editing in soft proof mode

Long story, but I have all new stuff: S-IPS 28" monitor, calibrated with eye 1 display 2 (6400 k, 2.2 gama, 120 cd/m2 lum), new Epson 3880 and am editing in CS5. Paper is Epson Premium Luster. I am still struggling with prints being a bit dark. If my sole purpose of an image is for printing, Is there any reason I can't fully edit my images as layers in soft proof mode set at the paper profile?

I am getting lost in color management overload. While I want to learn a lot, I also want to print NOW and not waste a ton of paper.

Have you lowered the brightness on your monitor? The most common root cause of dark prints is that monitors out of the box are too bright so that in post processing we keep our images on the dark side. If you are not sure, post a shot that prints dark and some of us with adjusted monitors can provide feedback.

I see you have a luminance value posted with your calibration values, but in the real world you want it at a "working level" even if the values seem "right".

120 Cd/m^2 might be too high, depending on your working environment.

I'd edit normally, then softproof and correct as needed. But yes, you could edit all the way in softproof mode.

Some additional tips in the second part of this blogpost: http://www.getcolorman​aged.com/color-management/testprint/ (from "Let’s stop theorising already!" on)

It's quite common to create a layer set with softproofing adjustments. You deactivate the layer set until needed for printing.


http://www.computer-darkroom.com/softproof​/softproof_1.htm

http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ps12_colo​ur/ps12_1.htm

Irrespective of how the monitor is set if you judge exposure by numbers (look at the histrogram or RGB values) then monitor brightness shouldn't matter. But I do agree that most monitors are set too bright.

thanks for the quick replies. My monitor brightness has been lowered a long way based on the feedback of the eye 1.it's actually at 16%. I religiously look at my histogram. Interesting how the soft proof histogram is quite different to the 'edit' histogram. I have tried layers to make them match more, but really not so easy.

I will keep learning color management, but mostly wanted to know if I could do regular editing in the soft proof mode since I am eager to get a few prints out that have a nice feel. The first efforts just didn't allow the Fall colors to pop ... especially the reds.

buddy4344 wrote in post #11184136
thanks for the quick replies. My monitor brightness has been lowered a long way based on the feedback of the eye 1.it's actually at 16%. I religiously look at my histogram. Interesting how the soft proof histogram is quite different to the 'edit' histogram. I have tried layers to make them match more, but really not so easy.

I will keep learning color management, but mostly wanted to know if I could do regular editing in the soft proof mode since I am eager to get a few prints out that have a nice feel. The first efforts just didn't allow the Fall colors to pop ... especially the reds.

If you get it close before the softproofing, then hopefully when you do the softproofing you can get away with say one or two adjustment layers that will do the job. If you specify them as "for print", you could then easily make them "invisible" for your normal image output. Then what I'd do is crreate an Action using whatever you need to do for print so that when you are preparing an image for print, you can run the action, verify with the softproof whatever that works for, print the photo or save and send a file to print, then just delete or make invisible the layer(s) that prosessed for the actual print. It can be a quick and painless operation once you do the initial footwork!

buddy4344 wrote in post #11184136
colors to pop ... especially the reds.

Some colors simply will not be printable...

A big thanks to the comments above as well as the links several of you have in your sig. With your help and a few great articles, I am printing with predictable colors. I'm still a newbie, but I am way way up the curve vs. 3 days ago.

buddy4344 wrote in post #11189551
A big thanks to the comments above as well as the links several of you have in your sig. With your help and a few great articles, I am printing with predictable colors. I'm still a newbie, but I am way way up the curve vs. 3 days ago.

That's good to hear! If you get a good working routine, please post back here with it -- it could be great for people to see who are dealing with this stuff!