[scribus] Setting up color management

[Gregory Pittman]

On 11/04/2009 11:50 AM, Alan Tutt wrote:
> Greetings everyone.  This is my first post to the list, and I hope I have
> included all the necessary information to describe my problem.
>
> Here's my system:
> Kubuntu Linux 9.04
> Scribus 1.3.3.12 with lcms support
> LG Flatron L222WT LCD monitor
> Okidata C6100 color laser printer (for proofs)
>
> I've used the FProf tool to profile my monitor and create an ICC/ICM file.
> I've also tested using the ICM file provided by LG on their driver CD.
>
> I'm also using the ICC profile provided by Okidata on that CD.
> I'm not sure how to produce a custom profile for the printer.
>
> Theoretically, I should be able to see on my monitor what will come out of
> the printer (at least a close approximation), but I can't get the two to
> match up at all.
>
> For reference, this is the first stage in preparing a children's picture
> book for a commercial printer.
>
> When I open the images directly in GIMP and look at the ICC profile being
> used, it says sRGB, so I use this setting in Scribus for images.  Here are
> the other settings I'm using:
>
> Images:  sRGB (others have been tried as well)
> Solid Colors:  C6100 (from printer ICC)  (not really sure what this is for)
> Monitor:  ICC/ICM profile from LProf
> Printer:  C6100 ICC
> Rendering Intents:
>       Monitor:  Saturation (all have been tried)
>       Printer: Saturation (all have been tried)
> Simulate Printer on Screen (checked)
> Use BlackPoint Compensation (checked)
>
> I've tried all variations of rendering intents, and using Saturation in
> this case seems to work best.
>
> There are a variety of settings in the print driver itself, and I've tried
> a variety of those as well, with very little effect on the resulting
> colors.
>
> The biggest difference comes when I select "Apply ICC Profiles" in the
> print dialog.  With it selected, I get better saturation, but some colors
> are incorrect (not matching the screen), and when it's not selected, the
> previously incorrect colors are now correct, but I lose saturation on other
> colors.
>
> The monitor screen shows both correct colors AND saturation, even when
> "Simulate Printer on Screen" is checked.
>
> Can anyone offer any suggestion on how to get the monitor and printer to
> show the same colors?
>    
More expert help may be coming, but let me just say as a neurologist 
that you have to have some skepticism about your ability to see on 
screen how something will appear on paper. Yes, there are methods that 
help you see this, but we're also talking about perception. Typically, 
even with optimal settings on your monitor, things will look "wrong" 
onscreen. The main goal is trying to have a setup that allows one to be 
able to use the appearance on the monitor in a way that is useful for 
creating the PDF. My sense is that this is one of the benefits of using 
spot colors, since, regardless of the onscreen appearance, you have some 
external reference as to the end result on paper.

This is also an argument for using a printers proof before agreeing to 
send a job for your final printing.

Greg