It's worth quoting Jeff's response. Three matters should preface my quote. First that the size of the
- Standard CMYK gamut is much smaller than Adobe RGB (1988)
Image Ted Dillard 2008 CMYK Color Gamut reduced by 84% of RGB Color Gamut
- Next, the technicians taking a file from you have all sorts of skills but not necessarily yours in color management
- Finally, the output machine always has unique limitations in printing what we see on the computer screen or print on an Epson Inkjet Printer which BTW can print colors even beyond what we see on the monitor!
So here's what Jeff wrote in LL:
[quote name='Schewe' date='Sep 8 2008, 02:12 PM' post='220188']
Well, the industry simply isn't the same as it was back then. Back then a piece of film could be scanned by well trained scanner operators whose job it was to convert to CMYK while also doing on the fly automated sharpening for the press at the final placed size.
Delivering a native resolution file in Adobe RGB is nothing like delivering a piece of film. Somebody, somewhere must know what to do with the digital file and the odds are _REAL_ good it won't be the designer nor the printer nor even the client. If YOU don't know what to do with the file then you are really hanging your client out to dry. There are very few printers who can accept RGB and do a really good job dealing with the conversion and sharpening for the press. They are out there, but the odds of them getting a low bid for a cheap client is minimal.
Back when I was delivering files for clients, I made them put, on the P.O., the exact proofing device that the first CMYK proof would be made from. I also had really good profiles for all the proofing devices used here in the US. Once I got the confirmation of the proof being used, I used the ICC CMYK profile for that device and only showed my clients what the image would look like, in CMYK. To show them what it looks like in RGB is to have them fall in love with something they'll NEVER get on press.
After doing all the work on the image in RGB with CMYK soft proofing on, I then converted from ProPhoto RGB (my working space) to the CMYK proof profile. Once I converted to CMYK I then reconverted the CMYK to RGB in either sRGB or Adobe RGB. Then I delivered both the CMYK and the RGB files made from them. Why? Because if I gave them RGB that was made from the CMYK then nobody down the line could screw up the conversion. If somebody took the RGB file I gave them and did their own CMYK separation, the odds are REAL GOOD they would be very close to the CMYK I gave them.
I also padded the file resolution by about 20% but did final output sharpening prior to the CMYK conversion. I told the clients that they could go up or down 20% and expect reasonable results but if they when up or down more that 20% of the original, the results would be inferior because the output would be "ruined" (sometimes it's good to engage in "white lies" in order to keep clients from doing the wrong things).
If you know what you are doing, the odds are really good you will be the only one who does at this point in the industry. If the jobs you do go well and the clients are happy, they will keep coming back for your knowledge. If you just give clients what they think they want, the odds are also pretty good that somebody down the line will screw things up and guess who gets the blame?
