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1. WHAT IS THE INTENDED USE
OF THE IMAGE
2. RGB OR CMYK?
3. CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR (BASIC CALIBRATION)
4. SET UP YOUR DESKTOP PRINTER AS PER THE
MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS
1. WHAT IS THE INTENDED
USE OF THE IMAGE?
Establish how the scanned image
will be used. This will help you calculate an appropriate
image size, ie. width x height x resolution. Remember images
for commercial printing are usually scanned at width x height
x 300dpi.
Obviously, the
higher the resolution the better the detail, but if you are
only printing the images to an inkjet printer or using them
for comping, 300dpi may be more than what you need. If you
are not sure what to do the best thing to do is call and ask.
2. RGB OR CMYK?
The CMYK colour space
is particularly suited to commercial printing. CMYK scans
are usually ordered by professionals in advertising, graphic
design and printing who intend to print them in a commercial
environment.
The RGB
colour space is suited to viewing on monitors, printing
to desktop printers, printing in photo labs, placing images
in word processors and in situations where the images my be
used across different media. If you order RGB images and want
to print them on a commercial printing press you can easily
convert them to CMYK in Photoshop and sharpen them further.
Note:
Some consumer-orientated graphics programs such as Photoshop
Elements, word processors and the like, cannot open CMYK images
or display their thumbnails because they are not capable of
recognising the CMYK colour space. If you do not intend to
print your images on a commercial press, RGB images are probably
the best option for you.
3. CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR
(BASIC CALIBRATION)
We recommend you begin with
a basic visual calibration that is outlined in the Photoshop
manuals. And remember these very important points:
- Surrounding light sources influence the colour
perception of anything you look at. Create a consistent
lighting environment for viewing images on your monitor.
If you sit near a window, the sunlight will vary your perception
of colour, light and dark throughout the day. Close the
blinds when judging colour images in Photoshop.
- You must read the colour management section
of the Photoshop manual to get an understanding of how Photoshop
handles colour management.
- If you have not calibrated your monitor,
at least by eye, what you see on the screen has little chance
of representing the true data in the file and you cannot
make accurate colour balance and light/darkness decisions.
- If you read your software manuals and don't
understand them, read them again, they are hard to understand
but persistence will have its rewards.
4. SET UP YOUR DESKTOP
PRINTER AS PER THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS
Once you have set up your printer
according to the manufacturer's instructions you are ready
to print images as accurately as your printer can perform.
When printing
your favourite images always choose the 'best quality' option
to utilise the full capacity of your printer.
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