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TerryLn22
Inspiring
July 15, 2011
Question

What is "Proof Colors" option for?

  • July 15, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 66581 views

In PS  CS4, under View, there's Proof Setup, which allows you to view soft proofing, so you can set it for your lab's profiles, so you know about how it will be printed.

However, underneath Proof Setup, is "Proof Colors". What is that for? It's only off/on, no other settings for that. It can't be, that the Proof Setup is turning the "Proof Colors" on or off so you can see how the lab will print it, because the colors change whether "Proof Colors" is checked or not. However, when it's UNCHECKED, and I go into change a potential Proof Colors choice (say from my lab's profile to Nikon's profile), the color of the photo changes, and the Proof Color now has a check in front of it.

So....what's that for, and how do you work that?

      2 replies

      Noel Carboni
      Noel Carboni
      Legend
      July 15, 2011

      It allows you to simulate what your image would look like if interpreted directly in the color space you set, rather than transformed using its profile and a device's profile.  It can also provide you a preview of CMYK color separations.

      View - Proof Setup sets the profile you want to simulate or "test" with, and checking Proof Colors enables the "test", overriding normal display color management.  Proof Colors is automatically checked (enabled) when you set a profile in Proof Setup as a convenience feature.

      You would normally want to use Photoshop with Proof Colors UNchecked, so that the colors ARE automatically transformed to those needed by your monitor per its profile.  This helps ensure that you'll see them accurately.

      Photoshop's Help facility has some additional detail for this.

      -Noel

        T
        TerryLn22Author
        Inspiring
        July 16, 2011

        Well this is truly annoying. When Proof Colors is checked, I think I'm good to go. Then a few photos and 1 hour later, I find out it's turned itself off, and I have to redo all the work. You have to remember to turn it on for each and every photo. That's ridiculous.

        Is there some way to lock it in on or off position? I don't see a way to do that.

          Noel Carboni
          Noel Carboni
          Legend
          July 18, 2011

          If you want to learn piecemeal, be my guest.

          But what they should do, is explain it all, in about 2 or 3 pages, from start to finish. They don't. You have to click on each term to see what it is. By the time you're done, like using the dictionary, you know the terms, but you don't know what they do, or how it fits into the whole puzzle. You can read all day about parts of a car; a steering wheel, a seat, shock absorbers, fuel tank, etc., but in the end, all you know is terms. You don't know how they all fit and work together.

          You can't possibly read "Assign Profile" and RGB, sRGB, embed profile, Proof Color, CMYK, 20% dot gain, etc., and walk away knowing what they do, or how they work, or what settings will work best for you. You're only left with the terminology. Like the steering wheel, you can turn it either way once you're actually behind the wheel of an actual car, but without a map to tell you how to get there, you don't know which way to turn, to get to where you need to go.


          And it's a bit much to try to walk someone through it all on a forum.  I know, I've tried it.

          -Noel

          c.pfaffenbichler
          Community Expert
          c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          July 15, 2011

          It does too turn the preview on and off, but when a Proof Setup is selected it is automatically turned on.

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