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| Photoshop CMYK and WYSIWYG |
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Photoshop, (C)yan, (M)agenta, (Y)ellow, (K)ey Black and (W)hat (Y)ou (S)ee (I)s (W)hat (Y)ou (G)et
Our displays are RGB devices. So how on earth can we view CMYK files? It’s all in the recipe. Photoshop simply can’t properly produce
an accurate preview of CMYK unless it’s informed about the condition of the display along with the intended output device. This allows
Photoshop to perform an on the fly conversion from CMYK to RGB just to preview our files. Therefore, if you expect a CMYK file to
display properly, Photoshop have a profile of your display and a profile of the CMYK conversion method loaded (or if you are not using
ICC profiles, have the correct separation table loaded). To see how the output profile alters the display, simply convert an RGB
color file to CMYK. Then go into the CMYK Set-Up (Edit>Color Settings> and select a different CMYK profile or table. The file itself
will not change at all but the preview will because Photoshop is now instructed to choose a different method for converting CMYK back
to RGB for the screen.
By embedding an ICC profile in saved files, users can be informed when their files are not in sync with the current configuration
of Photoshop. In the Profile Setup, users should have their pref’s set to "Ask When Opening (Edit>Color Settings>". Then, when a
CMYK file separated in SWOP Coated CMYK and embedded as such is opened that has 3M MatchPrint loaded in the CMYK Setup, the user
will get a PROFILE MISMATCH WARNING. At this point, it’s far better to simply change the CMYK Set-Up to match the file you are
attempting to open then to convert the file! Simply click "Don’t Convert" and then change the CMYK Setup to SWOP COATED. This will
make Photoshop match the file and the preview will update correctly).
Once you have a good CMYK output profile or separation table start to examine what will happen when you convert the file before the
actual conversion. Select CMYK PREVIEW in the VIEW menu. A Soft Proof will be displayed as to how the file will appear after conversion.
Since you are still working in a wider gamut RGB file, you could do some additional color editing or tweaking prior to the actual
conversion. If you have a good profile of your display and a good profile of the output device, the soft proof should be quite
accurate. Of course there are significant differences between a translucent display and what your final reflective printed piece
will look like but you should be able to get an excellent idea of how the colors will appear after conversion. If you do edit the
RGB file while looking at it with the CMYK Preview, you may want to save that RGB version separate from the original RGB file. You’ve
optimized or edited the file for the intended output and these edits may not be appropriate if you need to re-separate the file into
CMYK using a different profile in the future. Once the file appears to your liking, doing a mode change from RGB to CMYK will actually
alter the data and convert the file however the preview will not change at all.
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