Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
from a color printer is very difficult. Depending on the quality of the
printer, the print driver, the quality of the output profile, not to mention
the effect of metamerism, it may be impossible to get dead-nuts neutral
B&W prints from a color printer. In such cases, the best results I've seen
so far are using a RIP like ImagePrint for handling B&W images with color
files. For other printers, we can get a reasonably acceptable B&W print
using all colors. With a good ICC profile, my Pictrography produces quite
acceptable neutral images from color files.
If the B&W/Grayscale files are intended to be output to a CMYK
device, we can load a CMYK ICC profile into Photoshop's Grayscale
working space pop-up menu. Using the
Image
-
Mode-Grayscale
command
on a color document, the conversion to Grayscale will use the CMYK
profile, but only use the K channel to make this conversion. This works
reasonably well when you need to print color and Grayscale images on
the same page going to the same press. The ProfileEditor module from
GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker Pro can accept a CMYK profile generated
from that package, or a CMYK profile with the kTRC tag, and build a
Grayscale profile from the existing data. The kTRC tag is a black-tone
response curve created by some but certainly not all profile packages.
Last, ColorShop X, a utility discussed in Chapter 8, has a feature called
the
Rich Black
tool that takes existing RGB or CMYK profiles and con-
verts them into profiles that are now useful for converting color into
Grayscale-appearing images. The newly converted profile doesn't convert
RGB or CMYK into Grayscale. The original color space remains. However,
the color is converted to shades of black, white, and gray. The quality of
the final output and the neutrality issues discussed earlier still apply.
Building Printer Profiles: What Products Are Available?
Although the following is not an entire list of all the possible ICC printer
profile building packages, these products are well supported and should
give you an idea of what kinds of packages are available. I'm scratching
the surface of many of the advanced options and features of the higher
end packages. Check the manufacturer's web sites for more information.
The various products that produce output profiles have all kinds of bells
and whistles, some more useful than others. Building RGB output pro-
files usually provide fewer options as these profiles are rather simple com-
pared to the various settings necessary to create a CMYK profile. Options
such as black generation, total ink limits, and UCR/GCR settings need to
be defined. If the last sentence seemed like Greek to you, fear not—
Chapter 7 deals with CMYK and explains all this.
ProfilerPRO
ProfilerPRO from Pantone ColorVision is an easy-to-use entry-level
profile package. The software is accessed as a Photoshop Automate plug-
