Before opening an RGB image in Photoshop, synchronize color settings for all  Creative Suite applications using Adobe Bridge. This synchronization ensures that colors look the same in all Adobe Creative Suite applications.

For Coated Paper…

Open Adobe Bridge and go to Edit/Color Settings and select North America Prepress 2 

Detailed view of the Color Settings as viewed in Photoshop

For UnCoated Papers Only…

To setup color when using uncoated paper, you will have to make a custom Color Settings File in Photoshop.

STEP 1: CHOOSE EDIT / COLOR SETTINGS.

STEP 2: CHOOSE “U.S. Web Uncoated v2”.

STEP 3: SELECT SAVE AND NAME THE FILE “North America Prepress 2 Uncoated”.

STEP 4: PRESS OK AND THIS WILL NOW BE AVAILABLE TO CHOOSE IN ADOBE BRIDGE.

RGB to CMYK (SWOP)

STEP 1: OPEN IMAGE

When opening an RGB image, choose; Use the embedded profile (instead of the working space) which will honor the embedded profile. This is typically the correct choice for all digital image captures.

STEP 2: CONVERT TO ADOBE 98

If your RGB image was not already in the AdobeRGB (1998) color space, now is the time to convert it. Go to Edit/Convert to Profile and choose Working RGB – Adobe 1998, which is the default.

STEP 3: ADJUST AND SAVE AS ADOBE 98

Once the image is in the default RGB space, adjust the image as needed in RGB before converting to CMYK. RGB color adjustments offer many benefits over CMYK adjustments. It is also a good idea to save a copy of the now adjusted RGB image for future use. Make sure the “Embed Color Profile” is selected.

Step 4: Adjust Image Size

Adjust the image size to be as close as possible to the size needed for the layout application. Making the image the correct size saves on drive space and upload speed. Photoshop will do a better job scaling than that done in the layout application. Select Image/Image Size, if the file is 72dpi, deselect the Resample Image and change Resolution to 300 dpi. This will reduce the physical size of the image.

In the example above; note that the physical size of the image changes from 24” wide at 72dpi to 6.944” wide at 300dpi. This is the proper way to adjust your images prior to importing into the layout

Step 5: Convert to CMYK (SWOP)

The last step is to convert to CMYK. Go to Edit/Convert to Profile and choose Working CMYK (the appropriate profile for Coated). Be sure the conversion options match the screen shots below for your specific workflow. Choose Save-as and save the CMYK image. It is OK to include the profile at this point. The image is now ready to place into the layout application.