Re: no cmyk conversion in ps elements or 5.0 LE ...
Converting your images to CMYK is unlikely to fix your problem. With that
caveat, one free way to perform this conversion is to with the
drycreekphoto's converter:
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/tools/profile_converter/
You will also need the appropriate CMYK profiles, which you may download
from www.adobe.com. I suggest using the SWOP v6 coated or uncoated profile.
Incidentally, the profile_converter is also a free way to convert a CMYK
image to RGB, should you ever be confronted with a CMYK image from another
source. You may also use this utility to manipulate hexachrome and hifi
files. http://www.argyllcms.com/ is another extensive source of free
conversion utilities, and much more.
If you are using Adobe Gamma, it does a good job of calibrating a CRT
monitor. Adobe Gamma is less effective, and can even be useless for LCD
displays.
For an LCD, if you are unable to arrive at a satisfactory calibration, you
may, as have many others, end buying at a monitor calibration device. The
cheapest of these is the Pantone Huey, which at the moment costs $75 from
buydig.com, including shipping. Although many respectable people advocate
the use of such devices, I am one of the controversial few who believe they
are generally a waste of money, and may even give a false sense of security.
Save your money - if your budget is limited, get an old CRT no one is using,
calibrate it with Adobe Gamma, and use it as your accurate primary display,
reserving the LCD screen for your tool palettes..
That problem aside, once your monitor is reasonably calibrated, you may
manually calibrate your printer using a test strip and procedure that are
available here:
http://www.curvemeister.com/downloads/TestStrip/digital_test_strip.htm
I have adjusted several printers to a good degree of accuracy using this
test strip, and tweaking the color controls in the printer driver.
Again, there are hardware and software solutions the purport to calibrate
your printer, all vying for your hard earned money. In fact many people
purchase the monitor calibration devices, expecting it to solve their
problem, only to find that they need to make a much more substantial
investment to "calibrate" their printer.
The order of events is important - get your monitor looking good first, and
then match your printer to the appearance of the monitor. Don't adjust your
monitor to match the print.
PS Elements supports two working spaces: sRGB and Adobe RGB. My advice
would be to stick with sRGB, which in Elements is specified in the color
settings (ctrl-shift-K) as "Web Graphics".
Keep at it - people were printing excellent photographs before any
calibration devices were available at all - you can do it too.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/
Mike Russell
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