CMYK - Working Space

Making your choice of CMYK Working Space isn't that different to RGB except of the list of available colour profiles is rather different. Again, having "Advanced Mode" activated gives us a more extensive list.

 

 

As mentioned above, the choice for you make is pretty much irrelevant if using a consumer class inkjet printer. In my case I just picked US. Web Coated, but notice that we can also pick the old Photoshop 4 or 5 default CMYK options, the ColorSync settings (Mac only), or even customise our own settings as shown below.

 

Example - Customised CMYK

 

Remember the above screen grab is an example of a customised setup, don't even consider trying to configure your setup to match it.

Greyscale - Working Space

The Greyscale Working Space has probably undergone the biggest change from Photoshop 5 days. We now have access to two gamma settings, a series of five pre-set dot gain curves, the ColorSync "Grey Work Space" (Mac only) and the ability to customise the dot gain to our own requirements. This latter option is of particular significance to users of Jon Cones Piezography Black and White printing system (to be discussed in a separate essay). The screen grabs below show the various options and a typical customised "Dot Gain" curve.

 

 

Please note that if you choose to use a "Custom Gamma" or "Dot Gain" this will be the Working Space listed in the Grey Working Space pop-up menu.

 

Example - Customised Dot Gain Curve

 

One very important point, and one not to be missed regarding Greyscale. Greyscale  is no longer tied to the CMYK setup! This is why some legacy greyscale documents might not look quite the same as they did in Photoshop 5.x 

Spot - Working Space

The Spot pop-up menu is broadly similar to the greyscale, but for spot colours. The options that we find include a series of five pre-set "dot gain" options and the facility for customising the "dot gain" curve if required. In my case I simply selected the standard 20% option.