Color Space/Gamut Shape Questions

[Replytoken]

Lightroom Version Number

Classic

Operating System

1. Windows 10

I hate going down the color management rabbit hole, but I am working on an image that is giving me challenges as I try to get the color to match what my wife observed on my wide gamut monitor before I send it out to print. I have two Spectraview calibrated NEC MultiSync monitors that I use with my PC. My main monitor is a wide gamut PA242 and my older secondary monitor is a 2090 UXi which is close to displaying the sRGB color space. The image in question is a close-up shot of a red rose petal that was shot as a raw file. The preview of the unedited image appears as a rich red color on the PA242. On the 2090, it appears with a much more orange tint. I am working on sending three prints, including the rose petal, to Bay Photo to be printed as acrylic prints to accompany a fourth that has already been printed. Each is a flower petal close up shot and each is a bold shade of different colors. My wife believes that the red rose needs to be more of a true red that she is seeing on the PA242. I do not disagree, but here is where my head started to slip into the hole.

Soft proofing indicates that the entire petal is out of gamut for either a sRGB or Adobe destination. Soft proofing also indicates that the image is out of monitor gamut on the 2090, but not on the PA242. So, I am curious and look up the two spaces to see how much variation there is between the two with regards to the red side of the triangle and see that both sRGB and Adobe share an almost similar side with respect to the color red (bottom side of the triangle in the common diagram of color spaces). So I get curious and then look for the difference between the two which tends to be at the top where the green colors are. But I also notice that while the Adobe space is larger, as we all know, it is not proportionally larger to sRGB on all three sides.

I would normally be willing to just accept these differences as they are, but I am trying to figure out the best way to get this image to look as close to what my wife wants. Bay Photo will accept images in either color space, and they do offer color correction by a technician, but they do not have soft proof profiles for this type of print. I have tried to desaturate the print to bring it into gamut, but the warning colors do not seem to disappear until most of the color is gone. I could try and talk with the lab and explain what I am looking for, hoping that their paper has more range than my sRGB monitor with respect to the reds, but that is not really an ideal solution.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

--Ken

 

[RoyReed]

What you should be doing is downloading a colour profile from BayPhoto (assuming they have one available) for the acrylic print process you're planning on using (assuming they have one available), and preview on your high spec monitor using that profile. This should give you the closest you can get on your screens to the final print.

 

[Replytoken]

What you should be doing is downloading a colour profile from BayPhoto (assuming they have one available) for the acrylic print process you're planning on using (assuming they have one available), and preview on your high spec monitor using that profile. This should give you the closest you can get on your screens to the final print.

That was what I wanted to do initially, but I was not able to find any profiles on their website. I plan on calling them shortly to see if they have anything they can send me. I generally do not print that many images that are OOG, and if they are, it is usually just a small spot or two. Here the entire image is OOG; quite frustrating.

--Ken

 

[RoyReed]

If they can't supply a colour profile I'd find a new printer who can.

 

[Replytoken]

If they can't supply a colour profile I'd find a new printer who can.

I called and they did provide me with a profile. It was a bit buried on their web site, but I have found it and will be downloading it shortly. Bay also offered to run test prints at 50% off if I wanted. They offer good customer service in addition to a large product portfolio, and their past work has all been fine. The big question now is how much of what I am seeing is going to be compressed to fit into the paper's range.

--Ken

 

[RoyReed]

Don't forget that the rendering intent can make a big difference in the final result. I've found that Perceptual gives the best results for highly saturated images.

 

[Replytoken]

Don't forget that the rendering intent can make a big difference in the final result. I've found that Perceptual gives the best results for highly saturated images.

Yes, the lab recommends Perceptual as well. The good news is that a lot of the image is no longer OOG with their profile. I am feeling more hopeful having obtained the ICC and seeing that this is going to be less of a challenge than what I initially thought.

--Ken