Editor’s note: Chromaticity experts will address questions from the pressroom, plateroom, prepress, workflow, proofing, digital photography and color management Submit a question by going to www.chroma-tech.com and choosing the trial question option. Please make sure to note that you are submitting a question for Newspapers & Technology.

Q: When we preview our Adobe Photoshop files in a QuarkXPress picture box, they look terrible. Can you address this?

A: The problem with image quality in the Quark preview might best be summarized as, “Why do images placed in a Quark picture box look different in color when compared to the same file viewed in Photoshop?”

Before addressing the solution, it is important to understand that the most accurate color will be seen when the image is viewed within Photoshop and not QuarkXPress. This is why most users view the images in Quark with a “for position only” philosophy. This does not mean, however, that the image preview within Quark cannot be improved.

The problem described here is most likely referring to an image resolution preference in Quark. It may also be a reference to the color accuracy of the image preview.

Let’s start with the resolution issue. In QuarkXPress 4.x access the Application preferences via the Edit menu. From the Display tab make sure that the Color TIFFs option is set to “32-bit color.” This will ensure a full-resolution image preview. Warning: This may slow down the application if you are running an old machine without much horsepower.

In QuarkXPress 5.x you can access the same setting via the Edit menu by selecting Preferences>preferences. Again, from the display tab you have the option to view images at 32 bits. This should clear up any low-resolution problems you are experiencing in QuarkXPress.

Now let’s investigate color accuracy. Access the Edit>Preferences>Color Management menu. This is only available if the Quark CMS extension is active. If it is not, go to Utilities>Xtensions Manager and enable it. Next, in the Color Management menu check the Color Management Active box and select the ICC Profile for your monitor from the Monitor pull-down menu. This should match the system-level monitor profile used by Photoshop.

Separations Output should be set to use your newsprint press profile. Default Source Profiles should be selected to match the RGB and CMYK working-space profiles selected in the color settings of Photoshop. Under Display Simulation select “Separation Output Color Space.”

In Quark 4.x you will also need to place a check mark next to each of the color models (RGB, CMYK, etc.) that you want Quark to display accurately. Images viewed in QuarkXPress should now closely match what you see in Photoshop.

John Nate
jnate@chromaticity.com

Q: We use an outside print vendor to produce a specialty product for our paper and would like to build an ICC profile of its process for use in our color separations in Adobe Photoshop. What instructions should I give when asking the vendor to print an ICC profile target?

A: First, make sure to properly stress the importance of this test’s press run. Far too often, test runs are treated with a “slap-it-on and just run-it” attitude.

We actually received a profile target once from a newspaper where the cyan plate was imaged a square inch off registration to the other three plates.

As obvious as it may seem, instruct the vendor to print the target in register, free from mechanical marking, outside of the fold and without anything printing on the back of the web where the target is printing.

Work with the vendor to ensure that the target is run to an industry print specification. If your product is a newsprint job, this means print the target to Specifications for Newsprint Advertising Production (SNAP) guidelines. For commercial work refer to Specifications for Web Offset Printing (SWOP) or General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography (GRACoL) benchmarks.

In addition, ask for gray bars and take-off bars of all four inks both above and below the profile target. This will help ensure even inking on the target. The most critical aspect of running this target on press will be color balance across the web.

If the target is printed to a specification, in balance across the target and is printed mechanically sound, you should get a pretty good profile of your vendor’s process.

Q: We have recently been experiencing problems with a number of our reelstands during pasting. The problems are that the nose of the pattern is lifting and sticking to the dancer roller. Have you any ideas as to how to solve this problem? We are using Goss CT45 reelstands, made in 1989.

A: It’s been a long time since I addressed questions on this topic. In general, paster noses lift prior to pasting because of any number of the following factors:

• The paster pattern is lifting because the pre-drive time is excessive (more than a minute).

• The nose hold-down is too weak to hold the sheet during pre-drive.

• The speed of the expiring web is different than the surface speed of the new roll. Use a taco to measure both speeds. The pre-drive speed may be changing, which would require recalibration of the paster system.

• The space between the expiring web and the new roll is too close at the start of the splice cycle. If it’s too close, the web might be getting brushed.

Try these possible solutions. If you’re still having problems, let me know and I’ll contact sources with more experience with the CT45.

Ray Reinertson
rreino@chromaticity.com