How do you create a color profile for print production?

My background is printed paper products, so CMYK and Pantone colors were my life for 30 plus years. Because of color limitations on printing presses I started mixing Pantone inks into the CMYK process to create more vibrant color pallets. Especially subbing Rhodamine Red for magenta. Each product or series would have a color profile and color range assigned to it. Color is exciting to me and I love figuring out how to achieve difficult color combos.

I agree, but, for reproduction it really depends on a multitude of factors: Are you printing offset? Digital? Inkjet? What colour space was the original file created in? I find that sometimes, if you have an inexperienced designer from the get-go, you’ll need to do a bit of cross-platform research. In order to maintain a consistent colour across medias and UX, you’ve got to know your stuff. Example: “Coke Red”. Everyone knows that red that Coca-Cola uses. They actually named the colour “Coke Red” (it’s actually a secret combination but PMS484 comes close). Trying to match that can drive you to drink, lol.

Coming from a 35+ year background in print, I find it fascinating folks say to build files in CMYK. This was once the case, but now it depends on how something is printed. If printing for laser printouts at Staples, you absolutely do not need to color correct in CMYK since RGB will work. It's akin to printing on your own personal printer. Now prepping files for web press and sheetfed presses, I normally work in RGB mode for all of my custom Photoshop work and do pre-color correction in that mode. When I convert to CMYK, I color correct for final press in CMYK. I do not use screen calibration. I color correct based on color info breakdowns. For people, I have a breakdown for skin colors and number combos for other breakdowns.

1. In Photoshop or Illustrator, go to Edit > Color Settings. Choose a work space for your color model, such as Adobe RGB for RGB or FOGRA39 for CMYK. 2. By running A/B tests with video thumbnails, titles or CTAs and analyzing the resulting performance metrics. 3. Keep your logo simple, consider your tagline, draw a sketch, draw it within guidelines, reflect the nature of your business 4. Analysis, Creativity, Research, Analytical Power, Collaboration. 5. Understanding the problem, researching, collaborating, learning from failures, keeping an open mind, continuously learning, seeking feedback 6. Depending on online or print: Instagram Stories: 1080x1920 resolution You should use 72 ppi or 300 dpi and a resolution of PNG or SVG.

There are a few simple rules that come from back in the day when we used to separate colors on film to be able to print on a press. For a print job, I typically start by using a tangible Pantone color guide to pick the colors that I will work with. Then, I create a color palette digitally (RGB) with the equivalents of the Pantones in CMYK. I print in inkjet and laser on a similar paper to what I will be using for the final product. Finally, I adjust the colors to get as close as possible to the Pantone catalog on all my platforms. That way, my client and I can have an accurate idea of what the printed version will look like and not be surprised when the colors from the printing press are darker or duller than the digital version.

When preparing graphics for printing, choosing the right color space is crucial. For print production, CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) is the standard color space. CMYK accounts for the ink combinations used in printing, ensuring that your colors translate accurately to the printed material. In software like Adobe Photoshop, access color space settings under "Edit" > "Color Settings" and choose a CMYK profile compatible with your printer, such as U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2. This selection ensures your design aligns with the printer's color capabilities, delivering consistent and accurate results in the final printed product. Always check your printer's specifications and adjust your color space accordingly for optimal print quality.

When preparing for printing, choosing colour profiles are important. Screens and actual print media present colours in different ways. CMYK is mostly the standard colour profile for printing depending on the type of printer being used.

When printing or preparing for printing, you have to be informed, not all printers are the same. they function differently in the aspect of ink impression. For print production CMYK(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) is standard for doing this.

Another helpful hint of advice would also be to not assume every printer has a CMYK setting. Places like Walmart operate on sRGB color format, so it's best practice to work in RGB until the final production when instructed to change settings. But, typically, standard print format is CMYK

In my experience, after i choose a color space like SWOP or ISO, essential for print production, the next step is to set the color profile in graphic software like Photoshop or Illustrator. It involves specifying color details, ensuring harmony between your graphic and the printer-paper combination. This meticulous process, vital for avoiding discrepancies in color reproduction, guarantees that your final print aligns precisely with your design intent and industry standards.

To ensure optimal results in your final printing, focus on critical settings and adjustments. Set a high resolution (300 dpi) to maintain image sharpness. Boosting resolution won't better your file's quality; the initial file should be sufficiently large when provided. Check the color profile, ensuring it aligns with your printer's specifications. Soft proof your design to anticipate how colors will appear in print. Adjust for any discrepancies, employing the appropriate rendering intent. Embed color profiles when saving, preserving color information. Export in a print-friendly format like PDF to maintain quality. Finally, conduct a test print to catch any issues before mass production, guaranteeing a flawless outcome.

Creating a color profile for print production, precise adjustments in settings are pivotal. Key considerations include resolution, size, format, compression, sharpening, and color management. Tackling these parameters optimizes your graphic for printing, ensuring clarity, size appropriateness, and file compatibility. Applying these settings through graphic software, like Photoshop or Illustrator, ensures that your graphic maintains accuracy and consistency in color, catering to diverse devices and media.

Adjust the brightness, contrast, saturation, and other properties of the photos and videos in your designs. You can also isolate photo adjustments to the background or foreground and color edit an object in your image.

Creating a color profile for print production involves calibrating your monitor using hardware tools for accuracy and selecting ICC profiles specific to your printer, ink, and paper combination. Soft proofing with color management software allows you to simulate print colors. Adjust printer settings according to ICC profiles and paper characteristics, conducting test prints to ensure accuracy. Control ambient light and periodically recalibrate devices to maintain consistency. This process ensures that colors seen on your monitor align accurately with the final printed output, providing a reliable and accurate color reproduction for print production.

Your resolution to any project is really important. These are part of the settings and adjustment even before starting your design. Printing on big banners or social media will require a good resolution that's not less than 300dpi to achieve a picture quality effect. Note: this can be more

If you are a graphic designer and need your project printed somewhere else, I would suggest you speak to the person handling your project. Let them know what you are expecting, what is important and what they need from you. Unfortunately, many designers don't speak beforehand and just send their print files. Every print provider is different so it is very important to start a good relationship so things can go smoothly and you get great results.

In my experience good way is working on and saving images with Adobe RGB color space. When in Photoshop use View/Proof Colors with corresonding CMYK profile to see how it be on print. Only if out of gamut colors needs special corrections (greens, oranges, blues …) make image in CMYK. Then in layot apps when exporting to Print PDF make color conversion to corresponding profile with setting “Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers)” (CMYK values are preserved, RGB transformed). This way the same images can be used for different print settings.

There’s lots of great information here from people who clearly have experience in color management, but I feel the question hasn’t been properly answered. “How do you create a color profile for printing production?” To profile your printer, you need calibration software and hardware. You use software to print swatches from your printer. You then use a hardware device to scan the swatches. The software looks at the scan, noting the differences in each swatch, and builds a profile to use in your editing program or printing process to optimize your printer’s output. A Datacolor Spyder is good for that work. Other quality devices are available. I don’t work for Datacolor, but have used their devices and software with excellent results.

This option is Aldso very helpful specifically if we're printing brand materials to print a small test batch to check the colors under actual printing process and adjust the colors.

In my practice, an effective approach is working on and preserving images in the Adobe RGB color space. While in Photoshop, utilize View/Proof Colors with the corresponding CMYK profile to preview the print outcome. If specific corrections for out-of-gamut colors are necessary, like greens, oranges, blues, then convert the image to CMYK. During the export to Print PDF in layout applications, perform color conversion to the respective profile using the setting "Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers)"—this ensures preservation of CMYK values while transforming RGB.