Color correction for print
 

Hi everyone!

I've got this question, that bothers me for last few years and i really hope that the retouching community here will help me find the answer. So here we go:

Most of my commercial work is printed in magazines, newspapers etc. Different types of printing /roll, sheet-fed/ and different types ot paper /coated, uncoated, glossy, matt../ are making the CMYK separation and color correction a nightmare.

Few years ago, few original Toyota ad files had come my way - i had to translate them and send them to a couple of magazines and newspapers for publishing. I felt very uncomfortable, since the were already converted to CMYK, color corrected etc. still the final look was my responsibility. I've decided to take my chance and send files as they were.

I was amazed to see that these files were looking equally good on uncoated roll print and glossy coated paper. No clogged shadows, no major color shifts, no burned out highlights... just sharp, colorfull, rich images on every media.

Soon, more car and cosmetics advertisements became available to me for studying - same results on all kinds of media. I was fascinated... i've looked at the color channels, i've measured densities both in Photoshop and on final prints. Actually - i've done my best to find out what is the secret of these files with no success.

What am i missing?! What are these pre-press guys doing to these files?
Is it the "ink limit", is it a special approach to CMYK conversion?

Any ideas?