PS - Levels 'output levels'

[Davi]

In days of old when I were up at t'crack of dawn to tredge t'mill... or in fact was a graphic designer... it was normal and seen as best practice to set output levels to 10 / 245 to ensure there was no area completely devoid of or completely saturated with ink - having not been in the print industry for nearly a decade just wondered if things moved on at all or do I still need to do this?

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

Are you outputting CMYK files for print, or are they for some other use?

[Davi]

both dye-sub and Litho - if possible I'd like to have the photo's ready for both eventuality, and in the past I've found that 10/245 doesn't really detract on dye-sub so used to do them all that way. Just trying to save a bit of time if it's no longer necessary!

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

We've reached the limit of my knowledge here I'm afraid, although I'd guess the theory behind why you'd do it hasn't changed so it's probably still relevant. However, it's certainly not required for RGB files that are to be viewed on screen or printed photographically.

[Bacardi]

I think it's still relevant, but not to the degree it used to be, the process has evolved and continues to move on/tolerances improve. Having too big a contrast range can always be a problem leading to over inking and no details in the shadows/highlights etc. But there are so many variables from making the sep's to the guy on the press... all a bit of a black art.

In the past, I've shot stuff with probes metering off ground glass screens on large format, adjusting lighting to get the range down for optimum repro. 99% of what I do now goes to CMYK and I'm very conscious of my dark tones filling in on the page... depending on the stock used. I don't bother with some highlights and often blow them on purpose.

Squashing it all to give you dot everywhere will, IMO, give you a potentially flat output. The key is a colour managed workflow,. If possible, ask the printer if he prints to a custom profile and outputting to that (on your profiled monitor), should help. Best bet, do some tests.

[Pixel Pusher]

Personally, unless you're printing on news stock, I wouldn't worry too much about Dmax & total ink weights in the shadow end unless it actually affects your image. Highlights however might want a little more TLC in the levels to avoid tear out. Your 245 RGB or 4,3,3 CMYK should be fine to hold min dot.

Also wouldn't worry too much about calibrated monitors. Your output profile will be more consistent, so I would trust your proof more than a screen. Adobe 98 for RGB & something like Fogra 39L for CMYK are virtually industry standard now, but it boils down to what works best for you and your images.

[Davi]

Thanks all. Pixel Pusher, it was highlight tear out I was particularly worried about as a lot of my stuff is high contrast, high key, so plenty of opportunity for sharp edges to appear at that end. T'other end I'm not tooo worried about as you say, just conscious of the press man looking at the offset on the back of the next page as the ink spreads like jam