Soft Proofing in Illustrator

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You can soft proof artwork in Illustrator to simulate onscreen what the image will look like when printed.

1.

Open the file Yellowstone Map.ai file as described in the "Opening Untagged Illustrations" exercise earlier in this chapter.

2.

Choose View > Proof Setup > Customize. The Proof Setup dialog box appears.


Figure 7.13.


Much like the Proof Setup dialog box in Photoshop, this dialog box in Illustrator lets you select the profile and rendering intent for the device you want to soft proof.

3.

Choose the profile of the device you wish to simulate from the Device to Simulate drop-down menu.

I selected the custom profile for my Epson Stylus Photo 2200.


Figure 7.14.


4.

If it's available, make sure the Preserve RGB Numbers or Preserve RGB Numbers option, depending on the documents color space, is unchecked.

Preserve Numbers instructs Illustrator to display the image as if it were printed to the device without using a profile. This option, which is available only for profiles in the same color space as the document, can help determine if the image needs to be converted using a profile, or if it can be sent straight to the device. It is most useful when soft proofing for the Web.

5.

Click OK.

6.

Choose View > Proof Colors to toggle on the soft proof.

Yellowstone Map.ai is a large, complex illustration and may take a few seconds to redraw.

In the title bar, the name of the profile used in the soft proof is appended to the name of the image.


Figure 7.15.


7.

Toggle the soft proof off and on by choosing View > Proof Colors a few times, and compare the results.

For this particular artwork and these profiles, the effects will be very subtle.

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    Microsoft Windows XP Color Management
    Microsoft Windows XP Color Management
    ISBN: 0321334272
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 103

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