Soft proofing

Soft proofing is a preview mode that simulates on your screen how your photo will look when printed on a certain paper and printer. It shows in advance which colors shift or fall outside the gamut, before you make expensive prints. It bridges the gap between screen and print.

Turn on soft proofing in Lightroom or Photoshop and choose the ICC profile of your paper or print shop. Colors the printer can't reach get flagged, so you can pull them back deliberately. Compare the soft proof with your original to see where to adjust, especially in saturated reds, greens and blues. The screen stays an approximation, but soft proofing prevents most surprises in print.

Related terms

Gamut ICC profile Color space Adobe RGB Export

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