Hey all, I’ve been experimenting with Krita for a while, I want to treat it like a real canvas ,so i am trying to create everything by brush strokes (personal choice) without using much of other features. I am wondering how do you set up your space for a successful print? After trying some printing on paper with print companies (and I understand there are different printers) I have come to conclusion, if I start my file as RGB profile (as some companies only work with RGB ) but then only use CMYK colors in my color palette,my colors should be closer to the printed product. I am not an artist, these are just my trials to become one, so stay with me while I am trying to understand this. I turned my color palette to CMYK profile but when I use soft proofing my image looks completely washed out again. So, what are you professional artists are doing about this? How do you set up your file for a successful art print?
I am trying to print on high quality fine art paper.
Most print companies send out the color work to be separated into cmyk, so they handle that part themselves. You, the customer, don’t have to worry about that, just make your artwork.
(I used to be the platemaker at a printing company and that’s how it was done.)
I’ve had quite a few of my pics printed - by uploading it myself to an online print company - and they arrive looking the same as on my screen. I create all my stuff with the default RGB.
However, I did an online course on comic book colouring and the chap was very clear that if you’re doing stuff like that professionally to go to print, to create it in CMYK as converting it is very hard and all the colours will look different.
So basically I’ve no idea if the print companies do some kind of conversion with my uploads to get the print looking the same. I’m not a professional so I don’t need to create stuff to certain print requirements, I just know that stuff I upload to those online printing companies arrive looking how I would expect them to. 
Edit: reading the above comment, now I know why! 
Yes, the printers make adjustments and the company boss checks this along with the head pressman. That’s how it was in the company I worked for.
In the past 10 years or so I only had one instance of a company wanting me submit my work in CMYK and it turned out horrible. Professional Print shop Printers normally don’t actually work with CMYK, they are more like these and have more than 8 colors to print with, most likely 12 (I think the highest I’ve seen is 16) and they have own color profiles, matching their models and can reproduce the colors of RGB pretty good these days. There are also different ways of printing, depending on the medium (for example like basically developing a photo). CMYK is mostly really just for your standard home/office printers and their quality is not even worth the trouble of converting, most of the time.
I too have my color palettes set to CMYK while having the document in sRGB but it doesn’t prevent your colors from entering sRGB space when mixing them on the canvas by smudging and overlaying or by using filters and blending modes. If you want to make sure it’s close to CMYK you still have to do some soft proofing.
Thank you all for your answers, I have only tried to print with a print on demand company, and only their hahnemühle german etching fine art paper print looked very close to my RGB file. It might be better to work with printing companies that work with artists. I have a long way to go anyways, I will stick to CMYK color palette for now. thank you for the answers
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