Giclee Soft Proofing
The first step to proof your files on the screen is to have a good quality calibrated monitor. There are many inexpensive solutions which are easy to use. A controlled lighting environment is advisable.
To print the best possible giclee it is essential to soft proof your files, check for gamut issues and measure highlights and shadows. Using the info window in Photoshop, measure values to insure accuracy.
In order to see how a specific paper will print you need to use the specific ink set and paper profiles you will be ordering your giclee on.
Although we use a RIP (Raster Image Processing) with proprietary profiles, we can also supply regular ICC profiles to simulate the color gamut of your giclee. Pleas contact us and we will e-mail the requested profiles.
The first step is to specify in Photoshop under the view menu, proof setup, custom.
You need to choose the right profile. In order to put the profile in the system, Macintosh and Windows have two different locations.
Setting up for Windows
For Windows the location is windows->system32->spool->drivers->color. Put the ICC profiles in the color folder. You may have to restart Photoshop to see the profile.
Setting up for Apple O/S
For Macintosh the location is System->Library->Colorsync->Profiles. Put the profiles in the Profiles folder and you are done.
Under the menu specified above in Photoshop, select the profile and activate it by using command Y on the Mac or control Y on the PC.
The above technique will give a good rendition on how the file will print as a giclee. Depending on how the monitor (hardware) calibration is performed, and assuming a high quality screen is used, you can expect up to 95% accuracy. Note: many laptops and low cost desktop LCS screens do not have the color depth to display images accurately. Only high end portables and desktops do. Please review your hardware set up to see verify display and video card quality.