How to create soft proofs

Before committing to a big print run, you’ll probably want to know how your artwork will look once it’s printed.

You now have three options: print film negatives and create a laminated proof (like a Matchprint); output it on one of the new breed of inkjet colour printers; or view it on screen using soft-proofing. Photoshop and Illustrator both offer such capabilities, and their accuracy is only limited by that of the profiles involved.

Adobe’s soft-proofing facilities have a collection of predefined colour-management settings with corresponding colour profile and conversion options designed to preserve consistent colour for a particular publishing workflow under typical conditions. In most cases, the predefined settings will provide sufficient colour management. However, these predefined Generic ICC profiles are never as precise as custom-made ICC profiles, so it’s worthwhile collecting ICC profiles for every device you use and for every output device your work will be sent to – downloaded from the manufacturers’ websites.

Of course, the reliability of soft-proofing depends on the quality of your monitor, your monitor profile and the ambient lighting conditions. An inconsistent environment with light varying throughout the day doesn’t help either.

Click here to download the support files (1.4MB)