Initial file setup

[julius]

Hello!,

I'm new here! Only been retouching a year and only have learned anything through necessity at my previous employer! So i'm not sure of a few technical things..

Is it worth working in 16bit? Is this preferred and is it ok to do for images that will be printed?
Also, about print.. do I then have to convert my images to CMYK? Should i do this before or after the retouch?

Thanks for any help guys!

[holgaman]

Julius,
Welcome! Here is an article and a video explaining the 16 bit vs. 8 bit part of your question, and how to work with them -
http://www.earthboundlight.com/photo...ifference.html
http://www.layersmagazine.com/16-bit...-bit-mode.html

As for the CMYK conversion, it might depend on the preference of the printer or art director you're working with, as they may have a specific colorspace that is unique to their press. It's always good to ask. If you do convert it yourself, do it as the last step before sending off as it's generally easier to work in RGB. Actually, if I do convert to CMYK, I will often do some minor tweaks to compensate for the differences in the conversion - mostly just a slight curves adjustment to the black channel to bring back the loss of saturation in the dark areas.

[julius]

Great!, thanks very much holgaman!

[holgaman]

You're quite welcome. Check back often, I've learned a ton of new things since I started visiting. There are a lot of talented and knowledgeable people here. We'd love to see some of your work sometime also.

[AngeloLorenzo]

The 16 vs 8 bit question seems to have been handled well so I'll chime in on RGB vs CMYK.

If you're printing from an inkjet, dye sub, color laser, or lightjet (true photo print) then you can remain in RGB. CMYK conversion is usually reserved for files destined for professional offset printing.

For quality reasons, if an image starts as RGB, it should be edited as such until the file is finalized for print. When it's finalized the mode can be switched to CMYK and a new color profile can be assigned to match printer specifications.

RGB>CMYK is destructive and will shift your color's number values around. Flippant conversion back and forth with a single file can mess colors up.

If you need to design something like a print piece, you can usually start and end in CMYK because you'll need to match colors to CMYK values or Pantone spot colors.