> I am already using >a 6 colour printer and am really looking for pointers to allow me to adjust >the conversion to gain the maximum from those colours that are generally >difficult to convert accurately in CMYK, in this case very saturated blues, >yellows etc. Maybe it's just not possible but I can't believe that I can't >obtain more from the blues which have just lost almost all of their visual >vibrancy.
Coming in a bit late to this thread... So it has been established that the output is a six colour inkjet. The files were previously converted to mystery meat CMYK. It is a good guess that the profile was of a lower gamut than the printer, thus the lack of saturation (as saturated blues are a known problem for common press type CMYK descriptions). You can get CMYK profiles with a 6 colour gamut which do not mute colours, as they describe the inkjet/stock/resolution - but this would not be that common. As suggested, sending through RGB data to the correct output description is the way to go. Or if you have a RIP or would like to explore the possibilities these systems offer, then a CMYK profile describing the device may be an option (you can profile in RGB or CMYK for that device). Unless a device is PostScript based, it probably does not understand or want CMYK input. That does not mean that you can't edit in a wide gamut CMYK space describing the inkjet - but that would not be as easy as a press separation...plus your edits are going to be reseparated anyway back at the driver unless you use a RIP, so you do get the visual results of edits but not the ability to directly affect the interaction of the six inks (as Photoshop can only use a CMYK description of that 6 ink gamut). So I would probably stick to RGB or LAB edits unless you were comfortable with mode changes and luminance blends to help preserve colour and build contrast. Has the original post answered there own question yet (sorry, can't recall who asked this originally)? Does the RGB file (which has not been gamut compressed to mysterey meat CMYK) input deliver the expected result, now that CMYK is not being fed to the device? Regards, Stephen Marsh. =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
