Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Recommended Posts

Hi, I'm quite new to digital photography and am trying to understand profiles.

 

I've read coranda's post

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/11293-ap-printing-with-icc-printer-profiles/?p=48255

and generally can follow that. However it still doesn't solve my problem.

 

My aim is that I'm trying to create a jpg with a profile built in which I have downloaded from a printing company. It's not an icc file but has the extension icm

 

Following the company's instructions, I downloaded the icm profile and copied it to Macintosh HD/Library/color sync/profiles where it now sits with various others like Black & White.icc, etc.

 

Following coranda's print instructions...

"In the print dialogue, at the bottom, there should be a button that says "Show Details".  Click that.  There you will see a drop down list that probably has "Affinity Photo" selected.  Click on that list and choose "Colour Matching" and make sure that "ColorSync" is enabled."

This did produce a drop-down list and the Fuji icm was there. So I guess if I had that printer sitting here beside me it would work. However I want to generate a file that I can email to the printer for them to print, so it's not quite the solution.

 

Following the soft proof instructions, I added a soft proof adjustment layer, but the Fuji profile was not listed - it has many profiles of papers and devices listed, but not the Fuji one or any of those in the path mentioned above. If it did I guess I could export the image as normal with the profile built in.

 

If I do a file/export to generate the jpg, I had expected to find some way to pick up the profile as in the case of printing. However I don't see any way to do that.

 

Can anyone please explain how to get this profiled file?

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please forgive my butting in here, but is this maybe more of an OS system level thing than an Affinity one?

 

I ask because in my Macintosh HD/Library/color sync/profiles folder, I had an alias to a group of 8 icm profiles installed in /Library/Application Support/Nikon/Profiles/ by a now out of date copy* of Nikon's ViewNX 2 software that came with my Nikon point & shoot camera. Until I deleted the alias, all these icm profiles kept popping up in any application or print dialog that allowed choosing a color profile, including but not limited to Affinity, even though they have the .icm extension.

 

They all show up labeled as kind "ICC Profile" in Finder list views, too.

 

*The software is from 2010 & so out of date that the uninstaller that came with it won't do anything when running on OS X 10.9.x or later, which is why parts of it are still lurking on my system.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks DWright,

 

I did as you suggested and the profile does now appear in the soft proof list after I rebooted the machine.

 

So, to get to my main aim, if I export the image with the proof layer present and set to the Fuji profile, will the jpg file produced be correctly set for this printer and paper? It looks to me like it should, but I recall some mention in another thread which seemed to suggest the soft proof is somehow less than application of the full profile. Or maybe I just misunderstood what they were discussing.

 

I agree R C-R, this issue is linked to the OS and how to set it for use with this aspect of Affinity, but my question is regarding use of Affinity

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the AD help topic, Soft Proof Adjustment:

"This adjustment allows you to preview different output options for your design. However, it does not affect the final print or export of your design. It is always non-printing and non-exporting. You will need to replicate the options of the soft proof at the print or export stage."

 

Also, if you haven't seen it already, there is a brief video tutorial demonstrating how to use Soft Proofing:

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, thanks for that, I failed to look for it in Help. I see the video is a Designer one, but it's instructive.

 

I've twigged the answer. The Help quoted above suggests it can be done when exporting ("replicate the options....of..soft proof...... at ...export stage") so I looked at the export dialogue boxes more closely and there is a button in the file/export dialogue labelled "More". Clicking this brings a new dialogue which includes the option to embed an icc profile. Phew, that's the method.

 

As an aside, if I merge down the layers including the soft proof layer, is it not then built in, so that exporting the single layer will then give me what I want without this new step? I don't need it to now, but I'm trying to improve my understanding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a guess, but I don't think merging down would embed the ICC profile in the document.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Stuart Ord

 

There's a simple way to assign a profile to an image or convert an image to another profile before exporting it. Open the Document drop down menu and you'll find 2 alternatives; Convert ICC Profile and Assign ICC  Profile. There you have it.

 

The softproofing function is what is says, it is only a soft proof which gives a possibility to preview the file with particular profile settings before sending it for further use. So, it makes it possible to try different profiles by adding proof layers and switching between them to find what suites best.

 

Personally I do not know what real purpose that would serve as one normally uses a specific icc profile for one's own printer/paper combination or for a commercial printer or photolab. It's not a question of fiddling between profiles but fixing a managed and reliable colour consistent workflow on which one can rely on. If there's a need to serve a plethora of partners with different profiles, then the best way is to assign/embed a specific icc profile to each image file.

 

To my knowledge the soft proof layer will be discarded when the image is flattened or exported which means the image will stay in its original colour space and profile.

 

As far as I can say, the normal procedure is to embed the profile into the image file and it will be recognized by all major image retouching softwares.

In case of a mismatch between the file's profile and the photo software's default working colour space, the software should ask what to do with the file; should it keep the original profile or change it to that particular computer's colour space.

 

Hope this clarifies something.

 

Also see the attached file

 

 

vieuxjeux

post-23122-0-52984200-1454609267_thumb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.