The basics

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
14.04 Setting up a color-managed workfl ow
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Diffi culty level – Intermediate
Related techniques – 14.05, 14.06, 14.07, 14.08 | Menus used - File
Now that I have convinced you that a color-managed system has distinct quality advantages
over a ‘hit and miss’ non-managed approach, you will, no doubt, be eagerly wanting to make
sure that you are working this way at home. So here are the steps that you will need to follow to
put in place a full ICC profi le color-managed system for capture, manipulation and print.
Scanners and cameras
Start by searching through the manuals for your digital camera and scanner to fi nd references
for ‘Changing Color Spaces’ or ‘Tagging your Scanned File’. Most cameras automatically tag the
images they make with the sRGB ICC profi le. Even if there is no mention of attaching profi les
to pictures in the camera documentation, don’t assume that the fi le is being imported without
a profi le. It may be that this function is occurring in the background and that your particular
camera does not offer the facility to change or manipulate the camera’s color profi le.
To check to see if your pictures are tagged, open the fi le in the Elements Editor and click the
sideways arrow at the left of the status bar (at the bottom of the picture window) to reveal a fl yout
menu. Choose the Document
Profi le option from the list. Now
to the left of the arrow you will see
the profi le name attached to your
fi le. If the picture is not tagged
then it will be labelled ‘Untagged
RGB’. Alternatively, you can also
display the profi le as part of the Info
palette (Editor: Window > Info) by
selecting the setting from the More
Options button.
Checking profi les in Elements >> Use the Document Profi le option in
the Info palette on the document’s status bar to check what profi le is
attached to your pictures.
Some more expensive cameras
contain the ability to alter the
default profi le settings, allowing
the user to select different color
spaces. For the moment just make
sure that the camera is attaching
a profi le to your images. We will
discuss ‘which profi les are best to
use when’ later in this chapter.
Do the same type of investigation
for your scanner. Unfortunately
you will probably fi nd that most
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FINELY CRAFTED OUTPUT