James

May I ask that don't reply to the list with the title left on (e.g.)  
<[PRODIG] Re: prodig-digest V1 #1886> 
as you did, it's a lot easier for we listees to follow threads if you
use the original title.

1/11/03 1:59 pm James King-Holmes <james-at-kingholmes.com> wrote

>Richard
>
>Not quite. 1994 Henshall wrote a piece about the Colortran & profiling, &
>slightly  more recently (don't have the reference to hand) he did a piece
>about the EyeOne (I think) and neutral viewing conditions/lighting etc. I
>recall that whichever hardware it was, it seemed awfully expensive
>(GBP1800?) at the time, & thus a little bit of a luxury for my own business.
there are very good solutions available for a lot less than that currently.
http://www.colourmanagement.net/profilgear.html
My favourite monitor calibration/profiling gear is currently
color-solutions basICColor Display with either 
1: iOne Monitor (550.00) or
2: basICColor Squid (210.00).

>The current series is a direct transcript of Neil Barstow's web pages.

is that a criticism?
That's not quite a fair comment whatever you mean by it James:

The second piece, <7 steps> was adapted from material on my site at the
suggestion of your BIPP editor Steve Bavister, the first was especially
written for the BIPP magazine and it took quite a few hours very late
at night over a weekend as I was given only a few days notice that the
article was needed. To suggest I pulled it all straight off the site is
unfair IMO. 

Yours is the ONLY feedback I've had so I suspect I'll not be writing
any more BIPP articles. You can take a horse to water - - . Hey,
perhaps you think my work is junk, that would be your perogative, of
course.

Now, I have to admit that I can't know categorically what you read -
because no one at BIPP has been kind enough to send me any magazines!
Iv'e never seen the articles in print.

>
>Apart from that, I agree with all you say.
>
>The problem is that profiling occupies the same space in the digital armoury
>as colour testing each film batch occupied in a pre-digital age. In other
>words, if you were really serious and a lot of money was at stake on the
>technical quality of your images, then you did it. If your attitude was more
>casual, then you didn't & trusted the film manufacturers to get it right
>most of the time.  
but you can't trust the digi manufacturers in the same way, a properly
profiled workflow is like knowing the ASA and type of film before you
load and expose the stock.

A non profiled workflow is, at best, a risk, at worst, a black box of
film, yes, you can test it, but why bother when profiles can describe
your digital devices in the same way that a label on a film box tells
us what to set the meter to??

I'm disappointed if you read my first BIPP article and still feel profiling
is only for the anal retentives.

>Either way, the point to bear in mind is that unless your
>business is  heavily involved with the technical or repro side then it is
>the behind-the-camera making of images which turns most photographers on,
>the rest is incidental.
I can't agree here, nor will many of the listees I feel.

Personally I do remember the days spent testing film batches with
differing filtrations, especially back in the early 80's, film seemed
to get a lot more consistent after that. 

But digital is potentially much different, if you read my first BIPP
article I hope you understand that RGB and CMYK numbers are not
unequivocal colour definitions, but that the real colour meanings are
set ONLY by reference to a colour space. Even <without colour
management> assumptions are being made about file content and screen -
at a minimum.

Let's take Epson inkjet printers as an example -
we are often dealing with more than a small caste, using even original
manufacturers materials a printer can sometimes be far enough off to
take the fun out of printing.

With a third party manufacturer's papers and/or inks the prints can be
virtually irredeemable without a good profile. I guess it just depends on
how much time and materials a user is willing to waste on test prints.

With no film to send to the client it becomes imperative to have at
least a calibrated/profiled screen and ideally a printer set up likewise, so
that 
A: we know what we are doing when colour correcting, 
B: we can send client an aim print which actually represents file data.

Even for those just printing a portfolio, is it worth accepting the
possible compromise of mediocre prints?

>
>Or is this heresy on this forum?
I don't think so, all views gratefully accepted IMHO.

I certainly don't wish to sound strident, I do hope my views sound balanced?

Regards,   NeilB.                 Apple Solutions Expert

    colourmanagement.net  ::  Consulting in Imaging & Colour Management
       custom scanner and printer profiles, training on Imacon Scanning 
supply  Gretag + eyeOne,  ColorSoloutions basICColor : Display etc.   XRite
www.colourmanagement.net/ :: www.apple.com/uk/creative/neilbarstow/
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