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And dont forget when chosing a spot, consider what paper stock you will have. In fact always consider paper stock then adjust colour settings accordingly.
There is a book I want to get called "The Designers Manual." I cant remember author off hand. It covers alot of material, including all the terms used in publishing and printing, like correct names of pages in books etc. I have a really poor memory today hehe.
Otherwise, whatever application you use should give some good tips, in documentation and online.
Sorry I can't help more...I'm definitely not a print expert 8[
You just made me look back at that link in confusment. I thought the link said www.creativepoo.com [bustagut] What kind of printer do you have now stickdiesel?
As far as having a 'good basic knowledge' of RGB, CYMK, and Spot Colors.....ahhhh This is what I know....RGB colors only are displayed on your monitor. Photoshop simulates CMYK but viewing these simulated colors on screen and printing them on paper aren't going to necessarily produce identical results...am I right so far?
I currently have an Epson Stylus Photo 820...not exactly professional...actually not even close! My scanner is a Memorex SCF 612OP. It actually produces some nice scans.
I don't know anything about Spot Colors. However, I am very familiar with the Pantone book...I used to work for Tiffany's and we used to use the book(they looked more like swatches)to pick out the Tiffany Blue...
Is the reason you can't pick a Spot Color using your monitor because the color you pick will only be a 'representation' of that color and in print the 'real' spot color you chose will be different? (did I just babble or did that almost make sense?)
I might be totally offtrack on Spot Colors cause I just reread your post and you said that not only can you NOT pick a spot color on your monitor, you also can't print it.....why?
If your monitor only simulates CMYK, then how do you compensate for the discrepencies between what you see on your monitor and what prints out?
I really am going to try to visit these boards daily. I've always received the most insightful and helpful advice or direction. Welles, Erik, Stickdiesel, wbiss, Applecider
Thank you ! I'm determined to learn/experiment all I can...of course alittle professional experience wouldn't hurt.....of course my timing could have been better too...trying to enter a field thats flooded because of economic circumstances........I have great timing [stuned]
I'm bleary eyed now...its late...past my bedtime [sleepy] ....have a great night..or day...depending on which side of the globe your located 8[
ps. I really do have an understanding......I just need to fill in the gaping holes [confused]
This is a very difficult matter to grasp. I am working on a chautauqua on it, but to give you an idea:
What your computer calculates in the background does not correspond necessarily with what you see on your monitor. Some colours simply cannot be reproduced on a monitor because they fall outside the range of what it can display. The same goes for printing with four inks: many colours that you can see on your monitor cannot be printed. These colours are said to be "out of gamut". While much depends on the quality of your monitor and then how well it is calibrated, it cannot expand beyond the capabilities of monitors. A printer can use more than four colours. Not only a dektop one that uses six or more inks (they add PhotoCyan and PhotoMagenta to have a more exact reproduction of what one can see on the monitor), but some offset printers also use more colours. Yet these are exceptions. Most only use CMYK.
As for spot colours: when for example making an invitation or a poster, you can choose your colours in a book like the Pantone one. Then the printer knows how to mix that ink, based on a set of basic colours. Yet most of these colours cannot be reproduced by CMYK, and thus also not by your desktop printer. Also, many of them cannot be exactly reproduced on your monitor.
What Photoshop does, when displaying CMYK is on one hand limiting the RGB colours to those that fall inside the CMYK colour space, and on the other hand, saturating the ones that are close to those your monitor cannot reproduce. Yet, if your monitor isn't well calibrated, you get a totally wrong indea.
Print consists of two different items: photographs and photographic documents are reproduced with the four (or six, or..) colours of the CMYK space , whilst fills and text etc is often printed with so-called spot colours. Pantone has a book in which you can see the differences between the Pantone set and its "equivalent" in CMYK. Shocking...
And then there's the different kinds and hues of paper etc etc etc...
Wow....thats quite abit of information to absorb. Its great to get feedback from people who know much about the subject your interested in.
Erik wrote:
What Photoshop does, when displaying CMYK is on one hand limiting the RGB colours to those that fall inside the CMYK colour space, and on the other hand, saturating the ones that are close to those your monitor cannot reproduce. Yet, if your monitor isn't well calibrated, you get a totally wrong indea.
So if your monitor is descent and well calibrated, what you see is pretty close to what will print. Is that the right idea?
Is RGB primarily reserved for the web? I know that this might sound kinda...stupid... [saywhat] ..but I have always created my images in RGB and even though I usually put them inside html...I never really gave RGB and CMYK much thought...until now ofcourse!
When it comes to artistic design....my tablet, monitor and software are my only way to recreate what I envision.....my eye - hand coordination isn't there ....I saw some of your images and was toally blown away by your visions...your images are absolutely beautiful. Maybe in my next life the big guy up there will bestowe me with the ability to draw/paint by hand instead of digital pen/mouse [excited] That would be nice...
I think I need to callibrate my monitor as best I can...Photoshop can do that can't it? and visit your suggested website and then start printing..oh yeah...I need to look at my printer manual...
A slight deviation.... 
Man, I love this place... it's sooooooooooooooo informative!
....I saw some of your images and was toally blown away by your visions...your images are absolutely beautiful. Maybe in my next life the big guy up there will bestowe me with the ability to draw/paint by hand instead of digital pen/mouse [excited] That would be nice...
Linear Mode
