The Adobe Photoshop software offers a so-called ‘soft proof’ function with which, for example, an RGB file from a camera can be displayed in a CMYK colour space. This so-called soft proof in Adobe Photoshop has some advantages, but also serious disadvantages:
Advantages of Photoshop Softproof:
- A colourful RGB file can be quickly and easily simulated in a usually smaller CMYK colour space
- For image retouching, for example, the colours that would lie outside the later CMYK colour space can be quickly displayed and visualised so that the retoucher knows which areas of the image to pay particular attention to, as the colours of the original image in the print colour space will be ‘out of gamut’.
- Different CMYK colour spaces can be quickly and easily simulated against each other,
Disadvantages of Photoshop Softproof:
- With its name ‘soft proof’, the Photoshop soft proof simulates that it really is a binding colour representation of a file on the monitor. Of course, this is by no means the case. Why? Photoshop Softproof is not interested in whether the monitor is calibrated or has a completely green cast and is set up incorrectly. It does not know the monitor, so the softproof will only be reasonably consistent if the monitor is correctly calibrated.
- The Photoshop soft proof does not see whether colours are ‘in gamut’. Example: With a correctly calibrated monitor that can cover the sRGB colour space, a cyan in the ISOCoatedV2 print colour space is far outside the displayable colour space. Photoshop doesn’t care about this, it still displays a Photoshop soft proof, even though it cannot be colour-accurate.
- Compared to a real soft proof on soft proof software such as Spectraproof, a Photoshop soft proof cannot take ambient light into account. Whether at 7 a.m. at sunrise, at 1 p.m. in full sun, in winter with clouds or at night with fluorescent light: Photoshop always shows a great Photoshop softproof on the same monitor, although a colour sample placed next to the monitor would always look different. In a real soft proof, the ambient light is of course also measured and adjusted so that a colour sample placed underneath looks identical to the soft proof on the monitor.
Conclusion: There is a real soft proof and a Photoshop soft proof
The real softproof measures and validates the monitor, the softproof standard light and the file displayed via a softproof. The soft proof software Spectraproof validates the CMYK colours displayed on the monitor, Spectraproof generates a report and thus proves the correct colour representation by means of an individual measurement result for the soft proof, the monitor and the soft proof standard lighting.
Of course, Photoshop Softproof cannot do all this, it merely displays a larger colour space for a smaller CMYK colour space. That is all. Therefore, it would actually be good if Photoshop would rename its ‘Photoshop Softproof’ to a kind of ‘CMYK colour space simulation’. Because what Photoshop can do doesn’t really have much to do with a real soft proof.
More articles related to this topic:
We passed the first proof certification for the 7C proof under FOGRA55
A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55. Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research project over the past few years. The characterisation data and the ICC profile Ref-ECG-CMYKOGV_FOGRA55_TAC300.icc have been published on the Fogra website in recent weeks. We have now carried out the certification via GMG ColorProof, as … read more
Proof.de is featured twice in the “Fogra Aktuell” magazine
In the current issue of Fogra News “Fogra Aktuell” Proof GmbH is involved in two places. Firstly, a summary of the Fogra report on our first FOGRA55 certification for seven-colour printing with extended colour space in CMYKOGV appeared. You can also find more information on our FOGRA55 certification on the Fogra website: https://fogra.org/en/press-releases/fogracert-erste-cpc-zertifizierung-fuer-fogra55-cmykogv-330 and on proofing.de: And secondly, there was a report on the completion of the research project for textile digital printing, FOGRA58, in which we were allowed to investigate and test the proof capability of the new textile … read more
Precise proofing of tonal values of spot colours
In recent weeks, there have been lengthy discussions on the Fogra digital printing mailing list as to whether a research project should be launched to define standardised tonal value gradations for spot colours. What is this all about? In the field of CMYK and seven-colour printing, the definition of clear, printable and proofable standards is well established and has been tried and tested in practice. If the paper or paper class is known and defined, a measuring standard such as M0/M1/M2 has been established and the content of optical brighteners … read more
New iPhone colour measuring devices: xade nano+ in test
A new generation of colour measuring devices is entering the market: in contrast to the classic measuring devices, which are available as a fully encapsulated system either as a colourimeter or as a spectrophotometer, and then supply the data to a computer via an interface or app or display it directly, the new generation of colour measuring devices consist only of lighting and software, with the optics of a modern iPhone from Apple being used as the sensor. Until now, there have been two categories of measuring devices on the … read more
PANTONE surveys users online about product and service direction
Today I received an email in which PANTONE asked how it should orientate its products and services in the future. The users were asked which countries, industries and company sizes they come from, but also what PANTONE products should look like in the future and what customers would be prepared to pay for PANTONE services in the future. Question: How much can PANTONE services cost? PANTONE appears to be orientating itself on the PANTONE Connect prices: All price queries have the lowest price category < $ 7,- / month, i.e. … read more
New edition of ISOCoatedV2 in M1 in sight?
Even almost 9 years after the introduction of the successor colour space PSOCoatedV3, ISOCoatedV2 / FOGRA39 is still the most widespread colour space in Europe. We at Proof GmbH count around 200 jobs from time to time for the German Printing and Media Industries Federation, among others. In the last count, proofs in ISOCoatedV2 accounted for around 68% of all proof jobs at our company. This is a clear sign of the continued widespread use of the colour space. ISOCoatedV2: From the classic colour space to the beacon of the … read more
RGB colour spaces explained
RGB colour spaces are colour systems that represent different hues with the three primary colours red, green and blue. RGB colour spaces are used in digital image processing, photography and computer technology to precisely define colours. The most important RGB colour spaces and their special features are: sRGB sRGB is the most widely used RGB colour space and is used by most monitors, printers and digital cameras. It was developed by HP and Microsoft in the 1990s to create a standard for colour representation on the internet and on various … read more
Proof GmbH 2025 once again Fogra and Fogra “Spot Cert” certified
This year we once again created proofs for Fogra certification and sent them to Munich-Aschheim for testing. With these proof prints, which we print according to three different proof standards and on three different papers, we point out that we not only deliver excellent proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also measured and confirmed by external experts. We have now had test prints certified by Fogra for the 12th time. We have also been “Spot-cert” certified for the display of … read more
New PANTONE Formula Guides with incorrect ink formulations
Several errors have crept into the new PANTONE 2023 fan decks. In both the PANTONE Solid Coated and the Solid Uncoated color fans, there are colours for which the new ink formulations are incorrect. In the PANTONE Formula Guide Solid Coated fan 2023, PANTONE 107 C and PANTONE 108 C have absolutely identical ink recipes, as well as PANTONE 113 C and PANTONE 114 C. As the colors differ, this cannot be the correct. Several errors in the PANTONE Solid Uncoated fan 2023 In the PANTONE Solid Uncoated fan 2023 … read more
Current Proof Standards 2025
Offset and Newsprint ISO Coated v2 (ECI) / ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI) Profile: ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc Standard for glossy and matte coated paper Paper: Types 1 and 2, gloss and matte coated Tone value increase curves A (CMY) and B (K) as defined in ISO 12647-2:2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA39L ISOUncoated Profile: ISOUncoated.icc Standard for uncoated white natural paper Paper: paper grade 4, uncoated white offset, dot gain curves C (CMY) and D (K) from ISO 12647-2: 2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA29L PSOCoatedV3 / Fogra 51 Profile: PSOcoated_v3.icc The successor of ISOCoatedV2 for glossy … read more