Soft Proofing and Printing with Lightroom

In my previous blog on exposing to the right with Olympus OM-D I mentioned shortly the Soft Proofing capabilities of Adobe Lightroom 4.

Here I take another look at Soft Proofing and why this tool in Lightroom is so powerful and important, especially for anyone printing images.

I like to tweak my images to have strong colors. With well calibrated and profiled monitor, reading color picker values and having lots of experience on printing I can forecast quite closely where the limit goes. But not always. One thing to notice is, like here, that Lightroom´s warning colors do not give any advice on how colors would behave in any lesser color space than ProPhoto RGB. Red on bike´s fender and blue on shadows give only a promise of a nicely contrasty image. However, my experience tells that those strong blue and cyan colors are now at least on the verge of being too saturated to be printed.

Enter Soft Proofing

To get a more precise and explicit view on how things really are, I have turned on Soft Proofing. I am going to print this image on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique 310g paper. That´s why I have chosen as Profile: cifa_3800_ragphot310_M... Here "cifa" is short of Canson Infinity Fine Art, "3800" stands for Epson 3800 printer and "ragphot310" is the just mentioned printing paper. Profile name goes on to say that I should use Matte Black ink. This profile is supplied by Canson and is downloadable from their web site at canson-infinity.com. Furthermore the instructions on their web site tell me which Epson 3800 printer driver settings should be used with this paper. I have chosen Perceptual as Intent. There´s a slight difference between how intents Perceptual and Relative render the image with this profile and I like Perceptual better. The choice here is just a matter of taste, and with many images the difference is quite small. 

As you can see, there is now a red warning color over most of blue and cyan surfaces and also on some areas having red color, although reds are naturally more difficult to notice here. The histogram has also a very different shape as it shows how the tones are mapped into color gamut of Rag Photographique. Red warning color is gamut warning color and it shows which colors from my image can not be properly mapped into my desired target. The warning goes on if any channel loses definition. While printing with inkjet printers it is not necessarily a disaster if one channel is clipped IF the other two have lots of variation inside the same area. But you are being warned and you need to check what is going on and you must make a decision on what to do.

To illustrate two exmples of possible corrective actions, here I have tweaked the blue range of colors in my image. A drop in saturation, small change in hue and slight lowering of luminance brings blues and cyans quite well inside of gamut. This is done in HSL window. Red colors are of course not affected but let´s forget them now as any correction there would be analogous.

Previous correction affects all blue colors globally in this image. Also those areas which are not at the edge and as a result some predominantly blue areas might turn too pale. By using Adjustment Brush tool you can tweak separate areas. Here I have painted Saturation -35 on the middle of cyan poster. Working with brush tool you can be very subtle and work gradually, and you can combine Saturation, change of color (Temp and Tint), Exposure and all the other sliders with so many ways. Each separate area can have its own correction as needed.

Let´s Print

After corrections it is time to print. I printed the above image both as it was and corrected with the above shown HSL tweak. Then I scanned both prints with a flatbed scanner. Here are details from both scans. On the left from the uncorrected and on the right from the corrected print. As can be seen, you can trust quite well the combination of Lightroom Soft Proofing and properly made profiles, like Canson profiles are. The cyan poster was bulging and reflecting the sky. Blue cardboard of kiosk was also bulging, torn and dirty and the fence must have highlights and shadows. The corrected print is a lot more life like.

At first I was quite disappointed with Lightroom 4´s Soft Proofing because CMYK Soft Proofing is not possible there. Now when I have used Soft Proofing habitually with every ink jet print I make, I couldn´t live without. It is one more tool which takes quessing out of equation. I can previsualize even better, actually quite perfectly, how my prints will look like when they come out of the printer. And like I wrote above, it is not a must to force every color always inside the paper´s gamut. Soft Proofing is a tool, not a dictator. It is not forbidden to use overly saturated or clipped colors in prints. Soft Proofing helps you to achieve even that in a controlled manner.

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Canson Infinity, three more papers

I wrote last November on my first experiences on Canson Infinity papers. You can find the blog here. I promised to continue with there more papers. Now I have enough experience on them to write an opinion.

Baryta Photographique

Baryta Photographique has a smoother surface (but has still some texture) than Platine Fibre Rag and it has also a slightly wider gamut. They both have the same weight, 310g, but Platine Fibre Rag feels rougher and  more "cardboard-ish" when hold in hand. The base material in Baryta Photographique is alpha-cellulose and it has a barium sulphate coating, just like traditional black and white papers had. Over that there is of course a receiver coating for ink jet. Visually these two papers have practically the same degree of glossiness. It seems that Baryta Photographique shows scratches a bit easier than Baryta.

Baryta Photographique has earned very good comments in net blogs and it has became a favorite for many Fine Art printers. Maybe I am just imagining but I tend to see the images on Baryta more three dimensional than on Platine. On the other hand I also feel that Baryta has a lesser character as a material than Platine, because I seem to find more qualifiers for Platine´s material feel. Baryta simply shows the image brilliantly and remains more in the background as a material.

Also Baryta Photographique is buffered, acid  free and has no optical brighteners. Black ink should be photo black. The image dries immediately and is water proof. It is available in all standard sizes from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 44" roll.

BFK Rives

BFK Rives derives from printing graphics, and it has a history of more than 500 years behind. Made of 100% Rag, BFK Rives is mould-made. It is a slow technique where a cylinder mould fetches pulp from tank. Paper stock is transferred from mould to felt and then dried between cylinders. The choise of felt gives the paper its grain, defined by the felt’s structure. Mould-made paper is stronger than machine made because the bonding between paper fibres is the same in all directions. A paper like this is very good for embossing. BFK Rives in Infinity series gets of course a one sided ink jet coating. This printing side is very easily recognized by fingers from the other side.

BFK is naturally a matt paper. The mentioned structure makes this paper clearly different from the smooth Rag Photographique. Another difference is warmer paper tone. Obviously because of manufacturing method BFK Rives is a rigid material and as 310g paper it is very suitable even for cards. Its surface texture is sensitive for chafing, though.

I chose BFK Rives for images whose nature is more on the side of graphics than strictly photographic. This material promotes very well that style. Canson Infinity series has also materials with even more structure if you want to emphasize more painterly or water color styles.

Again with BFK Rives we can repeat all previously mentioned criteria for museum required longevity. You should use Matte Black with it. Also this one is available in all standard sizes from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 44" roll. BFK Rives is the most expensive of my five papers.

PhotoSatin Premium RC

PhotoSatin is the other alpha-cellulose based material of these five papers. Its base tone is also the whitest of these. It has a subdued satin shine, which is achieved by polyethylene coating. This satin surface has less gloss than Baryta Photographique. I consider PhotoSatin as a great paper for portfolios, books and as a material for first prints. It is the cheapest paper in Canson Infinity series. PhotoSatin is not easily stained and fingerprints can be wiped off easily. It is a lot thinner and more flexible than Baryta, and lighter also at 270g, which makes it good for books and portfolios. Really I don´t consider PhotoSatin to be any worse than the others. I just lacks the exquisite material feel which those non-RC papers have - for me. 

And again I am repeating that PhotoSatin has no OBA´s and fulfills all museum criteria for longevity. And like with the others you can print with dyes or pigmented inks. Photo Satin is available in all standard sizes from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 44" roll.

Canson has two different trial or Discovery Packs. The other one has 10 and the other 11 different materials, two sheets of each. The difference between Packs is that the other one includes only matte papers and the other one has emphasis on glossy and semi-glossy papers. This image shows matte surfaces. These Discovery Packs are an easy way to learn differnt printing materials because you can get ICC-profiles for each of them from Canson Infinity web site.

Canson Infinity range and support

I have found that Canson has done a few important things right. 

First is the width of high quality materials and surfaces. They have everything from high gloss to baryta surfaces. From smooth mattes to textured watercolor papers and canvases. All in all 20 different products of which I have introduced only five. For me the choise among these is more a question of taste than quality. The structure of surface, glossiness (or lack of) and base tone all work together when choosing a paper for each image. All materials are suited for pigmented and dye inks.

Second, Canson has taken time and effort to make excellent ICC profiles. When you change from one paper into another, you only need to change the profile (and printer settings) and the result is very predictable and consistent. This consistency makes printing a lot easier and cheaper without any compromise in quality. As I noted above, any high quality paper is not perfect for every image. Canson makes it easier to choose the best paper for every image.

And third, Canson Infinity has good instructions on their website for choosing right inks and paper settings for various printers which include over 40 printer models from Epson, Canon and HP. Paper range, product PDFs, ICC profiles and lots of information and tips on printing can be found at cansoninfinity.com

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Canson Infinity

Canson is an old and respectable French maker of fine papers. Its history dates back to mid 16th century and nowadays their name is Canson & Arches. Names like Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Warholl and numerous others have been users of their papers and canvases. Now Canson has brought their know how also into printing of photographs as Canson Infinity product range.

Infinity Rag Photographique print on DiBond, 105x140cm

My main printing materials during recent years have been Hahnemuhle PhotoRag (308g) for matte prints, Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk for semigloss prints and Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl for the first or test print. I have also used Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl but have mostly preferred Gold Fibre Silk of these two quite similar papers.

A few months ago Canson Infinity´s importer in Finland contacted me and asked if I would like to test their papers. First I thought that not now, maybe later; I have to concentrate on printing my Fotofinlandia series and not even touch anything that´s not broken. But then I printed my images for Finnish Advertising Photographers´ Association´s yearly exhibition. There was a very dark series of images that turned out a bit mushy on PhotoRag. I gouldn´t get the prints quite like I wanted as they did not have in dark areas the separation I wanted. Because of deadline I sent them anyway to the exhibition, but thought that maybe I could try some Canson Infinity materials after all.

I printed test images on all Canson Infinity materials, except on canvases. Two materials got my attention immediately. They were Infinity Rag Photographique for matte prints and Infinity Platine Fibre Rag for a traditional photographic print look. Afterwards I chose three more papers: Infinity Baryta Photographique for even wider gamut, Infinity BFK Rives as a more textured matte paper and Infinity PhotoSatin for first tests.

One of my test runs on various Canson Infinity papers

Infinity Rag Photographique

Infinity Rag Photographique has a pure white, smooth surface and very good DMax. It is 100% cotton rag, acid free, internally buffered and has no optical brighteners (OBA´s). All this means very good for print longevity. Rag Photographique is used with Matte Black ink.

I made test runs for various color and black & white images, both with sharp edges and subtle gradients. I did not find any banding with Canson profile and liked paper´s gamut and DMax. Maybe you can already guess that my problem images turned out better on Infinity Rag Photographique than Hahnemuhle PhotoRag. PhotoRag has a warm base tone and it´s surface texture is rougher than Rag Photographique. Maybe it is also a profile issue but anyway Canson profile for Rag Photographique was at least as good as both my own and Hahnemuhle profile for PhotoRag.

Suddenly it was easy for me to change my mind on choice of matte paper as I noticed that also my both Fotofinlandia series printed as well or better on Infinity Rag Photographique. Those images turned out to be better suited for it´s whiter paper base.

Now, everyone must understand that I have nothing to say against PhotoRag. It´s the same great material as before. I have used it lot and liked it a lot. Choosing a printing paper is a matter of personal taste. I have to feel it in my hand and see how my images print on it. It´s like with a good single malt whisky, you know a great single malt when you have tasted enough good whiskies. Well, it takes more than one night to know that, if you want to try... Based on specs both materials are great, but they are not visually alike, my taste has shifted for the purer and smoother material. 

As a note, all my comments here are based on printing with Epson 9900 (and some with Epson 3800) printer. (And as a side note, I was later told that the jury of above mentioned exhibition said that my choice of paper in that dark series was wrong... The series was in the exhibition but did not get any awards because of that!)

Rag Photographique comes in three versions: 210g, 310g and Duo 220g. Duo has printable surface on both sides and is great for portfolios ja books. One-sided papers are available in all standard sizes from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 44" roll. Duo is available in sheets from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 17x22" / A2.

Infinity Platine Fibre Rag

Canson was very keen to hear my opinion on Infinity Baryta Photographique. Instead I was at first much keener to try Infinity Platine Fibre Rag. It is a thick paper with 310g. Holding a printed sheet of Platine Fibre Rag is a joy. It´s gorgeous, absolutely beautiful. Printed surface has some structure, a bit more than Canson´s Infinity Baryta Photographique. It has also some gloss. If you have ever printed on traditional, analog black and white baryta paper and let it dry by itself, you know the feel of surface. This kind of surface was called F-type. Platine Fibre Rag is only thicker and and it is dry and very flat after printing. It´s easy to frame. Platine Fibre Rag is also internally buffered, acid free and has no optical brighteners. It is used with Photo Black ink.

Later, when looking more closely at my test images I noticed that Infinity Baryta Photographique has a larger gamut than Platine Fibre Rag. It has more saturated colors. The difference is not huge but it is there. Baryta Photographique will be my material for images that need more punch than subtlety.

There is a lot in Platine Fibre Rag that I like. Deep blacks, beautiful tones. The feel and quality in both the material and how images are reproduced on it. It is available in all standard sizes from 8,5x11" / A4 up to 44" roll.

Canson Infinity range and support

I have found that Canson has done a few important things right. 

First is the width of high quality materials and surfaces. They have everything from high gloss to baryta surfaces. From smooth mattes to textured watercolor papers and canvases. 20 different products.

Second, Canson has taken time and effort to make excellent ICC profiles. When you change from one paper into another, you only need to change the profile (and printer settings) and the result is very predictable and consistent. This consistency makes printing a lot easier and cheaper without any compromise in quality. As I noted above, any high quality paper is not perfect for every image. Canson makes it easier to choose the best paper for every image.

And third, Canson Infinity has good instructions on their website for choosing right inks and paper settings for various printers which include over 40 printer models from Epson, Canon and HP. Paper range, product PDFs, ICC profiles and lots of information and tips on printing can be found at cansoninfinity.com

Next on papers

I will write later more on the other three papers: Infinity Baryta Photographique, PhotoSatin and BFK Rives

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