Re: [Gimp-user] How to shrink photo, retain quality?? Business card design

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 02/14/2016 07:29 PM, Rick Strong wrote:
> Scribus and Inkscape are both good programs, which I have recently
> discovered from Simon Budig on this list.
>
> Do the vector stuff in Inkscape and the pixel stuff in Gimp, then do
> your layouts in Scribus.
>
> Don't forget to convert the RGB image/photo file to CMYK (4 colour)
> colour space for print.
> You might try www.rgb2cmyk.org to make that conversion before you
> place it in the Scribus layout.
> I haven't tried the service, but it's worth a shot.
>
> Output the photo to CMYK Tiff.

I'm not sure that converting images from RGB to CMYK and exporting
to TIFF serves any real purpose.  I used to do that - up until about
ten years ago - but none of the print shops I have had dealings with
since require it.  PDF makes it a moot point, in the sense that
print shops will not know the difference between a PDF file with
embedded PNG or TIFF files.

Monitors can only present RGB outputs; when editing a CMYK file,
CMYK color is exported to RGB before the image appears on the
screen.  Accurate color adjustments to CMYK files are only possible
if one has the production printer (or its identical twin) at hand to
produce proofs; in that case one can print the image, tweak the
image, print it again, tweak it some more etc. until the printed
version is "just right" - even if it looks wrong when viewed on the
monitor.

Is it better to export an RGB image to CYMK format in one's own home
or office, or to allow the driver that runs the printer at the print
shop do it automatically?  Allowing a software driver expressly
designed to work with the printer producing the hard copy to do the
conversion on the fly seems like a good idea in theory.  In
practice, I have seen no difference in the end product either way.
Variations in RGB color presentation from monitor to monitor are a
much more important issue either way.

In a worse case scenario, i.e. your monitor is way out of
calibration and the image you want printed reflects your monitor's
presentation errors, the print shop people may have to make color
adjustments after they see the proofs.  (Here comes a big labor
charge...)  If they don't know how to convert your submitted files
to CMYK, or believe / pretend that this imposes a hardship on them
or takes more than a few seconds of work, a much bigger problem than
a file format issue is present...

:o)