Latest Tips: (updated 7/10/01) Here are three of my articles that have been published in Communication Arts magazine. Beware, some of these are as I sent them to CA, they corrected punctuation and spelling after I sent them. Article 1 will help you understand calibration and set up your color print workflow. Article 2 compares printers and shows you how to get great results on the Epson 1270 without a profile. Article 3 is a detailed calibration article going into many products for making monitor and printer profiles. I used Acrobat 3 to make these PDFs, does version 4 do a better job on the images? There is a way to make them look good with 3 but I've forgotten the magic incantation. If you have any tips, please send me an e-mail. Check here from time to time for updates about better calibration products and the Epson 2000 and 7500 printers. Currently, among other things, I'm checking out the Epson 2000P, ColorVision Profiler RGB & Doctor Pro and hopefully soon the Spectro Star Spectro Cam, a new $1000 strip readingspectrophotometer. 1. Producing Final Art on Desktop Printers (Communication Arts article1 pdf) Making Great Epson Prints without a custom profile: For those of you who already have Photoshop 6, here is a free download of a draft version of my preferences chapter for Photoshop 6. This will give you my recommendations on how to set up your Photoshop 6 preferences. I hope to also soon provide a download of the Color Preferences and Calibration chapter which will go into the color preferences in detail and also talk about calibrating your Photoshop 6 environment, monitor, scanners and printers. I will be selling that chapter as a download for $5 and am currently figuring out how to write the java script to hook this up to the credit card processing center. Getting that done and writing Photoshop 6 have been competing for my time or I'd have this posted today. Meanwhile, the free download below of the prefs chapter should get you going with Photoshop 6. For those who are waiting on Photoshop 6 Artistry to teach a course, it will be in the stores by the middle of May. In the meantime, you could use this prefs chapter download to get started and then continue to use Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry and it's CD with Photoshop 6. Many of the step-by-step examples from the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD will still work using Photoshop 6 but there are certainly many subtle changes and improvements that will be explained in Photoshop 6 Artistry. I'm also including a lot of new step-by-step examples, and new information about calibration, scanning and many new imaging techniques. I'm sorry but the below PDF file does not have very sharp screen grabs. At one time I did figure out how to make small PDF files with sharp scrcen grabs but I didn't write it down and was not able to reproduce the results below. If anyone is good at making small PDF files with sharp screen grabs, please send me an e-mail and let me know how you do it. Photoshop 6 Artistry Preferences Chapter (PDF Download of Draft chapter) The next book in my Digital Imaging Series, "Making the Digital Print", will tell you everything you need to know to scan for, color correct and output art quality prints on desktop and professional printers like the Epson 1270, 2000, 7500 and 9500, the Lightjet 5000, Fuji Pictrography 3000 and 4000 as well as other high quality digital printers. "Making the Digital Print" should be available in late 2001 or early 2002. The 3rd book in this series will be called "Capturing the Digital Image" and it will cover making high quality scans verses using digital cameras to create your master digital files. The longer we wait for this book, the more interesting the digital cameras get. By the time the book comes out, we should all be able to afford a really useful digital camera. I believe 25 years of lightfastness is competitive with Ilfochrome, which Henry rates at 29 years, so I have been selling my 1270 prints on the Matte Paper Heavyweight. To get the latest information from Wilhelm Imaging about his permance tests, which are an industry standard, check out www.wilhelm-research.com. I have not had any problems with fading of my prints on the Matte Paper Heavyweight. I do follow the recommendations of Wilhelm's site, and of Epson, to frame your prints under glass or plastic. This keeps harmful pollutants in the atmosphere from effecting the color on the prints. It makes sense to frame any photographic print in this way. That is a good solution to make sure the colors in your prints last. I feel Epson has done and continues to do a great job producing wonderful printers for photographers and artists. I will continue to use and recommend their products. For more info about getting good color quality from the 1270, download PDF versions of my recent Communications Arts articles; #2 and #3 above. I have also been testing the Epson 2000. I have high hopes for this printer as well as the 7500 and 9500, since they all use the new 200 year color permanent Epson pigmented inks. It seems that many in the industry, myself included, are having some difficulties making satisfactory custom profiles for these printers when using some of the new Epson Papers. I've tried using Monaco EZ Color and Color Vision Profiler RGB, with my Saphir Ultra 2 scanner, and Monaco Proof, with a Spectrolino spectrophotometer, and so far not been able to make a profile I'm totally happy with. At this point, I will have to resume my profiling efforts for the Epson 2000 after completing Photoshop 6 Artistry in February or March. I have made many great prints on the 2000 without a profile and I do believe it is a great printer. I'll be retesting EZ Color and Profiler RGB in March once I get some different scanners here for my upcoming CA article on film scanners. I want to be sure I'm turning off all the scanner's color adjustments, which I'm not convinced I'm able to do on the Saphir. Using Monaco EZ Color and Monaco Proof with the 1270, I was able to make very useful profiles. I'll soon be testing Profiler RGB with the 1270. My Monaco Proof profile of the 2000 is the best so far but it looks a bit magenta when viewed with halogen floods. When I take it outside and view it in daylight, the same print actually looks greenish. Most of my 2000 tests have been made using the new Epson Premium Semigloss Photo Paper for the 2000. I've heard from others that the new coatings on these papers have a stronger than normal change in color cast depending on the light they are viewed with. This effect is called Metamerism and you can find some useful information about it at www.tssphoto.com/sp/dg/2000p/metamerism.html. I believe the Epson 2000, 7500 and 9500 are all being happily accepted by the photography community and that the metamerism issue will be correctly dealt with by calibration or otherwise as we all continue to work with these great printers. I believe one has to be more careful to use the correct light when making profiles and viewing the prints for the 2000. I hope to be soon testing the Spectro Star Spectro Cam, a new $1000 spectrophotometer that looked impressive at Seybold. I'll be making more profiles for the 2000 using Monaco and Color Vision products with the Spectro Cam and other spectrophotometers including the ColorBlind Matchbox system which I recently got a copy of. Many others in the industry are also working to come up with the right techniques to use with the 2000. Please e-mail me with any useful info or techniques you see out there or have discovered yourself. If you are using the 2000 without a profile, you will probably have to create a curve to adjust the color of your prints to come close to matching what you have been getting from the 1270 or the 1200. That is what I started out doing with great success. With the 2000, using my curves without a profile, I have usually been able match the color saturation and colors of the prints from earlier Epson printers. The 2000 does make beautiful very color permanent prints. Nash Editions (www.nasheditions.com), who make some of the best art prints using digital printers, mentioned to me that they are getting good results using Somerset Enhanced paper with the Epson pigmented inks using Epson's water color paper settings. I made some really nice grayscale prints on Somerset Enhanced paper and also on the Epson Archival Matte using black ink only. Another photographer friend of mine is getting good results on the 2000 on Concord Rag paper with black and white prints using black ink only. I've been trying to work with profiles because I don't want to have to re-color correct each of my images to get a print with similar color on the Epson 1270 and 2000 or the Lightjet 5000. I have the Lightjet 5000 and Epson 1270 turned in quite well now. With most images, I can make matching, or close to matching, prints on either printer. I trust we'll figure out how to do the same with the Epson 2000 and encourage people to continue to work with the printer. The pigmented inks behaive a bit differently than the dye based inks on the earlier Epson printers but you can make great prints with these pigmented ink printers and the 100-200 year color permanence is worth learning new ways to do things. Below are screen grabs of the Epson 2000 print dialog settings, with Photoshop 6, I have been using for my prints. Click on them to download them and try them out. Let me know how they work for you. When I print color without a profile, I open my master image, which is in LAB or Adobe RGB format, then apply a curve to adjust for the cast that makes my Epson 2000 prints look different than my Epson 1270 prints, then I print the image using the Ep2000ColorNoProfile settings below. You will have to develop your own curve to compensate for the difference in color between your older Epson printer and your Epson 2000, if there is a difference. Remember that the Epson 2000 prints are going to change in color appearance more when you move them from one viewing light type to another so you need to decide which type of light source you will be viewing your prints under and then work on a curve that makes the prints look best in that light source. Have fun with your Epson 2000! I'll work more on profiling this and also the 7500 when Photoshop 6 Artistry is finaished. The rest of the information below in this section is information Espon sent me about the 1270 and 2000 lightfastness: "The Epson Stylus Photo 870, 875DC, and 1270 printers are in every way improvements over their award-winning predecessors, the Epson Stylus Photo 750 and 1200 printers. These new photo printers offer unparalleled photo image quality with improved print speeds. Because the market has demanded improved lightfastness, Epson focused its research and testing on meeting that challenge. In independent testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research, prints on Matte Paper Heavyweight on these printers achieved lightfastness of 25 years for indoor display under glass, and prints on Epson Premium Glossy Photo paper achieved lightfastness of 10 years under the same conditions. Check out the August issue of Communication Arts for my extensive article on calibration and profile making. It will be posted here too later in the summer. In that article I'll compare EZ Color to Wiziwyg to Monaco Proof and talk about many profiling making issues like editing profiles, scanner verses spectrophotometer profiles and lots more.
Topics included below:
Photoshop 6 Artistry In Stores Middle May
Scanner Article Update
Photoshop 6 Artistry Preferences Chapter (PDF Download of Draft chapter)
New Epson 1270 and 2000 information
Free Photoshop 5.5 Artistry Upgrade!
Do you need Photoshop 5.5?
2. Digital Printers for Final Art and Commercial Output (CA article2 pdf)
3. Calibration of Monitors, Digital Printers and Scanners (CA article3 pdf)
Using MonacoEZColor to Make Custom ICC profiles:
Improving RGB Softproofs and CMYK Preview when on a PC:
Getting and Using Photoshop 5.02 with Photoshop 5 Artistry:
Using the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD with a PC:
Photoshop 6 Artistry In Stores Middle May (back to top)
I have been working on Photoshop 6 Artistry since before the Photoshop 6 beta program. I am printing it now, April 25th, and it will be in the stores and at Amazon by the Middle of May 2001. You can also order it directly from this web site. It covers Photoshop 6 and ImageReady 3 with a similar focus that Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry has for Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2 but with many new step-by-step examples and much more info on calibration and scanning. Photoshop 6 Artistry covers the many new features added for Photoshop 6. A new format in the step-by-step examples makes it very easy to differentiate between the actual steps and the explainations. Many readers have been asking for this type of design improvement. The title is "Photoshop 6 Artistry: Mastering the Digital Image" and the book is by New Riders. The format and coverage for Photoshop 6 Aristry will be improved from that of Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry; it will teach you how to use Photoshop 6 as well as how to calibrate your system. It will also cover some of the topics I have been writing about in Communication Arts including Calibrating monitors, scanners and printers.
Scanner Article Update (back to top)
The Nikon 8000 and 4000
The most interesting new scanners I looked at since submitting my scanner article for the August Photo Annual of Communicataion Arts are the Nikon 8000 and 4000. The Nikon 8000 scans both 35mm and 120 film formats at up to 4000 dpi optical resolution. With a scanning density range of 4.2, the 8000 may be considered a more ecomical Imacon. The 35mm scans are very sharp, similar to the Imacon’s but maybe just a tad less sharp. They are certainly so close to the Imacon and Photo CD Pro scans that just a small sharpen on the Nikon 8000 35mm scan will make it equal in sharpness to the Imacon or Photo CD Pro. The Imacon actually scans at 5760 dpi, a little bigger, and the Photo CD Pro scans are at 4000 dpi, like the Nikon 8000 or 4000. The 120 scans from the 8000 are also very sharp although I didn’t have a direct comparison with the Imacon at that size. The 120 holder on the 8000 has the wonderful feature of clamping the film along both long edges so it can be stretched tight! This is a great film holder and should help solve the problem of 120 film buckeling or sagging in the center. The software for 120 size supports 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8 and 6x9 but since it is a long undivided holder, one can actually scan 6x17s by doing two scans and piecing them together later in Photoshop. I tried this and it works but you have to slide the film down the holder a bit between the two scans. You also need to be careful that both scans are aligned horizontally or you will have to rotate one when you piece them together.
The NikonScan 3.1 software that comes with the 8000 and 4000 is certainly the most versatile that I have tested and appears to be on par with the Imacon’s. Both these scanners actually allow the intensity of the lamps to be increased in the hope of getting more detail out of very dense film. This software shows updated histograms after all adjustments, has similar adjustments to the other beter packages I tested and also has an additional LCH curve adustment for doing Luminence, Chroma, Hue adjustments. Very Cool! NikonScan 3.1 allows scanning in either 8 bit or 14 bit on either scanner and one can also make more than one scan pass and average the results together for a more accurate scan. I used the 4 pass setting for my scans. Doing a 4000 dpi 14 bit scan of 35mm on both these Nikon scanners took about 4 minutes when hooked up to my new duel processor 450 mhz Mac G4. Doing a 4000 dpi 14 bit scan of a 6x7 120 image took between 23 and 30 minutes when hooked to the same computer. These times were when running the scanner using the Photoshop 6 plug-in versions of the Nikon software and making 4 samples per pixel. The 8000 comes with a 35mm slide holder, that holds up to 5 mounted slides at a time, a 35mm strip film holder that can hold two 6 frame strips side by side for a total of 12 frames and a 120 holder that holds all the 120 formats I mentioned. On first appearance, the 35mm scans on the 4000 seemed a bit sharper than those from the 8000. After trying two separate Nikon 4000 units, however, I thought maybe these scans were a bit too sharp and I actually liked the ones from the 8000 best between the two. My scanner search may be over, the quality is there, the price is right, I thing I may be buying a Nikon 8000! I still need to test the Polaroid Sprintscan 120 a bit more though.
The Polaroid Sprintscan 4000 and 120
The Polaroid Sprintscan 120 is a great new scanner with similar functionality to the Nikon 8000. The Sprintscan 120 will scan 35mm and 120 film at up to 4000 with either 8 bit or 14 bit per channel scans. The Sprintscan 120 comes with a 35mm mounted slide holder that holds up to ??? slides. It also has a 35mm strip film holder. The 120 holder and software supports 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8 and 6x9 formats??? Comparing speed and sharpness with the Nikon 8000, I need to run a few more tests before I can give you this result. The Polaroid software that comes with the Sprintscan 120 is the Polacolor package and is similar to what I used on the Sprintscan 45 Ultra and Sprintscan 4000. It does not appear to have as many features as the Imacon software or that NikonScan 3.1 that comes with the Nikon 8000 and 4000. I believe the 120 also ships with Silverfast software ??? which I have not tested yet.
I have not done an extensive test on the Polaroid Sprintscan 4000, which scans 35mm at up to 4000 dpi. While recently teaching a workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, I did compare a 35mm negative, which I scanned at 4000 dpi on a Sprintscan 4000 and also at 4000 dpi on a Nikon 4000. Both of these were 14 bit per channel scans. I made sure that both scans did a focus on the film before the scan and the Nikon 4000 scan was sharper. Both these scanners are capable devices but if sharpness is most important to you, the Nikon won that prize on the units I tested.
In general, so far, I’ve found the Nikon scanners to give sharper scans than the Polaroid counterparts. This test has not been finalized on the Sprintscan 120, however, so it may be that its scans are as sharp as those of the Nikon 8000. When I get one of these 120s to properly test, I’ll let you know.
New Epson 1270 and 2000 information (back to top)
I have been using the Epson 1270 for close to a year now and I think it is a Great Printer! There has been some talk in the media lately about ink fading problems using the Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper. These problems seem to be related to interactions of the ink with pollutants in the atmosphere. I'm using my Epson 1270 to make art prints which I have started to sel and will continue to sell. Before this fading issue came up, Henry Wilhelm rated the Premium Glossy Photo Paper at 10 years light permanent. To me, 10 years is not long enough to make a print that I would actually sell as art anyhow so I've spend most of my time using the Matte Paper Heavyweight which Henry rates at 25 years.
Unfortunately, following the introduction of these printers, Epson learned about a problem with the Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper that was introduced at the same time as these new photo printers. When exposed to high concentrations of ozone or other polluting oxidants, some users' prints on Premium Glossy Photo Paper experienced a pronounced color shift. The previous line of Epson papers, including Matte Paper Heavyweight and Glossy Photo Paper, demonstrated a reasonable level of resistance to these contaminants. Output from the 870, 875DC, and 1270 has greatly improved resistance to light, but equal resistance to gas on Matte Paper Heavyweight and Glossy Photo Paper as the predecessor printers. However, we now know that Premium Glossy Photo Paper is more sensitive to these gases.
Epson regrets that we did not find out about this problem sooner so we could have alerted our customers before they experienced the color shift. In our zeal to satisfy the market's demand for the highest photo quality ink jet output, we focused on improved lightfastness and failed to anticipate the extent to which output on Premium Glossy Photo Paper could be compromised by oxidants in the air. When we understood the problem, we revised our advertising and other communications about these products.
We recognize that Epson needs to solve the "gasfastness" problem. The best solution today is to frame the prints to maximize display life or to use an Epson paper with greater gas resistance for unprotected prints. Our next step will be to release a reformulated Premium Glossy Photo Paper, which will be distributed in early October. This paper delays the effects of airborne contaminants, but it does not solve the problem. After discussing this issue with numerous customers, we have concluded that it's important to keep the reformulated paper in the market for those customers who choose to follow the recommended display procedures. We have changed the packaging for this paper to emphasize that it is for use in glass frames or protected storage. We are also continuously updating our Web site at http://www.epson.com/lightfastness to provide more information about ozone and other polluting oxidants and to emphasize the importance of properly displaying or storing photos to maximize display life. Additionally, we changed our advertising so any messages about lightfastness ratings cannot be misunderstood to apply to gasfastness for unprotected prints.
Epson has a worldwide commitment to the highest levels of customer satisfaction. When customers have a legitimate complaint, we try to address their individual concerns and do whatever is required to satisfy them. Most customers who have contacted Epson regarding this problem do not want to return their printers. The fact remains that the Epson Stylus Photo 870, 875DC, and 1270 have equivalent resistance to airborne contaminants, better image quality and faster speeds than the Epson Stylus Photo 750 and 1200 and deliver amazing photo quality resolution. While there were some inconsistencies among the Epson companies early in our understanding of the ozone issue, I can assure you that all the Epson companies now apply policies similar to Epson America's regarding this issue.
Epson is a leader in the digital photo revolution, and has invested heavily in R&D to introduce breakthrough products. Through these efforts, we have delivered printers that offer superior image quality, faster photo print speeds, quick-drying inks that are resistant to water and humidity, and images that have substantially improved lightfastness under glass. Meanwhile, longevity of prints is an ongoing issue for the entire photographic industry. We know that there is still a lot to learn about gasfastness and the other factors that affect the color stability of ink jet photos. Rest assured Epson is doing everything we can to find solutions that give photographers the image quality they deserve and the print longevity they desire.
As always, if customers have any questions or concerns, we encourage them to contact us directly at Epsonsupport70@ea.epson.com or 562-276-1311."
Here is the content of epson's photocare document:
Taking Care of Photographs
With proper care, photos printed with Epson Stylus Photo 870, 875DC and 1270 printers will preserve your memories for many years. The photo inks for Epson’s new photo printers are specially formulated to achieve improved lightfastness when used with Epson photo papers for prints that are properly displayed or stored.
As with traditional photos, proper care will minimize color changes and maximize display life. For indoor display, Epson recommends that prints be framed under glass or a protective plastic sleeve to protect the prints from atmospheric contaminants like humidity, cigarette smoke, and high levels of ozone. And, as with all photographs, the prints should be kept out of direct sunlight. For proper storage, Epson recommends that your prints be stored in a photo album (or plastic photo storage box) in acid free, archival sleeves commonly available from most camera shops and other retailers.
The actual display life of photographs will vary in accordance with lighting conditions and exposure to atmospheric contaminants. Independent testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research, http//www.wilhelm-research.com, indicates that prints from the Epson Stylus Photo 870, 875DC and 1270 printers have the following lightfastness ratings on Epson papers when displayed under glass in normal indoor lighting conditions:
Matte Papers-Heavyweight: 24-26 years
Premium Glossy Paper: 9-10 years
Photo Paper: 6-7 years
The test conditions are reported more fully on the Wilhelm web site with new information regarding potential ozone contamination.Epson has received inquiries from users regarding a color shift on some prints by Stylus Photo 870/875DC/1270 printers on Epson Premium Glossy Photo paper. We have discovered that such color shifts are possible in unprotected display conditions due to atmospheric contaminants, particularly high concentrations of ozone, and are not due to exposure to light. For display conditions where protection of prints from atmospheric conditions is not possible, Epson recommends Epson Matte PaperHeavyweight or Epson Photo Paper, which are more resistant to ozone and other atmospheric contaminants. By taking the steps described above to protect prints from direct sunlight and contaminants, you can preserve your photos for many years.
History of Lightfast Prints
Since the introduction of the first Epson Stylus Color printer in 1994, Epson’s goal has been to improve our printers to the point that prints would have the image quality of traditional silver halide photos. With the introduction of the Stylus Photo 1200 printer in 1998, many professionals felt we had achieved or surpassed that goal.
While Epson has rapidly advanced its Micro Piezo printing technology to set new standards for photographic print quality, lightfastness (the resistance of prints to light induced fading) posed a technological challenge. Our research department began working on this issue in 1994, and this year we introduced two solutions, one with Archival Ink for professional applications and one with dye-based photo inks for Epson Stylus Photo 870/875DC/1270 printers. The new Epson Stylus Photo printers produce prints on photo papers with greatly improved lightfastness. Tremendous excitement was generated among photo enthusiasts when this new technology was introduced to the market this year. A digitally produced, gallery-ready print would now last for many years when properly stored or displayed.
Epson’s leading edge improvements in lightfastness generated a greater focus by Epson and others on other potential causes of color shifts. The effects of ozone and similar contaminants on ink jet prints have not been well understood because ink jet prints were previously so susceptible to light induced fading. Now Epson is now vigorously investigating the effects of ozone and other contaminants so that we can offer users even longer lasting, more durable photo prints.
Epson’s new line of Epson Stylus Photo 870 and 1270 printers have justifiably been received as innovative products that offer the best available solution for desktop photo printing. With the information provided above, you can produce lightfast prints to enjoy for many years with proper display or storage.
For the professional photographer, the new Epson Stylus Photo 2000P, Stylus Pro 7500 and Stylus Pro 9500 offer revolutionary levels of durability and lightfastness up to 200 years. Testing has thus far found no fading issues associated with high ozone levels with these Archival Ink prints. But again, for indoor display Epson recommends that prints be framed under glass to protect prints from atmospheric contaminants (such as cigarette smoke) that will damage any paper print over years of display.
Free Photoshop 5.5 Artistry Upgrade! (back to top)
Here is where you get your free Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry upgrade files. There is a new version of Photoshop Artistry, called Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry that will be available in the stores by the middle or end of January. This new version of the book covers Photoshop 5, Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2. For the things Photoshop Artistry readers do, it may have the best coverage of ImageReady 2 out there!
Since many of you are making images for the web, we decided to make an upgrade to Photoshop 5 Artistry to cover the new web features added to Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2. Before you all go out and buy this new book, and also the new 5.5 version of Photoshop, please read the section below entitled Do you need Photoshop 5.5. If you are a photographer and do not do images for the web, you probably will not need to get Photoshop 5.5 or the new version of Artistry. If you are doing a lot of web images, especially if you are doing slices, animations or rollovers, you will want to get Photoshop 5.5 and the new version of Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry.
If you already own Photoshop 5 Artistry, or even if you do not for that matter, you can download the high quality PDF versions of the six new chapters that were added to, or heavily upgraded in, Photoshop 5 Artistry to create Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry. If you have the original Photoshop Artistry or Photoshop 4 Artistry and you are using or getting Photoshop 5.5, then you should get a book copy of Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry because many things have changed throughout the book from the 3 or 4 versions. Again though, if you already own Photoshop 5 Artistry, 99% of the changes to the book that were added to create Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry were added to chapters 42..46. You can download these chapters in their entirety here as PDF files. I took extra care in making these PDF files to be sure they were printable, with your desktop printer, and readable on the screen, including the screen grabs which were jpeg compressed at high quality using Acrobat Distiller.
These PDF versions of the book chapters can be viewed and printed using Acrobat Reader 3.01 or 4.0 which is freely available everywhere and certainly at adobe.com. The contents of the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD were not changed for the Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry upgrade so the new and upgraded chapters only use images that are already on the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD, which you should already have. If you donÕt own a copy of Photoshop 5 Artistry or Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry, then you will not be able to try out the techniques in these chapters using the same images as I did; but I think youÕll still find these chapters very helpful! Merry Xmas and Happy 2000 to you from Wendy and I. All we ask in return for this free upgrade is that you spread the word about what a great book Photoshop 5&5.5 Artistry is and also please spread the word about the Photoshop, Painter and Illustrator workshops we teach. Please let me know how you like the free upgrade!
If you had the option, instead of buying a book, of purchasing book chapters online as PDF files then viewing or printing them yourself, what what be a fair price to charge for this package of 5 chapters? Maybe future versions of our books will also have a paid PDF download option. That would allow you to purchase the entire book or just the sections of the book that pertained to your needs. That would also make it easier for us to update information as it comes along. Buying a book with the CD is certainly the way to go if you need all the information and also if the book is available to you at a reasonable price. Purchasing info on line may make sense as an option for some people. We would like your ideas on how this might work and if it would work for you. A new book Wendy is writing, Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Side-by-Side, will be available in March and it will come with a companion web site on which Wendy will be upgrading the most crucial parts of the book as soon as any of the three applications are upgraded. That way people can stay up to date with changes without having to buy a new book each time an application revs, and we save the printing costs of having to reprint each time an application revs. This is perhaps the best way, and maybe the only way, for Wendy to do her book since it will be comparing three different applications. Go to Sneak Preview from our home page to check out an early sample chapter from Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Side-by-Side.
Click here do download chapter 42:
Differences in Creating for the Web and 8-bit Color
Click here do download chapter 43:
Using Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2 to Optimize Web Images
Click here do download chapter 44:
Creating Small, Transparent GIF Composites
Click here do download chapter 45:
New Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2 Features
Click here do download chapter 46:
Creating Animations, Slices and Rollovers in ImageReady 2
Do you need Photoshop 5.5? (back to top)
Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2 have a lot of great new features for people who are working intensively on jpeg, gif or png web images and also animations, slices and rollovers for web sites. If you are mostly doing web site work, you will want to get Photoshop 5.5. If you are mostly doing photography for art or print work then I don't think you need to update to Photoshop 5.5. You can download a pdf file describing the new Photoshop 5.5 features from www.Adobe.com. You can also download my upgraded chapters 42..46 to see the details of how the new 5.5 features work. Do this and check out the features for yourself, then you can decide if you need Photoshop 5.5. I really like the new features that were added for creating Web images, that is the main reason I would have for upgrading to Photohsop 5.5. Most other parts of Photoshop have not changed significantly between the Photoshop 5 and 5.5 versions. The new masking features, see my chapter 45, donÕt really give you more functionality than the 3rd party masking filters that are already on the market for Photoshop 5.
Making great prints with the Epson Stylus Photo 1270, 1200, EX and other Epson Printers if you don't have a custom printer: profile (back to top)
I've made over 200 test prints on the Epson Stylus Photo 1270, 1200, Photo EX and other Epson printers so far, testing different combinations of the default Epson settings in combination with different settings in Photoshop. I've also been testing Monaco EZ Color and other calibration software to make custom profiles for these printers.
The best settings I've found, without using a custom profile, are included on the Jpeg download called: Epson1200BestNonProfileSets.jpg , for the 1200 and: EpsonExBestNonProfileSets.jpg ,for the EX. These settings, as adjusted for the 1270 print dialog also work well for the 1270. For more info on the 1270, download the "Digital Printers for Final Art and Commercial Output" pdf article above. In these settings, the main print dialog has media type set to Photo Paper, or the newer 1270 papers (this is the Epson Photo Paper which is great), Space set to RGB Color (or ColorMatch RGB) and Printer Color Management turned on. In the Advanced print dialog, Media Type is set to Photo Paper or the newer 1270 papers, Print Quality is set to SuperFine 1440, Error Diffusion is on and Color Management is set to Color Adjustment - Automatic. I find that you get a more vibrant range of colors and more pleasing contrast when the Photoshop RGB Setup option, File/Color Settings/RGB Setup, or Space in the Print dialog, is set to ColorMatch RGB. I have tried these same settings with the only difference being that RGB Setup is set to Adobe RGB and this tends to make the file less contrasty and the colors too flat.
With all my Epson prints, I set the dpi of my files to 360, using Image/ImageSize in Photoshop. This is an even multiple of the 720 and 1440 dpi settings you end up using in the printer dialogs. For the absolute best results from the Epson printers, like the EX and 1200, 1440 dpi in the printer dialogs, as I've set in the jpeg downloads, is great. You may find though, that for many images the 720 dpi setting works quite well and the 720 dpi setting uses less ink and prints a lot faster. When you have a lot of very fine detail, or subtle gradation changes, 1440 will give better results but it takes longer to print and uses more ink.
To download the above jpeg files describing the Epson print dialog settings, click on the names of the files you want to see.
The images I am printing are often in Lab color mode which makes the screen display the same regardless of my RGB Setup settings. The printout is the same with the above settings if I leave the image in Lab mode or if I do a profile to profile conversion from Lab to ColorMatch RGB or Lab to Adobe RGB before I print the file. The issue that seems to effect the printout quality with these settings most is what RGB Setup, or Space, is set to. Leaving RGB Setup set to ColorMatch RGB gives the best results.
The other thing I have discovered is that you get the same results if you have RGB Setup set to ColorMatch RGB or if you just change Space to ColorMatch RGB in the Print Dialog. For people who are working on images that are in the Adobe RGB color space, which is the space I use when I'm not using Lab, it will be easier for them to just set Space to ColorMatch RGB within the Epson print dialog and leave their RGB Setup set to Adobe RGB. That way they won't have to change their RGB Setup when they print something. That is now the way I work. I just set Space, in the Epson print dialog, to ColorMatch RGB.
In most cases for any particular setting, I found the image looked better, and closer to the image on my monitor, if my RGB Setup (or Space in the Epson dialog) were set to ColorMatch RGB. I have my Apple Colorsync monitor calibrated to 5000 and 1.8 (my recommended value for doing print work) using the hardware calibration built into the ColorSync monitor. I find this hardware calibration better than what I can get with Adobe Gamma. I thought that if I calibrated my monitor to 6500 and 2.2 (the same as Adobe RGB) this might change my results in some way. In theory it shouldn't because Photoshop is supposed to compensate for your monitor calibration based on the RGB Setup you choose. I tested that 6500 and 2.2 monitor calibration and still found I got the same best results during printing on the Epson 1200, and other Epson printers, when my RGB Setup (or Space) were set to ColorMatch.
I like the Epson 1270 the best so far of all the Epson printers I've tried. It is faster than the 1200 and EX and also does a nicer job on fine details and subtle gradations. I'd be glad to recommend it to anyone. I'll be doing more tests on exactly how to use it as a proofing device for the Light jet 5000 and other permanent pigment printers. Please let me know if any of you are using any of the more permanent inks, like Lysonic, and how you find the color gamut compared to the Epson inks and also if those 3rd party inks cause problems with the printer nozzles or other problems. Check out the August issue of Communication Arts for my extensive article on calibration and profile making. It will be posted here too later in the summer.
Using MonacoEZcolor to quickly and inexpensively create custom scanner and printer profiles: (back to top)
I recently got a copy of MonacoEZcolor, and I have made a bunch of custom ICC profiles with it. Using Monaco EZ color and a flatbed scanner, I have been able to get great results calibrating several Epson printers to each other even using different papers. My Epson 1200 is calibrated to my Epson Ex both using the Photo Paper and the images match very well. At a workshop I taught at Palm Beach Photo Workshops, we calibrated several Epson printers, including an Epson 5000 to each other some of which were using different types of paper. This worked very well!
I would recommend MonacoEZcolor for calibrating different papers and inkjet printers to each other and also for calibrating a scanner to an inkjet printer. Using it is fairly simple and it only costs $299. All you need to calibrate your printer is a flatbed scanner. You print the Monaco printer test target onto your printer then tape an IT8 scanner test target, that comes with MonacoEZcolor, to the same piece of paper the printer test was printed on. Now you scan that piece of paper, with the printer target and the scanner target on it. In one step MonacoEZcolor then analyzes the scanner target to produce a scanner profile then with that profile also analyses the printer target to produce a printer profile. The manual that comes with MonacoEZcolor has all the information you'll need to make your own profiles.
It was a Great idea to use your faltbed scanner, or a friends, as a spectrophotometer to create your custom printer profile. I have heard from other knowledgeable people who have also tried it that MonacoEZcolor works quite well with most flatbed scanners, even the cheaper ones. Get more info at www.monacosys.com or call 978-749-9977. To print your tests to create your profiles, use the Epson settings described in the jpeg file: Ep1200SetsForCustProf.jpg . After creating a profile, use these same printer settings to print your images on the Epson 1200 but you must first do Image/Mode/Profile to Profile to convert a copy of the image to be printed from the color space it is in (like ColorMatch RGB, Adobe RGB, Lab, etc.) into the color space described by the printer profile you just made. The Jpeg file: ProfToProfToPrintWMonProf.jpg , has the correct settings to use when doing the Profile to Profile transformation.
To download the above jpeg files describing the settings, click on the names of the files you want to see.
Improving RGB Softproofs and CMYK Preview when on a PC: (back to top)
The directions for getting better RGB Soft Proofs on page 112 and the directions for Getting Exact CMYK Soft Proofs on page 121 of Photoshop 5 Artistry need some minor changes to work correctly on the PC. They work fine on the Mac. Here are the chagnes for PC users. By the way, thanks to AMD and their speedy K7 chipset, which I have been testing, I now have a very fast PC in my studio with both Windows 98 and NT available!
Changes to directions on page 112 for PC users:
Step 4. Ignore the part about 8BST, since you can't set this on the PC, and edit the suffix of the RAW file that you create to be ".AST". Ignore the warning message that comes up saying "Some Image Data..." and save anyhow.
Step 9. Ignore the part about 8BST, since you can't set this on the PC, and edit the suffix of the RAW file that you create to be ".AST". Ignore the warning message that comes up saying "Some Image Data..." and save anyhow.
Changes to directions on page 121 for PC users:
Step 4. Ignore the part about 8BST, since you can't set this on the PC, and edit the suffix of the RAW file that you create to be ".AST". Ignore the warning message that comes up saying "Some Image Data..." and save anyhow.
The photoshop calibration files you initially need to do the above preview improvements can be found when using NT at C/Program Files/Adobe/Protoshop 5.0/Goodies/Calibration. The ICM files, color profiles on the PC side, can be found on NT at C/Winnt/System32/Color.
Adjusting your monitor for RGB soft proofs may or may not improve the way images on the screen match your printed results. I have found it improves my monitor previews for my Epson 1200 when I'm using the Monaco custom profile to make prints. I also used the techniques on page 121 to fine tune my CMYK previews when printing Photoshop 5 Artistry. Try these techniques and let me know if they help your situation. Have Fun!
Getting Photoshop 5.02 and using it with Photoshop 5 Artistry: (back to top)
In the Photoshop 5.02 update, which you should get as a free download from Adobe.com, several things were changed in Photoshop. Most of the changes were bug fixes that will be fairly transparent to the user unless you were bothered by a particular bug. Adobe did, however, change the name of the RGB space SMPTE240M to ADOBE RGB (1998). When you are reading Photoshop 5 Artistry, or any other Photoshop documentation, and you read anything referring to SMPTE240M, this same exact color space has been renamed to ADOBE RGB (1998) in 5.02. The actual color space is the same, just the name is different so if you are using 5.02 just do the same things with ADOBE RGB (1998) as Photoshop 5 Artistry recommends you do with SMPTE240M.
Also when you first install Photoshop 5.0.2, and start it up for the first time, it comes up into an assistant that is there to help you make the right choices about setting up your File/Color Settings/RGB Setup, CMYK Setup, Grayscale Setup and Profile Setup. You can certainly go through this assistant and read what it has to say and make the choices you think are correct for you. After doing this though, you should turn to pages 26 through 33 in Photoshop 5 Artistry and reread the setup information there as well as rereading chapter 14, then choose the correct settings for RGB Setup, CMYK Setup, Grayscale Setup and Profile Setup after really understanding the meaning of the choices you make.
Using the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD with a PC: (back to top)
There are some files on the Photoshop 5 Artistry CD that don't contain the correct three character suffix to work on a PC. To open one of these files on a PC, just use Windows Explorer to copy the file to your hard disk then change the name of the file to include the correct suffix for the PC. The Mac does not use the three character suffix to figure out the file type so all the files should work on the Mac. The PC does use this suffix which I had Photoshop set to automatically create on all the files we used in the book. In some places, Photoshop didn't automaticlly create the suffix, and in other places the file came from elsewhere and the suffix wasn't on the file. We appologize for not noticing this before the CD was reproduced. We will fix the problem for the next printing of Photoshop 5 Artistry. Here are all the files that have a missing suffix and the correct suffix to add to each of them:
Folder 4.Automating with Actions: add .abr to BigBrushSet. Since the file "LightJet Actions 4/3/98" has slashes in it, you can't see it on a PC, so you can download it from here by clicking on it: LightJetActions.atn . The other files within the BillsLightJetActionScripts folder are a text file and an ICC profile. I'm not sure of the correct suffix for each of those.
Folder 5.Sys and Photoshop Prefs: You don't need the Paths, Prefs and Color Settings files, add .abr to BigBrushSet.
Folder 15.Calibration: Inside the BillsColorCalibration folder, Create_SpectroChart is a Hypercard stack which I don't believe will work on the PC, the Read-Me is a simpletext file, all the files in the CMYK Targets and RGB Targets folders are photoshop format files so add the .psd suffix and they should open. You need to scale these files up using Image/Image Size with the Nearest Neighbor setting in Resample Image.
Folder 19.The Grand Canyon: add .ahu to the file MyInitialHueSaturationCHanges.
Folder 20.Kansas: Extra Info Files: add .ahu to KansasHueSaturation and .alv to KansasLevels.
Folder 24.Kansas Tweaks: Extra Info Files: add .acv to CMYK Tweak Curve.
Folder 28.Desert Al: Extra Info Files: add .ahu to 5AlHSSettings, add .alv to 5AlLevels and 5FixedLevels.
Folder 39.Filters & Effects: Since the file in the Extra Info Files folder called"Left/Right Flop.psd" has a slash in it, you can't see it on a PC, so you can download it from here by clicking on it: LeftRightFlop.psd .
Folder 40.The Portable Ad: add .ai to the file Wholly Os Outlines.
Sorry we did not post this information earlier, between moving, buying and selling houses, and writing this book, 1998 was a very busy year. Please e-mail me if any of this information is wrong or if you have further comments about the CD. Thanks!
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