Default Color Settings for Class

Topics covered in this Photoshop tutorial:

Color management setup

Exercise Overview

Color Management affects how Photoshop displays images on-screen, as well as how they print out. You’ll learn how and why we customize these settings later in this class. But for now we must ensure that your color settings are set properly so the exercises in this book will work correctly.

1. Launch Photoshop.

   NOTE: This book has been tested with Photoshop CC 2018.

2. Go to Edit > Color Settings.

3. From the Settings menu at the top, choose North America Prepress 2.

4. Most of the settings shown here should already be set, but there are three checkboxes in the Color Management Policies section that you need to UN check so your settings match the ones shown here:

   

5. Click OK and you are done.

   NOTE: The above settings are what we’re using for this class. Everyone’s workflow is different. While these settings may be correct for your work, we don’t want to say everyone must use them. You’ll soon learn more about how you can customize them to your needs.

Monitor Calibration

To calibrate a monitor you can use your naked eye and software, but this method is often unreliable and can make your monitor color worse and less accurate!

The best solution is to use a hardware calibrator. Purchasing or borrowing a spectrophotometer eliminates the guesswork. Companies like ColorVision, X-Rite, and others sell calibrators that typically cost around $70–$300.

1. The calibrator will come with instructions, but the general workflow is:

   • Install the software.
   • Plug in the USB hardware calibrator.
   • Run the software that was installed, following the on-screen prompts.
   • Enjoy your calibrated monitor.

2. For best results, calibrate your monitor before doing the exercises in this workbook.