Setting up photoshop for a colour managed workflow begins with the "Color Settings" dialog.
Colour Settings
The Color Settings dialog box (see below) is "command central" for colour management in Photoshop. It allows you to establish settings for how your images will be dealt with in a colour-managed workflow. Having the right settings in this dialog is important for getting the best results with your images.
Keep in mind that there aren't any absolutes that define the best colour settings. The optimal settings will depend in part on the type of output for which you are preparing images. Some of the settings also depend on personal preference. In this section, I'll explain what each of the settings is for and how to choose the best setting for your specific needs. I'll also offer recommended settings for some of the options based on typical workflows. The best settings may vary from one project to another, making it all the more important that you understand what each setting affects. This also means it is important to remember to check your color settings before you embark on a new project that will use different output methods than you are accustomed to, or than your current settings are geared toward.
The Color Settings dialog box (see figure right) is accessed by choosing Edit > Color Settings from the menu (Photoshop > Color Settings for Macintosh OS X). You can also use the shortcut key Shift+Ctrl+K (Shift+Command+K on Macintosh).
Saving and Loading Color Settings
If you will be working with images destined for a variety of different output methods,
you'll likely need custom Colour Settings for each of those situations. In that case, saving the settings that apply to each type of work you will be doing is very helpful, so that you can easily load the appropriate settings whenever you begin working with a new set of images. Even if you only need to have a single set of Colour Settings, saving them just in case the settings get changed accidentally can be very helpful, and I strongly recommend doing so.
Settings Dropdown
The Settings dropdown menu at the top of the Colour Settings dialog box (see Figure right) allows you to choose from a list of stored settings with values set for all options. Selecting one of these options will simply change the values in the Colour Settings dialog box based on the settings saved for that preset. Note that you can only select colour settings that have been saved to the default location. If you save to a special location, you'll need to use the Load option to load your specific settings.
Save Settings
Saving a set of Colour Settings is a simple matter of configuring all the settings the way you want them and then clicking the Save button. You will be prompted to provide a name for the settings, as well as a location to save the file that will store those settings.
I strongly recommend that you give the settings a name that will be meaningful for you based on the type of output you will be producing with those settings. For example, you might save settings called "Printing to Inkjet Printer" for images you'll print yourself on an inkjet printer. If you are working on a particular project providing CMYK images for use in a catalogue called "Acme Products", you might save settings as "Catalogue CMYK – Acme Products." The name you use to save the settings should give you a clear indication of exactly what type of output you'll be producing with particular images, so that you can select the right settings based on the type of job on which you're working.
You will also be prompted for a location to save the settings file. If you save the settings in the default location that Photoshop uses to store colour settings files, you will be able to select your settings from the Settings dropdown list. Otherwise, you'll have to use the Load option to recall those settings.
After you have selected a location and provided a filename for the settings, you will be prompted to provide a description for the settings. This is an excellent way to provide a detailed explanation of how the settings should be used. When you choose a setting at the top of the Color Settings dialog box, its description is displayed at the bottom.
Load Settings
If you have saved settings to a location other than the default used by Photoshop, they will not be available from the Settings dropdown at the top of the Color Settings dialog box. In that case, you will need to click the Load button and navigate to the location where you save the settings. You can then select the settings by filename. With the settings loaded, the name of the saved settings will show up on the Settings dropdown, even though it will not remain there permanently. If you included a description when you saved the settings, you can read the description by holding your mouse pointer over the Settings dropdown. This is a good way to confirm the settings you've loaded are the correct ones for the images on which you plan to work.
More Options
By default, the "More Options" button of the Color Settings dialog box is not selected. For most users, the options available by selecting "More Options" don't need to be adjusted.
When "More Options" is selected (see above), it causes two changes in the Color Settings dialog box. First, it will expand the list of profiles for each of the Working Spaces to include all profiles installed on your system, rather than just those defined as working space profiles. Second, it will expand the Color Settings dialog box to include Conversion Options and Advanced Controls sections, which you will probably want to leave disabled.
The image (above) shows the Color Settings dialog with the options that I recommend already selected. The following sections detail each of these choices and how you should make them.
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