Color Management

Our standard workflow uses color management to generate a simulation of our press on our proofer. In doing this, we use the standard sheetfed profile, US Sheetfed Coated v2 included with the Adobe family of products as the definition of our press. We find that this matches our press very well and that our customers are happy with the simulated proofs we present to them.

We also use color management to ensure that we get good separations when we convert the color mode of files that are mistakenly sent to us in a color mode other than CMYK. We use the U.S. Sheetfed Coated v2 here again as the target profile. It is important that when converting to CMYK that you use this profile. This approximates our press and yields favorable separations. You can see screen shots below of color settings in popular applications.

If you embed ICC profiles in your files, they will be discarded by our workflow when the files are separated. This means that if you want to color correct your files, you must do so within the files themselves rather than assuming that they will be automatically converted based on embedded profiles. Those values in your file are what will be used to generate your seps.

If you supply us with RGB format files, the color will be converted in-RIP. This generally gives less than favorable results. The best way to avoid problems is to make sure that your colors are in CMYK from the beginning of your design process. Using a Pantone Process Color Imaging Guide can help you accurately pick colors used in process printing.

We run a straight linear curve on our plates, which means that the halftone percentage you have in your files is the same as that which appears on your plates. During the printing process, a few values at the low end of the spectrum are diminished, while the majority of the values are increased in what is known as "dot gain." Sunset's dot gain is considerably less than average due to the nature of the materials used in our direct-to-plate system. Our plates deliver crisper details, particularly in halftones, and a nicer finished product than is available using most other plates. However, if you have had your job printed previously in another shop or with another plate technology, you may experience some unexpected results; your files will probably be slightly lighter in tone and noticably crisper in overall appearance. If you have a concern regarding this, please call 503-231-8328 and speak to a pre-press technician.

Application Settings

The following are screen shots of the color settings in some of our applications. These settings impact how your computer displays color and converts documents between color spaces. Other applications should be set similarly. If you have a question about your application color settings, please contact our pre-press department. If you would like to use your monitor to simulate how your color will look once printed, you will have to calibrate your monitor, either with software built into your OS or with some other third-party software package. This may give you an accurate simulation, depending on the quality of your profile, calibration software, and hardware.

Photoshop:

Illustrator:

Quark (next 3 pictures):