Color Management

This has to be the hardest Photoshop feature for new users to understand. However, sooner or later you should make the effort to learn the underlying concepts so you will know how to properly use the settings.
      If you are willing to learn, but would like to know what settings might be recommended in the meantime, below is an illustration of a typical setup. Find the settings by choosing Edit > Color Settings. Once you have learned more, you can change settings to match your needs.        
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Displacing Textures 		While I have a fairly good understanding of what color management is for, I am a black and white photographer and do not have anywhere near the hands-on experience needed to usefully advise others about color. Therefore, I’ll provide you with an index to some outstanding resources where you can get information from people who are truly qualified to give it.
     If you are willing to purchase a book on the subject, the new (as of February, 2003) ‘Real World Color Management,’ by Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy, and Fred Bunting is outstanding. It explains everything about color management, and how it works in Photoshop (as well as non-Adobe products).
     If you are a true beginner, and don’t know what a color space, white point, RGB, Lab, CMYK, etc. etc. is, please take a look at Nebulus Designs illustrated tutorial on color at Color Physics 101.
     I would also recommend that you read and reread the section in the Adobe Photoshop 6.0 User Guide titled “Producing Consistent Color.” It’s on pages 121-136.
     When reading the articles and tutorials referenced below, keep in mind the root of the problem. We see color. Photoshop ‘sees’ numbers. Translating those numbers to light (color) in a predictable manner is what color management is trying to do.
      Since the machines that use numbers (your scanner, monitor, printer, digital camera, and Photoshop) will interpret the same numbers slightly differently, it is important that some mechanism be in place to try and referee what a given set of color numbers looks like when displayed or printed, and to do so in a predictable and consistent manner.
     One last point, and then I’ll get out of the way. The single most important step in color management is to calibrate your monitor. Use the Adobe Gamma utility (found in Settings > Control Panel) regularly, or, better yet, buy one of the monitor calibration utilities such as ColorVision’s monitor Spyder with PhotoCal software.		  
 

Recommended reading, in this order:

  1. Out of Gamut: Setting Up Color Management in Photoshop 6 - Bruce Fraser’s two part article outlining how Photoshop color management settings work. (Part two has not yet been written as of this date.)
  2. Out of Gamut: Color-Correct Vocabulary - Glossary of color management terms from creativepro.com. It will save you a lot of headaches if you learn the terminology before you get started. Well illustrated, and has a printer friendly version.
  3. Out of Gamut: Photoshop 6 Gets Smart With Color - Good description of the mechanics of Photoshop’s color management system. By Bruce Fraser.
  4. Color Management Part I - from Normen Koren’s site. Possibly more extensive explanation than you really need, but if you want to go beyond what Bruce and Ian provide, this is a good resource. Also covers printing and scanning.
  5. Photoshop 6 and Colour Management - From Ian Lyons at his Computer Darkroom site. Offers a very clear, step by step explanation of the Color Settings dialog box options. Also describes soft proofing and printing with an Epson inkjet printer.
  6. Out of Gamut: Soft Proofing in Photoshop 6.0 - Soft proofing is a secondary feature of color management, but is of such great value that I include it as one of the areas you should especially try to learn about. By Bruce Fraser.

 

Other resources which offer excellent information are listed below in no particular order. These sites offer as much content as those listed above, but in my opinion, did not explain things quite as clearly for beginners.

  • DigitalDog.com - Andrew Rodney has articles, listed below, that should be of interest. All are available as pdf files, only.
    Color Management Primer
    PS 5 Color Management
    PS 5 Management from PEI
    Color Management Actions [that you can download and use]
    Black Point Compensation
    PS 5.0 Profile Dialogs
    Calibrating Digital Cameras
    Printer Test File [that you can download and use]
    Photoshop 6 Color Management
    Monitors 2000 [reviews]
    WiziWYG & Epson Profile Usage
    ColorSync 3.0 and Photoshop Updated
    A Gamut of Solutions [reviews of color management software]
    Gamut Maps [shows various RGB working spaces]
    Low Cost Monitor Calibration
    Understanding RGB to CMYK Conversions
    Color Management Round-Up
  • Color Remedies - Chris Murphy’s site offering several pdf (only) files on basic color management in Photoshop. Titles are as follows:
    Managing Color in Photoshop 6
    Top 10 Color Management Pros & Cons
    The Intro Series
  • Bruce Fraser at CreativePro.com - For a full list of his many excellent articles, go to this page and scroll to the Features section.
  • Computer Darkroom - Ian Lyons’ site, already referenced above, also has quite a few other essays relevant to color management. They are:
    Colour Management in Photoshop 5
    Using Nikon Scan 2.5 with Photoshop 5 and 6
    Using Praxisoft WiziWYG with Photoshop 5
    Using the Epson 750/1200 with Photoshop 5
    Photoshop Printing Update & Windows 98SE
    Using Custom ICM Profiles with Photoshop 5
    RGB Soft-proof for Epson Printers
    Creating Custom Printer Profiles
    Transfer Function usage in Photoshop 5
    Color Gamut and Epson Photo Printers
  • Adobe.com’s Color Management forum - This is a user to user forum for discussion of color management issues related to any of the Adobe products. Can be a helpful resource if you are using Photoshop along with Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, and/or Pagemaker. Note that this link takes you to the main forums index. Direct forum links don’t seem to work any more. Look for the color managament forum’s link on the bottom of this page on the right hand side.

I hope these articles and tutorials help you begin to have some understanding of color management concepts.

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Copyright © 2004 by Jay Arraich.
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All photographs copyright ©2004 by Jay Arraich
jay@arraich.com
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