jano]

And by the way, Daniel's link is very comprehensive and good... long, but covers EVERYTHING 🙂 I bookmarked it!