The mantra - "Assign Profile will more than likely change the CURRENT monitor appearance of the image but WILL NOT CHANGE the original actual color numbers of the pixels. Convert to Profile, WILL CHANGE the actual color numbers of the pixels, prioritized to preserve the CURRENT monitor appearance of the image, BUT if the current colors are out of range of the ouput color space, then the appearance will ALSO change along with the color number values of the pixels!"

First off, whether you use the Assign or Convert to Profile commands (found under the Edit menu, in Photoshop) on an image, the document should be "flattened," to obtain the desired results. So, this procedure is usually done either at the very beginning, upon opening a flattened document (one Background layer) and/or at the very end of editing--at which time you would duplicate the layered file, flatten and convert the duplicate for a specific output.

Assigning Portrait images to ColorMatch is a "trick" Mama's used for years, simply to speed up Image Adjustment corrections!

Why do this? Digital Cameras, especially older ones, embed the sRGB space automatically, and for Portraits the "meaning" of the captured colors in the sRGB space often make the image appear to have lost detail in the shadows (making the image darker) and produce more greenish/bluish skin tones. By assigning the ColorMatch space, those same colors will appear differently, as they have a different "meaning" in the ColorMatch space. Assigning doesn't change the actual "color numbers" of the pixels, it only produces a different appearance because the CLUT, Color Look Up Table assigns those same numbers a different "meaning, in different device independent RGB color working spaces. Assigning ColorMatch to an sRGB image will usually brighten the image appearance, open the shadow detail because of the innate 1.8 gamma of the color space, and the skin tones will become "peachier." However, if you are NOT outputting to a professional offset CMYK press, then you must read further to understand why you can't STOP here by leaving your image in the ColorMatch space!

What you see is what you get involves having a handle on color management. If you don't have a good understanding of how to read color numbers and even if you do, it's still pretty crucial to have a recent profile or characterization of your Monitor, often referred to as having a calibrated monitor. This will assist you in judging color adjustments accurately. For example, if your monitor wasn't calibrated correctly, and let's say it was displaying with a yellow tinge. Your logical workflow in viewing your image would be to cut back on the yellow; increase the blue to neutralize the image. Well, the reality is that when you print the image it will not print neutral as appearing on screen, it will be way blue! An uncalibrated monitor can cause you to make ill-founded adjustments to your image and thus causing unexpected print outputs.

Know your output device! Noritsu and Frontier Photo printers DO NOT read embedded profiles.

What does this mean? It means that since the numbers haven't changed because of the assignment, that even if your image appears better and brighter in the ColorMatch assignment, it will still print looking like the original way it looked in the original sRGB profile. (or closer to that than the ColorMatch appearance).

What do you do? To preserve the brighter and better look of the recently assigned ColorMatch image, you must "Convert" to either a specified Noritsu or Frontier profile (provided by the service bureau) or convert back to the sRGB space, which is closer to the gamut of these printers! The Convert to Profile command will now "change" those color numbers to have the right meaning in the closer gamut sRGB or actual Noritsu/Frontier color space profile, while preserving the current monitor appearance generated from the Assign to Color Match command.

Adobe RGB (1998) If you were to Assign the Adobe RGB (1998) space to a portrait image with and embedded sRGB profile, the skin tones would change it's appearance to be overly saturated and garish. While this space contains a wider color range (gamut) it is most often the preferred working space for Nature Photography rather than traditional Portrait Photography. However, if you use the "Assign ColorMatch convert to Adobe RGB (1998) Action, the image will NOT appear overly saturated and garish in this working space.

The sRGB space is a "standard" that was developed by Hewlett Packard and Microsoft. It is the standard for images displayed on the Web. Though it often gets a "bad rap" for being the worst color space to work in, I strongly disagree with the "bad rap!" The "bad rap" is mainly because it's gamut encompasses a narrower range of colors compared to Adobe RGB 1998. The truth is that the sRGB space still has a wider gamut than the Noritsu or Frontier printers or that of Offset CMYK presses, anyway (Spot and metallic inks being the exception!)! It has been my observation and experience from the past 8 years, to find it to be a viable working space that most consumer level printers, Noritsu and Frontier digital photo printers, are calibrated "closer to" and are expecting to receive. For output to Offset CMYK press, I prefer the RGB working space of ColorMatch and then convert a duplicate to a specific CMYK setting.

Printer Profiles are NOT the same as RGB working space profiles (sRGB IEC61966-2.1, Adobe RGB (1998), ColorMatch, Apple RGB)! Without a doubt -- the best way to avoid surprises is to get a bonified profile from the service provider where you get your printing done, and then convert a duplicate of your image to that. These "converted" files are created for a specific output device and should not be re-used as your master working file or to convert to other printer profiles because the gamut of any consumer level, or digital printer is specific to that device only! If a printer profile is not available, the sRGB working space is more realistic for archival photo type printing because the gamut of colors is "less" and closer to what these printers can actually produce (but it still has a much greater gamut than the printer).

Dry Creek Photo is an excellent source for obtaining profiles for your local Noritsu and Frontier printers (Costco & Durys). They also provide excellent instruction on how to load these profiles and use them. One thing to note, though -- is the "dates" of the profiles. Just like monitors, recalibration and updates of characterizations for the device is important. Last years profile may not be in synch with today's paper brand & lot number, laser intensity, or environment. The Noritsu profile for "glossy" from one provider to the next will produce different results, Even though the printer is the same, the paper is the same, other environmental factors take a role in the characterization of the device in creating a profile.

Mama's Workflow Preference It's my preference to use an sRGB working space that is going to give me a more realistic and accurate view, on my monitor, of what my image will look like when I print it. I find that Adobe RGB (1998) is the space that allows for vivid, saturated colors, looks great while working but because of it's wider gamut, it will give me unrealistic expectations of my color because so much of it will become "out of gamut" when it comes time to convert or print. I am not a Nature Photographer at this point in time! If I were, and if I owned a high-end Epson or HP Large format printer that housed a jillion inks, then Adobe RGB (1998) would be a logical choice!

Soft Proofing I can simply "soft proof" by turning that feature on from under the View menu, but again, I ask myself--why work in a space that is going to remap & crunch my colors to such a great degree to get them back into a gamut for my printing output device? Why not just work in the "closer" color space so I don't get surprises when the print comes back?

Offset Printing ColorMatch is my preferred RGB working space for images that will eventually be converted to CMYK for professional Offset Press. I don't understand Adobe's logic in setting up the Adobe RGB (1998) RGB default color space for their "North American Prepress 2" canned preset in the Color Settings dialog, as this will usually drastically crunch all those nice RGB colors into the CMYK space, whereas if they had "ColorMatch" it would NOT! For an Offset Press workflow, I would NOT use these Actions. I would simply Assign ColorMatch, have that as my embedded profile, and stay there until converting a flattened duplicate to a specific CMYK profile for output to Offset Press. That's for commercial publications! Most photographers are NOT outputting to this type of medium or device.

Noritsu & Frontier Printers Most photographers are outputting to Noritsu or Fuji Frontier printers, or inkjet printers. Because of this it is important to "Convert" the newly assigned ColorMatch to a specific printer profile or the standard sRGB (for Noritsu & Frontier). For inkjets--the Adobe RGB (1998) or sRGB, as "converting" the numbers will "preserve" the appearance you see on the monitor.

Mama's Assign Convert Actions This set of actions provides 3 Actions, one that converts the newly assigned ColorMatch to sRGB and one that converts the newly assigned Color Match to Adobe 1998.

The set also includes an "Untag" action, which should only be used on images that have used the Assign ColorMatch convert to sRGB" action or an action you might create that would be "Assign ColorMatch convert to a specific Noritsu/Frontier printer profile!"

Once you "Untag" the image, the way it appears on the monitor may change, as it is directly related to the default RGB working space settings you currently have active from the Edit>Color Settings Dialog box. Don't be alarmed, the file will print as it looked before the untagging step. This step is ONLY used for files going to Noritsu/Frontier printers that DON'T read profiles, but do read the numbers!

If you do not have a specific "profile" from the Noritsu or Fuji Frontier Printer, it is safest to assume the characterization for those printers is closest to the sRGB space. If your images are automatically embedded with an Adobe RGB 1998 in the camera or otherwise, the actual print will look closer to what your image looks like if you did a temporary Edit>Assign Profile>sRGB or the Edit>Assign Profile> to the actual printer profile (preferred). As this shows you how those actual numbers get interpreted in the output space! Your Adobe RGB 1998 image may look vivid and colorful on screen but those color numbers have a different meaning and appearance when printed to Noritsu or Frontiers, unless you actually do an Edit>Convert to Profile, choosing the actual printer profile or sRGB.

If it ain't broke -- don't fix it! If you are satisfied with your workflow, how your monitor displays images, and if the display closely matches to your printed output, then DON'T change a thing! These actions and workflow suggestions are not for the faint of heart, so don't go here if you are getting expected results and you're happy with them!

Make your own Actions I did NOT include actions to convert to Noritsu/Frontier printers because these are device specific and changeable. I would suggest you investigate Dry Creek Photo's Web site to obtain profiles.

You could make your own action using the Edit>Assign ColorMatch and then Edit>Convert to whichever Noritsu/Frontier Profile you downloaded. Followed by an Edit>Assign>Don't Color Manage command, to "untag" the profile from that duplicate image. This would make your portrait image print, much closer to what you saw on your monitor (b4 untagging*), assuming your monitor is calibrated (another Pandora's box! LOL!)

* Untagging is only done after you have the color appearance and conversion applied, and this is only done for output to Noritsu and Frontier printers, because they don't read the profile and it is recommended by them that you do this! However, "untagging" may freak you out because the appearance maps to the current RGB working space Color settings. Sometimes, I've gotten "lazy" and I have sent files to the Noritsu printer with the printer profile or an sRGB profile embedded and have not suffered any ill-effects on the printing end. I am only mentioning the "untagging" step because these manufacturers recommend doing this.

Andrew Rodney's Digital Dog Site