Preparing files for print

Thanks for that reply,

I must have posted my earlier one before viewing it.

Just another question if that's okay: after I've converted to profile and obviously seen the drastic reduction in colour saturation due to the newsprint profile, is it okay to make any more edits at this stage? I mean if I try to apply any contrast curve or resaturate the colours or something, that will just undo all the effects of the profile won't it?

Thanks for the reply,

I'm still a bit confused.

U.S Web Coated (SWOP) v2 was selected as the CMYK Working Space in the colour settings dialogue, and I then went into custom CMYK to see the current settings in that custom dialogue. I noted these and then clicked Cancel. I then changed the CMYK Working Space to the profile that my printer gave me (ISONewspaper26v4) and again went into Custom CMYK, but I was seeing the same settings as the US Web Coated (Swop).

If both these profiles are the same to begin with, and I'm just creating a custom CMYK profile according to the setting given to me by my printer, then what's the use of the original profile that he sent me? What information is contained in that file if I'm recreating a custom cmyk profile?

>I don't understand the above settings as I thought that all that information was captured in the .icc profile that I was supplied.

You are correct. TAC (Total Area Coverage), dot gain/TVI (Tonal Value Increase), GCR, UCR, UCA, are all "rolled in" into the profile's own LUTs (Look-Up Tables).

The CMYK values that the profile generates upon conversion from, say, an AdobeRGB file will already, and precisely, account for all those factors.

So, if the profile is what you are being asked to use for your conversions, the rest of the information should be somewhat redundant.

One thing you could do, though, is to check and make sure that the profile actually *does* generate the TAC it is supposed to. If it turns out to be 320%, for example, then the profile is not correct for the stated print conditions, and you should make that known to your counterparts.

If you have ColorThink Pro, you can also view the profile's neutral rendering curves and inspect its black generation by looking at the black curve in the graph.

>This is my first experience in a colour managed workflow so I may be getting a bit confused. If the above settings are not in the .icc profile then where do I set them in Photoshop?

You don't have to activate any of those settings in Photoshop, and they are not "settings in the ICC profile" either. Once the profile's LUTs (Look-Up Tables) are "baked in" at profile creation time, those "settings" disappear and become implied in the CMYK numbers that the conversion produces -- effectively invisible as "settings", unless you have a profile inspection tool like the already-mentioned ColorThink Pro.

I hope that this clarifies things for you somewhat.

Best regards.

Here is a nice description how to create a profile with
special parameters (as tested by PhS CS2):
http://www.damiensymonds.com.au/art_newsprint.html

Probably the pressman gave you such a profile. A profile
contains indeed all necessary data.
The additional information helps understanding quality
issues.

You can test your conversions by
View > Proof Setup > Proof Colors

Best regards --Gernot Hoffmann

>> from what I recall, the default is to convert your data. You have to manually check the "Leave Color Unchanged" box.

That's exactly what I don't understand, what would it be Converting my CMYK to?
I think they are just Command+E in Id to make PDF.
>> why are you using Sheetfed Coated?

It is going to a sheetfed press (why would I use a Web press standard)?