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Author Topic: Changing rendering intent on softproof page  (Read 14855 times)
nbagno
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« on: May 04, 2016, 11:53:10 PM »

Is there a way to click between perceptual and relative rendering intent and see how each affects the soft-proofed image without going to the ICC profile and changing it there? Lightroom has this feature and it's a great way to quickly pick the rendering intent that works best for a specific image/paper combination.

Thanks.
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Fred A
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« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2016, 09:11:58 AM »

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Is there a way to click between perceptual and relative rendering intent and see how each affects the soft-proofed image without going to the ICC profile and changing it there? Lightroom has this feature and it's a great way to quickly pick the rendering intent that works best for a specific image/paper combination.

Thanks.

Of course you can swap back and forth changing rendering intents using the checkmark as shown in rthe attached screen snap, BUT, this result is barely worth the effort.
All Softproofing is an off the wall guessing game. Matching your printer profile against a calibrated monitor profile.
Qimage goes further and with deliberate accuracy.
Unless you are printing line art or specific printing that calls for Absolute or charts an graphs, you will get the most accurate color using Perceptual or Relative colorimetric.
The results would differ only if you had some out of gamut colors.
So what most of us who do color management printing do, is put two 5 x 7s of the same image on a single sheet of 8.5 x 11, and using Custom Color Management, I can set one 5 x 7 to print using the Epson Profile, and the other 5 x 7 to print using my Profile Prism made profile.
NOW, I have two prints on the same paper with the same brighteners in the paper, same surface and chemical reaction, and if there is a difference between the prints, I can clearly see which print I like better and why.
Screen snap 052 shows the menu item to select
Screen snap 051 Shows where to dot the box to activate a different profile you with to match, and then add the profile.
Screen snap 053 shows the screen with a tag (do-hicky) on the print with the added profile so you know which is which.
Now you have useful information to determine what profile works best.

Fred
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Terry-M
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« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2016, 11:25:29 AM »

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Lightroom has this feature and it's a great way to quickly pick the rendering intent that works best for a specific image/paper combination.
I never thought of Lightroom as a benchmark for colour management matters - you cannot even print a calibration target in LR because colour management cannot be turned off. Unless they have changed that "feature" in recent months.
Fred said:
Quote
using Custom Color Management, I can set one 5 x 7 to print using the Epson Profile, and the other 5 x 7 to print using my Profile Prism made profile.
You can use this QU feature to print images using the same profile with different rendering intents at the same time either on the same page or multiple pages.

Terry
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nbagno
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« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2016, 05:14:45 AM »

In a recent video on the Luminous Landscape, Jeff Schewe was showing how to softproof using lightroom. He could click between relative and perceptual while looking at the image in the softproof screen. It was clear to see that some images looked better using one or the other and some you couldn't notice a difference. I was simply asking if that was available in qimage without having to exit the softproof screen. Answer is it is not, but it does look like a useful feature. I have used qimage for years to print BTW so I am not trying to say that LR is better, just that this looks like a useful feature.

I understand that I can print two images and compare. But then why softproof at all? Why not always print two images and compare?
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Terry-M
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« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2016, 08:12:46 AM »

Hi,
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Why not always print two images and compare?
I think it's because softproofing depends on the quailty of both the printer and monitor profiles. There are 2 lots of conversions taking place, rather than just one when actually printing, so there can be two sets of errors that are compounded.
I have professionally made custom profiles and re-calibrate my Eizo monitor every month or so, yet still see differences in contrast between the softproof screen and the finished print, especially with matte paper. The print is much better.
I thought the video was informative, especially on the subject of understanding gamut and the fact that profiling and colour management deals with that. I was surprised to see the guy using a laptop, presumably for the tutorial only. I doubt that even Mac laptop screens come anywhere near the quality of a "proper" monitor.
Terry
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Fred A
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« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2016, 09:01:55 AM »

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I understand that I can print two images and compare. But then why softproof at all? Why not always print two images and compare?

That, above, is exactly my point.
With one sheet of 8.5 x 11 (or smaller) I can absolutely *know* which is better, which profile, which rendering intent.
As Terry pointed out, even better than I did, the softproofing is about as accurate as a person going outside on a windy day, and after holding a wet finger in the air, declaring, "Yup, about 24 mph out of the west"

About 3 months ago, Mike added the unclogger to Qimage. A boon to all of us as a wasted sheet of paper every other day, was a terrific saving compared to having a couple of colors with clogged nozzles. Now it's rare to ever have to run multiple cleaning cycles which cost a ton of expensive ink.
Same goes for the pre-print print which really shows you what you will be getting. No guess work.

The gentleman on LL may have showed you how you can click back and forth, which is more a parlor trick than a worthwhile tool.

Fred

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nbagno
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« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2016, 04:44:15 PM »

I guess since I have Lghtroom I could just go to the soft-proof page and do the compare then set Qimage to the one I liked best in Lightroom. Or not :-D

Thanks, you both always take the time to respond with detailed answers. Much appreciated.
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Terry-M
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« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2016, 06:34:16 PM »

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Or not :-D
I find I not need to soft proof because, like the man on the video, my prints match the monitor nearly every time time. Maybe I'm fortunate, I don't need to check before printing.
Terry
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Ernst Dinkla
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« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2016, 10:07:50 AM »

I am not convinced either that a softproof can replace test prints when it gets critical; reproduction of originals as an example, and QU has that nice test print feature already mentioned by Fred. It would however be more convenient if the user can set other rendering intents, BPC and even other printer profiles within the softproof window. Or an option where you have the same image twice in Best Shot Selector with a choice of softproof per image.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2016 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots
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Terry-M
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« Reply #9 on: May 08, 2016, 03:45:40 PM »

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Or an option where you have the same image twice in Best Shot Selector with a choice of softproof per image.
You can already do this in a slightly different way.
Put  2 copies (or more) of the image in the queue and us the Custom Colour Managemet feature to set different rendering intents for each copy.
Then us the Comparator (Preview context menu) to compare a pair of the copies.
Terry
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Ernst Dinkla
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« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2016, 11:35:39 AM »

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Or an option where you have the same image twice in Best Shot Selector with a choice of softproof per image.
You can already do this in a slightly different way.
Put  2 copies (or more) of the image in the queue and us the Custom Colour Managemet feature to set different rendering intents for each copy.
Then us the Comparator (Preview context menu) to compare a pair of the copies.
Terry

Done that with very different printer profiles, one for newspaper and one for Ilford Satin RC paper (and numeral other different printer profiles + rendering choices) and I do not see color differences between both representations of the image. In Photoshop I can see it clearly between an image + a copy if I give them different renderings or printer profiles or profiles. My conclusion so far is that Comparator does not show those different renderings of images in the queue, in short either picks up the general printer profile setting for both or has no CM. Your suggestion is alright but should get suitable color management then.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2016 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots
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Terry-M
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« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2016, 11:44:05 AM »

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My conclusion so far is that Comparator does not show those different renderings of images in the queue
Yes, you are right, you do need to use the soft proof feature - sorry idf I've confused anyone  Roll Eyes
Terry
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Ernst Dinkla
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« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2016, 02:55:45 PM »

Terry,

Let us summarize; two color management renderings of the same image next to one another is possible in print but not on the monitor, in other words not as softproofs. One image is possible in softproof but in the softproof window no changes of rendering or profile can be made.  Your suggestion to use the print queue is a nice one but needs color management in the Comparator, Softproof is no selectable feature there. Is that correct?

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2016 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots
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Terry-M
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« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2016, 06:27:21 PM »

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Your suggestion to use the print queue is a nice one but needs color management in the Comparator, Softproof is no selectable feature there. Is that correct?
Colour management is applied in the comparator but as you say, it's not possible to soft proof.
Terry
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admin
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« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2016, 01:57:40 PM »

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Your suggestion to use the print queue is a nice one but needs color management in the Comparator, Softproof is no selectable feature there. Is that correct?
Colour management is applied in the comparator but as you say, it's not possible to soft proof.
Terry

Right.  It's the fact that QU is 100% color managed (down to the thumbnails) that it won't work.  Whatever profile is associated with the image itself will be used to profile to your monitor's color space.  So even if you convert an image from one color space to another, they will look the same in the comparator (minus any out-of-gamut colors) because QU will be displaying that image in your monitor's color space (profile).

BUT... it can be done.  Using Terry's suggestion where you use custom color management settings for the print, put two prints on the page and set the custom color management settings for each print.  Set the size of the print so that both prints take up about half the page (they are as large as possible on the page for easier viewing).  Then go to the full page editor and click the "Soft Proof" button.  You'll then see a soft proof of both prints on the same page, under the different profiles/intents.  IMO, that's even better than side-by-side because you get to see what the soft proofs look like on the paper-white.

Just to restate what has already been pointed out, it'd be best to print that page and look at it rather than just using the soft proof.  Your monitor can't render all the colors from your printer, and your printer can't render all the colors from your monitor and both of those are required for an accurate soft proof.  Meaning that just going by the soft proof can really lead you astray if that's all you use.

Mike
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