InkTrueInkTrue Book a press test
Photo prepress for print

Photos that print the way they looked.

InkTrue prepares photos for print, on your own computer. RGB photos go in. CMYK photos made for your paper and press come out, each with a check report. For newspapers, magazines, publishers and printers. No more fixing every picture by hand in Photoshop.

Book a press test See how it works
  • Runs offline
  • Not AI: no pixel invented
  • Original never touched
Drag the line to compare After: CMYK, ISO Coated v2, shown on screen Photo: Ema Trinh / Pexels
The problem

A photo that looks right on screen can print dark and muddy.

Every paper takes ink differently. On newsprint and uncoated stock, dots spread, shadows close up and skin goes heavy. Many photos also come from readers, contributors and phones: small, dark and never corrected.

1 by 1

Fixed by hand

Every picture opens in Photoshop. Someone adjusts levels, sharpens, converts, saves. Every day, before every deadline.

Reader

Poor sources are normal

Phone photos, WhatsApp forwards and screenshots arrive small and dark. They still have to go on the page.

Next day

You find out too late

Problems show up only on the printed paper, when nothing can be changed.

How it works

One photo, a hundred, or a whole folder. Same five steps.

Drop pictures into a folder. InkTrue runs each one through the same steps, every time, and writes a new file. Your original stays exactly as it was.

  1. Check

    Size, quality and colour profile. Photos with no profile are treated as sRGB and the report says so.

    profile · size · quality

  2. Resize

    Sized to its space on your page, then set to the resolution your press needs. Never enlarged without a warning.

    size → PPI

  3. Sharpen

    Sharpening worked out for the final printed size, so detail holds on rough paper.

    for print size

  4. Convert

    RGB to CMYK for your paper and press, with your ink limit and your colour profile.

    RGB → CMYK

  5. Report

    What was done, what to look at, and whether the photo is ready for that press.

    ready / look again
The check report

Every photo comes with a reason.

Your team sees exactly what changed and why. Pictures that moved a long way are listed first, so a person can take a look before the pages go to press.

rally_city_2col.jpg Ready · Newsprint
Printing condition
Newsprint, coldset
Colour profile in
None found → treated as sRGB
Size
3024 × 4032 px → 2 columns at 200 PPI
Enlarged?
No
Brightness
Lifted. Photo arrived dark
Skin tones
Protected from extra saturation
Highest ink
217% of 220% limit
Original
Unchanged. New file written
Ready means ready for this one printing condition only.
Example report. Values shown for illustration.
  • Checked after it is savedInkTrue reopens the file it wrote and checks it again. It never trusts that a save worked.
  • A short "worth a look" listPictures that changed a lot are listed with the reason. Setup problems are shown once, at the top.
  • Caption and byline keptPhotographer credit and caption stay in the file. Location data is removed.
  • Night and mood photos respectedDark scenes are not forced bright. Hand-corrected pictures can skip the colour steps.
Built for your press

Print-ready means ready for one press.

A photo ready for coated paper is not ready for newsprint. InkTrue keeps a separate setting for each paper and press you print on, and every report names it.

Newsprint

Lower ink limit, coarser screen. Shadows are opened up so they do not fill in on absorbent paper.

your profileyour ink limityour lpi

Glazed newsprint

Brighter stock that holds more ink. A setting of its own, tuned between newsprint and coated.

your profileyour ink limityour lpi

Coated / art paper

Supplements and magazines. Finer screen and more colour, where the paper can carry it.

your profileyour ink limityour lpi

We set up each condition from your press's own specifications and confirm it with a real press test. We never guess a printer value.

Safe for unpublished pictures

Your photos never leave the building.

Unpublished pictures can be exclusive, embargoed or sensitive. InkTrue was built around four rules that never change.

Runs on your computer

No upload, no cloud, no account. Works without the internet.

No generative AI

Nothing is drawn, added or replaced. Every pixel comes from the photographer.

Original never touched

InkTrue always writes a new file. The photo you gave it stays as it was.

No silent enlarging

If a photo is too small for its space, the report tells you. It is never quietly blown up.

Pricing

Pay once. Keep it.

InkTrue is for newspapers, magazines, publishers and printers that correct photos by hand today and do not have a colour server. It is priced for them.

One-time licence, per publication

  • Set up for your papers and presses
  • Confirmed with a press test at your plant
  • No limit on the number of photos
  • No yearly fee, no renewal
No subscriptionOne payment. No per-photo charges.
Your own copyInstalled on your computers. It keeps working even if the internet is down.
A fraction of a colour serverAutomatic correction without the cost of a large prepress system.
Get in touch

Send us ten of your hardest photos.

We will run them for your press and send them back with the reports. You print them, compare, and decide.

inktrue@visdai.com
  1. Tell us your paper and press
  2. Send a few real photos from your work
  3. We return them, ready for that press