Resolution,%20Color%20Management

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Resolution, Color Management Printing
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Resolution
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Digital Cameras Digital cameras measure the
image size not in pixels per inch but instead,
its measured in megapixels. A megapixel is simply
1 million pixels.
To find out how many megapixels you need to
create a particular image size, in Photoshops
image size dialog box you set the resolution you
want and the image size you want. Multiply the
number of pixels together. In the example to the
left you would need a camera that had 6.5
megapixels - (2179 x 3000 6,537,000)
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Print Resolution
300 pixels per inch (ppi)
Resolution simply means how large a pixel is when
you print it , and it usually is measured in
pixels per inch. More pixels per inch means
higher resolution.
1 inch
100 pixels per inch (ppi)
1 inch
30 pixels per inch (ppi)
1 inch
1 inch
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How high of a resolution do you need? That will
depend on what medium your image is viewed in
such as monitors, printers, scanners, digital
cameras. Unfortunately, there can be confusion
because the terminology for different devices can
vary (ppi, dpi, lpi, megapixels, and so on.)
Sometimes we use lines per inch because dots
arent used to make up the image such as in half
tones used in newspaper work.
Some Common lpi Settings
85 lpi Newspaper Advertisements 100
lpi Newspaper Editorial section 133
lpi Magazines and brochures 150 lpi High-end
magazines and high quality brochures 175
lpi Annual reports and high end brochures 53
lpi 300 dpi Laser printers 106 lpi 600 dpi
Laser printers 212 lpi 1200 dpi Laser printers
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Youll get very high quality results on most
injet printers if you use images with resolution
settings between 240 and 360 ppi. Anything over
360 is just overkill. You probably wont even
notice the difference between 360 ppi and one
with a higher resolution even if you use a
magnifying glass to compare them. If you work
with textured papers you might want to use closer
to 240 ppi and if you use a glossy paper you
might want to use 360 ppi. My general
recommendation is to to split the difference and
use 300 ppi if you are unsure.
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Resampling Resampling will change how large the
pixels are that make up the image. Any changes
you make to the resolution setting when the
resample box is checked will make the pixels
larger or smaller, but the image will stay the
same overall size. This might be useful if you
have a high resolution image going to a low
resolution medium. By making that change the file
size would become less and that can be very
useful in many different ways. Lowering file
sizes for the purposes of the web will allow
images to load faster in a browser and in
printing it will lessen the time it takes to
print. Caution is advised however as once the
image is resampled to a lower resolution you will
not be able to resize it back to a larger size
since you threw away pixels to get the image
smaller. Trying to make it bigger will result in
a pixelated image.
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Notice in this example that is not resampled. By
changing the Resolution you change the size of
the image but the number of pixels stays the
same. Digital cameras frequently give a default
setting of 72 ppi but the image is quite large.
If you change the resolution to around 300 ppi
the image size will be quite a bit smaller
(typically 4 x6 inches.)
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Sharpening the Image
The last thing youll do before sending your
image to its final destination may be to
sharpen the image. Most images NEED sharpening.
However, its important to understand what that
means. You will go to the Filter section under
the menu bar to find the Sharpen commands. You
do not use Sharpen...you will use Unsharp
Mask. Oddly named, its is a remnant from
techniques used in the printing industry in the
past.
Unsharp mask puts a halo around each pixel to
make it appear sharper. If it is done in the
correct proportion it will improve the appearance
of the image. If it is overdone it will be
apparent and lessen image quality. Different
mediums will require different levels of
sharpening. There are 3 settings in the Unsharp
Mask dialog box. Amount, Radius and Threshold.
The Amount is measured in percent and you can go
above 100 without harm to the image. Radius
refers to the how much space will be used for the
contrast boost between pixels and the setting
should probably should not exceed 1.5 pixels.
Threshold determines how different two colors
have to be for sharpening to kick in. Threshold
set at 0 will sharpen everything. You should
view your image at 100 size while sharpening.
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Color Management Printing
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How do you make a print that looks the same as it
does on the monitor? Through color management.
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The big problem with color is trying to get
everyone to agree what color a color actually
is....Buy three Red felt tip markers from three
different manufacturers and see if they all look
the same. Walk into a store to look at different
televisions from different manufacturers and see
if the pictures all look the same. In order to
get accurate color throughout the process, all of
the devices used must be profiled so that they
know how one another interprets color. All of
the monitors in this lab have been profiled using
a sophisticated calibration device software.
You should calibrate your monitors at home if you
intend to work there and expect half way accurate
color here. All of the printers used here have
had all of the papers commonly used here
profiled with the same sophisticated device and
software used on the monitors. Doing these
things is only the beginning.....
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Make sure your image is tagged. The photo labs
computers should be set up to embed a profile of
Adobe RGB 1998 automatically. In Photoshop you
can set that up under Edit gt Color Settings
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Youll need to make sure that several dialog
boxes all are in agreement about what kind of
file you are using, what kind of paper you are
printing on and even what printer you are
printing on. Whenever you are printing you will
want to start the process by clicking on the
Print button under File in the menu bar.
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After you push the Print button youll see this
dialogue box. Check to make sure that all of
these boxes are set as below. One exception is
the Printer Profile setting....it should state
the Type of paper your are using..
You will change this to a Paper Profile!
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Clicking on the Printer Profile tab brings up a
large number of choices. You need to select the
one that matches the specific paper your are
using. If you dont...your picture will not be
color correct.
The paper Ink types are listed using a
code...Enhanced Matte Paper EMP Premium Luster
Paper PLP, Photo Black ink PK, Mate Black
ink MK etc.
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Click on the page set up button to be sure that
your printer is selected, the right size paper is
selected and that the image is properly oriented
on the paper.
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When you push the Print button youll be given
yet another dialog box where you must check a
couple of other things. The first is to check
the Print Settings
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The Print Settings dialog box looks like this.
You should make sure that the Media Type agrees
with the paper you are using, that the ink is set
to color if you are making a color print and
that the Mode is set to the Advanced settings
with Print Quality at Superfine 1440.
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You will need to back track to where you saw
Copies Pages and go down to Printer Color
Management
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You will see a box that allows you to make color
adjustments. But you dont want to use them!
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Since you are making your color adjustments
within Photoshop you do not want the printer to
do anything other than what youve told it to do.
You will click the No Color Adjustment tab and
then the Print button to start printing.
If you let Photoshop determine the color turn
this to OFF
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If you have followed all of the steps mentioned
previously you should end up with a print that
looks very close to what you see on screen. If
your print looks vastly different than what you
see on screen... chances are very good that
youve neglected to make all of the proper
settings agree with one another. You should
double check to make sure that you have selected
all of the proper settings.