About Soft-Proofing Colors; Soft-Proof Colors - Adobe Photoshop CS6 User Manual

Proofing colors

About soft-proofing colors

Soft-proof colors

Save or load a custom proof setup (Photoshop, InDesign)
Soft-proof colors (Acrobat)
About soft-proofing colors
In a traditional publishing workflow, you print a hard proof of your document to preview how its colors will look when reproduced on a specific
output device. In a color-managed workflow, you can use the precision of color profiles to soft-proof your document directly on the monitor. You
can display an on-screen preview of how your document's colors will look when reproduced on a particular output device.
Keep in mind that the reliability of the soft proof depends upon the quality of your monitor, the profiles of your monitor and output devices, and the
ambient lighting conditions of your work environment.
Note: A soft proof alone doesn't let you preview how overprinting will look when printed on an offset press. If you work with documents that
contain overprinting, turn on Overprint Preview to accurately preview overprints in a soft proof. For Acrobat, the Overprint Preview option is
automatically applied.
Using a soft proof to preview the final output of a document on your monitor
A. Document is created in its working color space. B. Document's color values are translated to color space of chosen proof profile (usually the
output device's profile). C. Monitor displays proof profile's interpretation of document's color values.
Soft-proof colors
1. Choose View > Proof Setup, and do one of the following:
Choose a preset that corresponds to the output condition you want to simulate.
Choose Custom (Photoshop and InDesign) or Customize (Illustrator) to create a custom proof setup for a specific output condition. This
option is recommended for the most accurate preview of your final printed piece.
2. Choose View > Proof Colors to toggle the soft-proof display on and off. When soft proofing is on, a check mark appears next to the Proof
Colors command, and the name of the proof preset or profile appears at the top of the document window.
To compare the colors in the original image and the colors in the soft proof, open the document in a new window before you set up the
soft proof.
Soft-proof presets
Working CMYK Creates a soft proof of colors using the current CMYK working space as defined in the Color Settings dialog box.
Document CMYK (InDesign) Creates a soft proof of colors using the document's CMYK profile.
Working Cyan Plate, Working Magenta Plate, Working Yellow Plate, Working Black Plate, or Working CMY Plates (Photoshop) Creates a
soft proof of specific CMYK ink colors using the current CMYK working space.
Legacy Macintosh RGB (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof of colors simulating Mac OS 10.5 and earlier.
Internet Standard RGB (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof of colors simulating Windows and Mac OS 10.6 and later.
Monitor RGB (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof of RGB colors using your current monitor profile as the proof profile.
The Legacy Macintosh, Internet Standard, and Monitor RGB options assume that the simulated device will display your document without using
color management. These options are unavailable for Lab or CMYK documents.
Color Blindness (Photoshop and Illustrator) Creates a soft proof that reflects colors visible to a person with color blindness. The two soft proof
options, Protanopia and Deuteranopia, approximate color perception for the most common forms of color blindness. For more information, see
Soft-proof for color blindness (Photoshop and Illustrator).
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