Fleshtone break down

[rande]

Is there a standard fleshtone break down?

 

[michaelejahn]

Well, if we are assuming SWOP and Caucasian with little GCR ?

LOL

help - How to get pleasing skin tones on prints- powered by SmugMug

highlight would be -- 5 cyan 20 magenta, 30 yellow for a highlight - to 5 cyan 30 magenta 20 yellow depending on complection .

I have a few ISO SCID images I could post on my FTP site for you to download and measure, but lets face it, who knows if you print SWOP TR001, so CMYK recommendations are more or less meaningless.

email me at [email protected] if you need access.

 

[splenguin]

To get in the neighborhood, I've always used this formula, which is based on magenta:

C = 30-50% of M
Y = 110% of M

This can be used for people of all ethnicities.

joe

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

Isn't that why egyptians made mummies so that the flesh shouldn't break down? ;p Oh it was the tone not the flesh we're breaking down… here is mee thinking zombie.

Remember newsprint and uncoated make magenta much more dominant than on coated.
As an example on ISO coated 40M35Y is visually very similar to Uncoated 30M40Y
(or not just going in skin 20M100Y in coates is more like 5M100Y uncoated, a 20M100Y U would be more like a 35M90Y on coated.)

 

[dephotoman]

As we all know, there are a variety of ways to tone a photo. I always use curves in Photoshop and use the formula of M&Y being equal and C being 1/3 of that. ie: C=11, M=33, Y=33, C=7, M=21, Y=21, etc. I learned this at a photo seminar by Adobe probably 25 years or so ago. It has worked fine for me over the years on a variety of presses and stock.

In Photoshop I have the Eyedropper Point set to 3 by 3 Average and the Info Palette Options set as First Color Readout Mode set to Actual Color, Second Color Readout Mode set to CMYK.

Even if you tone in RGB you can watch the values in the CMYK and adjust accordingly.

A lot of time the numbers may be right according to the formula but way to high as in a saturated photo. 30C, 90M, 90Y. You can lighten the photo.

If you have an off color cast, that can be usually fixed by checking a white point. Those values should be equal in C, M, Y and 0% in K and should be pretty low, like maybe 1-3%.

Once the photo has been toned in RGB then converted to CMYK, you can then bump up the contrast if needed (especially for newsprint.) I do this by selecting what I want to be the darkest black and raising those values as high as I can in the black channel. In the same area, go to the cyan channel and raise the values up a bit as well. You will have to watch the midtones and remove cyan in them as it will increase as you add it to the shadows. Also keep and eye out on the black as well in the midton areas.

Be sure to recheck your values in the flesh area and make any changes as needed after “bumping up the black.”

Same as what Joe said, this can be used for people of ethnicities.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

Once the photo has been toned in RGB then converted to CMYK, you can then bump up the contrast if needed (especially for newsprint.) I do this by selecting what I want to be the darkest black and raising those values as high as I can in the black channel. In the same area, go to the cyan channel and raise the values up a bit as well. You will have to watch the midtones and remove cyan in them as it will increase as you add it to the shadows. Also keep and eye out on the black as well in the midton areas.

Bumping values after CMYK??? You must be kidding! Until the day that there is a Total Ink Warning in Photoshop this is the most common reason why we get too high ink. 25 years ago people didn't know better.
IMO the ONLY thing that should ever be needed to do with an image in CMYK is possibly sharpening, otherwise there is either something wrong with your workflow or your separation profile.

 

[jonteo]

Here's how I do it in RGB.

First remove any colour cast by locating neutrals (highlights, midtones, shadows) and correct accordingly. Working in RGB has the added benefit that correcting colour cast is easy: you only need to fix R=G=B (same values for all channels). Highlights = 242,242,242 (assuming 5% CMYK -- some will argue highlights should be 0% CMYK then it will be 255,255,255). Midtones = 128,128,128. Shadows = 13,13,13.

Then read skin tone colour. For "natural-looking" skin tone, R>G>B (Red should be higher than Green, Green should be higher than Blue). This generalization can be applied to skin tones for all ethnicities. Adjust to taste but always keep R>G>B.

 

[gordo]

Bumping values after CMYK??? You must be kidding! Until the day that there is a Total Ink Warning in Photoshop this is the most common reason why we get too high ink. 25 years ago people didn't know better. IMO the ONLY thing that should ever be needed to do with an image in CMYK is possibly sharpening, otherwise there is either something wrong with your workflow or your separation profile.

I agree with Lukas - in fact I'd go a bit further - don't even do sharpening in CMYK. Do it in RGB, and if you think you need to change sharpening parameters do it using a layer mask.
If you want to adjust contrast, without affecting color, in RGB - convert the RGB to Lab mode and adjust the contrast curve of the L channel. Once you're happy, convert back to RGB.

best, gordo

my print blog here: Quality In Print current topic: Pressman's hat.

 

[Damo77]

Bumping values after CMYK??? You must be kidding! Until the day that there is a Total Ink Warning in Photoshop this is the most common reason why we get too high ink. 25 years ago people didn't know better.
IMO the ONLY thing that should ever be needed to do with an image in CMYK is possibly sharpening, otherwise there is either something wrong with your workflow or your separation profile.

Agree 100%

If you want to adjust contrast, without affecting color, in RGB - convert the RGB to Lab mode and adjust the contrast curve of the L channel. Once you're happy, convert back to RGB.

I find an adjustment layer set to Luminosity mode is just as good, and without the extra conversion steps (and the associated quantization).