Colour Management and Adobe Photoshop CS

By Ian Lyons © 2003

Though Photoshop CS (AKA Photoshop 8.0) contains many enhancements and new features
we find that the overall appearance remains virtually unchanged. Likewise the colour
management system and settings will be familiar to those who previously used Photoshop 6
or 7. All of this is good news for those migrating from earlier versions of Photoshop but
colour management particularly the plethora of options can leave many new users in a state
of confusion. This essay is primarily intended to help new Photoshop users and will explain
how the colour management system and associated settings within Photoshop CS should be
configured. That said and before getting into the specifics of configuring Photoshop CS I
think it worth taking a few moments reviewing the underlying principles of colour
management.

Colour Management Primer

Ever since the beginning of colour reproduction, colour management has existed in one form
or another. The basic concept underlying Colour Management is to ensure that colour data is
processed in a consistent and predictable way throughout the entire imaging workflow. A
typical Imaging System will consist a wide range of Input and Output Devices, and each
device will reproduce colour differently. This means that a colour represented by one device
will rarely if ever match the same colour represented on another device. In other words,
colour is device-dependent. So we can say that the purpose of a Colour Management System
(CMS) is to maintain the consistent and accurate “appearance” of a colour on different
devices (e.g. scanners, monitors, printers, etc.) throughout our imaging workflow.

Components of a Colour Management System

A colour-managed system requires three basic components, namely: -

• A device-independent colour space - usually referred to as the Working, Editing or

Reference Colour Space.
• ICC/ColorSync profiles – a file for each device that describes its colour
characteristics (i.e. how it sees, displays or reproduces colour).
• A Colour Matching Module (CMM) – this will interpret the information contained
within device profiles and carries out their instructions on how the colour gamut of
each device should be treated.

The following diagram demonstrates a typical colour-managed workflow and shows the
image being passed along the chain - from scanner/digital camera - to - computer - to -
monitor - and printer with the ICC profiles ensuring that the colour data from/to each device
is correctly described.

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Colour Numbers, their Meaning, and Profiles

A digital image will comprise pixels each of which is represented by a number. This number
will describe the location of the pixel within the image and its particular colour value. We
have already noted that since colour is device-dependent the “appearance” of the each
coloured pixel will vary for each device. We also noted that this is because each device has
its own unique way of translating the raw colour value into visual colour. We can minimise
the discrepancies that result from the widely differing colour characteristics of each device by
using an ICC/ColorSync profile to inform the CMM how the colour values produced by that
device should actually appear. This may be on our monitor, in print or on film output. In
simple terms it is the device profile that conveys the “meaning” of the raw colour numbers
associated with each pixel.

Many consumer class film and flatbed scanner software applications are now ICC/ColorSync
aware but they tend to be based upon a colour space known as sRGB, likewise consumer
digital cameras. This colour space isn’t generally regarded as appropriate for high quality
image editing, especially when print or film output is required, but is quite often all we can
expect to get. An image delivered into Photoshop by the scanner or digital camera application
software that is already in a device-independent colour space such as sRGB/Adobe RGB
means that it has already undergone a considerable amount of data processing. However, it
does not mean that it’s really an sRGB/Adobe RGB device.

Many prosumer class scanners and digital printers are now supplied with some form of
generic or canned profile. Again, whilst these profiles are useable they are rarely accurate.
For truly accurate colour matching you should seriously consider getting customised profiles
for each device and/or media type. These profiles can be created professionally or by buying
your own profiling software/hardware. Sadly very few, if any digital camera vendors have
adopted the canned profile approach instead opting to process the images into a device-
independent colour space such as those discussed above. Some vendors allow
scanning/capture of images in any user selected colour space. Unfortunately, the images are
rarely delivered into Photoshop with an embedded ICC/ColorSync profile, which can lead to
even more confusion and error.

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Device profiles come in two basic forms, i.e. Input and Output. Input profiles typically
describe the colour characteristics of scanners and digital cameras, whereas Output profiles
describe devices such as monitors, printers and film recorders. Input profiles are often
referred to as one-way since it is only possible to select them as the Source meaning we can
never convert an image into the colour space of our scanner or digital camera. Output profiles
are two-way meaning we can convert From or To them (Source to Destination).

Why bother?

Even though colour correction and colour management are not the same thing they are often
confused with each other, especially by the novice Photoshop user. The colour characteristics
of most imaging devices are such that it is very rare for them to be truly linear (i.e.
R=G=B=Neutral). Sometimes this characteristic is referred to as the device “not being well-
behaved”. Scanners and printers are good examples of badly behaved devices. Obviously it
would be extremely difficult for a Photoshop user to edit an image where a group of pixels
with values of R=G=B=128 (grey) actually appeared to be non-neutral. In such circumstances
colour correction would an absolute nightmare. To overcome these discrepancies we usually
carry out all our editing in a colour space that is well behaved. Well behaved colour spaces
are more usually referred to as the working space and are always characterised by having
R=G=B appearing neutral. Without the aid of accurate device profiles the accurate translation
of the raw colour data (the numbers) from the scanner/digital camera into the working space
will prove very difficult, if not impossible. The translation from the working space into the
media specific colour space of a digital printer will prove equally difficult without the aid of
media specific printer profiles.

So the main benefit offered by colour management is that the process of colour correction can
be undertaken in the knowledge that the image displayed on the monitor is an accurate visual
representation of the original subject, and that the final print will accurately reflect the
colours of the displayed image.

Some Photoshop Revision!

Photoshop CS continues to use document/image specific colour settings, which means that
the colour space of each document is independent of others that may be open on the
Photoshop desktop. As with Photoshop 6 and 7 the working space defined in Colour Settings
only has a bearing on three types of image, viz.: -

• The default option for New images/documents

• Existing images/documents without an embedded or EXIF profile
• Images/documents with no embedded ICC/ColorSync or EXIF profile (i.e. untagged
images/documents typically imported directly from digital cameras and low end
scanners, etc.)

“Image specific” colour means that it's the profile embedded within an image that determines
how the image will be displayed (it's appearance) and not the Photoshop working space. With
Photoshop CS we can have multiple images, each in its own unique colour space open at the
same time and each will be displayed accurately (of course this assumes a well calibrated
monitor).

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Part 1 - Monitor Calibration and Characterisation

Accurately calibrating and characterising the monitor is the most critical element of the
colour-managed workflow. The aim is to calibrate the monitor so that we eliminate unwanted
colour casts and so obtain the best possible display environment for editing our images. We
also need to characterise the monitor by means of an ICC device profile. This profile is
simply a data file that includes a description of the characteristics of our monitor. The
monitor profile will then be used by Photoshop to compensate for the colour-display
limitations of the monitor. Photoshop automatically optimises the display of images by
carrying out an on-the-fly conversion between the image/document profile (e.g. Adobe RGB,
sRGB, ColorMatch) and the monitor profile. This conversion does not alter the actual image
in any way.

Since Photoshop 7 Adobe no longer installs Adobe Gamma with the Mac version of
Photoshop; however, for Mac systems the Apple Display Calibrator Assistant found within
System Preferences offers similar features.

To calibrate and characterise the monitor Windows users should open the Adobe Gamma
utility or a third party alternative. For many new users Adobe Gamma is more than sufficient
and it's free.

Adobe Gamma is a Control Panel utility that can easiest be accessed from My Computer >
Control Panel. Before running Adobe Gamma, it is best that the monitor has been switched
on for at least 30 minutes. It is also best to work in subdued lighting when calibrating a
monitor using Adobe Gamma. Another helpful tip is to set the Desktop colour to grey.

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 When the Adobe Gamma utility is first
opened you will be asked to make a choice
between the "Step-by-Step (Wizard)" and
the "Control Panel" method. It's probably
easier to use the "Step by Step (Wizard)"
method.

Using the Load button choose your monitor profile

or pick one that's close. If in doubt choose the
Adobe default monitor profile or even sRGB, it
really makes little difference since all we are doing
is defining the start point.

Before progressing to the next step, be sure to give

the profile a unique description and include the
date.

Set your monitor contrast control to maximum and then

adjust the brightness control until the innermost grey
square is only just visible against the black surround.
Squinting your eyes helps with this process, as does
keeping the room lighting at a low level or off.

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If you're using a manufacturer-supplied profile for
your specific make and model of monitor then in
all probability the Phosphors will be listed as
"Custom". If this is the case leave well alone. If
you don't have a monitor profile choose either
Trinitron or P22-EBU. I keep getting asked -"how
do I decide which is appropriate for my monitor?"

You can tell a Trinitron monitor by simply looking

at the display area. A Trinitron type monitor will
have two faint lines running across the display area
approximately 1/4 from the top and 1/4 from the
bottom. If your monitor has these lines choose
Trinitron, otherwise choose P22-EBU.

Begin by keeping the "View Single Gamma"

selected. However, keep in mind that this option
"ONLY" allows you to adjust the relative
brightness of the monitor.

Adjust the slider until the inner grey square blends

with the outer frame, squinting slightly can help.
Finally, deselect the "View Single Gamma"
checkbox

This is the step where we neutralise the colour

imbalances inherent in our monitor. Adjust each of
the sliders in turn so as to blend the inner square with
its coloured surround. Again squinting is a great
help.

Green is usually the most difficult to get right, but

persevere. The closer you get to a perfect match at
this point the more accurate your final profile will be.

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Depending upon your computer type choose either the
"Windows Default" or "Mac Default" gamma. In reality,
this choice is not as important as it once was and you can
choose either in the knowledge that Photoshop will make
the appropriate corrections when necessary.

Choosing the "White Point" for your monitor is

pretty much a formality these days. Even the die-
hards are in agreement that 6500oK is probably the
best option on most systems.

You should have already set the Hardware white

point via the dials/buttons on the monitor. Most
monitors have a native white of 9300oK; so do
check what it has been manually set to.

Choosing 6500oK provides the cleanest and

brightest white point and closely matches daylight.
If you feel really confident you could select the
"Measure" option. You can choose 5000oK, but
this usually produces a slightly dimmer and more
yellow white point.

Generally, it's better to leave the Adjusted White

Point setting at the default - "Same as
Hardware". Nevertheless, this option is used to
choose a working white point for monitor if it differs
from the hardware white point set in the last step.

By way of example; if your hardware white point can

only be set to 6500oK, but you want to set it at
5000oK because that most closely represents the
environment in which it will normally be viewed,
you can set your Adjusted White Point to 5000oK,
and Adobe Gamma will change the monitor display
accordingly: However, choosing this approach will
all cause the graphics card colour LUT to be adjusted
quite severely, and depending upon the graphics card
the screen can look quite ugly on some systems. As
indicated above I recommend that you choose "Same
as Hardware" and thus avoid this problem.

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 That's it, if all has gone well you will have
adjusted the brightness, contrast and colour
settings of your monitor to the optimum values.

Make a quick check using the "Before" and

"After" radio button. If you're happy that the
screen display now looks more neutral than
before press the "Finish" button and "Save" the
profile. Once saved the profile will be available
for use by the OS and Photoshop.

There are a number of third party alternatives to Adobe Gamma that can be purchased from
vendors such as GretagMacbeth, ColorVision, Monaco Systems or Integrated Color Solutions
(ICS).

The above vendors can be contacted via the URL's listed below: -

GretagMacbeth - http://www.gretagmacbeth.com or http://www.i1color.com/

ColorVision - http://www.colorcal.com/
Monaco Systems - http://www.monacosys.com/
ICS – http://www.icscolor.com

The only advantage of Adobe Gamma (Windows systems) or the Apple Display Calibrator
(Mac OSX systems) is that they're both free, whereas the third party products can cost nearly
as much if not more than Photoshop. However, since many third party alternatives use
hardware and not the eyeball for measurement you are generally assured of much greater
accuracy.

Useful Information on location of ICC/ColorSync Profiles

Photoshop CS is only compatible with Windows 2000 and XP on the PC platform and OSX
10.2.x or higher on the Mac platform. An upside of this change is that the ICC and ColorSync
profiles are more easily found.

Profile locations: -

• Windows 2000 and XP - sub-folder named system32/spool/drivers/color

• Mac OSX - ColorSync profiles are located in the ~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder

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Part 2 - Photoshop CS Colour Settings

Now begins the process of configuring Photoshop. This is achieved through the Colour
Settings dialog found under the Edit menu (Windows) or the Photoshop menu (Mac OSX).

The Colour Settings dialog is the control room for the Photoshop CS colour management
system, and like all control rooms it can appear complicated. With Photoshop CS we have a
new default colour setting called North America General Purpose Defaults, but this certainly
isn’t the best choice. So if the default isn’t the best option what is, and how do we make the
necessary alterations?

I could answer the above question by simply stating “US Prepress Defaults”, but doing so
doesn’t really help explain why. Therefore, I will work my way through each section of the
Colour Settings dialog in turn.

Note the Description box at the bottom of the dialog. As the mouse is moved across the
various pop-up menus, etc. you should see a short but informative explanation of what each
menu does. Also note the checkbox labelled Advanced Mode; it's probably best that you
select it now. At least you’ll now see everything that the Colour Settings has to offer, even if
some are only applicable to the most advanced of Photoshop users.

Photoshop CS Default Colour Settings

The first section is labelled Settings and is a simple pop-up menu with a list of pre-set
Photoshop settings plus any that you may have saved. You need not worry too much about
this section just yet.

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 Photoshop CS Preset Colour Settings

If you are upgrading from Photoshop 6 or 7 it should be a simple matter of selecting your
previous setup. Notice that Adobe has retained the Colour Management Off option for those
users who find the whole subject much too complicated. I don't recommend choosing this
option although I am aware that quite a few new Photoshop users working on the PC
Windows platform find it easiest to handle.

Working Spaces

The next section is labelled Working Spaces, and as I discussed earlier it will determine the
working space of certain images (namely the 3 types I mentioned in Part 1).

There are four types of working space in Photoshop, RGB, CMYK, Grey and Spot. For the
purposes of this exercise I will concentrate mainly on the RGB colour space, since
configuring the others follow a similar process.

RGB - Working Space

Clicking the RGB pop-up menu with the mouse will produce a list of options similar to that
shown below. I chose Adobe RGB (1998) because it's the working space I first settled on
way back when using Photoshop 5. Notice that Adobe RGB (1998) appears within a group of
four working spaces, each of which is device-independent, and in common use with a wide
range of Photoshop users. Typically sRGB will be confined to those users solely interested in
web design, ColorMatch is a favoured choice of many Mac users and AppleRGB is
apparently for Mac web design.

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Notice that just above the four common working spaces we also find options for Monitor
RGB (green spot in the screenshot), and in the case of Mac systems ColorSync RGB.
Monitor RGB is simply the colour space of your monitor as created by the Adobe Gamma
utility (or a 3rd party software/hardware combination).

Photoshop CS has no obvious way of informing the user, which monitor profile is actually
being used. However, a quick check for Monitor RGB in the RGB working space pop-up
should be enough to put your mind at rest. If Monitor RGB is showing something other than
the profile you created when calibrating the monitor it is essential that you investigate the
reason and make the appropriate corrections. It is also possible to select your monitor space
as the Photoshop working space, but this is not really a good idea. The ColorSync RGB
option is only available to Mac OS X users and will reflect the settings chosen as part of the
ColorSync setup.

The actual list of options available for selection as working spaces differs depending on
whether you activated Advanced Mode, or not. If you chose to activate Advanced Mode then
the list of available RGB profiles will be quite extensive.

If you had previously been using another working space such as BruceRGB then it should
also appear as one of the options in this extended list. If it doesn’t you can still create it
yourself by choosing Custom (yellow spot in the above screenshot). The dialog shown below
appears and you simply type in the data as shown for the Primaries etc, remember to give this
new working space a name and click OK.

Description of BruceRGB

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CMYK - Working Space

Making your choice of CMYK working space isn't that different to RGB except of the list of
available colour profiles are rather different. Again, having Advanced Mode activated gives
us a more extensive list. Since desktop inkjet printers from Epson, Canon and HP actually
require RGB data rather than CMYK and so configuring this particular working space will
have little or no influence in their actual workflow.

As mentioned above, the choice for you make is pretty much irrelevant if using a consumer
class inkjet printer. In my case I just picked US. Web Coated (SWOP) V2. We can also have
pick the old Photoshop 4 or 5 default CMYK options, the ColorSync settings (Mac only), or
even customise our own settings.

Greyscale - Working Space

With the Greyscale working space we have access to two gamma settings, a series of five
pre-set dot gain curves, the ColorSync Grey Work Space (Mac only) and the ability to
customise the dot gain to our own requirements. The screenshots below show the various
options and a typical customised Dot Gain curve.

Note that if you choose to use a Custom Gamma or Dot Gain this will be the working space
listed in the Grey working space pop-up menu.

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A very important point regarding Greyscale is that it is not tied to the CMYK setup! This is
why some legacy greyscale documents might not look quite the same as they did in
Photoshop 5.x

Spot - Working Space

The Spot pop-up menu is broadly similar to the greyscale, but for spot colours. The options
that we find include a series of five pre-set dot gain options and the facility for customising
the dot gain curve if required. In my case I simply selected the standard 20% option.

Colour Management Policies

Colour Management Policies was a new phrase introduced by Adobe with Photoshop 6 and
continues with only minor changes in Photoshop CS. The screenshot below shows the new
default setup, but this hides a lot of important information.

Photoshop CS Defaults

This section is probably the one that will cause most new Photoshop users the greatest
difficulty and for that reason the explanation that I give below will appear quite wordy, but
don't be put off.

Basically each working space will have the same set of three options, although we need not
configure each identically. These options are called Policies and include: -

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(a) Off

In simple terms, the Off Policy ensures that Photoshop does as little as possible when dealing
with profiles. In most circumstances, it isn't the ideal choice and certainly not the choice to be
made by new users. The following will give you some idea as to the behaviour of Photoshop
CS when this choice is made.

Choosing Off will ensure that NEW images/documents will be created and saved without an
embedded profile.

• On opening an existing image with an embedded profile that matches the current
working space the embedded profile will be retained and subsequently saved with the
image.

• The default Pasting behaviour between images is to retain numerical values (RGB
pixel values), not the appearance. This means that no conversion between colour
spaces will take place.

• Opening an existing image that has an embedded profile that does not match the
current working space (profile mismatch) will cause that embedded profile to be
stripped out of the file. The image will subsequently be saved with no embedded
profile. Since Ask When Opening has not been activated for Profile Mismatches the
following warning dialog will appear.

The problem with this configuration is that the user either accepts what Photoshop CS
dictates or doesn't open the image at all, not much of a choice. To me this choice is akin to
the novice high wire walker operating without a safety net, stay on the wire or fall off and
break their neck!

(b) Preserve Embedded Profiles (Default)

For most situations this is my preferred colour management policy since it offers the greatest
degree of flexibility. The following should give you an idea as to the behaviour of Photoshop
CS when this choice of policy is made.

Choosing Preserve Embedded Profiles will ensure that when opening an existing image into
Photoshop which is found to have an embedded profile that differs from the current
Photoshop working space, then that image and its associated profile will be left intact.
Photoshop will make no attempt to convert the image to the current working space; the
original embedded profile will be retained and subsequently saved with the image.
Nevertheless, even though the image and Photoshop are no longer in sync, colour space wise,
the image preview will still be accurate.

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 • When opening an existing image and the working space are matched Photoshop will
take no action; the image is opened and saved as normal.

• The default behaviour when pasting either an RGB or Greyscale image is slightly
more complex whereby the appearance of the pasted image will be preserved but the
numbers will change (the pixel values will change). In the case of CMYK it is the
numbers that will be retained, not the appearance.

• If the image being opened or imported has no embedded profile then Photoshop will
use the current working space for editing and previewing purposes, however, the
profile will NOT be embedded into the image when it is subsequently saved.

• Creating a new document with this policy setting will mean that the current working
space is used for editing, previewing and the associated profile will eventually be
embedded into the file when saved. However, the default working space profile can
be overridden in the New document dialog.

The following dialog will appear if Ask When Opening has not been activated for Profile
Mismatches. Again, my earlier comment about Photoshop imposing its will on proceedings
applies.

At first glance the above dialog appears virtually identical to that shown for the OFF Policy,
but there is a subtle difference - the profile is retained rather than discarded.

(c) Convert to Working Space

This policy behaves in an almost identical fashion to colour management Photoshop 5. It's for
this reason that many still tend to favour it. Actually this policy isn't a bad choice but does
need to be treated with care.

• If an existing image with no embedded profile is opened or imported into Photoshop

then the current working space will be used for editing and previewing, however,
upon saving the image no profile will be embedded.

• If an image is opened or imported and has an embedded profile which is found to

differ from the current working space then that image will be converted into, and
subsequently saved in the working space. When the image and the working space are
matched then Photoshop takes no action; the image is opened and saved as normal.
Newly created images will be edited, previewed and ultimately saved in the current
working space.

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 • Finally, the default pasting behaviour is to convert and thus preserve the appearance
of the image. However, the user will get the option not to convert the pasted image,
hence preserving the numbers if the pasted image doesn't match with the target image.

Overriding the Default Policy Behaviour

The previous section described how our choice of Colour Management Policy determined the
default behaviour of Photoshop CS under various scenarios. However, we need not be
confined to these pre-set outcomes. A much better option would be to configure the Colour
Management Policies as shown in the following screenshot.

Here we can see that each of the checkboxes for Profile Mismatches and Missing Profiles be
set for Ask When Opening or Ask When Pasting as appropriate. It is only through setting
these checkboxes to ON that we can enable the default behaviour override facility.

Basically the three checkboxes have the following impact on the Colour Management
Policies: -

(i) Profile Mismatches: Ask When Opening

Photoshop has been set to present the user with a dialog box when the image being opened or
imported has an embedded profile that does NOT match the current working space. The
dialog box looks like the following and contains three options; the pre-set selection is
dependent upon the Colour Management Policy in operation at the time. Noticed that all the
necessary information required to make an informed decision is present.

The above example is pre-set for how the dialog would appear when the Colour Management
Policy is set for Preserve Embedded Profile. The user may now choose to leave the image as

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is, allow the conversion or strip out the embedded profile and switch off colour management.
Had the policy been Convert to Working Space the dialog would have looked almost
identical except that it would have been pre-set for Convert document's colours to working
space.

I think you will agree that the above dialog is a lot more user friendly than the one that
appears under similar circumstances when Ask When Opening is unchecked. At least we now
have the opportunity to assign an alternative profile to the image before it opens.

Now that Photoshop CS can read the EXIF colour space information and it's likely that many
consumer class digital camera users will be seeing this particular dialog on a regular basis.
Since no benefit will be gained by converting the image from say sRGB to Adobe RGB
(1998) the best choice in such circumstances is to leave the default Use the Embedded Profile
rather than be temped to choose Convert document's colours to working space. Actually a
much better option would be to enable the new Ignore EXIF profile tag which can be found
within the Photoshop Settings: File Handling – File Compatibility dialog.

Photoshop CS Preferences – File Handling

Users of high-end cameras such as the Canon EOS or Nikon D series who may have
programmed the camera to process the images into a colour space such Adobe RGB (1998)
will therefore know that the profile mismatch warning is incorrect. In such circumstances
they should choose to either accept the embedded profile or discard it, but they must then use
the Assign Profile command to assign the correct profile. Both methods are equally valid.
Assign Profile does NOT change the image file only its appearance. Assign Profile and
Convert to Profile are discussed later.

(ii) Missing Profiles: Ask When Opening

Photoshop CS has been set to present the user with a dialog box when the image being
opened has no embedded profile. The dialog box looks similar to the following and again
contains three options; the pre-set selection is dependent upon the Colour Management
Policy in operation at the time.

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The above example is pre-set for how the dialog would appear when the Colour Management
Policy is set for Preserve Embedded Profile. Since no profile is embedded Photoshop will try
to assign the working space profile to the image. No conversion takes place, just the
assignment of the working space profile.

The lower Assign Profile (and the associated and then convert to working RGB) checkbox is
the best choice if you know the source images true colour space and you want the image to
appear in Photoshop. Typically, this option will be used for images from a digital camera or
similar device that does not embed a profile in the image file or provide EXIF colour space
information. Note that the source profile MUST be known and available to the user before
this option can be selected.

(iii) Profile Mismatches: Ask When Opening

The screenshot below shows the Paste Profile Mismatch dialog that will appear in the event
of the colour spaces of the two images not matching.

Note that the terms preserve colour appearance and colour numbers relate to the source
image, not the destination.

The various dialogs that have been shown above are only a sample of those that may appear
as you open or import images that contravene the defined Colour Management Policy.
However, I think that the text messages included in each should be more than ample to
explain what each option does and will therefore allow you to make the appropriate choice.

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Conversion Options

This section will only be present in the Colour Settings dialog if the user chooses to activate
the Advanced checkbox. The following screenshot shows this section of the Colour Settings
dialog in its default configuration.

Engine: this is the name of the engine, which will be used for all colour space conversions.
Unless you have good reason to choose an alternative your should leave it at the default
Adobe ACE setting. ACE is the direct equivalent of the Built-in engine used in Photoshop 5.
Windows users should NOT be tempted to choose ICM. Mac users should keep in mind that
the option chosen here will override the selection made in the ColorSync setup. Choosing the
ColorSync engine is for Mac users as a bad a choice as Windows users choosing ICM.

Intent: this pop-up menu allows the user to select from four different rendering intents,
namely Perceptual, Saturation, Relative Colorimetric and Absolute Colorimetric. Typically,
most users will choose between Relative Colorimetric or Perceptual. A short description on
each is provided in the Description section of the Colour Settings dialog. A more
comprehensive explanation can be found in the Photoshop on-line help files.

With Relative Colorimetric it is only those source colours that are out of gamut (i.e. can't be
viewed/printed accurately within the destination colour space) that will be mapped to the
closest in-gamut colour, the remainder are left unchanged. This means that in the case of
images with lots of out-of-gamut colours the visual relationship between the colours (after
conversion) will almost certainly change. With Perceptual, all colours of the source colour
space will be mapped to the nearest in-gamut colour of the destination colour space thus
maintaining the visual relationship between colours. In other words, with Perceptual the
whole image colour gamut will be compressed so that it fits within the new colour space. The
Photoshop default and recommendation is Relative Colorimetric and after considerable
experimentation I have decided to go with Adobes recommendation.

Use Black Point Compensation: this should be kept checked. Black Point Compensation
ensures that the darkest neutrals of the source colour space are mapped to the darkest neutrals
of the destination colour space. In most circumstances toggling BPC ON and OFF will result
in no obvious change to the image appearance.

Use Dither (8-bit/channel images): as with Black Point Compensation this should be kept
checked. The description box at the bottom of the Colour Settings dialog box will give you
some clue as to what it does.

Advanced Controls

As with the Conversion options, this section will only be present in the Colour Settings
dialog if the user chooses to activate the Advanced checkbox. The screenshot below shows
this section of the Colour Settings dialog in its default configuration.

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An explanation on what each of these options do is provided in the “Description” box and on-
line helps files. The consensus appears to be that both settings should be left in the default
"Off" condition.

The Desaturate Monitor Colour By: option is the one that has greatest potential to cause
confusion, as it will result in the image preview to become progressively less saturated as the
percentage is increased. Those choosing to work in VERY wide colour spaces may find it
useful, however, the majority of Photoshop users should leave it Off.

Saving Out Your Own Default Colour Settings

Select the Save button and give your settings a Name and Description by which you can call
them back in the future. If for some reason you make a temporary change you can then easily
recall your custom settings. Also note that you can have as many different sets of colour
settings as you wish, although only one can be active at a time. The following screenshot
shows my preferred colour settings. Notice that I have chosen to use a customised profile for
the greyscale working space; you shouldn't try to repeat these particular settings since it is
specific to my workflow.

Customised Colour Settings Configuration

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Part 3 - Soft Proofing

One of the most frequently asked Photoshop questions is: "why don't my prints match the
screen?" Generally it's down to poor monitor calibration, but on other occasions it's simply
the fact that the user has unrealistically high expectations of what can be printed or worse,
they have made the wrong selection in the Photoshop Print with Preview dialog.

This section will discuss the options and commands associated with the Photoshop CS Soft
Proof feature and should also go some way to answering the above question. I haven't
included any reference to specific printer driver set-ups as these have been covered in a
dedicated tutorial; see: Managing colour when printing.

Basically soft proofing is nothing more than using your monitor as a proofing device.
However, accurate proofing is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of the monitor
profile that I described in Part 1. You will also need good quality media profiles for each
printer/media/ink combination.

In order that we may get Photoshop in a state ready for soft proofing we must configure the
relevant dialogs. This is done via the View > Proof Setup > Custom menu as shown below.

Although Proof Setup will only affects the current or active image on your desktop, you
MUST configure the proof setup via the Custom menu option with NO image/document
open. If you attempt to configure Proof Setup with an image/document open then the existing
Photoshop default Soft Proof profile will be retained as the default.

The various proofing options are:

• Working CMYK - soft proofs the image using the current CMYK working space
defined in the Colour Settings dialog.

• Working Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black Plate or Working CMY Plates - soft
proofs the image using the current CMYK working space defined in the Colour
Settings dialog.

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 • Macintosh RGB and Windows RGB - soft proofs the image using the standard Mac or
Windows monitor profile (i.e. Apple RGB and sRGB respectively).

• Monitor RGB - soft proofs the image using your actual monitor profile. If the image
look bad when this option is selected you know that your monitor profile is broken
and needs to be recreated as described in Part 1.

• Simulate Paper White - provides a preview of the shade of white for the paper based
upon the active soft proof profile. This option requires a very accurate profile
otherwise the whites of the image can appear significantly more blue/yellow than it
should.

• Simulate Ink Black - provides a preview of the dynamic range of the image based
upon the active soft proof profile.

The screenshot below shows a typical view of the Proof Setup dialog for an Epson inkjet
printer simulation. From this dialog we can easily select, configure and save our own
customised soft proofing setup for any number of different printer profiles. Remember to
make sure that you have NO images/documents open when going through the process of
defining your own default Soft Proof profile.

We begin the process by choosing the Profile; in the example shown above I have selected
the Epson profile for Premium Glossy paper. This choice will be the profile for the media that
we want to simulate on the monitor.

Preserve Colour Numbers:

This option will only be available if the image and profiles are in sync, i.e. both are
RGB or both are CMYK. Selecting the Preserve Colour Numbers checkbox will
usually result in a quite awful looking display, this is how it should be. Basically we
are simulating how the document/image will appear if it is not converted to the actual
device profile.

One use of this option is to enable you to see how the image would print if the media
profile had not been selected in the Profile pop-up menu. There are apparently others,
but these all well beyond my understanding. Normally it is best the leave the
checkbox unchecked.

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Use Black Point Compensation:

I described Use Black Point Compensation previously when discussing the Conversion
Engines. Typically, it will be best to keep it checked.

Intent:
Again I described Intent previously when discussing the Conversion Engines.
Typically, it will be best to stick with either Relative Colorimetric or Perceptual when
printing with photographic type images.

Simulate:
There are two options (or checkboxes) shown in this section of the Proof Setup
dialog. The first Paper White allows you to simulate, on the monitor, the shade/colour
of the paper white. The second Ink Black will enable you to simulate, on your
monitor, the dynamic range defined by the media profile (i.e. how dark black will
appear on the media you are printing to). Note that selecting the Paper White
checkbox will cause the Ink Black to be selected and greyed out. Not all profiles will
support both options.

The resulting soft proof display can be quite disconcerting in that the overall tone of
the image may tend to look compressed or slightly colour shifted (e.g. white takes on
a blue cast). This can often occur when using scanner derived printer profiles. In such
circumstances it may be best to ignore the use of the Paper White and Ink Black since
it is VERY unlikely that such profiles will provide an accurate soft proof.

To save your customised proof setup simply choose the Save button and give the soft proof
profile a name that clearly indicates the printer/media combination for which it should be
used. The name of a saved soft profile will be appended onto the bottom of the list
immediately below Simulate Ink Black.

The saved soft proof profiles are saved to the following locations:

• Windows - Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Color/Proofing folder

• Mac OSX - ~Library/Application Support/Adobe/Color/Proofing folder

A comprehensive tutorial describing the technique of soft proofing is provided elsewhere on

the Computer Darkroom web site.

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Part 4 - Managing Image/Document Colour Space

On the Colour Space conversion and profile-embedding front we find that little has changed
from Photoshop 6 and 7. Without the tools that follow it would be virtually impossible for the
user to maintain a fully colour-managed workflow.

Assign Profile

As with previous versions of Photoshop the Assign Profile command is accessed via the
Image > Mode menu and allows the user to assign any ICC/ColorSync profile to an image.
The command itself was designed for only a few limited uses, typically with images that have
been scanned into Photoshop using a Twain module or a scanner package that has no means
of embedding an ICC/ColorSync profile. Similarly it will also be useful handling images
from digital cameras, etc. that have no embedded profile or possibly an incorrect EXIF colour
space profile.

The Assign profile command is a means by which we can append a description of how the
image should “appear” without actually converting the image. It’s also possible to remove an
existing profile from an image thereby instructing Photoshop to not colour manage the image.

• The Don't Colour Manage this Document: option is used to instruct Photoshop to
remove an existing embedded profile (sometimes referred to as untagging).

• The Working RGB: option tags the image with the current default working space
profile as defined in Colour Settings.

• The Profile: popup option allows us to assign a profile other than the default Working
RGB profile. In the above example I chose to assign a customised profile for a digital
camera.

Convert to Profile

As its name suggests the Covert to Profile command allows you to convert from one colour
space to another. This command is found under the Image > Mode menu and is basically an
enhanced version of the Photoshop 5 Profile-to-Profile command. With Profile-to-Profile we
were able to define the source colour space (and probably get it wrong). However, in
Photoshop CS this cannot be done since the source profile for the image is locked. The only
way that this source profile can be changed is via the Assign Profile command discussed
above.

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In the example above I show an image with an embedded profile (Source Space = Canon
EOS D30 ..........NSC) being converted to Adobe RGB (1998) (i.e. the Destination Space).
Whenever we make this conversion it will be the profile for the destination space that is
embedded within the image file when saved. Convert to Profile changes the numbers (i.e.
pixel values). The inclusion of the Preview checkbox allows the user to compare the
conversion with and without Black Point Compensation, Dithering and any one of the four
rendering Intents. The ability to preview the conversion is a real boon and shouldn't be
ignored, use it to your benefit.

Notice that the Intent is set to Relative Colorimetric, as this was the default Intent chosen by
me when configuring the Colour Settings. However, as with many Photoshop setting the
Intent is sticky, which means that if I had chosen Perceptual instead then the next time I
chose Convert to Profile the Intent would be set to Perceptual. The moral being - always
check the actual value before clicking OK.

Save As

Last but not least, the Save As dialog throws up a host of useful features. The Embed Profile
checkbox is very important and will reflect your choice of Colour Management Policy. You
switch it ON or turn it OFF as you please, the latter option being a bad idea in most instances.
Notice that the dialog even informs us which profile is being embedded.

The screenshot shown below is how the dialog appears on a Windows 2000 system; the Mac
OSX version of Photoshop CS will look slightly different, but both are functionally identical.

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The other save options present in the dialog are those associated with Layers, Alpha
Channels, Annotations, etc. Again, we can choose to uncheck them and so save the image
without the layers, etc. The Save As a Copy feature is engaged by default as soon as you
uncheck Layers; this prevents you trashing a lot of hard work.

Part 5 - Print with Preview

Whilst printing from within Photoshop is discussed in separate tutorial to be found on the
Computer-Darkroom web site it is still worth providing a brief overview to round off this
essay on colour management.

The screenshot overleaf shows the colour management features within the Print with Preview
dialog box although it is first necessary to turn them on via the Show More Options
checkbox.

The various colour management options enable you to define the source and destination
(target) colour spaces and the rendering intent used to convert the image between the two.

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Source Space: Document - this denotes the actual colour space of the source image/document
to be printed. The above example shows Adobe RGB (1998), but it could be any number of
user specified alternatives (e.g. sRGB, ProPhoto, ColorMatch, etc.). If the image has already
been converted (using the Photoshop Convert to Profile command) to a printer/media profile
its name will be reflected here.

Source Space: Proof - tells Photoshop to convert the image/document from the source colour
space to the ICC profile specified in the Proof Setup dialog (see: Photoshop View menu).

Print Space: Profile - is where you choose the preferred method of managing the colour
output from Photoshop. We have three different options - each has its own specific
configuration in the printer driver so avoid a mix and match approach, as it will end in tears.
The following discussion should help you understand the differences between each.

1. Same as source: Photoshop simply passes the image/document straight to the printer
driver without making any alterations. Unless you also have chosen Proof: Proof
Setup this option is effectively telling Photoshop to NOT colour manage the printing
of the image/document.

2 . Printer Colour Management: choosing this options tells Photoshop that the
image/document should be sent to printer driver with the profile listed against Source
Space: embedded within it. By embedding the profile Photoshop is providing the
printer driver with all the necessary information required to ensure accurate colour
rendering. Image/document colour management is handled the printer driver.

3. ICC Profile: this last option is where we choose a specific profile that is compatible
with our printer. Notice that once an ICC profile is selected the Intent and Use Black
Point Compensation (BPC) facilities are activated.

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