CMYK - Working Space

Making your choice of CMYK working space isn't that different to RGB except of the list of available colour profiles are rather different. Again, having "Advanced Mode" activated gives us a more extensive list. Since desktop inkjet printers from Epson, Canon and HP actually require RGB data rather than CMYK and so configuring this particular working space will have little or no influence in their actual workflow.

 

 

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 (SWOP) V2. We can  also have pick the old Photoshop 4 or 5 default CMYK options, the ColorSync settings (Mac only), or even customise our own settings.

Greyscale - Working Space

With the Greyscale working space  we 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 (discussed in a separate essay). The screenshots 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.

 

 

A  very important point regarding Greyscale is that it is not 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. 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.