Corey Workflow

Updated Apr 20, 2001

Here is a Quadtone workflow from a professional photographer, we will refer to him as "Corey". His method is modern and very flexible. He uses Photoshop 6.0 and "Adjustment Layers" to give the artist or photographer the ability to bring his own control over the quality of the image. It is not complicated, and it provides creative control over the output that other workflows don't. It is much better than being limited or constrained to a fixed profile or set of curves.
It is specifically for Crane's Museo, Somerset Photo Enhanced or Concord Rag paper and MIS Quadtone or Sixtone inks on a 6 color Epson printer. He used an Epson 7000, but this should translate well to any of the Epson 6 color printers.

1.    Select the correct Color Settings -
In the dialog screen under the Edit menu find the Color Settings option and set Working Spaces as follows… ( see screen #1)

RGB= Color Match RGB

CMYK= Colormatch swop 3.01 CMYK. If you don't have Colormatch swop 3.01 use U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) V2.

Gray= Gamma 2.2

Spot= Dot Gain 20%

Set all 3 Color Management Policies = Preserve Embedded Profiles and check all the boxes

Under Conversion Options set Engine=Adobe (ACE) and Intent = perceptual

Check Black Point Compensation and Dither Boxes

Uncheck the 2 boxes under Advanced Controls

    Save these setting with a unique name like… MIS Hextones.

2.    Convert your RGB image to Grayscale -
Use the channel mixer to convert RGB file to grayscale. Find the channel mixer under Image>Adjust>Channel Mixer ( see screen #2).
When this screen first comes up, check the monochrome box. At that moment the Red will be at 100. Then set Red=20 Green=20 and Blue=60. Modify these settings until you are happy with the way the grayscale image appears. This may not be the perfect setting, you will have to experiment to find the optimum settings. They must all add up to 100.
Set the size and resolution of the image.. Image>Image Size. Do not increase resolution above the original. Use only 180, 240 or 360 dpi. If the original image is 300 use 240, if it is 400 use 360. The resolution number has to divide into 1440 evenly. ( see screen #3)
Use any of the Photoshop filters or tools to enhance your image, then save it in the RGB mode.

3.    Convert to CMYK -
Convert the "previously saved" monochrome RGB file to CMYK. Do this by clicking on Image>Mode>CMYK Color. This image should look exactly as you would like it to appear on your print. If you want it to look better, then use additional filters and tools to improve the look of the image. Or try going back to step #2 and changing the 20-20-60 ratios to get a better black and white balance. The sum of these 3 numbers must always add to 100.
For the next step, you must have the avl files that define the paper surface. Click here to download a zip file containing these files. To expand the zip file you will need PKZip for PC's or Stuffit for Mac's. Both of these programs are free.

4.    Next create two adjustment layers -
Under the Window menu, turn on Show Layers. Next click on Create a New Set, then click on Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer, select Levels as the type. (see screen #4 )
The level controls dialog appears. Click on the LOAD button and load the alv file called "Museo_MIS_Hex_Preview.avl" for Crane's Museo paper, "MIS_Hex_Preview.alv" for Somerset Photo Enhanced or "CR_BW_Preview.avl" for Concord Rag, then click OK. You will now see how your image will print without any correction - it will appear AND PRINT too dark.
To correct the file, load the MIS hex correction levels adjustment layer . Then it will appear just right or very close to what you want. To do this, click on Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer again and select Levels as the type. The level controls dialog appears. Click on LOAD button and load the avl file called "Museo_MIS_Hex_Adjustment.avl" for Crane's Museo or "MIS_Hex_SVE_Adjustment.alv" for Somerset Photo Enhanced or "CR_Hex_ADJ.avl" for Concord Rag, then click OK. Now you see how the image will print as well as the tone of the ink.
This next step is very important: TURN OFF THE PREVIEW LAYER (The first one you loaded) BEFORE PRINTING! but not the adjustment layer. This will send a corrected file to the printer driver. You should get a perfect match to your original. You can tweak the adjustments to your taste and create as many presets for types of output as you like saving them all.

5.    Print the Image -
In Photoshop, go to File>Print and make the following settings.. (see screen #5 )

Source Space = Colormatch 3.01 SWOP or U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) V2.
Print Space = Epson Standard Driver…. or the driver for the printer you are using
Intent = Perceptual
Mode = Custom

Next, click on Setup, go to Advanced Control Settings and select the following... (see screen #6 )

Media Type = Photo Paper
Ink = Color
Print Quality = 1440 dpi
Halftoning = Quality Halftoning
High Speed = Unchecked
Color Management = Color Controls Selected (on)
Gamma = 2.2
Mode = Photorealistic
Sliders = 0 (all)

Save this setup with a unique name, use MIS Hextones.
Click on OK
Load your paper, Museo, Somerset Photo Enhanced or Concord Rag, into the printer, coated side up, and print.
That is it. This should produce spectacular results. The workflow is flexible enough, so that if you want to fine tune your print you can go back to steps #2 through #4 and make adjustments.

Many thanks to Carl Corey at Gallery Prints for donating this workflow. Please send your comments and opinion on this workflow to Carl Corey. Visit his website by clicking on the logo below.

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