Type of device* : display tablet
Brand and version of the device: Xp-pen Artist 16 Pro
System** : Windows 10
* graphics tablet/display tablet/2-in-1 laptop/Android tablet
** Windows/Linux/Mac/Android, + version (you’ll find it in Help -> Show system information for bug reports)
I’m drawing in this Xp-pen display but the colors don’t match with the ones in the laptop, which are more dull, much less saturated. My biggest problem is what kind of prints will I get of the artwork. Will the colors be like in the tablet display or like the ones I see in the laptop? Should I adjust something in Krita when saving the files for print to get the colors I see in the tablet display? I’m really confused and don’t know what and how to do it. Any help will be very welcome.
Every display has it’s own colours, depending of model, quality, age and so on. And the colours can change over time. Add that even the lighting conditions of your room, placement of the display in relation to a window etc will affect how you perceive the colours.
The best way to make them show true colours is to colour calibrate each display, in a environment that is not too bright. There are devices you need to accomplish that.
Then the colours will be much closer to reality and you can trust them more, as you print your artwork at a print shop.
There are also ways to make calibration without the above said devices, but that is not as good. But it will most likely enhance the quality of the colours. You’ll find many tutorials if you look at ie YouTube .
In your specific case it is not easy to know but I’d say that the newest and most expensive device will probably have the best colours. Maybe the xppen display? It is made for graphics and drawing,whereas your laptop is probably not (and might be older). So if have to pick a guess,then the xppen.
Thank you. And yes, I agree with you, the xppen will have the best colors, because I now know the gamut color range of the laptop display . Thinking about it, I believe a printed image will be much closer of the native display (laptop). It’s the colors that will be at the saved file. I think…
Yes, it will never be the same colors. But, as I said to Troken , I believe it will be printed closer to the laptop colors. Which means that painting on the pen display I know that the final image will be completly different regarding the colors. So, the xppen is useless for now.
But thanks for the reading tip, I will certainly learn more about it.
Keep in mind that it will probably be neither.
It’s true that calibration of your monitors yields a closer result to reality.
There is however another factor in play, and that is that in Krita you will be working in the RGB color profile and your printer will be using the CMYK color profile.
If you want to print work, the best way to go about it is merging all your layers into one, and then converting your file to CMYK.
Also bear in mind that some colors will not translate well to print, often particularly the more saturated ones.
There are many useful youtube videos on this topic as well.
What you can (and imo should) do is using the soft-proofing function of Krita and ultimately exporting to CMYK before printing.
I think it might be the opposite. Think of it like this:
The colors of your working document has certain RGB-values per pixels. That’s regardless of display, so your file does not “care” about from which display you save. The colors are what they are.
Now, your displays will have different capabilities of showing the colors, depending on all those things I mentioned in my first post. You can compare it to wearing different glasses - some will be clear while others might be sunglasses and totally change what you see.
As for the print shop, they will probably have state of the art equipment that are calibrated and adjusted to produce the best possible colors. That’s compared to really clear glasses.
If the XP-Pen has the best gamut range, then it is probably closer to the high quality print shop equipment. Not the same, but closer. Ordinary laptops will usually not be able to produce that and therefore the image will look duller and more wrong. High end laptops, made for graphics or the like will be a different story.
You know what, visit the print shop and ask them if you can have a look at your artwork on their displays. That will be the best comparison.
My final advice is to buy a color calibration equipment, and calibrate both your displays. It will surly make a big difference. Good luck with how ever you solve this!
That is usually the way/option to prefer, so working in RGB/A with softproofing. If you additionally set up the color selector to only choose colors from the CMYK-Range, then you can be relatively sure your colors are not out of gamut. It is set up via ‘‘Settings’’ >> ‘‘Configure Krita’’ >> ‘‘Color Selector Settings’’ in the first tab >> ‘‘Color Selector’’ use the setting ‘‘Color Selector Uses Different Color Space than Image’’, and there choose the color-space it should have in the end and where you also have your softproofing setup to.
Here is where it gets more complicated, and there are different schools on what is the best method. My first advice on this matter is always: Ask the print shop, and they will give you instructions, be it CMYK or RGB or whatever.
The following is only from my point of view (and experience from work). IMHO the best is to send a RGB-image with color profile to the print shop, and they will have the best methods for the CMYK conversion. They have the CMYK color profiles for their equipment and all the expertice to yield the best result.
How ever, making a CMYK can work too, but there will probably be another CMYK to CMYK conversion at the print shop and then you’ll get another (unnecesary) coversion step. So I’d not recommend it for high quality prints when it essential to get the best result.
Obviously asking your print shop is the best way to go, actually how I convert to CMYK is based on the equipment in my local print shop.
I however don’t agree that it is best to have them do it for you.
It makes sense to do it in the software the artwork was created in in the first place.
Also this may differ from place to place, but my print shop owner knows what equipment he has but admitedly does not necessarily know his way around painting software, certainly not krita.
He will also do no conversions after the fact, he prints what he receives from the client.
But yes, for the best result, do consult your print shop.
I am too lazy to read up the whole topic, so it could be mentioned before, but to avoid this, one should ask the print shop for their CMYK-Profile in advance and use their profile.
Yes of course I also prefer to send the artwork ready to print, but I know my print shop owner will tell me if he finds out something isn’t fine for printing.
. Thinking about it, I believe a printed image will be much closer of the native display (laptop). It’s the colors that will be at the saved file. I think…
But these things with color calibration and color profiles are really great to get a grip on. Might be daunting at first.
Yeah, a great way of learning!