Soft Proofing

henkbos

Newbie

Posts: 7

Soft Proofing

« on: August 06, 2011, 07:27:57 PM »

Hi all,

I need to get my mind around this as I will start printing fine arts.
I printed 2 files with different profiles to file. Not surprisingly there is a difference in output. Once printed (will have that done tomorrow) I expect these files to look the same on the assigned paper/printer combo. Right?
I opened these two different files in CS5 and I soft proof both of them each with their assigned profile (the same as I used in QImage). I was expecting the files to look the same on screen, but they don't.

Where has my thinking gone wrong?

Henk


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rayw

Sr. Member

Posts: 440

Re: Soft Proofing

« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2011, 08:14:44 PM »

Hi Henk,

Are you in fact saying that a soft proofed image in Qimage does not look the same as the same image soft proofed in CS5?

Best wishes,

Ray


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henkbos

Newbie

Posts: 7

Re: Soft Proofing

« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2011, 09:30:38 PM »

No.
I printed twice to a file in QImage, using two different profiles, one for each combination of printer and paper. I then opened the results in CS5 for soft proof. I now realize that this will never match Smiley

Dumb though process.

So another test: I opened the original PSD file in CS5, applied the profile and viewed the soft proof on screen. This looks different than the soft proof from QImage, making the answer to your question; YES!


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BrianPrice

Sr. Member

Posts: 265

Re: Soft Proofing

« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2011, 09:14:55 AM »

Henk

When you print to file using a printer profile the file will show the colours actually being sent to the printer. When this is sent straight to the printer , because of the differences caused by the paper/ink combination it will look the same as any other profiled print. The 'Print to File' file has already had the profile applied, so applying the profile again in soft proofing will not work, as you have seen.
As to the soft proof looking different in PS and QI, this could be due to differences in the PS set-up, or in the way PS handles soft proofing.
Personally I can never see the point in soft proofing for inkjet printing. If the reason you profile your monitor and your printer is that the image on the screen looks the same as your print, why should the soft proof be different? If the soft proof looks the same as your print then your monitor profile is wrong, if the monitor is the same as your print then your soft proof set-up must be wrong . They can't both be right.

Brian


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Terry-M

The Honourable Metric Mann
Forum Superhero

Posts: 3247

Re: Soft Proofing

« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2011, 03:53:03 PM »

Quote

If the soft proof looks the same as your print then your monitor profile is wrong, if the monitor is the same as your print then your soft proof set-up must be wrong . They can't both be right.

The problem with soft proofing it relies on 2 profiles conversions, image to printer profile and then to monitor profile. If there any errors in those profiles, then soft proofing is unreliable a waste of time.
There's nothing like checking a real print; Qimage Ultimate has a test strip feature to save on paper & ink.
Terry


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