Specifications
The Digital Fine Print Course
Viewing a Fine Print
Copyright Les Walkling 2012
48/50
Soft Proofing Requirements
For softproofing to be a dependable and useful procedure six criteria need to be satisfied.
1. The conditions under which the print will be displayed need to be known and precisely
characterized. In terms of an exhibition venue, multiple measurements are averaged.
2. The monitor needs to be calibrated to a gamma curve that is very close to the gamma
curve of the printer that the image will be printed on.
3. The white point of the screen needs to very closely match the reflected luminance and
chromaticities of the Dmin of the printing paper under those viewing conditions.
4. The black point of the screen needs to match the colour temperature and luminance
of the Dmax of the printing paper under those viewing conditions.
5. The printer profile being used for softproofing (and printing the image) has to be white
balanced for the chromaticities of the viewing light as reflected by the printing paper.
This is particularly important when there is UV fluorescence or near infrared metameric
shifts relative to those viewing conditions and materials.
6. The B2A1 (Relative Colorimetric) printer tag must be called by the CMM in the soft
proofing direction (Printer to PCS) to correctly soft proof the paper colour and density.
When the monitor’s white point does not match the printing paper use Photoshop’s
‘View > Proof Setup’ with Absolute Colorimetric to reproduce this effect. However the
image will then ‘look incorrect’ relative to other screen elements (backgrounds, icons
and palettes) which are rendered relative to the monitor’s white point. Therefore
view these soft proofs in full screen mode
with a 50% grey canvas surround.
When these conditions are met, a very accurate softproof will be possible.
Another critical element in any soft proofing system is the accuracy of monitor and print-
er profiles and device stability and repeatability. An on-screen soft proof simulation can
only be as accurate as the profiles, and unfortunately while it is possible to create very
accurate monitor and printer profiles, it also requires a great deal of experience and skill
along with the best instruments and profiling software available. For example, the follow-
ing outstanding Delta E 2000 values can
usually be achieved for monitor and printer
profiles created with a GretagMacbeth
Spectrolino spectrophotometer, Spectroscan
X/Y table, and Profile Maker 5 software.
Delta E2000
Average Maximum
Overall < 1.00 < 2.00
Best 90% < 0.50 < 1.00
Worst 10% < 1.50 < 2.00