Soft Proofing Colors in Photoshop

Photoshop allows you to preview on-screen how your image will look on a variety of output devices. First, choose View➪Proof Setup and select your desired setup. The Working options are based on the working spaces you specified in the Color Settings dialog box.

-->Macintosh RGB and Windows RGB display your image as it will appear on a standard Macintosh or Windows monitor. This can come in handy when you want to see how your Web graphic will generally look on another platform.

-->Monitor RGB allows you to view the image by using your current monitor’s color space. This essentially turns off your RGB working space and lets you see the image without any color management.

-->Custom allows you to choose a specific device. For example, choosing U.S. Web Coated (SWOP)v2 lets you to see how your RGB images will look when they’re converted to CMYK for printing. After you have chosen your setup, choose View➪Proof Colors to view the image in your chosen working space. For the most reliable results, use a good quality monitor. And don’t forget about the importance of setting up a good viewing environment as well. Also keep in mind that although soft-proofing is a good thing, it is not a substitute for a good quality hard copy proof. Some things, such as the type and quality of paper, certain inks, and so on cannot be accurately simulated on-screen.

Reassigning, Removing, or Converting Color Profiles in Photoshop

Before you read this section, let me gently note that the operations described are really for advanced users. Although these aren’t overly difficult, you should know why you’re doing a particular operation and have a good reason for doing it. That said, once in a great while, you may want to either assign a different color profile to an image without converting the color, convert an image’s color profile, or on a very rare occasion, eliminate the color profile of your image altogether. For example, say you’re a photographer and you need to take a folder of photos and hand them off to a Web design firm. In that case, you may want to change the Adobe RGB (1998) color profile of those images to sRGB.

To reassign or eliminate a color profile, choose Image➪Mode➪Assign Profile and select one of
the following three options:
-->Don’t Color Manage This Document: Strips the color profile and doesn’t employ color management.

-->Working RGB (or CMYK or Grayscale, depending on your color mode): your working space: Assigns your current working space to a file that either is untagged or has a different color profile than your working space.

-->Profile: Choose the color profile you want from the pop-up menu. Photoshop assigns that profile to the file but doesn’t convert the colors to that profile. Be aware that this option may drastically change the appearance of the colors because the color numbers are retained (the numeric value of the color) in the new color profile.

Make sure that you have the Preview check box selected so you can see the result of your action.
To convert to another color profile, choose Image➪Mode➪Convert to Profile. Choose your desired color profile for conversion from the Profile pop-up menu. Your file is now converted and tagged with this color profile. You can also specify the color management engine (specifies the color matching method), rendering intent (the method used for color translation), and whether to use black point compensation (when selected, the full dynamic range is mapped to the destination space), and dithering options (colors are mixed to simulate a missing color in the destination space). Again, unless you are a real color guru, I recommend taking Adobe’s word for it and leaving the default settings for whatever destination profile you choose. Even if you don’t, I recommend that you select the Use Black Point
Compensation and Use Dither check boxes (unless the size of your Web graphics is critical).

If you have layers, you can choose to flatten all the layers into a single one. I recommend this because it makes the preview more accurate. Keep the Preview check box selected to view your conversion.

Getting Consistent Color among Adobe Applications

If you have a complete Adobe workflow like I do, you’ll want to use the same Color Settings for all your Adobe applications. Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat share a similar Color Settings dialog box. They have a few minor differences, but nothing major. If an element doesn’t exist in one application’s Color Settings dialog box, Adobe merely plugs in the default setting. You can save your Color Settings in Photoshop by clicking the Save button in the Color Settings dialog box. To ensure that all your Adobe applications can access the settings file, save it to a default location:

-->For Microsoft Windows, the default location is the Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Color/Settings folder.
-->For Mac OS X users, the default folder is User/CurrentUser/Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/Color/Settings.

Launch your other applications, open the Color Settings dialog box, and click the Load button. Navigate to the saved settings file and select it. You are all set for color consistency among applications.

Setting Color Management Policies in Photoshop Part 3

The options are similar to the default policies of the Color Settings dialog box:

-->Use the Embedded Profile (Instead of the Working Space): Photoshop displays the file in its original embedded color space and does not perform any color conversions.

-->Convert Document’s Colors to the Working Space: Photoshop converts the file from its embedded color space to your working color space.

-->Discard the Embedded Profile (Don’t Color Manage): Photoshop doesn’t utilize any color management when opening files but displays the file in your working space.

Be cautious about making any CMYK conversions. If you encounter a Profile Mismatch with a CMYK image, you will probably want to preserve the image’s embedded profile unless you’re absolutely sure it should be converted to another CMYK working space. But, if the image doesn’t have a profile, then by all means convert it to your CMYK working space.

If you select the Ask When Pasting option for Profile Mismatches, Photoshop prompts you when you drag and drop layers or selections that have the same color mode but different color profiles. In the Paste Profile Mismatch alert dialog box, you have two options:

-->Convert (Preserve Color Appearance): Photoshop converts and matches the appearance of the color rather than the RGB numerical values. For example, the RGB color of R 152, G 122, B 250 may be a different shade of purple in one RGB working space versus another. If you preserve the numerical values, the shades won’t match. If you preserve the appearance, Photoshop attempts to maintain the two shades.

-->Don’t Convert (Preserve Color Number): Photoshop does not convert the appearance of the color but instead matches the RGB numerical values. If you don’t select the Ask When Pasting check box, Photoshop pastes the color appearance between RGB images and pastes the numerical values between CMYK images. If you select the Ask When Opening option for Missing Profiles, Photoshop displays a Missing Profile alert and also provides you with the following options.

-->Leave As Is (Don’t Color Manage): This leaves the image untagged and without a color profile, but displays the image in your working space.

-->Assign Working RGB (or CMYK or Grayscale, depending on your image mode): your working space: Photoshop tags the image with your working space and displays it in that working space. If you change your working space, the image retains the old working space.

-->Assign Profile: This option allows you to assign any color profile contained within the pop-up menu. You can use this option if you know where the untagged image originated. For example, if you scanned your image and your scanner doesn’t embed profiles, you can assign the scanner profile.

Unless you have a specific reason not to, I recommend that you assign your working RGB space to those orphan files. I recommend selecting the Ask When Opening and Ask When Pasting check boxes. That way you know when a profile mismatch occurs and you have the choice of picking your course of action, which includes overriding the defaults you set in the policy settings. This allows you to evaluate whether you want to preserve or convert on a file-by-file basis.

For example, if you’re a print designer, and a Web designer gives you a file, you get a profile mismatch alerting you that the file has the sRGB color space and that it doesn’t match your working space of Adobe RGB (1998). If you’re going to use the image as-is for Web content, you tell Photoshop to preserve the embedded profile and not to make any conversion. But if you want to repurpose the image (for, say, a logo), you have to instruct Photoshop to convert the file to your working RGB space. (Of course, ultimately, you have to also convert the image mode to CMYK for printing purposes.)

To find out the color profile of an image, choose Document Profile from the pop-up menu at the bottom of the image window. Also if an image has a color profile that differs from your working space, an asterisk appears in the title bar. An untagged image displays a pound sign.

By the way, when you select the Advanced Mode option, you have a few additional options regarding color conversion engines and rendering intents, which are methods of color translation. I recommend putting your trust in Photoshop and leaving these options at their defaults, unless you’re a bona fide color expert.

Setting Color Management Policies in Photoshop Part 2

Here are the three policy options:
-->Off: This option turns color management off for any new files you create, import, or open. However, if the opened or imported file’s color profile matches your current working space, the profile is preserved.

-->Preserve Embedded Profiles: This option displays the files in their original embedded color space. No color conversion occurs. Untagged files remain untagged but use the current working space for display.

-->Convert to Working RGB (or CMYK or Grayscale, depending on your image mode):
This option converts any files with missing or mismatched embedded profiles to your working RGB space. Untagged files remain untagged but use the current working space for display.

The next decision you have to make is whether you want Photoshop to automatically invoke your default management policies or you want to be able to evaluate them on a file-by-file basis. If you do not select the Ask When Opening option for Profile Mismatches and Missing Profiles, Photoshop displays the Embedded Profile Mismatch alert message, describing what default policy will occur. You can then select the Don’t Show Again check box, and from that point forward, Photoshop executes the policy without displaying an alert. For files with missing profiles, Photoshop simply invokes the default policy without an alert.

If you select the Ask When Opening option for Profile Mismatches, Photoshop not only displays an Embedded Profile Mismatch alert, but also provides you with options for handling the color of that file, thereby overriding the default policy.

Setting Color Management Policies in Photoshop Part 1

After you’ve established working color spaces, the next step is to establish the default color management policy for each color mode. In other words, you need to tell Photoshop how to interpret and manage the color profiles of files it opens.

Photoshop looks at the color profile of an opened or imported file, compares it to your working spaces, and then employs the default policies you have established. If the files it opens have been embedded with the same color profile as yours, there isn’t an issue. You’re good to go. But sometimes this isn’t the case:

-->You may open files that have no profile. These can be older files, files that were created with color management turned off, or files created in other applications that do not employ color management.

-->You may open a file that has a color profile that doesn’t match your working space. Say that you have a Web designer friend, and his settings are based on the Web Graphics Defaults. He gives you a file, and you open it on your computer. You do mostly print work, so your settings are the U.S. Prepress Defaults. He gives you a file, which you open in Photoshop on your computer. Photoshop then displays an alert that says the file has an embedded color profile that doesn’t match your current RGB working space — his working space is sRGB and yours is Adobe RGB (1998). The alert then goes on to describe the default policy that is invoked on the file.

Again, if you have selected a predefined setting, the policies have already been established for you, and those should work fine. I do recommend, however, that you change the policies of one of the predefined settings. If you choose Web Graphics Defaults, the Color Management Policies options are all set to Off. Unless you have a good reason not to, change these to Convert to Working RGB. Remember color management is a good thing.

After You Define Your Settings in Photoshop

Your specified working space acts as the default color profile for any new images you create. That means that every file you create on your computer now uses the colors within the gamut of your color profiles (either RGB or CMYK depending on your document color mode).

Any images that are untagged — that don’t already have an embedded profile (for example, Photoshop files created before Version 5) — also use your working spaces.

In addition, your working spaces also define how Photoshop converts your images. For example, say your CMYK working space is U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2. When you convert an RGB image to CMYK (Image➪Mode➪CMYK) prior to sending it off to the printer, Photoshop automatically tags the image with the U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 color profile. (If this looks like a whole lot of letters jumbled together, read the sections devoted to RGB and CMYK working spaces.)

When you save your file, make sure that you select the Embed Color Profile option in the Save dialog box, if it’s available. (Some file formats don’t support color profiles.) This ensures that Photoshop tags the file with the specified color profile and that its origins are always known.

Spot Working Spaces in Photoshop

Spot working spaces have to do with spot colors. Spot colors are premixed inks that are printed in addition to, or in lieu of, the four process colors — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Unless your commercial printer tells you otherwise, stick with a setting of Dot Gain 20%.

Grayscale Working Spaces in Photoshop

Grayscale working spaces have to do with two parameters — viewing and dot gain of grayscale images (Image➪Mode➪Grayscale). You can choose Gray Gamma 1.8 for a Macintosh monitor or Gray Gamma 2.2 for a PC monitor. You can also view an image according to how it will print, based on typical dot gain.

Dot gain is how much ink the paper absorbs, thereby increasing the size of every halftone dot.
When continuous-tone images are digitized, they are converted into a series of dots known as a halftone.

If you’re preparing graphics for the Web, you may want to set your working space to Gray Gamma 2.2 — whether or not you’re using a Mac — because most of the Web surfers worldwide are PC users.

For print work, leave the setting at Dot Gain 20% unless your commercial printer tells you otherwise.
Don’t forget — you still have to adjust another working space.

CMYK Working Spaces in Photoshop

CMYK working spaces are a little more involved than RGB options, listed in the preceding section. They serve a threefold purpose:

-->CMYK is the color space to which Photoshop converts your RGB file when you choose Image➪Mode➪CMYK.

-->CMYK is the color space you will view your RGB image in when you choose View➪Proof Setup➪Working CMYK (see the upcoming section on soft proofing colors).

-->The CMYK color space determines how a CMYK file is displayed on an RGB monitor.
There are specific color profiles for printing in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Those four CMYK options are divided between those for coated and uncoated paper, and sheet-fed or Web printing presses. The latter two have different percentages of ink coverage and paper stock. I would leave the setting at U.S. Web Coated (SWOP)v2 unless your commercial printer tells you otherwise.

RGB Working Spaces in Photoshop

Monitor RGB
The default setting for the predefined setting of Color Management Off and Emulate Acrobat 4. Sets the working space to your current monitor space (which it gets from the monitor profile you established during calibration). Forces Photoshop to turn off color management. I don’t recommend this setting unless you have a specific need to use it.

ColorSync RGB
Sets the working space to the profile specified in the Apple Color Sync control panel. The default setting for the ColorSync Workflow predefined setting. For Macintosh only.

Adobe RGB (1998)
The default setting for all the Prepress predefined settings. It is the best color profile to use for viewing 24-bit images and for converting RGB files to CMYK. Provides a large gamut of RGB colors. I recommend this setting for all print work and as an overall setting if you’re unsure what to choose.

Apple RGB
The default setting for the Emulate Photoshop 4 predefined setting. Can also be used for older Mac OS scanners and monitors. Adobe also says it can be used with other older desktop publishing applications, but unless you’re the proud owner of a 13 inch Apple monitor, I’d avoid it.

Color Match RGB
Use this working space only with Radius Pressview monitors. I don’t think I need to give you a recommendation on this one! You Radius Pressview users know who you are.

sRGB
The default setting for Web Graphics Defaults. This color profile, developed by Microsoft, HP, and Kodak, represents a standard, Trinitron PC monitor the viewing platform of choice for many of the world’s Web surfers. Can also be used with Windows scanners. Avoid it for print work due to its limited RGB color gamut. If your goal is to ensure your Web graphics look relatively the same in Los Angeles as they do in Bangladesh, sRGB is a good profile to use.

Handling Photoshop’s Predefined Settings

In the Color Settings dialog box, Photoshop allows you to take the easy route and choose from a long list of predefined color settings based on your desired output. After you’ve set up the predefined settings, Photoshop provides all the appropriate working color spaces and color management policies you need to get good color results. Being the smart program that it is, Photoshop won’t steer you down the wrong path with its predefined settings. The only way you can mess up the predefined settings is if your output doesn’t match the setting. Say you choose the Web Graphics Defaults setting for your high-end, fourcolor print job; you’ll be in for a surprise. (Hint: You may want to change those settings.)

Here is a brief description of the predefined color settings in the Color Settings dialog box:
-->Custom: Allows you to manually assign your own settings. When you define a custom configuration, save your settings so that you can reload them later if necessary.

-->Color Management Off: Deactivates Photoshop’s color management system. I recommend it for video output but not for anything else, unless you’re a color guru and know what you’re doing.

-->ColorSync Workflow (Mac only): Uses ColorSync 3.0 Color Management System and ColorSync profiles. It’s not recognized by the Windows platform.

-->Emulate Acrobat 4: Emulates Acrobat 4 and earlier versions.

-->Emulate Photoshop 4: Turns off color management and emulates Photoshop 4’s display. Photoshop 4 didn’t employ color management.

-->Europe General Purpose Defaults: Provides general color settings for using Adobe software in Europe.

-->Europe Prepress Defaults: Provides settings to be used for printing in Europe.

-->Japan Color Prepress: Provides settings to be used for printing in Japan. Uses the Japan Color 2001 Coated CMYK profile, which provides for 350% total ink coverage.

-->Japan General Purpose Defaults: Provides general color settings for using Adobe software in Japan.

-->Japan Prepress Defaults: Provides settings to be used for printing in Japan. Uses the Japan Standard v2 CMYK profile, which provides for 300% total ink coverage.

-->North America General Purpose Defaults: Provides general color settings for using Adobe software in North America. Uses the same CMYK, Grayscale, and Spot working spaces as the U.S. Prepress Default, but uses the same RGB working space as the Web Graphics Default.

-->Photoshop 5 Default Spaces: Uses the default color settings found in Photoshop 5, the first version to use color management.

-->U.S. Prepress Defaults: Provides the settings for printing in the United States. This is a good overall selection if you use Photoshop mainly for print work.

-->Web Graphics Defaults: Provides the settings for Web graphics. If you use Photoshop primarily for Web content, this setting is a good option because it reflects the average PC monitor.

You can always use a predefined setting as a starting point and adjust whatever individual settings you need to. Note that if you do, your predefined setting name automatically changes to Custom.

Indicating your working spaces in Photoshop

If you choose one of the predefined color settings, Photoshop plugs in all the necessary remaining options in the dialog box. (If you select the Custom option, Photoshop leaves whatever settings were there previously because it knows you are going to choose your own settings anyway.)

When you chose one of the predefined color settings, the first group of settings Photoshop plugged in were your working spaces. Working spaces are the color profiles associated with the RGB, CMYK, Grayscale, and Spot color modes. If you choose the Custom color setting, you need to choose your own working spaces.

Each of the four working spaces is equally important, so I advise you to read all the next posts — and read them in order — if you’re serious about color management.

Establishing Your Settings for Photoshop

After you have calibrated your monitor (see the preceding section) and adequately arranged your work environment, you need to nail down the color settings and make sure that they’re the right match for your intended output. Choose Edit➪Color Settings (Preferences➪Color Settings on the Mac). The intimidating Color Settings dialog box rears its ugly head.

As you’re perusing the dialog box, hover your cursor over any item, and a great description of that item appears at the bottom of the dialog box.

In the Color Settings dialog box, you can choose from predefined settings established for specific types of output, or you can customize your own settings to fit your individual needs. And there’s no law that says that you can’t have multiple groups of settings — one for each type of project. Maybe you create both Web and print graphics. In that case, you may want to have a set of options for each workflow.
The following sections offer more details about the settings you can choose in the Color Settings dialog box.

Calibrating your monitor for Photoshop

Calibrating your monitor and creating an ICC profile of your monitor ensures that your monitor doesn’t display any red, green, or blue color casts and that it provides as neutral a gray screen as possible. Calibration is incredibly important if you want to standardize your image display — knowing that how you view your image today will be how you view your image tomorrow or next week.
If you really want to do a great calibration job, consider investing in a combination hardware/software calibration package. These products used to be really pricey, but you can get a decent package for around $250. You can choose from several manufacturers. ColorVision (www.colorcal.com), for example, offers more than one program. The package includes software that displays color swatches on your screen. Then a photoelectric device, called a colorimeter, attaches to your monitor with a suction cup. The sensors in the colorimeter measure the color, brightness, and other characteristics of the monitor. The software then takes the data, adjusts the monitor, and creates a profile from the data.

If more software isn’t within your budget, you can use the simple calibration tool that comes with Photoshop (Windows) or your system software (Mac). Turn on your monitor and let it warm up at least an hour. Then, if you’re a Windows user, you can use Photoshop’s Adobe Gamma utility. (Look for it in the Control Panel on the Windows Start menu.) You can either use the Gamma utility’s wizard, shown in Figure 3-6, which walks you through the calibration process by asking you a series of questions, or manually calibrate your monitor by using sliders in the Adobe Gamma control panel.

If you’re a Mac OS X user, you can use the Display Calibrator Assistant. Choose Apple➪System Preferences➪Displays➪Color. Click the Color tab and then click the Calibrate button. Answer the questions in the Display Calibrator Assistant.

Both utilities, Adobe Gamma and the Display Calibrator Assistant, help you remove any color casts and get as neutral a gray background as you can. They also create a profile of your monitor for Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs so that those applications know how your monitor displays color.

When you calibrate your monitor, display an image for which you already know the color values. For example, use an image that you’ve worked with and for which you have a good print and then use that image each and every time you calibrate. Your goal is to match the digital image on your screen to the printed image. You should calibrate every so often because monitors can drift and degrade. Some experts say weekly; others are more liberal and say monthly is fine.

You can also find various calibration utilities on the Web. Here are just a few. Do a search and I’m sure you’ll find a ton more.
-www.viewsonic.com/support/calibration.htm
-www.easyrgb.com/calibrate.php
-www.risingphotography.com/calibration
-www.praxisoft.com

By the way, not only is letting your monitor warm up a prerequisite before you calibrate, it is also a good idea before you sit down to tackle any image adjustment work.

Setting up your work environment in Photoshop

One aspect of color management that people often overlook is setting up a good working environment for digital image editing. You may wave your hand impatiently and say, “Yeah, yeah, I just want to get to the important stuff.” This is the important stuff. Don’t worry. Setting up a good work environment won’t cost you anything. Just do these

things:

-->Do always keep your computer desktop a neutral gray. I know having dancing bears and family photos in the background is tempting, but these elements don’t contribute to a good viewing environment. Colors and patterns behind your images influence the way that you view those images. Creating a neutral, gray desktop is the closest you can get to mounting your work on gray, black, or white mat board (and not neon green or paisley) the way professional graphic designers and photographers do.

-->Do keep your lighting as consistent as possible. Avoid working on or viewing images in full, bright afternoon sun and then again under a single desk lamp late at night. Keep the level and intensity as consistent as possible, and be sure to look at your source material, along with the images you’re working on, under the same intensity of light.

Likewise, view on-screen images and your printed output under the same lighting, thereby establishing a consistent benchmark to use in your Photoshop editing sessions. Variations in lighting can cause you to perceive color differently and can then lead to color shifts in your output. And whatever you do, please, no disco balls.

If your desk is next to a window, you may want to invest in a monitor hood or visor to cut down on screen glare and reflections. They run around $15 to $100. And if you find you really want an optimum lighting situation, you can look into a couple of additional devices. Task lamps provide consistent full spectrum light and enable you to see color with more accuracy and clarity. They run $50 to $200 and even help to cut down on eyestrain. A light box (or light booth or color viewing booth) offers various lighting environments, from fluorescent to daylight. Professional grade light boxes adhere to lighting standards developed by ISO (International Standards Organization). They allow you to view images in a consistent and controlled environment. Depending on the make and the model, the cost of a light box ranges from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.

-->Do keep the walls of your work environment as neutral as your monitor desktop. You don’t have to paint your office gray, but try to avoid lots of colorful posters and artwork in your direct line of vision (around and behind your monitor).

-->Speaking of monitors, if you are using an LCD (flat screen) monitor, rather than a real estate hogging CRT monitor, do be sure you are sitting directly in front of it, because color shifts quite a bit on LCDs if you are viewing it at even a slight angle. So no slumping in your chair!

-->And because you shouldn’t slump, for many reasons, do make sure you have a comfortable desk and chair. I mean, let’s be honest, if your back or neck is screaming with pain while you are trying to edit an image, you won’t last long. Invest in a chair with good support. If you experience wrist or hand strain, check out those squishy gel pads for your mouse and keyboard. It is amazing how much those little buggers can help.

-->For print work, do keep a swatch book (or two) handy, such as those from Pantone or Trumatch, to choose your colors. Don’t make a decision based on what you see onscreen. These books give you a true representation of how color looks when printed on paper.

I recommend getting a swatch book that shows both spot (premixed inks of a single color) and process colors (colors made by mixing the four process colors — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black [CMYK]).

Be prepared for a healthy monetary investment when you buy a swatch book. These little buggers can cost anywhere from $75 to $200 and need to be replaced over time as the colors can fade. Keep them in a dark location to extend their life span. You can purchase swatch books from some larger art supply stores or order them online. You can purchase Pantone books from www.pantone.com. Do a search for others such as Trumatch, Focoltone, and Toyo.

-->If you buy imaging or printing services, do spend some time finding the best service bureau and printer in your area and develop a good working relationship. Most likely, you’ll run into a digital color expert or two hanging around. You should also stick with that vendor for all your products — scans, prints, Kodak Photo CDs, slides, and so on. You’ll know what to expect in terms of color and quality, and you’ll get better customer service by being a regular.

-->Do take some time to test your workflow (production methods) and your computer system. Scan images using multiple settings, print images using multiple settings, and view your images using different browsers on different monitors and different platforms. Get to know the strengths and limitations and quirks of every piece of your equipment. Experiment with Photoshop. I know, I know, you have a life. But trust me, it will be an investment with great returns.

Color Management Essentials in Photoshop

Grab some Tylenol. You’re about to delve into the rather confusing and sometimes cantankerous world (or as some users would call it — underworld) of color management. It is, by far, the biggest headache of every graphics professional’s day-to-day experience. And I’m sure quite a few home users also scratch their heads wondering why their digital photo looked so great on-screen and turned into a muddy mess on paper.

Reproducing color is not an exact science. In fact, sometimes you would think it takes an act of voodoo magic to get the output you want. Don’t throw up your hands and live with whatever output comes out the other end; if you can’t change the color, you can at least change your attitude toward color. Getting a handle on color management requires four things —some knowledge, some patience, a significant amount of time to experiment and test, and, most importantly, acceptance. Acceptance of the unfortunate fact that we don’t live in a WYSIWYG world. What you get in one medium is sometimes merely an approximation of what you see in another.

Why? Well, I’ll start with the basic gripe of many users as they look disapprovingly at their printout — “But it didn’t look like that on the screen!” There are two major color models — RGB (Red-Green-Blue) and CMYK (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black).

The RGB color model (16.7 million colors), which all monitors use, has a significantly wider range of color (called a gamut in computer lingo) than the CMYK color model (approximately 55,000 colors) that is used by printers. The result is that many of the colors you see on-screen fall outside the CMYK gamut and therefore cannot be reproduced on paper. And in some cases, some CMYK colors fall outside the RGB gamut. Programs such as Photoshop try to do their best by providing colors that are the closest match. But those bright and vibrant colors that are out of gamut are matched with duller, darker versions at best.

And if that difference alone isn’t enough to complicate matters, hardware devices that share the same color model can possess different gamuts within the same color model. For example, the RGB color space of a monitor can differ from the RGB color space of a scanner. Not only that, but you can also have different color spaces within the same type of device. A 15-inch generic monitor won’t display color equal to a 21-inch Sony Trinitron monitor. Likewise, an Epson printer may not share the same color space as a Hewlett-Packard or Lexmark printer.

So when you take into account the differences that can occur between platforms, monitors, printers, browsers, scanners, applications, paper and other substrates, or any of the almost infinite number of possible permutations, it makes you want to return to the days of quill and parchment. Techies often call this mind-numbingly large number of possible inconsistencies device-dependent color. In other words, the color is dependent upon the hardware device. And device-dependent color varies. That’s just the cold, harsh reality, and nothing’s changing that.

But Adobe, being the kind and benevolent software mega giant that it is, has developed (first introduced in Version 5.0) a color management system designed to be device independent. The five-cent explanation of this system is that you first identify your working color spaces. Photoshop then tags your files with that color space by embedding a color profile (also known as an ICC profile) with your files. The program then analyzes any color space in which you either view or output a file and makes adjustments on the fly so that the color is viewed and printed reasonably accurately and consistently, in theory, independent of the device. Photoshop also reads the embedded color profile (or lack thereof) of any file you open and addresses how you wish to deal with that profile if it doesn’t match your working color space.

In the upcoming sections, I give you the 25-cent explanation — which I hope is enough to get you managing color. If color management is an extremely critical workflow issue to you, I recommend buying a book or two strictly devoted to nothing but managing color. It is well worth the dollars.

Using the Color Sampler tool to measure color in Photoshop

The Eyedropper’s cousin, the Color Sampler tool, looks like an eyedropper with a small target next to the icon. It also shares the Eyedropper’s flyout menu. The moniker of “Sampler” is kind of misleading because this tool only measures the colors you click. Aside from merely obtaining the numeric value of a color, another use of the Color Sampler tool is to monitor changes to your image after you apply color-correction techniques and filters.

Follow these steps to use the Color Sampler tool:
1. Select the Color Sampler tool in the Tools palette and then click the color you want to measure.
Note the target icon that appears on your image. It is labeled as #1. Photoshop automatically opens the Info palette and shows you the numeric values for that color.

2. Repeat Step 1 up to three more times for a total of four targeted colors.
Target icons appear for your second, third, and fourth samples.

3. With the Color Sampler tool, drag the targets to sample new areas of your image if you want. Delete a target by Alt+clicking (Option+clicking) it.
You can actually measure a fifth color by just moving the Color Sampler cursor around the image. The numeric value displays in the upper portion of the Info palette.

Lifting and sampling color in Photoshop

Photoshop lets you change foreground or background colors by lifting them from the image with the Eyedropper tool. Using the Eyedropper tool comes in handy when you want to sample an existing color in an image for use in another element. For example, if I want my text to be the same color as the flower in my image, I click a petal with my Eyedropper tool, which then lifts (samples) the color and makes it my new foreground color. I then create my type, which uses that foreground color. Voilà — color coordination at its finest. Here are some handy tips for using the Eyedropper tool to suck up color from one place and use it elsewhere in your image:

-->Choose any color you want from any image that’s open. If you have multiple images open, you can also click inside an image that you’re not working on. In fact, if that doesn’t knock your socks off, you can lift any color you see on-screen, even from a file in another application such as Illustrator or from your desktop. Just drag your Eyedropper from the image window onto the color you want to sample.

-->Choose your sampling area. You have only one option (found in the Options bar) to worry about when using the Eyedropper tool. You have the option of selecting the color of just the single pixel you click (Point Sample). Or Photoshop will average the colors of the pixels in a 3-x-3- or 5-x-5-pixel radius.

-->Make colors Web safe with a right-click of your mouse button. For you Webbies out there, if you right-click (Ctrl+click on the Mac) on your image to bring up the context menu, you have one more option — Copy Color as HTML. This option converts the sampled color to a Hexadecimal color code that’s safe for the Web and copies the code to the Clipboard so that you can paste the code into an HTML file.

-->Toggle between the Eyedropper and other tools. For your productive painting pleasure, when you’re using the Brush, Pencil, Gradient, Paint Bucket, or Shape tool, pressing Alt (Option on the Mac) allows you to temporarily access the Eyedropper tool. Release the key and return to your original tool.

-->Toggle between the background and the foreground. If the foreground color swatch is active, press Alt+click (Option+click on the Mac) with the Eyedropper tool to lift a new background color. If the background color swatch is active, pressing Alt+click (Option+click on the Mac) lifts a new foreground color.

To use the Eyedropper tool, you first need to decide whether you want to change the foreground or background color. Then follow these steps:
1. Select the foreground (or the background) in the Tools palette or the Colors palette.
2. Select the Eyedropper tool in the Tools palette (or press the I key).
Fortunately, the Eyedropper looks exactly like a real eyedropper.
3. Click the color in your image that you want to use.
That color becomes your new foreground (or background) color.

Grabbing color from the Swatches palette in Photoshop

Another way to define a foreground or background color is by clicking a color in the Swatches palette. Choose Window➪Swatches to bring up the palette.

You can have any tool active when you use the Swatches palette to define a color because as soon as you move the tool over the Swatches palette, it changes to an eyedropper icon that samples the color. (You’re still using whatever tool is active; the cursor simply changes to indicate that you temporarily have the capabilities of the Eyedropper tool.)

Besides being a way to select your foreground and background colors, the Swatches palette acts like a traditional artist’s paint palette in digital form by letting you store as many colors as you want in the palette for later use.

To change the background color, either select the background swatch icon in the Color palette or simply Ctrl+click (Ô+click on the Mac) a swatch. Here are some of the things you can do with the Swatches palette:

-->Customize the Swatches palette’s display. You can choose how to display the Swatches palette by choosing Small Thumbnail (swatch thumbnails) or Small List (swatch thumbnails along with a name) from the Swatches palette pop-up menu (click the right-pointing triangle in the upper right to open the menu).

-->Use preset colors. To load a particular preset swatch library, choose it from the list on the Swatches palette pop-up menu. Click Append to add the library to the existing swatches or OK to replace the existing swatches. You will find libraries specific for Web graphics and for implementing spot colors such as those created by Pantone, Toyo, and Focoltone. You can also select Load Swatches from the Swatches palette pop-up menu. In the Load dialog box, navigate to the Color Swatches folder by following this path: Adobe Photoshop➪Presets➪Color Swatches; and select your desired library. You can also work with swatches by using the Preset Manager.

-->Customize your own Swatches palette. To add a color to the Swatches palette, do one of the following:
-Click the New Swatch icon (the dog-eared page icon) at the bottom of the Swatches palette.
-Choose New Swatch from the Swatches palette pop-up menu. Name your swatch and click OK.
-Click an empty spot in the Swatches palette (your cursor changes to a Paint Bucket icon). Name your swatch and click OK. Or Alt+click (Option+click on the Mac) on an empty spot to add the color and bypass the Name dialog box.

-->Delete swatches that you don’t want anymore. To delete a swatch, drag it to the trash can icon at the bottom of the Swatches palette. Or Alt+click (Option+click on the Mac) over a swatch. Your cursor changes to a pair of scissors.

-->Create your own library of swatches. To save a set of swatches as a library, choose Save Swatches from the Swatches palette pop-up menu. Navigate to the folder you want to save the library in.

I recommend saving libraries in a subfolder of the Presets folder. Follow this path: Adobe Photoshop➪Presets➪Swatches; then create your own folder, name the file, and click Save.

-->Restore your default swatch libraries. To return to the default library of swatches, choose Reset Swatches from the Swatches palette pop-up menu. You can choose to either replace or append to the current library.

If You’re Monkeying around with Print Media in Photoshop

One thing that you do find in the Color Picker that is absent from the Color Palette is the ability to select custom colors, which are also known as spot colors. Spot colors are premixed inks used in printing and manufactured by various companies such as Pantone or Trumatch. You can use spot colors in addition to or in lieu of CMYK colors in the printing process. To pick a custom color, follow these steps:

1. Click the Custom button in the Color Picker dialog box.
The Custom Colors dialog box opens.

2. Choose your desired custom color book from the pop-up menu and then select your color from the scrolling list of swatches.

3. Click OK to accept the color as your new foreground or background color, or click the Picker button to return to the Color Picker.
Do not choose spot colors visually; choose them from a printed swatch book published by the ink manufacturer. The books, which provide the numeric values for each spot color, provide a true representation of how the color will appear when printed.

During the RIP (raster image processing) — the process your image goes through to create color separations for printing — Photoshop converts custom colors to CMYK for every image mode (except Duotone), unless you create spot color channels.

Mixing with the Color palette in Photoshop

To open the Color palette, choose Window➪Color. A couple of swatches in this palette may look vaguely familiar. That’s because they represent the foreground and background colors, just like the swatches in the Toolbox. And just like the Toolbox swatches, if you click the swatches in the Color palette, the infamous Color Picker appears. But forget the Color Picker; you don’t need to go there. Everything you need is right here in this tiny palette. Before you use the Color Picker to define your colors, you should know which color model you want to use. Here is a short description of each:

-->RGB (Red-Green-Blue) is the color model used for anything that will be viewed onscreen from multimedia and slide presentations to content for the Web. Occasionally, you can use it if you plan to print using desktop inkjet printers.

-->CMYK (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black) is the color model used in printing.

-->Web Color is the model used strictly for the Web. If you choose this model, make sure that you also choose Make Ramp Web Safe from the Color palette options menu.

-->HSB (Hue-Saturation-Brightness), is based on percentages of saturation and brightness and an angle (0 to 360 degrees), which corresponds to a location on the color wheel.

-->Lab (Lightness, a, b) color model contains three channels, one for lightness; one (a), which contains colors from green to red; and one (b), which contains colors from blue to red. Lab is more complex to understand and work with than the other models and is the color model of choice for high-end color experts. By the way, Lab is also Photoshop’s “native” color mode.

-->Grayscale is the color model if you want to work strictly in black and white and shades of gray. You’ll get one slider, K, which represents black. Move the slider to get shades of gray, including complete white and black.

Here are the quick and easy steps to define a color by using the Color palette:
1. Choose either the Foreground or Background color swatch in the Color palette.
You can change only one swatch at a time. If the one you want is already selected, do nothing. A double outline appears around the swatch indicating that it’s selected. If you accidentally click the swatch that is already selected, the Color Picker dialog box appears. Just click Cancel and start over.

2. Select your desired color model from the Color palette pop-up menu.
Your options are RGB Sliders, CMYK Sliders, Lab Sliders, Web Color Sliders, HSB Sliders, and Grayscale Slider. You’ll probably be using RGB, CMYK, or Web Color the majority of the time. If you’re not sure what these color models represent.

3. In the Color palette, move the sliders for each component of the color model or enter a numeric value.
RGB values are based on brightness levels, from 0 to 255, with 0 being black and 255 being the pure color or white. CMYK values are based on percentages (1–100) of the four process colors — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. The Web Color model gives you only the 216 colors used by Web browsers.
You can also select a color by clicking inside the color ramp at the bottom of the Color palette. And to quickly return to the default colors, click the small black and white swatches at the end of the color ramp.

4. Keep an eye open for a triangular alert icon.
This icon is known as the gamut alarm. Its appearance is Photoshop’s way of saying, “Hey, you! That color you mixed won’t print like you think it will because it’s out of gamut.” Remember gamut is the range of colors a device can either display or print. Because the RGB color model has a much wider gamut than the CMYK color model, some of the colors can only be viewed on-screen and not reproduced on paper. Photoshop offers you a substitution. Inside a little square to the right of the
gamut alarm icon, the closest printable color to the one you chose appears.

5. Click either the icon or the square if you want to use the closest printable color rather than your original choice.
The gamut alarm isn’t applicable if you choose Web Color Sliders. You have another kind of alarm described next. If you want to use the RGB color model but also want to ensure that any color you choose is printable, select CMYK Spectrum from the Color palette options menu. By default, all the colors in the ramp are printable. Just be sure to choose your colors by clicking in the ramp.

6. Be on the lookout for a small cube icon. Click either the icon or the square to use the closest Web-safe color.
The cube indicates that the color you mixed is not a Web-safe color. Clicking the cube tells Photoshop that you want to use its Web-safe alternative instead. A Web-safe color ensures that the color will not dither (mixing available colors to simulate a missing color) when displayed in the browser.

Poking around the Color Picker in Photoshop

When you click either the Foreground or Background color swatch in the Toolbox (also called the Tools palette), you’re transported magically to the Color Picker. This huge dialog box, allows you to select a color from the color spectrum (called a color slider) or to define your color numerically.

Choosing a color visually is fine for Web or multimedia work, but not recommended for print work, of course. Among other reasons, your monitor uses an RGB (red, green, blue) color model, whereas printers use a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) model. For more on this and other color management issues, see “Color Management Essentials,” later. To choose a color visually with the Color Picker, follow these steps:

1. Click either the Foreground or Background color swatch in the Toolbox.
The Color Picker dialog box appears.

2. Click in the narrow color slider to get in the ballpark for the color you want.
You can also move the slider.

3. To fine-tune your choice, click in the large square on the left.
This square area is called a color field. The circular icon targets your selected shade. The dialog box displays your new chosen color as well as the original foreground or background color. The numeric values also change accordingly to represent the exact shade you’ve chosen. Alternatively, if you know the numeric values of the color you want to use, you can plug in the values in the text boxes on the right side of the Color Picker.

4. When you’re satisfied with the color, click OK to exit the Color Picker dialog box.

You can do pretty much the same thing in the Color palette that you can do with the Color Picker. I prefer the Color palette.

Defining Color in Photoshop

Like most everything else in Photoshop, you can choose color in several ways. I explain each of the following color definition options in upcoming sections:

-->Click a color in the Color Picker.
-->Move the sliders in the Color palette.
-->Sample color from your image (or elsewhere) with the Eyedropper tool.
-->Grab a color from the Swatches palette.

Dealing with Foreground and Background Colors in Photoshop

Photoshop has two categories of color — a foreground color and a background color. You apply the foreground color when you use the type tools, the painting tools, or the shape tools. It is also the beginning color of a default gradient applied by the Gradient tool. The background color is the color you apply with the Eraser tool (assuming you don’t have layers) and is the ending color of the default gradient. When you increase the size of your canvas, you fill the additional canvas with the background color (also assuming you don’t have layers). You find the swatches that represent the two color categories in the lower part of the Tools palette (also known as the Toolbox).

The default color for the foreground is black; the background is white. Click the small icon to return the colors to the defaults or simply press the D key. That’s easy to remember. To switch the foreground and background colors, click the curved arrow in the Toolbox or press the X key.

Here are a few tips about using tools with foreground and background colors:
-->Use the Brush tool or the Pencil tool with the foreground color. These tools always apply the foreground color.

-->Blend the foreground and background with the Gradient tool. When you drag with the Gradient tool across the canvas and the gradient is set to the default, you get a blending of the foreground and background colors.

-->Fill selected areas with the foreground color. Just click your canvas with the Paint Bucket tool to select areas based on a Tolerance setting and fill those areas with the foreground color.

-->Apply the background color by erasing. If you are working on a background rather than a layer, you can use the Eraser tool to apply the background color. Some people prefer to say you are erasing to the background or canvas color. If you use the Eraser tool on a layer, you erase to transparency. See Book V for the scoop on layers.

-->Use the Shape tools to create shapes that are filled with the foreground color. Simply create the shape, and voilà.

-->Add more background to your canvas and fill it with the background color. When you enlarge your canvas size, Photoshop automatically fills the added canvas with the background color.
If you enlarge a layer, the extra canvas is transparent.

Using and Managing Color in Photoshop

Color in Photoshop takes on two personalities. On one hand, choosing colors and applying them is easy, fun, and stress free. On the other hand, managing color — that is, making what you see on-screen match what comes out on paper (or in your browser) — can be difficult, frustrating, and chock-full of stress.

Unfortunately, you have to be well versed in both picking great colors and managing colors for print. (What’s the use of creating the next Mona Lisa in Photoshop only to find it looks like a fifth-generation color Xerox copy?) In this posting, I start out by showing you how to define and apply color; then I ease you into the world of color management.

If you haven’t already read the section on color theory in my previous post, you might want to give it a gander before you dive into this chapter. Knowing a little color theory may make this post a little more palette-able.

Create Other Image Format in Photoshop

The formats I describe in previous sections are ones you’ll use 99 percent of the time, but here’s a brief description of some of the others, just in case you’re curious:

-->Photoshop DCS 1.0 and 2.0: A version of EPS, this format divides your CMYK or Multichannel image into Desktop Color Separations (DCS). DCS 2.0 supports spot and alpha channels. It requires a PostScript printer to print.

-->EPS Pict Preview/EPS TIFF Preview: These EPS formats are created in applications, such as Quark Xpress, which create previews but aren’t directly supported by Photoshop. However, you can open and edit these files.

-->PICT Resource: This format, Macintosh Picture Resource, is used for Mac start-up screens. You can use images that are in RGB (with a single alpha channel), Indexed Color, Grayscale, or Bitmap (without alpha channels) modes.

-->PCX: This is the native format for PC Paintbrush. This format supports RGB, Indexed Color, Grayscale, and Bitmap color modes. It doesn’t support alpha channels. Images can have a bit depth of 1, 4, 8, or 24, and RLE compression is supported.

-->Acrobat TouchUp Image: Editing an image in Adobe Acrobat with the TouchUp tool allows the file to be opened in Photoshop. That image is then saved in this file format, which uses a .pdf extension. You can also open Adobe TouchUp Images in Photoshop. Mac OS X screenshots are also saved in this format by default.

-->PhotoCD: This Kodak file format allows a single file to contain five different resolutions that you can open.

-->PixelPaint: This format is an early file format native to Apple’s first color paint program.

-->PNG: A newer format for Web graphics, PNG (Portable Network Graphics) offers good lossless compression, transparency, and 24-bit color. PNG supports RGB, Indexed Color, Grayscale, and Bitmap image modes.

-->Pixar: This is the format used for Pixar workstations, which are high-end, 3-D-modeling computers. You can use RGB or grayscale images with a single alpha channel.

-->Filmstrip: This format is used for animation and digital video.
-->IFF Format: The IFF (Interchange File Format) is a general storage format that can store different types of data, such as image, sound, music, video, and textual information. The popular modeling program Maya uses the IFF format.

-->MacPaint: This oldie but goodie is the native file format for Apple’s early black-andwhite paint program.

-->Generic PDF: Generic PDFs are created in programs such as Adobe Acrobat and Illustrator and can contain multiple pages or images. When you open a Generic PDF with multiple pages, you can specify which page you wish to open. If you open a Generic PDF with vector graphics, Photoshop rasterizes the image.

-->Generic EPS: When you open a vector graphic, Photoshop rasterizes the graphic as a Generic EPS. Generic EPS can also be created in other non-Adobe imaging, drawing, and layout programs.

-->QuickTime Movie (ImageReady): This cross-platform format is used mainly for digital video. ImageReady enables you to open and save animations as .mov files. Note that Windows users must have QuickTime installed in order to have this format listed on their File of Type pop-up menu.

-->Macromedia Flash (SWF) (ImageReady): The Flash file format is used for saving streaming animations, which are commonly integrated in Web sites. This format allows you to embed other file formats such as JPEG.

-->WBMP: This format, Wireless Bitmap, is used for images that will appear on mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. WBMP supports only 1-bit color (black or white).

-->Portable Bitmap (PBM): This 1-bit, monochrome file format is mainly for Unix platforms as an intermediate file format used in graphic conversions.

-->Scitex CT: This format, Scitex Continuous Tone, is designed for Scitex prepress software and hardware.

-->SGI RGB: The high-end Silicon Graphics computer platform uses this format for RGB and Grayscale images. Files can be recognized by their .sgi, .rgb, or .bw file extensions.

-->Targa: Developed by TrueVision for its video boards, Targa is used to capture still frames from video on PCs. This format supports RGB, Indexed Color, and Grayscale images, the latter two without alpha channels.

-->Raw: This format is used to exchange files between PCs and Macs and mainframe computers. It is often used to save images created by scientific applications. Be aware that this format sacrifices colors and other image data.

-->Alias PIX, Wavefront RLA, Electric Image, and Soft Image: These are extremely highend formats used for 3-D, animation, and special-effect graphics.

-->Cineon: Kodak developed this high-end file format. Cineon files have 10 bits per channel and are used in the film industry for electronic compositing and enhancement.

-->Photoshop 2.0: Use this format if you know someone living in an ice cave in Siberia who is still using Photoshop 2. This format is Mac only.

Create Large Document Format (PSB) Format in Photoshop

Work with humongous files? Then you’ll be pleased to know that the Large Document Format supports files of any size. Besides the Photoshop Raw and TIFF file formats, the Large Document Format is the only other format that can save files over 2GB. What’s even better is that the coveted features, such as layers, layer effects, and filters, are all supported by this format. If you want to work with large files, just make sure you have the Enable Large Document Format option selected in the File Saving panel of your Preferences.

You knew it was too good to be true, right? Just remember that Large Document Format files can be opened in Photoshop CS only. So make sure any recipients of your files have the latest and greatest version of Photoshop. This limitation isn’t confined to older versions of Photoshop either. Be forewarned that many other applications fall to their knees when presented with a file size larger than 2GB.

Create BMP Format in Photoshop

BMP is a standard Windows file format commonly used for saving images that you want to make part of your computer’s resources, such as the wallpaper that you see on your Windows desktop. BMP is also a format used by computer programmers. BMP supports RGB, Indexed Color, Grayscale, and Bitmap image modes. Here are your options when saving a BMP file:

-->File Format: Choose between Windows and OS/2.
-->Depth: Although you can select a bit depth, I recommend leaving the default setting Photoshop has selected for you.
-->Compress (RLE): The compression scheme used is lossless, which is great, but don’t select this option if you are creating wallpaper. Windows won’t recognize it.
-->Flip Row Order: This option enables Windows to recognize the file by reading the first row of pixels first and the last row last. It is for programmers who are coding for Windows applications. Leave it deselected unless you’re one of them.

Don’t worry about the Advanced Modes option. It is even more eggheady than the other options and strictly programming territory.