Should color management start with the camera?

Yes. No electronic device is inherently accurate — cameras, lenses and lighting all introduce biases that must be defined and accounted for. Profiling the capture stage means images can be automatically corrected to match the original subject, saving hours of manual correction downstream.

How often should monitors be calibrated?

Manual calibration, profiling and validation should be performed roughly every quarter — four times a year. The process can be automated on supported displays with built-in measurement instruments, using a cloud platform to schedule and push calibrations and report results across all locations.

Can a calibrated monitor show how a file will print?

Not on its own. A calibrated display shows color accurately, but RGB files are converted to CMYK by the RIP or DFE at print time. To preview the printed result, extract the print production profiles and use them to soft-proof in Adobe applications before printing.

Can spot colors be matched in CMYK?

Some can and some cannot, depending on the gamut of the printing process. Using production profiles you can build in-gamut spot color libraries for Adobe applications, and use tools to determine whether a given spot color is achievable within tolerance and what CMYK value best achieves it.

Camera to Press: Fixing Color at the Source

Recently we were asked to visit a client for consultation on their print production workflows — specifically around ongoing process control. They're a worldwide home decor brand selling direct to consumer, with over 1,000 designs in their catalog, all printed in house.

The scale is genuinely impressive: multiple locations housing more than 70 ten-foot-wide inkjet printers. They don't just create their own designs — they print all their own products. They also run a photography studio to shoot finished products for their online store, print advertising, and packaging.

What follows is a good illustration of why color management has to start at the beginning of the process, not at the press.

The Realization: Color Starts Upstream

While I was initially there to talk about print production, I got a tour of their LA headquarters and learned more about what they actually do. I started asking pointed questions — were their cameras profiled? Were the monitors in the design department calibrated?

What I realized, and was able to show them, is that there are huge advantages to managing color from the very first step of the process. Every stage before the printer is a stage where color can go wrong — and usually does.

Last month I went back to deliver the training and implementation they hired us to do, based on those recommendations.

Step 1: Profiling the Cameras

We started with the photography team and studio, teaching them how to create highly accurate color profiles for their cameras, lenses, and lighting scenarios.

Here's the thing people miss: no electronic device is accurate. Every one of them has biases that must be defined and accounted for to achieve the most accurate capture possible.

Once the profiles were built — and we could generate detailed reports on exactly how accurate they were — we showed the team how to apply them in post-production. Images are now automatically color-corrected to match the original subject matter, dramatically reducing the hours previously spent correcting by hand.

Step 2: Calibrating the Monitors

Next, the displays. They had a mix of nice BenQ professional graphics displays and Apple iMacs, plus an existing colorimeter and software we were able to show them was not sufficient. They purchased the instrument and software we recommended.

With the right tools, we trained them to create the best possible calibrations and profiles for each display — and then to validate them, generating a complete, non-subjective report on exactly how accurate each screen actually is. (No surprise: the BenQ displays significantly outperformed the iMacs.)

Screen color management software calibrating and validating a professional graphics display — Monitor calibration and validation software — turning display accuracy into a measured, reportable number.

A note on cadence: monitor calibration, profiling, and validation must be done manually — we suggest quarterly, so four times a year.

This can be automated if you have supported monitors with built-in measurement instruments. In that case we have a cloud-based platform where you schedule all of these functions and push them to displays over the internet, plus an online portal showing results for every display at every location — so you can confirm everyone is seeing color accurately, whether they're in the office or at home. I'm hoping this client moves in that direction. For now, they have the tools and knowledge to do it themselves.

Step 3: Soft-Proofing With Production Profiles

A calibrated, profiled, validated monitor is critical for viewing color accurately — but it still won't show you how the files will print.

When you print an RGB file, it gets converted to a CMYK color space and ICC profile automatically as it's processed through the RIP/DFE driving the printers. So we taught them to extract the profiles from print production and use them in design for soft-proofing on their monitors.

Using Adobe CC applications with their own production profiles, the design team can now see how images will look after conversion through the RIP/DFE — before anything is printed. This alone is huge for cutting cycle times and making sure expectations match reality.

Step 4: Building Files Properly

We spent hours training the team on exactly how images are captured, and where and when color conversions happen throughout the entire workflow. We taught the theory of ICC color management — which nobody can escape, because it's baked into the operating system, the design applications, and the RIP/DFE software alike.

They had only a basic understanding going in, and told us that knowing the technical underpinnings was going to help them immensely.

The training also covered building artwork files properly. Many designers today aren't especially print-savvy, so it's important to teach the technical nuances and the benefits of getting files right at the source. We found several things they were doing that weren't ideal, and we're now collectively formulating new standard operating procedures based on our recommendations.

Step 5: Demystifying Spot Colors

Spot colors are widely misunderstood. This client's products aren't printed with spot colors at all — but they frequently need to match spot colors using their available CMYK gamut, which is a different problem entirely.

Because their printing process is very specific, we were able to generate spot color libraries for use in Adobe CC that were all in-gamut — meaning achievable, on their equipment, using their own production profiles.

We also showed them quick, easy tools for visualizing whether any given spot color can be matched within a given tolerance, and what the ideal CMYK value would be to achieve it.

The Result

At the end of the training sessions, the team was thoroughly impressed. They now have the knowledge, and they don't have to wonder about color anymore.

They'll no longer be chasing color, because they know their capabilities and can visualize them far upstream, with confidence. This was a minimal investment that will pay for itself within a few months, and keep paying for years.

Eventually I hope to implement the process control platform I was originally there to discuss. When and if we do, I'll write a follow-up on how that endeavor goes.

Schedule a Consultation

Want to talk to a color consultant about your own workflow — from capture to press? Reach out.
info@aldertech.com