1. Color Management

Welcome to Photoshop! We know you want to dive into the editing features of Camera Raw or Photoshop right away, but achieving successful results will depend on your establishing proper color management settings first.

In this chapter, you will launch Photoshop and familiarize yourself with the Photoshop color basics. Key color management tasks that you will learn about include calibrating your display, choosing and saving color settings in Photoshop, and downloading and installing the correct printer profiles. (In Chapter 25, color management will come into play once more, when you prepare your final files for output.)

In a 64-bit version of Windows 7, click the Start button, choose All Programs, then click Adobe Photoshop CC 2014.

In Windows 8, display the Start screen, then click the tile for Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 (64-bit) or Adobe Photoshop CC 2014.

Double-click a Photoshop file icon (the file will open and Photoshop will launch).

To enable Photoshop to be launched from the Desktop, right-click the application icon and choose Pin This Program to Taskbar.

To launch Photoshop in the Mac OS:

Do one of the following:

Click the Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 icon in the Dock. (If that icon isn’t in your dock, open the Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 folder in the Applications folder, then drag the Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 application icon into the Dock.)

Open the Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 folder in the Applications folder, then double-click the Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 application icon.

Double-click a Photoshop file icon (the file will open and Photoshop will launch).

A In this extreme close-up of a photo in Photoshop, you can see the individual pixels that make up the image.

To enable color images to be viewed onscreen, your computer display projects red, green, and blue (RGB) light. Combined in their purest form, these additive primaries produce white light. If you were to send your Photoshop file to a commercial print shop for four-color process printing, it would be rendered using cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) inks. Because your display uses the RGB model, it can only simulate the CMYK inks used in commercial printing.

The successful translation of a digital image to a printed one is more complex than you might expect. For one, the same document may look surprisingly dissimilar on different displays, due to such variables as the temperature of the display, the lighting in the room, and even the paint color on the office wall. Second, many colors that you see in the natural world or that can be displayed onscreen can’t be printed (have no ink equivalents), and conversely, some colors that can be printed cannot be displayed the same way onscreen. And third, the same image will produce different results depending on the output device and paper type. The color management techniques that we outline in this chapter are designed to help smooth out the color discrepancies that can arise when an image is transferred from digital input to display onscreen, then finally to print.

Photoshop channels

Every Photoshop image contains one, three, or four channels, each of which stores the intensity of a particular color component (e.g., red, green, or blue) as one of 256 levels of gray. Because the 256 gray levels are represented by 8 bits (short for “binary digits”) of computer data, the bit depth of such an image is said to be 8 bits per channel. Files that have a higher bit depth of 16 or 32 bits per channel contain more color information than those containing 8 bits per channel (to learn about 16-bit images, see page 17).

Open an RGB Color image and display the Channels panel (Window > Channels) (A). Click Red, Green, or Blue on the panel to display only that channel in your document, then click the topmost channel name on the panel to restore the composite display. Although you can make adjustments to individual channels, normally you will edit all the channels simultaneously while viewing the composite image.

In addition to the core channels (e.g., RGB or CMYK), you can add two other kinds of channels to a Photoshop document. You can save a selection as a mask in a grayscale (alpha) channel, and you can add channels for individual spot colors (colors that are output by a commercial print shop using premixed inks).

Photoshop document color modes

In Photoshop, a document can be converted to, displayed in, and edited in any of the following color modes: Bitmap, Grayscale, Duotone, Indexed Color, RGB Color, CMYK Color, Lab Color, or Multichannel. The availability of some Photoshop commands and options varies depending on the color mode of the current document, so one reason to make a color mode conversion is to take advantage of specific editing or output options.

To convert a document to a different mode, make a selection from the Image > Mode submenu. B If a mode is dimmed on the menu and you want to make it available, you need to convert the file to a different mode as a transitional step. For example, to convert a file to Duotone mode, you need to put it into Grayscale mode first. The mode that Photoshop users most commonly work in is RGB Color.

Some mode conversions can cause noticeable color shifts. For example, if you convert a file from RGB Color mode (the mode used by computer displays) to CMYK Color mode (which contains fewer colors than RGB but is necessary for commercial printing), printable colors in the image will be substituted for any RGB colors that are outside the printable range, or gamut. The fewer times you convert a file, the better, as the color data is altered with each conversion. Some conversions cause layers to be flattened, such as a conversion to Indexed Color, Multichannel, or Bitmap mode. Other conversions (such as from RGB to CMYK) give you the option to preserve layers via a Don’t Flatten button in an alert dialog that pops up.

Digital cameras and medium- to low-end scanners produce images in RGB color mode. We recommend keeping your files in that mode for faster editing, and to preserve your access to all the Photoshop filters. In fact, most desktop color inkjet printers, especially those that use six or more ink colors, are designed to accept RGB files.

To “soft-proof” your RGB document onscreen (make it look as if it was converted to CMYK Color mode without performing an actual mode change), see pages 474–475.

The following is a brief summary of the document color modes that are available in Photoshop:

In Bitmap mode, pixels are either 100% black or 100% white, and no layers, filters, or adjustment commands are available. To convert a file to this mode, you must convert it to Grayscale mode first.

In Grayscale mode, pixels are black, white, or up to 254 shades of gray (a total of 256). If you convert a file from a color mode to Grayscale mode and then save and close it, its luminosity (light and dark) values are preserved, but its color information is deleted permanently. (In Chapter 12, we show you how to change the colors in a layer to grayscale without actually changing the document color mode.)

To produce a duotone, a grayscale image is printed using two or more extra plates, which add tonal richness and depth. Producing a duotone requires special preparatory steps in Photoshop, and in the case of commercial printing, expertise on the part of the print shop.

A file in Indexed Color mode contains just one channel, no layers, and a maximum of 256 colors or shades in an 8-bit color table. Options for the color table are set in a dialog (Image > Mode > Color Table).

RGB Color is the most versatile and widely used of all the Photoshop modes.A It’s the mode in which digital cameras save your photos; the only mode in which all the Photoshop tool options and filters are accessible; and the mode of choice for export to the Web, mobile devices, video, multimedia programs, and most inkjet printers.

In Photoshop, although you can display and edit a document in CMYK Color mode,B a better approach is to perform all your image edits in RGB Color mode first, then convert a copy of your file to CMYK Color mode only when required for commercial printing or for export to a page-layout application. Images that are saved by high-end scanners in CMYK Color mode are exceptions; you should keep those files in CMYK to preserve their original color data.

Lab Color, a three-channel mode, was developed for the purpose of achieving consistency among various devices, such as between printers and displays. Lab Color files are device independent, meaning their color definitions stay the same regardless of how each output device defines color. The channels represent lightness (the image details), the colors green to red, and the colors blue to yellow. The lightness and color values can be edited independently of one another. Although Photoshop uses Lab Color to produce conversions between RGB and CMYK Color modes internally, Photoshop users like us rarely, if ever, need to convert files to this mode.

Multichannel images contain multiple 256-level grayscale channels. If you convert an image from RGB Color to Multichannel mode, its Red, Green, and Blue channels are converted to Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (as a result, the image may become lighter and its contrast is reduced). Some Photoshop pros assemble individual channels from several images into a single composite image by using this mode.

A color management system can prevent most color discrepancies from arising by acting as a color interpreter. The system knows how each particular device and program interprets color, and if necessary, adjusts the colors accordingly. The result is that the colors in your files will display and output more consistently as you shuttle them among various programs and devices. Applications in the Adobe Creative Cloud adhere to standard ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles, which tell your color management system how each specific device defines color.

Each particular device can capture and reproduce only a limited gamut of colors. In the jargon of color management, this gamut is known as the color space. The mathematical description of the color space of each device, in turn, is known as a color profile. Furthermore, each input device, such as a camera, attaches its own profile to the files it produces. Photoshop uses that profile in order to display and edit the colors in your document; or if a document doesn’t contain a profile, Photoshop will use the current working space (a color space that you choose for the program) instead. Color management is important for both print and online output, and when outputting the same document in different media.

On the following pages, we give instructions for choosing color management options, and we strongly recommend that you follow them before editing your images in Photoshop. The steps are centered on using Adobe RGB as the color space for your image-editing work in order to maintain color consistency throughout your workflow. We’ll show you how to set the color space of your digital camera to Adobe RGB, give guidelines on calibrating a display, specify Adobe RGB as the color space for Photoshop, acquire the proper profiles for your inkjet printer and paper type, and assign the Adobe RGB profile to files that you have opened in Photoshop.

You’ll need to focus on color management later in the production cycle if and when you prepare your file for printing. In Chapter 25, we’ll show you how to create a soft-proof setting for your particular inkjet printer and paper using the profiles you have acquired, and then use that setting to soft-proof your document onscreen. The same profile will also be used to output files on a color inkjet printer. Finally, we’ll show you how to obtain and install the proper profiles for outputting either to the Web or to a commercial press.

Although you can adjust the brightness setting on an LCD monitor, it’s best to leave that setting alone and give your display a periodic tune-up using an external calibration device instead. This device, or calibrator, will produce a profile containing the proper settings (white point, black point, and gamma) for your particular display. The Adobe color management system, in turn, will interpret the colors in your Photoshop document and display them more accurately, based on that profile.

Calibrators range widely in cost, from a $100 to $300 colorimeter to a much more expensive (but more precise) high-end professional gadget, such as a spectrophotometer. Even with a basic colorimeter and its simple step-by-step wizard, you will be able to calibrate your display more precisely than by using subjective “eyeball” judgments. Among moderately priced calibrators, some currently popular and reliable models include Spyder4PRO and Spyder4ELITE by Datacolor and i1 Display Pro by X-Rite.

Note: Don’t be tempted to calibrate your display using the utility that’s built into your computer system — it’s not going to yield accurate results. If you want to achieve good output from Photoshop, you owe it to yourself to invest in a hardware calibrator. Even the least expensive external device is superior to the internal controls.

The basic calibration settings

An external calibrator will evaluate and then adjust three basic characteristics of your display: It will set the white (brightest) point to a consistent working standard; it will set the black (darkest) point to the maximum value; and it will establish a gamma (neutral gray) by equalizing the values of R, G, and B.

The white point data sets the brightest white for the display to the industry-standard color temperature. Photographers favor using D65/6500K as the temperature setting for the white point; it is the standard white point setting in LCD displays.

The black point is the darkest black a display can project. In other words, all the other shades that a monitor displays are lighter than this black. With the black point set correctly, you will be better able to view the shadow details in your photos.

The gamma controls the display of midtones (the tones between the black and white points), for improved contrast. A gamma setting of 1.0 reproduces the linear brightness scale that is found in nature. However, a setting of 1.0 would make your photos look washed out because human vision responds to brightness in a nonlinear fashion. Instead, photography experts recommend using a gamma setting of 2.2 for both Windows and Macintosh displays. This higher setting redistributes more of the midtones into the dark range, which our eyes are more sensitive to, and enables your photos to look closer to the way you expect them to.

To choose a color settings preset for Photoshop:

1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). The Color Settings dialog opens.

2. Choose Settings: North America Prepress 2 A (readers residing outside North America, choose an equivalent for your geographic location). This preset changes the RGB working space to Adobe RGB (1998), and sets all the color management policies to the safe choice of Preserve Embedded Profiles, enabling each file you open in Photoshop to keep its own profile.

3. Click OK.

Here you can delve further into the Color Settings dialog. Be sure to choose options that are suitable for your output requirements.

To choose color settings options for Photoshop:

1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). The Color Settings dialog opens.

2. From the Settings menu, choose one of the following presets, depending on your output needs:

Monitor Color sets the RGB working space to your display profile. This preset is a good choice for video output, but not for print output.

North America General Purpose 2 meets general requirements for screen and print output in North America, but we don’t recommend it for print output because it uses the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color space (see step 3, at right). All profile warnings are shut off.

North America Newspaper manages color for output on newsprint paper stock.

North America Prepress 2 manages color to conform to common press conditions in North America using the Adobe RGB (1998) color space. We recommend this preset for print documents. When CMYK documents are opened into Photoshop, their values are preserved.

North America Web/Internet is designed for online output. All RGB images are converted to the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color space.

3. The Working Spaces settings govern how colors are treated in documents that lack an embedded profile. You can either leave these menu settings as they are or choose one of these recommended RGB color spaces, depending on your output needs:

Adobe RGB (1998) contains a wide range of colors and is useful when converting RGB images to CMYK. This option is recommended for print output but not for Web output.

ProPhoto RGB contains a very wide range of colors and is useful for output to high-end inkjet and dye-sublimation printers.

sRGB IEC61966-2.1 is a good choice for Web output, as it reflects the settings of the average computer display. Although this setting isn’t a good choice for print output (because it contains fewer colors in the printable CMYK gamut than Adobe RGB), many online Web printing sites accept or require files to be in this color space.

4. Click OK.

We recommend that you avoid the Working Spaces settings of Apple RGB and ColorMatch RGB, which were designed for displays that are no longer standard. Also avoid the Monitor RGB [current display profile] and ColorSync RGB profiles, both of which rely on the viewer’s display and system settings — variables that can undermine color consistency.

Note: Before using Bridge to synchronize the color settings among your Adobe programs, you should establish the correct settings in Photoshop (see the preceding page).

To synchronize the color settings among your Adobe Creative Cloud applications:

1. If you’re in Photoshop, choose File > Browse in Bridge (Ctrl-Alt-O/Cmd-Option-O).

2. In Bridge, choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). The Color Settings dialog opens.A

3. Click the same settings preset that you chose in the Color Settings dialog in Photoshop (e.g., North America Prepress 2), then click Apply. Bridge will change (synchronize) the color settings of the other Adobe applications to conform to those in the preset you have selected.

The preset choices in the Color Settings dialog in Bridge match the presets on the Settings menu in the Color Settings dialog in Photoshop (see the preceding page). In the Color Settings dialog in Bridge, keep Show Expanded List of Color Settings Files unchecked to limit the display to just the five basic presets.

To customize the color management policies for Photoshop:

1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). The Color Settings dialog opens.A

2. From each of the Color Management Policies menus, choose an option for files that you open or import into Photoshop:

Off to prevent Photoshop from color-managing the files.

Preserve Embedded Profiles if you expect to work with both color-managed and non-color-managed files, and you want each document to keep its own profile.

Convert to Working RGB, Convert to Working Gray, or Convert to Working CMYK to have all files that you open or import into Photoshop adopt the program’s current color working space.

3. Optional: For Profile Mismatches, check Ask When Opening to have Photoshop display an alert when the color profile in a file you’re opening doesn’t match the current working space. Via the alert, you will be able to either convert the document colors to the current working space or keep the embedded profile in the document.

Check Ask When Pasting to have Photoshop display an alert if it encounters a color profile mismatch when you paste or drag and drop imagery into a document. Via the alert, you will be able to accept or override the current color management policy.

4. Optional: For Missing Profiles, check Ask When Opening to have Photoshop display an alert when opening a file that lacks a profile, giving you the opportunity to assign one.

5. Click OK.

To install a .csf file in your system:

In Windows, place the .csf file in a folder of your choice. Choose Edit > Color Settings, click Load, locate and click the .csf file, then click Open.

In the Mac OS, put the file in Users/[user name]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Color/Settings.

The .csf is now available as a choice on the Settings menu in the Color Settings dialog.

To access the hidden Library folder in the Mac OS X or later, in the Finder, hold down Option and choose Library from the Go menu.

If your print shop gives you a list of recommended settings for the Color Settings dialog instead of a .csf file, you can create your own .csf file that contains the recommended settings, as in these steps.

To save custom color settings as a .csf file:

1. Choose Edit > Color Settings (Ctrl-Shift-K/Cmd-Shift-K). The Color Settings dialog opens.

2. Choose and check the settings that your print shop has recommended.

3. Click Save. In the dialog, enter a file name (we suggest including the printer type in the name). Keep the .csf extension (make sure Hide Extension is unchecked), and keep the default location. Click Save.

4. Click OK to exit the Color Settings dialog.

Note: If you’re using Windows 8 or later or Mac OS X 10.8 or later and a Canon inkjet printer, the latest Canon drivers (which include profiles) are already installed in your system and you don’t need to follow these steps. If you’re running an older operating system, download the needed driver from usa.canon.com.

To download the printer profile for your inkjet printer:

1. Do either of the following:

Download the correct profile from the website for your printer. For example, for an Epson Stylus Photo Inkjet device, visit epson.com, locate your printer model, then locate either the driver or the ICC profile for your paper type.

Download an ICC profile for a specific printer/paper combo from the website of a paper manufacturer, such as ilford.com or museofineart.com.

2. After visiting the website, install the profile you have downloaded by following the instructions that accompany it.

On pages 474–475, we’ll show you how to use the profile you have downloaded to soft-proof your document onscreen.

To change or remove a file’s color profile:

1. With a file open in Photoshop, choose Edit > Assign Profile. If the file contains layers, an alert may appear, warning you that the appearance of the layers may change; click OK.

2. The Assign Profile dialog opens.A Check Preview, then click one of the following:

To remove the color profile, click Don’t Color Manage This Document.

To assign the current working space, as established in the Color Settings dialog, click Working [the document color mode and the name of your chosen working space]. If you followed our steps on page 8, the menu should already be set to the option of Adobe RGB (1998).

To assign a different profile, click Profile, then choose a profile that differs from your current working space.

3. Click OK. Using the File > Save As dialog, save your file in the Photoshop (.psd) format (see page 20). In that dialog, be sure to check ICC Profile (in Windows) or Embed Color Profile (in the Mac OS) to embed the assigned profile into the file.

The Convert to Profile command lets you preview the conversion of a document to a different output profile and intent, then it converts the color data to the chosen profile. Use this command to convert a file to sRGB, if that color space is required (e.g., for online Web printing). Note: This command performs a mode conversion and changes the actual color data in your file, so you should apply it to a copy of your file, not to the original (see page 20).

To convert a file’s color profile:

1. Choose Edit > Convert to Profile. In the Convert to Profile dialog, check Preview.B

2. Under Destination Space, from the Profile menu, choose the profile to which you want to convert the file (it doesn’t necessarily have to be the current working space).

3. Under Conversion Options, choose an Intent (for the intents, see the sidebar on page 475).

4. Leave the default Engine as Adobe (ACE), keep the Use Black Point Compensation and Use Dither options checked and, if it’s available, check Flatten Image to Preserve Appearance to allow Photoshop to merge all layers and adjustment layers into the Background.

5. Click OK.