Sometimes the best color is black and white
OK, I know this is supposed to be all about color, but winter at the beach really calls for black and white.
I’m working on a post about printing great 4-color black and white on an offset press. You need a cooperative printer and a few extra skills, but it can be done. Check back here soon.
Visions of the Apocolypse
While in Las Vegas at Photoshop World, I joined a busload of other photographers on a trip to the Neon Boneyard. Quite surreal. Old rusty signs from the Frank Sinatra glory days of Sin City. Someone had the visionary idea that these icons of American excess and fun should be preserved. Hence, the Neon Boneyard.
I felt like a Lilliputian walking among the signs. When they are installed on buildings or poles 60 feet in the air, you don’t realize how big they are. In mothball storage on the ground at the Boneyard, they’re huge.
Here are a few of my favorite images from that shoot. My approach was to try and restore some of the life to the signs. Here they were, dowdy and rusty, gathered together in a heap in the desert sun, not fulfilling their founding mission in life: to light up the night and beckon people in. The least I could do was to restore some dignity to these aging matinee idols.
So, what does this have to do with CMYK 2.0? It’s a reminder (to myself) of why I spend the time getting the color right.
Blogging from the beach
So, the cool thing about THIS post is that I’m at the beach with nothing more than a beer and an iPhone. There really is coming the time when the desktop computer will be a niche tool used for heavy lifting like graphic and video editing. But for the stuff we do everyday, like email, taking and organizing family photos, and even watching TV; the handheld device is all we need.
When you allow yourself to stop and reflect on all this stuff, it really does become amazing.
dpBestflow: the best source of workflow information
ASMP has just launched dpBestflow, the primary source for best practices information on the digital imaging workflow. It covers everything: image capture, image processing, file naming conventions, file handling, archiving, several optimized workflow options, and even CMYK!
Richard Anderson and Peter Krogh have been hard at work on this site for the last two years. Peter calls it “a Masters degree worth of information”. And he’s right. There’s an answer on the site for virtually any question you have.
The information is presented in text form, in visual form and in video tutorials that allow you to peek over the shoulder of experts in the field as they show you step-by-step directions.
Check it out.
CMYK Community Board forum closes (… bummer …)
The CMYK Community Board is taking an indefinite break. Our user-to-user forum succumbed to the realities of life in cyberspace. In plain english, that means that the snotty, sun-deprived subculture of social misfits known as hackers and spammers have made life less wonderful for those of us who have good intentions.
The fact is that for every one legitimate user who registered for the forum, there were 300+ illegitimate spambot registrations. The administrative overhead required to winnow out the junk was more than I was able to deal with. After all, I got into this business to take pictures, not to manage misguided teenagers.
The CMYK 2.0 movement is by definition collaborative; communication between users is the key to success. Sadly, we all lose here because the user-to-user forum format is, by it’s very nature, collaborative. But the spirit of the movement will transcend the spit-in-the-eye that is spam. I’ll be keeping the blog going, alive and up-to-date with the latest news and adventures from the field of CMYK and color in general.
Perhaps sometime in the future, when the CMYK 2.0 movement grows from a one-man operation into a fully-staffed multi-national corporation, we may try to revive the forum. But for now, just go out and shoot more pictures, design more stuff, and print beautiful color.
Neon Dreams in Vegas
Going to Photoshop World in Las Vegas? Enter the Peachpit Neon in Your Neighborhood contest and win an opportunity to join me and some other Peachpit authors on the bus for an EARLY MORNING photo safari to the Neon Museum Boneyard. It’s a collection of 150 retired, but classic neon signs from the hey-day of old Las Vegas. Think: hulking pieces of metal with wild shapes and wilder paint jobs - a perfect place to shoot some awesome images. Bring your flash!
But first, you’ve got to win a spot on the bus. To enter, click on the Peachpit link above and follow the directions. Basically, it’s a great excuse to go out in your own home town and shoot some cool photos of neon. Post them to the contest’s Flickr page (at the contest site) and see how it goes. Good luck!!
Here’s my image from the other side of the country - New Jersey (my old stomping grounds). It hollered out at me as I cruised by it on Route 22 in Springfield. Had to stop and turn around. How can you pass up a gimme like that? Yeah, we all need a little charm and comfort.
See you in Vegas…
Join the CMYK Community Board
The CMYK Community Board is a user-to-user forum that will become the core of our community.
If you have questions, ask them here.
If you have expertise, share it here.
If you have a success story, trumpet it here.
If you have a frustration, vent it here.
If you have a cool technique, teach it here.
If you have a suggestion , leave it here.
It’s our very own town square where open and active discussion and debate can take place. Whether the conversation is about technical stuff or interpersonal collaborative matters, this is the place to come to take part. As the community grows, the collective knowledge of the membership will grow, turning the Community Board into a primary resource for everyone who has a part in the RGB:>CMYK workflow. All are welcome, whether you’re a 20-year veteran of the printing business, or a newbie designer right out of school. So, spread the word. Encourage you colleagues, your clients, and your vendors to join. Read more
Welcome to the CMYK 2.0 website and blog
The motivating factor for launching this website is the publication of my book CMYK 2.0: A Collaborative Workflow for Photographers, Designers, and Printers. The site consists of two sections: a blog (the site you’re looking at now), and a user-to-user forum called the CMYK Community Board. Over time, I hope that both sections will grow into vital, dynamic communities where we can all share our thoughts, successes, frustrations, and favorite techniques as we work toward achieving predictable CMYK output.
On the blog, I intend to regularly (weekly, at least!) put up posts that offer ideas, add new thoughts, discuss the latest techniques and workflows, and share real-life stories from the field of how collaboration saves the day in the RGB-to-CMYK workflow. The blog is my platform, allowing me to share what I see and how I see it, and comments are always welcome. Read more
I love it when a plan works
In mid-December, I flew to Indiana to attend the press check for my book, CMYK 2.0. It was the culmination of 8 months of collaborative work involving the editorial and design folks at Peachpit Press; the customer service and prepress folks at Courier; my own personal digital shaman, Kevin DeP; my wife and partner in crime; and, of course, me. The book was printed by Courier Press in Kendallville.
The pressure was on. This is a book about C, M, Y, and K, for crying out loud. If the book didn’t look great, it would kind of shoot the idea that the author knows anything about preparing files for press. And boy, would my editor be pissed. Holy Histogram, Colorman! Better get it right!! Read more
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About this site
CMYK 2.0 is a community site I maintain to support my book CMYK 2.0: A Cooperative Workflow for Photographers, Designers, and Printers.
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About me
Creating photographs for corporate and advertising clients is my day job. Check out the website. If you're an art director, creative director, or designer, shoot me an email when your next project comes up. We'll make some beautiful images together; the CMYK expertise is cheerfully delivered free-of-charge.
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CMYK 2.0 Community Board
The CMYK Community Board is on extended hiatus. Read this to learn more.
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Let's talk about CMYK
Does your organization represent photographers, designers, or printers? Or, for that matter, prepress jocks, production managers, or digital assistants?
I'm available to give presentations and lead workshops on how to move from just-don't-know to two-point-oh.
Drop me an email to arrange a visit.