Mar
31
Dynamic Range: Newspaper
Filed Under Color Management, Digital Imaging, Herbiology, Memo from the Pressroom
In case you hadn’t noticed, printing images in the newspaper is an abysmal undertaking. While pretty much everyone knows that this morning’s newspaper is tonight’s birdcage liner, few people truly understand the stark reality of newsprint’s (lack of) dynamic range let alone what to do about it. Illustrated here is a sobering reminder.
The four gray squares you see are actual colorimeter measurements (converted to grayscale format) of two different newspaper publishers’ paper and solid black ink colors. Here’s the unvarnished reason that pictures in the newspaper need special preparation. The two squares on the left show the solid black ink density measurement and (on the right) the unprinted paper “color” measurements taken from a (typical) daily newspaper and the same measurements taken from USA Today. While USA’s “black” is darker and the paper whiter than the daily newspaper, both show the extremely shallow dynamic range available in newsprint in general.
THEREFORE, pictures prepared in a typical Photoshop fix-em-up fashion (as if to be printed on an ink jet printer or even a glossy publication) will print horribly on newsprint. Images destined for the newspaper (whether black and white or color) MUST be prepared specifically (never using the ubiquitous US Web Coated SWOP v2 conversion profile) for this tonal range in order to reproduce well. To achieve the correct tonal balance, unique mid tone, highlight, and shadow adjustments are required.
If you are not familiar with either this issue or how to deal with it, let me know. There are answers.
Think about it!
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