08-08-2007, 02:25 PM

Hello everybody.

Your help would be much appreciated - I really need it! :

I am designing brochures etc. using InDesign etc. in CS3. My artwork (incorporating photos I am taking myself and, where necessary, adapting in PhotoShop) will eventually be printed through a professional printing company due to high volumes and finishes required.

After many weeks researching printers which I can use for proofing and printing small pieces of work, I purchased an Epson Stylus 3800 Pro today. I don't have a RIP but export from InDesign to create a PDF and print from there. The results are amazing and an almost exact match to my HP monitor, which is great as I haven't done any calibration etc. - just plugged and printed! I'm talking photos here as the general colours in my vector artwork are a good enough match to the CMYK swatches I have been given from the printing company, which I kind of expected them to be.

I am working to CMYK in CS3, as required by the printing company I will use. When I print on the Epson, I use the Adobe 1998 RGB settings. Any other setting (such as US Web Coated) turns out awful - usually a lot darker and loss of sparkle.

THE BIG QUESTION IS, how likely is it that the printing company I use (or any other I may choose to use for that matter) will match the results I'm having from my tiny (in comparison to the big printing company arsenal) deskjet? I mean, everything looks so good already. I can't afford any wet-proofs from the the printing company. I'm thinking I just will not find out until I go ahead with the order but want to ask you guys what you think. Is there anything I, or the printing companies can do?

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

Jeni

08-09-2007, 03:40 AM

Download the photoshop colour profile for the printing machines used by the print company. (if available)