ICC profiles contain all of the important information about a print process, helping give us a good impression of the final print output in advance.
Screens us the RGB colour space to display information, but computers have to output information in the CMYK colour space has been a problem in print for as long as computers have been creating graphics. The issue here is that the final print results do not look like what was designed on the screen. However, since 1993 help has been at hand. That was the year in which the International Color Consortium (ICC) was founded; nowadays all of the leading players in the printing industry are members. To simplify things for customers and print shops alike, the ICC creates colour profiles especially for specific print processes. These profiles help customers get a very accurate idea of what their final print product will look like, since the print shop can specify the colour profile it uses to create the output in advance.
Content, download, install
ICC profiles are files that contain all of the information needed for a specific print process. This includes the colour space, ink limit, screen process, etc. The colour space is not simply specified in terms of CMYK, but is especially adapted to the requirements of the print machinery and product. For example, a colour space for newsprint contains a much smaller colour space than that required for “normal” offset printing.
The most important ICC profiles for digital printing are “ISO Coated v2” for advertising products and “ISO Coated v2 300%” for all other print products. Both of these can be downloaded along with many others from the website of the European Colour Initiative (ECI): http://www.eci.org/en/downloads, in the section “ICC profiles from ECI (old versions)”.
To install these in Windows, right click the desired profile, then select “Install”. If you are using a Mac, copy the desired profile to the folder Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Recommended. You can then use the profiles in all of your software applications.
Soft-proofing and conversion
To get an approximate rendition of the print output, you can carry out a process called a soft proof (or monitor proof) in your graphic design or image editing software. This process shows you what the printed images will look like on the monitor. Since the print output will be affected by many different factors, you should be aware that soft-proofing does not a binding representation. It does provide a good preview and assessment of what the colours and details will look like, however.
To perform a soft proof in Photoshop CC, select the menu item View > Proof Setup > Custom. Select the desired profile from the Device to Simulate drop-down list and select the Simulate Paper Colour and Preview options to see how the appearance changes from monitor to print. The paper colour simulation takes white paper as its basis, rather than any special papers or other materials.
The procedure in InDesign CC is quite similar: Select View > Proof Setup > Custom and select the profile and “Simulate Paper Colour”. Then select the Proof Colours option in the View menu to see a rough preview of how your order will look when printed.
In order for your file to present the correct information in CMYK for printing, it must be converted to the corresponding colour profile. In Photoshop, select Edit > Convert to Profile and enter the target colour space. A preview is supported by this function, allowing you to check your image one last time.
In InDesign the conversion is done when exporting to PDF. Select the Convert to Destination option from the Colour Conversion drop-down menu on the Output tab, and select your desired ICC profile in Destination.
On the left is the image in RGB mode, while on the right is the colour proof in the ICO Coated V2 300% profile.
Choosing the correct colour profile is a key aspect when creating your print file and should not be underestimated. Use the soft-proof technique to avoid unpleasant surprises and ensure the best results. So you can design products such as folded leaflets, posters and promotional gifts for your business or upcoming event.
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