Tom writes ...
> Here I am. Spending hours trying to get the gamma just right so that
all my
> pictures will look great on any platform. And then I hit the print
> button... Then what??
>
>
> In short: How does the gamma setting affect the output when the
image is
> printed out on paper? Should I have two different files: One with
gamma=1
> for printing, and one with gamma=2.2 for web publishing?
Possibly (... I know, not much of an answer ...). Understand this
is a bit dependent on your printer manufacturer. Did they write the
driver software for your printer which anticipated a specific gamma.
A consumer type printer like a HP 895 will assume a color space
similar to sRGB (gamma=2.2) is what needs to be printed. However, if
you prefer to use a 3rd party postscript driver for the same printer,
you may indeed have to fine tune a gamma variable.
Usually, you will always be in the ball park with a gamma ~2 ...
as if luminous response for all devices is a function of "area" (an
exponent of '2') ... even our eyes' perception has a similar gamma.
Yet, '2' is never exact, and there is definitely a difference between
1.8 and 2.2.
If you are really curious about all this (... and more ...), then
you'll want to explore color spaces and device profiles, why many of
feel they are necessary, why they are sometimes a headache, how they
are supposed to work together ... scanner=>photoshop(and
monitor)=>printer. Bruce Fraser is almost everyone's guru on color
("Real World Photoshop" & "Real World Scanning & Halftones"). He has
some online articles here, but his book is most enlightening.
shAf :o)
