Soft Proofing and Test Prints for Photographers

Get the screen ready

Soft proofing only means something on a calibrated monitor, ideally calibrated with a hardware device. Most print problems described as dark prints come from a screen set too bright, so a target between 80 and 120 cd/m² is a good place to start, depending on the room. Keep the room's light steady and the area around the screen neutral.

Soft proof with the lab's profile

Ask your lab for the ICC profile for the exact printer and paper you'll use, and how it wants that profile applied. Then:

• In Photoshop, choose View > Proof Setup > Custom, then select the profile.
• In Lightroom Classic, tick Soft Proofing in the Develop module, then choose the profile.
• Turn on the paper simulation, so you see the paper's white and black.
• Compare Relative Colorimetric with Perceptual, and use the one your lab recommends or the one that holds the image best. In Photoshop, keep Black Point Compensation on with Relative Colorimetric.

With the paper simulation on, the image can suddenly look flat and dull. That's expected. Give your eyes a moment and judge it against the white of the paper, not the white of the screen.

What to fix after a soft proof

Look for colors that lose their character, shadows that close up and highlights that lose detail. Make your changes on a copy for that paper rather than on the master, so you can go back and make a different version for another paper or lab. Keep the changes small, since the test print will tell you more.

Make test prints that tell you something

A test print is only useful if it comes from the lab that will make the final print, on the same paper and with the same process. A print from a home printer tells you little about a lab's output.

• Print the hardest parts of the image at their final size: deep shadows, skin, soft gradients and saturated color.
• Test the whole series, even if only as small sections, because the images will hang side by side.
• Let the print settle before you judge it. Inkjet prints can shift slightly as they dry, so ask your lab how long to wait.

Judge in the right light

The same print can look different under different lights. Viewing booths commonly use a daylight-balanced 5000K standard, which is a fair way to compare prints. A gallery may be much warmer, or dimmer, so look at the test in the gallery if you can, or under similar lights. If the print will be face mounted or framed, remember that the mount or glazing changes it too, as preparing photographs for an exhibition explains.

Change the file, then test again

Write your notes on the test print, change the print file from your master, and label each round so nobody prints the wrong version. Expect more than one round on the hardest images.

This guide is about photo lab prints. For a printing press, the equivalent check is a contract proof, covered in how to prepare retouched images for print. If you'd like someone else to handle the file changes between rounds, see exhibition print preparation.