b |
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b is the axis in the Lab color space which denotes the ?blue-yellow? component of the image. One end of the axis is blue and the other end yellow. Combined with the a axis, you can describe the hue and saturation of a color. | ||||||||||
See Also
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Kodak IT8 (Q60) Target Data Files |
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Kodak's IT8 targets (Q60 by their terminology) require the associated target data file (TDF) information if you are to use them for accurate reference or building scanner and camera profiles.
(above links will open in a new browser window)
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Box around pointer on Macs after calibration |
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Some users have noticed that a small square appears around the pointer on screen after calibration with certain software on newer Macs.
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See Also
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Fuji Test Images |
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This Fuji test image contains a wide range of colors and subjects include outdoor, people, studio product and neutrals.
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The Color of Toast |
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A lot has been written and said about color management in an attempt to describe what it is, what it solves and how it works. Like any discussion about computing, these descriptions often use fancy new terms that effectively confuse and turn off people who just want to understand, well, what it is, what it solves and how it works. An effective and greatly simplified analogy is that of the toaster. Pay attention here because this is one even your clients will understand. Probably not. This is the problem of color management. The settings used on the toaster do not necessarily produce the same colors. As in the toaster, RGB and CMYK values on your computer are also just settings. And, just like the toasters, when they are sent to different devices, they produce different colors! Now if you were a severe toast geek, you would toast 10 pieces of bread in your toaster; one at every setting. Then you would lay them all out in order on your kitchen table, grab the bag of bread and head over to your neighbor's. Avoiding his bewildered stares you would toast 10 pieces of bread in his toaster and take them back to lay on your table beside your toaster's work. Fanning through your "Toasttone" independent toast guide(*) you would decide that "B" was, in fact, the color of toast you prefer. Looking up and down your toaster column you would confirm that yes, indeed, "4" is the setting on your toaster that will get you the color you want - you know this after several mornings of frantically waving smoke away from the alarm on your kitchen ceiling. After looking over your neighbor's toaster column, you note that a setting of "6" is what is needed to get the color you want from his toaster. This, in essence, is what color management is all about. Carefully sampling what a device (monitor, printer, toaster, whatever) will do and then comparing it to an independent guide for actual color. In the case of the toast we used the fictitious Toast Guide and in the case of computers we typically use the Lab color space. Lab is a whole 3D range of numbers across 3 coordinates (L for lightness and a & b for color information). The important thing about Lab is that it is actually COLOR. That is, a number that represents a sensation. Let's take a little reminder on color. Color is a sensation produced by the cooperation of our eyes and our brains in response to mixtures of light. To have color you need 1) light, 2) an object and 3) an observer - for our purposes, a human observer. Without all these components you do not have color. Lab, as mentioned, is a whole range of numbers that are assigned to actual sensations. Each Lab number - like 50, 23, 47 - describes what a certain sample will look like under 5000K lighting (a graphic arts viewing standard in use in most viewing booths) and from a standard distance (creating a specifically sized spot on the retina) to an "average" person. In 1931 a group of scientists sat over 200 people down to perform painstaking color tests to come up with this "average" person and for our purposes it works quite well. Back to the toaster. To get the same color from different toasters, we needed to sample all the colors of toast the lowly machine could produce and then compare them to an independent guide. This lookup table is the equivalent of an ICC profile. To get the same color from different devices - what we are basically trying to do here - we need to sample all the colors that device can produce and setup a table that converts between the device settings - say, a monitor - and the colors it produces at those settings. For a monitor we attach a device to the monitor and then run software that walks through a list of settings,: red (255,0,0), yellow (255,255,0), green (0,255,0), and so forth. At each RGB value, it takes a reading with the instrument and gets a Lab color back. After running through a long list that only a computer should have to suffer, a profile is built for that monitor. If we want to get the same color from our printer as well then we also need to build a profile for it. The same technique applies. We send a file out to the printer that contains a long list of settings - for example: cyan (100,0,0,0), blue (100,100,0,0), magenta (0,100,0,0), and so forth. We then read each patch on the paper with a device like the Eye-One that supplies Lab values for each corresponding set of CMYK settings that were sent. A few calculations and your computer produces a profile for your printer. Great, you think, but how do I use these things? That depends on what you are trying to achieve. A good example is when you want to get the file you print to match the one you see on screen. The file on screen is, by definition, in MonitorRGB and you need to convert it to PrinterCMYK. If you apply the monitor profile to the file, it will convert all those MonitorRGB settings which are unique to your monitor to Lab (remember the toaster). Lab, you will recall, is color - so we are out of the arbitrary world of settings that only work for your monitor and on to something much more useful. Any profile can be applied to those Lab values to get the color you want. In this case, we want the color to go to your printer. When the printer profile is applied it formulates the correct CMYK settings for each color in your file. A good quality profile will do a great job of matching those colors within the abilities of the printer.
(*) totally fictitious but familiar sounding color guide for Toast. |
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ColorSync on Mac OSX |
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ColorSync, Apple's system level Color Management System (CMS) has undergone a significant upgrade for Mac OSX For all previous versions of Mac OS, color management and ColorSync did very little for the user until an application was explicitly called on ColorSync to perform color matching tasks.(with the exception of Quickdraw GX, a minimally supported upgrade attempt at QuickDraw). Many Mac users remember the first time they opened their ColorSync control panel, changed some settings and then saw that nothing had changed on screen (again, in most cases). They may have concluded that color management doesn't work and left it behind. Well, with Mac OSX, ColorSync has finally been upgraded to a first-class citizen and is built into the Quartz imaging system at the heart of OS X. This means that if an application simply calls on OS X to display an image, it will be color managed to the best of ColorSync's abilities. At a bare minimum this means that the display profile set in the ColorSync preference pane will be use as the destination for all color heading to screen. Which profile will be used as the source? That depends on the application (which can override ColorSync defaults) and whether or not there is a profile embedded in the image. As the new print paths in OS X are also managed by Quartz, users run a greater chance of liking what they see coming out of their printers. A few other points worth mentioning are
Check back with us regularly for updated notes and links regarding ColorSync 4 on Mac OS X, ICC v4 profiles and other advances and changes in the color management world. In the meantime, pay a visit to the link below for a technote from Apple that starts at a basic overview and moves all the way into the system calls developers can make to ColorSync. Stop reading when your head gets full. Steve Upton |
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See Also
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Apple ColorSync on Mac OSX Technote 2035 |
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Link: http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2035.html
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ColorSync 3.0 APIs - Tech note 1185 |
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Link: http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1185.html
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ColorSync 2.6 APIs - Tech note 1160 |
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Link: http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1160.html
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ICC Profiles and Printers in Mac OSX |
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As ColorSync is now ingrained at a much deeper level in the Mac OS than in previous versions, it follows that printing is affected by these changes. This is a very quick overview of how printing with RGB-based drivers (most inkjet printers used without a RIP) is setup and can be changed in OS X.
Check back with us often for updates to Mac OS X color management and other topic areas. |
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See Also
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'Delta E' synthetic test image, Bruce Lindbloom |
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This is a great image that was rendered synthetically using a ray tracing program Bruce Lindbloom wrote himself. It is a good illustration of the dangers of linear gamma image storage as well as a clear & clean image for testing profiles while still retaining the appearance of a real-world scene. Testing profiles using only colored patches is not terribly effective as the eye cannot judge colors in such an absolute form. Continuous tone images containing memory colors (flesh tones, plants, sky, some foods) are better as the eye picks up variations much more effectively. Follow the link below and click on "Imaging" |
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Link: http://www.brucelindbloom.com/
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Profile Gamma Tagger |
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Monitor profiles depend on the calibration of the display system (graphics card and monitor) in order to work correctly.
Download Profile Gamma Tagger(10K - Mac only) |
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #5 - Metamerism |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S Issue #5 June 6, 2002 ___________________________________________________________________ ===================================================== Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on all things related to Color Management. Please let us know what your interests are so we can address these concerns in our coming issues. We apologize for the delay from our last newsletter, many exciting changes have taken place at CHROMiX and we will be covering them over the next few newsletters. ColorNews covers newsworthy items including new product releases and updates, and interesting, informative web sites. Each issue will include a feature article covering an aspect of color management such as profiles, workflow, and so forth. In a visit to CHROMiX.com or profilecentral.com, you opted to receive this newsletter. You may have also heard Steve Upton speak and requested more information. If you have received this message in error, we apologize. We value our relationship with you and do not want to spam you. See below for details on how to provide feedback, how to unsubscribe, or how to become a sponsor. ===================================================== Table of Contents ================= 1. CHROMiX News 2. Color News 3. New Releases 4. ColorFAQs - this month's FAQ is on Metamerism, or Things That Go Weird in the Light 5. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.) ===================================================== CHROMiX News ================ There have been so many changes at CHROMiX since the last newsletter that it is worth mentioning them here: - our Website has been completely rebuilt reflecting our new corporate look and brands. If you haven't been by in a while, please come take a look. We think you will like what you see. - ColorThink 2.0 is nearing release - thank you all for your excitement, feedback and patience. We will let you know the moment it is ready. - ColorGear.com is the new name for our online store which was the first of its kind and remains the most comprehensive color management store available. Please pay us a visit at <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear> (domain setup to be completed soon for colorgear.com) Also! call us toll free at 877-colorgear with any questions or orders! - ColorValet is the new name for our ground-breaking remote profiling services. Print profiling is going strong and we have a new kit for free download that has been updated for Photoshop 6 (7 to follow soon) and includes larger targets for even more accurate profiles. ColorValet profiles are the highest quality profiles you can get, require only one printed target and are 100% guaranteed - give them a try, you have nothing to lose! - ColorSmarts - want some? - we organized our technical tips, glossary, ColorNews back-issues, training, technical support and other services under one brand. Come search the most comprehensive technical database on color management topics - for free! Get smart! - ProfileCentral is undergoing major changes under the hood. Please let us know if you have any profiles you wanted hosted. We'll notify you when the new changes are released. Staffing - we have had several staffing changes over the last months but one we are really excited about is the addition of Rick Hatmaker. Rick has many years experience in the computing, digital imaging and color management markets and is now acting in a sales and system consulting role for us. Call him toll free at 877-colorgear x7 or hatmaker(at)chromix.com. He's eager to put his talents to work solving your color problems. Offices - CHROMiX has moved into larger offices in Seattle to accommodate our growth. Our mailing address and phone numbers remain the same but the new space will accommodate our expanding profile-building lab and we are planning on holding small hands-on seminars there as well. We'll let you know more as it develops. ===================================================== Color News ================ - Epson announces a free plug-in for users of Adobe Photoshop 7.0, 6.0, and Photoshop Elements 1.0, that will offer print imaging matching for people owning a print image matching-enabled digital camera and photo printer. Go to support.epson.com/webadvice/wa0306.html. - Court of Appeals finds in Apple's favor in ColorSync case brought by Imatec - again! The Court upheld the lower court's decision stating that the color management software did not infringe on Imatec's patents, finding that Dr. Hanoch Shalit, president and CEO of Imatec at the time the suit was filed, and his company did not own the rights to the patent in question. A relief for our friends at Apple to have this finally in the past! - A little ColorSync info - in the control panel, for any of the popups, hold the cursor over a profile name and a balloon will appear showing the filename. This will only work if the file name is different from the description name - but, all in all, a very handy tool! We are always happy to answer any and all questions you might have. ===================================================== New Releases =============== GretagMacbeth has made many announcements over that past few months including: - Eye-One UV - the popular Eye-One system is now available with a UV filter to compensate for brighteners in papers. The UV filter cannot be removed however so the Eye-One is available in UV or nonUV configurations - Eye-One Monitor upgrade path - you can save 10% on Eye-One Pro/Match bundles and keep your original Eye-One. Contact us for more details - ProfileMaker 4 has been released. With an updated Editor, tuned ColorPicker, Multicolor module and other improvements it is a winner. Upgrades from 3.x are $389 ColorVision has released LCD capable versions of their popular Spyder monitor calibrator. The new instrument can calibrate and profile CRT and LCD displays and starts at $259. - X-Rite and Monaco have combined forces to work on a Mac-compatible color management solution that includes Monaco's MonacoPROOF software and X-Rite's spectrophotometers. For more information go to <http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0108/21.color.shtml> - Adobe has released an update for PageMaker ColorSync. This fix allows you to start Pagemaker 7.0 without receiving the error message that the app has "unexpectedly quit because of error type 1,010." We HATE those types of error messages! Go to <http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=11615&db=mac> for the download. - Jim Rich has written a new book, the "Photoshop 6 Color Companion," which promises to be invaluable to us PS6 users. To order, go to www.gain.net, or call 800-662-3916. The book sells for $50, or $40 if you're a GATF/PIA member. ===================================================== ColorFAQs ================================ Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions we receive on a regular basis. If you have specific questions or comments, please see below for how to make submissions. This Month - Metamerism - or Things That Go Weird in the Light. Have you ever compared two garments in a store and decided they matched, only to find that when you left the store and went out into daylight they no longer matched and instead looked quite different? If so, you have seen an optical phenomenon called metamerism (me 'ta merizm). Strictly speaking, metamerism occurs when you see two samples match under one light source (illuminant) and not match under another. How can this be? Well, it comes down to the difference between how an object affects light, and the color it appears to our eyes. Objects affect light by selectively reflecting or absorbing light of different wavelengths. So an object that absorbs most blue wavelengths and reflects most red wavelengths will usually appear red to our eyes. The actual color it appears to us is dependent on the spectral composition of the light reflecting off the object. Let's say, for example, we have two objects that each reflect red light in approximately the same way but one reflects blue light while the other absorbs it. If you put both objects under reddish lighting (and most indoor tungsten lighting falls into this range) then they may appear to be very close to the same color. As there is very little blue light falling on our objects, the difference between their blue reflectiveness is almost invisible. The red reflection is about the same so they both reflect similar wavelengths and our eyes see them as the same color! This would not be a problem if we didn't have many different colors of lighting in everyday life. So let's take our objects outside into mid-afternoon daylight. Sunlight at that time of day contains considerably more blue light than indoor lighting. As before, our pair of objects will reflect red light similarly but one of them will reflect a significant amount of blue light while the other absorbs it. Our eyes will see the blue light from one object combined with the red light and we would probably call the result magenta. Suddenly what we thought were two reddish objects no longer match at all! Is this a problem? That depends. In many ways this very phenomenon is essential to color reproduction (see "Metamerism as Friend" below), but when colors "shift" from our expectations, clients stop paying bills, and that is a problem. Where will we see this problem in the business of digital imaging? - Proofs and press jobs failing to match under different lighting. - Color builds chosen for normal printing failing to match under unusual lighting. A good example of this is trade show booths and how they are lit with unusual lights in exhibit halls. - Two prints using different technologies - such as inkjet vs photographic print - failing to match under certain lighting. - A product shot failing to match the product in all lighting conditions. There are other situations as well. Is there anything we can do about it? 1) Be aware - this isn't really a solution but it is always the first step toward one. 2) Choose pigments carefully. Beware of pigmented inks for inkjet printers (see Pseudo Metamerism below) 3) Control your lighting - both for producing prints and for final viewing, if possible. 4) Profile carefully Can color management using ICC profiles correct for this problem? No... and yes. ICC profiles are typically built using readings referenced to D50 (5000K) lighting. That means that prints created using these profiles will look best under D50 lighting. Viewing them under any other lighting can give unpredictable results. Most printing pigments and dyes have been carefully chosen to not conflict with each other or other pigment sets. One exception that is appearing more and more is pigmented inks for inkjet printers (again, see Pseudo Metamerism below). Sometimes you can measure printed or scan/camera targets with a different light source such as D65 in the calculations. This should make the print viewable optimally under D65 lighting. This is not always successful and requires the appropriate settings to be available both on the instrument and in the software. We are continually experimenting with such techniques to find solutions for our clients. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A D V E R T I S E M E N T +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | CHROMiX ColorThink - Your brain on color! | | If you haven't seen ColorThink yet, you're missing the full | picture! ColorThink is the color management toolset that | picks up where the other tools leave off. Manage your profiles | individually or in sets, scan and fix problem profiles (including | profiles imported from PC's to Macs). Graph profiles in 2D and 3D. | | ColorThink is $129 in our store and is now available as a free demo. | <http://www.chromix.com/colorthink> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ *** Pseudo Metamerism *** One closely-related problem cropping up more and more often in the inkjet printing world is often (incorrectly) called metamerism. When colorants are mixed carefully in a printer, you can achieve a smooth, neutral gray gradient from black to white. With most inkjet printers, the ink combination will include Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow inks in varying amounts along with Black ink. When properly balanced, pleasing black and white images can be printed. Many users are also experimenting with near-neutral imaging such as adding a slightly blue or sepia tone for effect. With the fugitive nature of dye-based inks, many users are switching to pigment-based inks for the vastly improved permanence. After all, if you are printing and selling works for display, your customers tend to have the expectation that the work will last beyond 2-3 years. Pigmented inks however, can suffer from a pigment balance problem which rears its head in a similar manner to the two-sample metamerism problem. When a quality ICC profile is created for a pigmented ink set, you will typically see a good neutral gray gradient. As mentioned above, ICC profiling assumes the print is viewed under D50 lighting. With some pigment sets (ie CMYK inks sold and/or used together) the gray gradient color shifts considerably when viewed under different illuminants. It is important to note that this is not an expected color shift but rather a shift that appears strange to the eye. One would expect that a gray tone viewed under D50 lighting would appear to be a warmer gray when viewed under warmer, tungsten lighting. The color balance failure we are referring to here shows up as a green or magenta cast and is noticeably different than a shift normally attributed to warmer or cooler light. Many people incorrectly refer to this phenomenon as metamerism. Metamerism, however, is specifically defined as a phenomenon that occurs between two samples. The ink balancing situation does not involve two samples but rather a balance of pigments in one sample. Strictly speaking, then, it is not metamerism and we (at CHROMiX) often refer to the problem as Gray Balance Failure or Color Balance Failure. What can I do to avoid Gray Balance Failure (GBF)? As with the suggestions above there are several things to do to minimize the effects of GBF. 1) Control your lighting - not always possible, but if you can it is often the easiest solution. 2) Choose your pigmented ink set carefully. View them under different lighting conditions to see if they shift considerably. Remember, it is the combination of pigments that is causing the problem. Some users have found success in mixing inks from different vendors such as the black from one set in combination with the colored inks from another. Needless to say, this route can require extensive testing. 3) Profile for different lighting conditions - as mentioned before, this is not often very easy to do. *** Metamerism as Friend *** After all is said and done, it is fair to say that metamerism is our enemy, right? Not so fast... Metamerism, remember is when an object matches another under a certain illuminant even though the spectral characteristics of the two objects differ. The act of balancing three or four colorants (such as CMYK inks) so they appear to be the same color as an original object is also based on metamerism. Because of the 3-channel nature of our eyes, we can get 4 inks to appear to match a real-world object like a person's face without the spectral characteristics of the inks resembling the face much at all. This means that the print and the face affect light differently but appear to be the same color to our eyes! This is the basis of digital imaging and printing today. It is fair to say, then, that without metamerism we would not be able to do ANY of the imaging we do today! It is only when the balance fails that we call it a problem. Perhaps a match-failure problem should be called metamerism "failure" rather than metamerism, but this term does not seem to be used at all. In closing... As with anything in the color management world, being aware of the problem is half the battle. Now that you know about metamerism and GBF you can consider it as a contributing factor when things don't look right. Also, if you have no D50 lighting under which to view your prints it is possible they will never look quite right. Invest in controlled lighting for print viewing. With the many variables in digital color work that can give you problems, nailing down lighting is considered a basic requirement for print viewing as well as monitor to print matching (see ColorNews issue #2). _______________________________________________ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at colornews(at)CHROMiX.com Please include your name and email address in all correspondence (email, phone, fax etc). SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe to CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject. To subscribe, email colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject. ColorNews is edited by Carolyn Hobart (hobart(at)chromix.com). Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2002 CHROMiX CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, and profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. CHROMiX ColorNews is intended as an informative update to CHROMiX customers and business associates. We are not responsible for errors or omissions. |
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TC 9.18 Extended RGB target |
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This test target was created by Bill Atkinson and has been tested by CHROMiX and other color management folks for several months. It contains 918 patches and samples colors on a 9-point grid with extra neutral and near-neutral patches. The download package contains the .TIFF image file and the reference data which is intended for use with GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker Pro 3/4 but can be used with Eye-One Match software. It may also be usable with other programs that allow custom targets. The patches have been scrambled and the target is suitable for use with the Eye-One and Spectrolino/SpectroScan devices. TC 9.18 Extended RGB Target (Mac .sit format) |
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #6 - Digicam Profiling |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S Issue #6 March 25, 2003 ___________________________________________________________________ ==================================================================== Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on all things related to Color Management. Please let us know what your interests are so we can address these concerns in our coming issues. We apologize for the delay from our last newsletter, many exciting changes have taken place at CHROMiX and we will be covering them over the next few newsletters. ColorNews covers newsworthy items including new product releases and updates, and interesting, informative web sites. Each issue will include a feature article covering an aspect of color management such as profiles, workflow, and so forth. In a visit to CHROMiX.com or profilecentral.com, you opted to receive this newsletter. You may have also heard Steve Upton speak and requested more information. If you have received this message in error, we apologize. We value our relationship with you and do not want to spam you. See below for details on how to provide feedback, how to unsubscribe, or how to become a sponsor. ==================================================================== Table of Contents ================= 1. CHROMiX News 2. Color News 3. New Releases 4. ColorFAQs - this month's FAQ is on Digital Camera Profiling 5. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.) ==================================================================== CHROMiX News ================ There have been so many changes at CHROMiX since the last newsletter that it is worth mentioning them here: - ColorThink v2.0 for Mac was released earlier 2003. We appreciate all our beta testers and customers who have helped provide feedback instrumental to it's release. Version 2.0 now performs all graphing in OpenGL and offers features such as translucent overlays, graphing of image colors, vector graphs for showing color shifts etc. Now available for Mac OS X and OS 9. <http://www.chromix.com/colorthink> - ColorThink v2.0 for Windows is now in beta! We are very excited to see our powerful visualization tool running (and running well!) on Windows. It takes full advantage of OpenGL and ICM and will soon be everything all our friends on Windows have been waiting for! To be notified the instant it ships, please email us at cctwin(at)chromix.com - Our ColorValet Press Kit for profiling of printing presses is now ready and online! Now you can get high-quality sheet-averaged profiles build for only $299 per paper stock. We have been building press profiles onsite and in our lab for years now and are excited to be offering this formalized ColorValet service. You run the press, we build the profiles. <http://www.chromix.com/colorvalet/press/> - Staffing - We are excited to announce that Mike Cummings has been added to our technical support staff. Mike has many years experience in the Mac-PC-UNIX computing environments, as well as programming and technical support as several levels. Mike will be working on ColorValet Custom Profile building, technical support for ColorValet profiles and ColorGear equipment. Feel free to call Mike with any of your CHROMiX related support issues at 206-985-6837 x6 or cummings(at)chromix.com - Training facility - because of the move to our larger Seattle facility recently, we now offer individual or classroom training, customized to fit your specific needs. We still offer our on-site and remote services, but this adds a dimension that many customers have requested. Please call Rick Hatmaker at 866-CHROMiX x7 or hatmaker(at)chromix.com for more information. ==================================================================== Color News ================ - Monaco has modified their pricing on Profiler so that it is divided into two versions. Gold - std kit without n-color and digicam, and Platinum - the full kit available with previous Profiler. This new product pair makes direct price and feature comparisons easier and gets you into the excellent Monaco Profiler package for only $2799! <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=457> - GretagMacbeth has revamped the Eye-One line: Eye-One Monitor is to be replaced by Eye-One Display, a smaller colorimeter-based unit based on Sequel technology (more below). The expected retail price is $250. Eye-One Photo = reflective Eye-One unit (as was in the Eye-One Pro package) + RGB print profiling - retail priced around $1495 for early order special go here: <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=1049> Eye-One Publish = reflective Eye-One unit (as was in the Eye-One Pro package) +RGB/CMYK profiling (basically renamed Eye-One Pro/Match bundle). Retail will be around $2695 which is almost $400 reduction from Eye-One Pro/Match!!!! There will be a free upgrade for all current Match 1.X customers to version 2.0 match. GretagMacbeth is offering a $200.00 upgrade coupon from EyeOne Display to EyeOne Photo or Publish. Eye-One Beamer = reflective Eye-One unit + special holder & software for calibration & profiling of overhead display systems - cool! Retail $1595 New ambient light adaptor (works with NEW eye-ones only) allows "hold it up and take a reading" of light sources. It is included with all new Eye-Ones except the display. GretagMacbeth has indicated a mid-April shipping date for the above items. Also - BIG news. GretagMacbeth announced the intent to acquire Sequel Imaging during the week of PMA. Apparently this won't affect OEM deals, etc. There are a lot of Sequel devices in multiple forms available through many different OEM deals so this is an interesting piece of news... - Integrated Color Corporation has consolidated both the Mac (9 & OSX) and PC version of ColorEyes and ColorEyes 2020 on one CD respectively. This will clean things up for this great digital camera profiling product and make it easier for users. ColorGear will reflect the changes on our website. <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=1033> <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=1036> - PPI is hosting the ANNUAL PRINT BUYERS CONFERENCE to be held MAY 6 at the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue in Seattle and MAY 8 at the Doubletree Hotel Portland-Lloyd Center. <http://www.pnwcmug.com/images/PrintBuyersConf.pdf> - PhotoMedia magazine has announced it has taken over production of the Northwest Exhibition of Environmental Photography (NWEEP), renamed the event "World in Focus" and expanded on its concept. The mission of the event is to raise environmental and cultural awareness of our world through photography. That purpose is realized via a photo contest which results in a six-week print exhibit of the contest winners and opening reception at Seattle's Rainier Square building, an awards ceremony and keynote seminar by photographer, Art Wolfe at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on June 6, and an all-new seminar series at the Seattle Center on June 6-8, 2003. Approximately 2,000+ attendees (mostly professional and serious amateur photographers and others in the photo industry) for the World in Focus Seminar Series weekend will converge on June 6-8. Also, tens of thousands are expected to view the World in Focus Photo Exhibit at Rainier Square in Seattle from June 5-July 20. <http://www.worldinfocus.us> We are always happy to answer any and all questions you might have. ==================================================================== New Releases =============== - BestColor USA has released the much anticipated Best Designer Edition v2.1/2.04. It is OS X and Classic compatible. It also now has added support for the Epson UltraChrome technology, predominantly the Stylus 2200. The new version is priced on ColorGear for $739. The upgrade is free to existing users but you'll need your dongle id# and updated contact information to process the order. You'll get a new dongle to replace the old one. <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=460> - Adobe has released Adobe camera RAW v1.0, a US$99 file format plug-in that brings support for a wide range of digital SLR and compact camera RAW file formats to Photoshop 7.01 (Mac and Windows). It does not replace the benefit of custom camera profiles but it comes a long way.. (more below) - Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy and Fred Bunting have released the latest 'REAL WORLD COLOR MANAGEMENT'. This is a fantastic resource material and a must if you're new to color management or an old hand. <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201773406/chromix/> - Rita Amladi has released another great PhotoShop training course. The latest is called 'ICC COLOR MANAGEMENT in PHOTOSHOP 7'. It is published by The Virtual Training Company (VTC). We hope to have it for sale on our website soon. ==================================================================== ColorFAQs ================================ Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions we receive on a regular basis. If you have specific questions or comments, please see below for how to make submissions. This Month - Digital Camera Profiling - touches a Hot and controversial topic of recent history: Profiling Digital Cameras A hot topic indeed. In some ways you would think it's like a scanner. A camera is really just a scanner up on end with a lens right? Oh, but lighting is different isn't it? You bet it is, that and other factors can make camera profiling a much different experience than scanner profiling. On a basic level, profiling digital cameras and scanners works the same way. A target containing numerous color patches is captured into your computer. Save the resulting RGB file and import it into your profiling application. Then load the text file that contains the Lab measurements for each patch on your target. The profiling software calculates an RGB-to-Lab lookup table, your profile. That is pretty much where the similarities end. On Target(s) Several different targets are available for camera profiling including the venerable IT8.x (Q60), Macbeth ColorChecker, ColorChecker DC as well as the Hutch Color Target (HCT) and some proprietary ones. Like anything in life there are tradeoffs when choosing any of them. Photo paper targets can produce smoother tones but tend to have a smaller gamut and are subject to fading over time. Paint chip targets (both colorcheckers) have greater longevity and durability but in the case of the Macbeth Colorchecker, do not have enough mid tones to effectively sample a camera's color response. The ColorChecker DC, while having many more mid tone colors has been known to behave unpredictably in polarized light and is under the process of being reformulated by GretagMacbeth. We have found that the profiling software / target combination plays a significant role in profiling results. <http://www.chromix.com/ColorGear/Shop/ProductList.cxsa?refcode=cmptarget> Making a scene? Early camera profiling adventurers found that simply placing the profiling target in the scene can create a profile for use in that lighting condition. But any other lighting condition, even as much as moving a light, can cause enough variance that a new profile is required. This "profiling the scene" can be used to correct color in some situations but it is a very brittle technique and falls out of favor after building 10 or 20 profiles. A properly built camera profile, in combination with correct gray balancing, characterizes the camera system effectively for a wide range of lighting conditions. Occasionally a new profile is required when lighting is drastically different than the profiled lighting or a camera is particularly sensitive to infrared wavelengths. Still, a couple of profiles for your entire shooting experience sure beats a life of constant profiling. Lighting When setting up RIP systems for customers, we typically say that you can never spend too much time on ink levels and linearizing - it will always result in a better print profile. Similarly, when it comes to building quality camera profiles, you can never spend too much time setting up the lighting and target for capture. This is the process that makes or breaks the quality of the profile. Absolutely even lighting from a single light source is required. Those who've spent many an hour shooting copy work will recall that even lighting is quickly achieved with two light sources. That's fine for copy work but murder for camera profiling. Any deviation in color temperature between the two lights and you will have a color bias across the target that will kill your profile. And as digital cameras can pickup as little as 1/10th stop variation, you have to be very careful. Gray Balance Often called white balance, gray balancing a camera can be done in several ways including automatically, in camera, in the camera software or in Photoshop. No matter how it is achieved, gray balance is the secret to using profiles in a wide range of circumstances. It effectively calibrates your camera for each lighting situation (an oversimplification but OK for this level of understanding). Calibration, as we know, is the key to devices behaving themselves and profiles remaining valid. Is that it? Well, basically yes. The correct target and software combination, combined with good technique will build you a good camera profile that is usable in a wide range of circumstances. Is it that easy? Perhaps not. We have spent a considerable amount of time working out the techniques of camera profiling and determining which product mixes actually produce the results our customers expect. The results? Tools: ColorEyes 20/20 from Integrated Color Corp is the profiling tool of choice. It includes a proprietary reflective target that has a wide gamut, enough color patches to sample the camera space effectively and extra patches in important color zones such as flesh tones. ColorEyes 20/20 works as a plug-in within Photoshop and is pretty much a one-button profiling tool - as mentioned above, shooting the target is everything. Oh - in regards to shooting the target, the software actually includes a real manual. When was the last time you saw a printed, bound manual that contained useful, if not essential information? Overall it's a great package and also the only one we have tested so far that builds great camera profiles that work in a wide range of circumstances. <http://www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop/productdetail.cxsa?toolid=1036> Technique: What can we say? It is everything when profiling these things (have I repeated that enough?). As a result we have worked closely with the software manufacturers and photographers to develop a comprehensive training program and get our field color geeks up to speed. Please contact us for more information about these services. Adobe Camera Raw Some of you may be reading this article and wondering when I am going to mention Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Recently Adobe released a Photoshop plugin that allows the opening of "raw" digital camera files directly into Photoshop. Typically users have been forced to use the camera manufacturer's own camera software which ranges widely from camera to camera (even from the same manufacturer) and rarely works well in either default mode or using custom profiles. ACR creates a single interface for a wide range of cameras and also supplies some "tweaking" tools for adjusting white balance and other image characteristics as the file is opened. What ACR brings to the table is a great replacement for the bewildering and problematic software typically included with cameras. ACR uses unmodifiable ICC technology internally that acts as generic profiles. Testing has shown us that while ACR is a vast improvement over existing software solutions, it does not give the results that our professional customers demand. Custom profiles exhibit smoother highlights, fuller flesh tones and more accurate colors for product and branding shots. Some of the effects are subtle but make a noticeable difference, and for our pro customers that is the difference they require. Without getting into a full book on the subject, that is about as far as we can go on the topic of digital camera profiling. I have always referred to camera profiling as the bleeding edge of color management. It seems that finally we can move away from the edge and get back to work with some great results. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at colornews(at)CHROMiX.com Please include your name and email address in all correspondence (email, phone, fax etc). SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject. To subscribe, email colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject. Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2003 CHROMiX Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. CHROMiX ColorNews is intended as an informative update to CHROMiX customers and business associates. We are not responsible for errors or omissions. -- |
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #7 - Evaluating Color Graphically |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S
Issue #7 ====================================================================
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on all things related to Color This month we would like to draw particular attention to two items: ** ColorThink v2.1 for Windows is shipping!! See details below.
** 'DIGITAL CAMERA PROFILING: IS IT FOR ME?' seminar event by CHROMiX will
1. CHROMiX News
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There have been several things happening at CHROMiX in the last few weeks
- CHROMiX will be hosting 'DIGITAL CAMERA PROFILING: IS IT FOR ME?' seminar
- !!!!ColorThink v2.1 for Windows is now shipping!!!! We are very excited
- Last month's release of our ColorValet Press Kit for profiling of printing
- Customer Service Representative - Carolyn Boone (Extension #8) is our
- Training facility - because of the move to our larger Seattle facility
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- FREE Event: CHROMiX will be hosting 'DIGITAL CAMERA PROFILING: IS IT FOR
- April 15th is tax day in the U.S. A., but is also the day that
- Eye-One Display, a colorimeter-based unit for measuring and
- NOTE: GretagMacbeth is offering a $200.00 upgrade coupon from EyeOne
- Eye-One Photo, includes the popular EyeOne Pro device and software.
- Eye-One Publish (which replaces the Eye-One Pro+Match) does
- Eye-One Beamer (totally NEW!) This cool device measures and
- LAST NOTE: There will be a free upgrade for all current Match 1.X
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- May 6 & May 7, CHROMiX and Integrated Color Corporation will be hosting
- May 1-3, Gutenberg Festival, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach,
- May 6 & May 8, The Pacific Printing and Imaging Association (PPI) is
- May 22, the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group
- June 23-27, Apple will have the Worldwide Developers Conference 2003 in
- September 28 - October 1, Graph Expo will be held at McCormick Place
GretagMacbeth has just released version 2.0 of Eye-One Match. This is a free upgrade for any and all Eye-One users
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Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions This Month - Evaluating Color Graphically ICC profiles contain a remarkable amount of information that is often overlooked. The color transformations performed by profiles allow colors to move through our workflows - say from scanner to press - unaltered... or at least that's what we hope. It turns out that each device in your workflow has its own capabilities and that each successive device in your workflow tends to have less and less color reproduction ability. Once we accept this fact of physics we realize that color image reproduction may not be about the most accurate color attainable, but instead is about getting us the most pleasing image we can as the gamut of our image gets squished onto the final output device. Color as a 3D representation Whether it's human nature or mathematical necessity, color is typically reduced to three dimensions. XYZ, Lab, LCH, Yxy, Luv and many other 3D color spaces exist to help compare, convert and edit colors.
The classic shoe-heel-shaped Yxy chromaticity diagram is ubiquitous in color management 101 presentations as it quickly describes how the triangle-shaped gamut of a monitor compares with the blob-shaped gamut of a printing device. It doesn't take long however before we realize that white and black and all of the highlight and shadow colors near them are missing from the 2D graph. Those of us who slave over images spend a lot of time stressing over highlight and shadow reproduction and to have them left out of visualization tools limits our ability to evaluate what's going on in our workflows. Enter 3D viewing Plotting the gamut of a printer in 3 dimensions shows us a volume with curves, slopes, points and edges. We can quickly see the brightness and color cast of the paper, how deep the shadows can be and how clear and bright the printer can render saturated colors. Overlay a monitor or scanner profile and limitations in the printing system that were invisible before, become clear. Perhaps clear enough to motivate you to try a different paper type or ink set. Comparing Gamuts Several years ago I was struggling in my attempt to have a client's Epson 1270 simulate a Matchprint proof. All the 2D diagrams and manufacturer claims I had seen suggested that the gamut of these new inkjets was big and beautiful and could certainly reproduce anything a press could. If an inkjet printer can reproduce all the colors of a press, then with high-quality profiles you should be able to achieves an acceptable simulation of the press on the inkjet; a proof. Problem was my test image contained a man's neck tie with a deep dark red that shifted to a grayish brick-red when printed on the 1270. I rebuilt profiles, tried multiple rendering intents and even went so far as to edit both the press and inkjet profiles in an attempt to get them to match. Finally I threw up my hands and I left with my tail between my legs... not a happy day for a color management professional. Some weeks later I wrote a small piece of code that would later evolve into the ColorThink Grapher. It was wire-frame only and low resolution but it allowed me to overlay the gamut volume of the actual Epson 1270 and Matchprint profiles and I was quickly struck with the newly obvious truth. When the gamut comparison of the 1270 and Matchprint are seen in 2D, the 1270 seems to engulf the Matchprint gamut. But bring in 3D graphing and suddenly it becomes apparent that there were whole groups of dark, saturated colors that the Matchprint gamut contained but were not in the gamut of the Epson 1270! A little more graph fiddling and I could see that the reds in my client's image fell in this color contention zone. So! Finally an answer. No wonder I couldn't get that bloody red to match, the 1270 was simply not able to print it! Did that solve my printing problem? No. The gamut limitations are a real part of the ink and paper combination of the 1270. Still, I would have loved to know that I was dealing with a physical printing limitation before I spent so much time and effort on a fruitless pursuit. The ColorThink Grapher has evolved a long way since those first graphs but the basic technique remains the same. All it takes is a couple of profiles and a good grapher to see whether or not one printer can possibly match another. Device capability rather than profile behavior Does this mean that once you have the graph showing one gamut engulfed by another that they'll match? No. The 3D profile gamuts in ColorThink are showing more of what the printer is able to reproduce rather than the ability of the profile when used with real images. In order to see the behavior of profiles themselves, actual image data should be used. Choosing a representative data set
A good place to start when graphing image colors is an image containing a reasonably wide distribution of colors. Bright and dark, saturated and near-neutral, in gamut and out of gamut (for the printer) colors all help produce a visualization of how your profile affects the colors in your images. Drag an image onto the Grapher in ColorThink and the image's embedded color profile converts the RGB data to Lab.
Graphed in 3D along-side a print profile and it's apparent which colors are printable and which are going to need to undergo "gamut compression" in order to print.
ColorThink can also show how the colors will shift when the print profile is applied. Displayed as vectors, each image color is transformed into an arrow showing the direction and amount of color shift that will occur in your workflow. Finally you can see what is happening to those blues that got clobbered in your great sky shot! Synthetic data There are also many different synthetic test data sets available for when you want to isolate the effects to neutrals, certain color ranges, etc. If you can create the file in Photoshop or calculate the color numbers in Excel there is no end to the testing that can be performed. A common use of this technique is to create a small palette of corporate logo colors and then see how well they reproduce (or don't) on different devices: inkjets, monitors, presses, overhead displays, and so forth. Rendering intents As you probably learned in your color management 101 class, profiles contain different rendering intents so you can control how the color mapping occurs. Viewing the effects of different rendering intents can help you understand their purpose as well as when one intent is more appropriate than another. You can also compare the rendering intents of profiles from different manufacturers. This level of analysis is the sort of thing that makes same profile manufacturers nervous. It can expose bugs and mis-mappings that will appear unpredictably on your images. Do these visualization tools solve all the problems you will encounter in your workflow? No, but they will definitely help you understand what is going on. Once you know more about how your color management system works you can start to methodically weed out the problem inks, papers, devices, profiles, applications and so forth. Only by breaking open the "black box" profiles can you begin to see their true capabilities and start to achieve the imaging quality that you are striving for.
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #8 - Input Profiles & Working Spaces |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S
Issue #8 ====================================================================
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on all things related to Color This month we would like to draw particular attention to two items: ** Check out CHROMiX ColorGear July SPECIAL Deals!! See details below.
** 'INPUT PROFILES and COLOR SPACE CONVERSION GUIDELINES' an article
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1. CHROMiX News
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There have been several things happening at CHROMiX in the last few weeks
- CHROMiX ColorValet now officially does backlit and transparency profiles.
- It's true! CHROMiX now carries popular LaCie Electron monitors AND the
- The GretagMacbeth Eye-One Beamer is FINALLY shipping!!! After the
- ICS has dramatically reduced basICColor monitor calibration and
- GretagMacbeth has announced v2.0 EyeOne Match software (award
- Monaco Systems has announced that MonacoPROOF, MonacoPROFILER Gold
- Pantone and ColorVision announced PrintFIX, an integrated
- Camera Bits released Photo Mechanic 4.0.3 for Windows. The main
- Apple posted Mac OS X color management overview
- Worth a look!! Erik Koldenhof and his crew put together an
- The web browser wars continue, but here's the unofficial color
- Netscape released v7.1 at the end of June. It is not ICC-aware.
Think your browser is ICC-savvy? Check it out here.
- July 24, the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group
- July 14-19, MacWorld Expo New York. Apple will be showcasing the new G5
- September 28 - October 1, Graph Expo will be held at McCormick Place
- October 30 - November 1, PhotoPlus Expo in New York, NY. There are more
- November 13-15, Graphics Canada will be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For
- SEQUEL IMAGING ACQUIRED BY AMAZYS/GRETAGMACBETH
- X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ:XRIT) announced that it has acquired
- Apple announced the first desktop Macs to utilize the PowerPC 970
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Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions This Month - INPUT PROFILES and COLOR SPACE CONVERSION GUIDELINES
This issue's article is on the subtle but important issue of bringing files
Let's say you have a great scanner profile that you took time to create with
When you bring files from your scanner into Photoshop you diligently assign Should you convert it into your working space or not? or when? or... why?
First, the similarities... let's compare an original scan file and its
So, you are asking... I'm several paragraphs into this article and I still Fair enough, now with the differences.
First, the advantages of leaving your file in "scanner-space". When ever you
Now that you have your head around scanner-space advantages and it seems
Converting your scan file to your working space has a bunch of advantages as
Second, scanner profiles are made to convert from scanner RGB to Lab. Only.
Third, scanner space is non-uniform. For example. The RGB setting
The process of converting a file from a non-uniform device space to a
So it is fair to say that a file in scanner RGB is not really in a working
The final benefit of converting to a working space is when people mess up
Now that I have fully confused you I should give you some tasty bit of
If you are concerned about the greatest fidelity possible and will perform
If, like most of us, you want to hand the file off downstream in RGB digital
FEEDBACK and FAQs
To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at SUBSCRIPTIONS
To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with
Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2003 CHROMiX Inc. -- |
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #9 - 5 Color Management Myths |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S
Issue #9 ====================================================================
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on all things related to Color
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1. CHROMiX News
==================================================================== Since our last ColorNews issue (July 15th) many things have happened at CHROMiX that are worth mentioning here: ** The CHROMiX PARTNER PROGRAM is now officially launched! We are very excited about this and we hope you will be too. Read below or go to click here to find out how to 'get with the program' ** Check out how to get a FREE Eye-One Display and other CHROMiX ColorGear Winter SPECIALs!! See details below. ** Five Color Management Myths
==================================================================== GretagMacbeth has finally offered an upgrade path to ProfileMaker Pro 4.1 for it's many Eye-One Pro users. Until December 31st, 2003 take $500 off when you purchase the full version of ProfileMaker Pro 4.1. See CHROMiX offer below.
Adobe InDesign versus Quark Xpress:
Pixel Genius LLC has released PhotoKit SHARPENER for Mac and Windows. SHARPENER provides a complete image "Sharpening Workflow". From capture to output, PhotoKit SHARPENER intelligently produces the optimum sharpness on any image, from any source, reproduced on any output device. But PhotoKit SHARPENER also provides the creative controls to address the requirements of individual images and the individual tastes of users. For more information go to:
Nik multimedia, a developer of tools and plug-ins for photographers and designers, has a $100 Photoshop plug-in that reduces random imperfections (noise) in digital camera images. Called Dfine, the plug-in now offers profiles for 80 digital cameras types.
Heidelberg announced their support for the free exchange of ICC color profiles.
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- The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group is having an event October 23 in Portland, OR. The subject will focus on using color management with the two leading compositing products: Adobe InDesign and Quark Xpress. The event will be at The Oregonian, Oct. 23 at 6:30PM. $10 for non-members.
- October 30 - November 1, PhotoPlus Expo in New York, NY. There are more than 100 photography and design seminars and hands-on workshops taught by world-renowned experts with a focus on cutting-edge innovations in digital imaging products and techniques. Also there is over 200 manufacturers and suppliers of photographic capture, storage, output and display equipment and services, learn and get inspired in the Photography + Design For more information:
- November 13-15, Graphics Canada will be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For more information:
Over the past five years we have performed many color management installations for customers large and small. One important thing we have found in each case was questions about _your_ customers. "OK, I understand this, now what should I tell my clients?", "Is this the right calibration tool for my customers?". A big part of our training is integrating workflows together across companies. Just because your color is great doesn't mean your life is easy yet, does it? With that in mind we have created a comprehensive program for working together with you and your customers. We are launching the first fruits of this program today: The CHROMiX Partner Referral Program. At its core is a simple idea. Link to us, put a small ID in the link and share in the revenue when anyone buys anything from our site within 30 days of the original link. How can this help you?
- Defer technical support - chances are good you're not in the color business. We're in the color business. Let us take care of it for you. All CHROMiX Products and Services are available in this program. This means:
ColorGear - all of the GretagMacbeth, Monaco, X-Rite, Fuji, ICS, GTI, ColorVision, This is a big deal, for us and for you. For us it represents the culmination of many months work rebuilding our web commerce systems and creating a program that makes sense for all involved. For you it represents a chance to help your customers, differentiate yourself from your competition and make some money in the process. We've been speaking to many of you over the past months and have found excellent partners in many different industries including: photographers, consultants, printers, photo labs , industry orgs, stock agencies, technical writers, ad and marketing agencies and others. The Partner Referral Program is designed to be flexible and easy to setup. It is open to businesses and individuals and even international partners. To get started just visit our site at click here and click on the "Partner Pavilion" link at the top of any page - or follow this link: click here. Signing up is easy and free. Then add links to your website, forum postings, opt-in newsletters (NO spamming, please). We have created graphic icons to use if you like. All the information you need to get going is in the Partner Pavilion. We are very excited to launch this great program and look forward to working with you closer for better color and better business. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at: partnerProgram(at)chromix or call 206-985-6837 or toll free (US & Can) 866-CHROMiX (866.247.6649) extension 1
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Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions This Month - Five Color Management Myths I keep running across "understandings" in the field, the media and on the Internet. It seems like a crime to let these statements and confusions pass without some attempt at clarifying them so I have tackled a few of the more common ringers I've been hearing.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "We can't use color management, we're a CMYK shop" I can't tell you how many times we've heard this. While many shops work fine in CMYK-only mode, they can certainly benefit from color management in several ways: 1) Hard Proofing - creating effective press simulations on an inkjet is a challenge. If you don't use ICC profiles for the task it can be VERY difficult. I have been told by a number of printers that they have no color management in-house and yet they use inkjet proofing. After a little investigation they are surprised to discover that ICC profiles are in use in their RIP creating their proofs. Sometimes it's all been setup by "the vendor" and they didn't realize how it worked but they are missing out on other opportunities as well.... 2) Soft proofing - if the simulation profile from the proofing RIP is moved onto the workstation and setup properly in Photoshop, soft proofing can get quite accurate on a calibrated display. Hand that profile off to your customer and their soft proofing will improve significantly - so will their expectations. Moving color management upstream to the creatives gets the "reality check" of press gamut limitations in the hand of the people that need it. This arrives at a printer's counter as a much more realistic customer. and no CMYK is harmed in the above procedures....
I have heard it time and time again. "First the target is printed, then the output is compared to the color that should have appeared. A profile is calculated to correct for the behavior of the printer." Wrong. Unlike a strict, conformist military academy, profiling a printer does not find out how a printer performs and then force it to conform to a certain behavior. Its much more like a hippie commune. The innate abilities of the printer are discovered and then a translation table is written to convert from the desired colors (Lab) to the RGB/CMYK settings most appropriate for the printer. This may sound like splitting hairs but it makes a big difference. When profiling a printer it is best to tune it up to the best of its abilities - regardless of the fact that you may want to limit the gamut later using a proof or press profile for proofing purposes.
RGB = big gamut Right? Wrong. As illustrated in our last ColorNews newsletter, overlaying an RGB gamut with a CMYK gamut often results in overlap much like drawing a circle over a triangle. Bits of the triangle (RGB) extend outside the circle AND bits of the circle (CMYK) extend outside of the triangle. This means that there are RGB values that cannot be printed on press - no surprise there. BUT it also means there are CMYK values that are often outside of the gamut of RGB. So sRGB, Adobe RGB (1998) and your monitor RGB spaces will typically not show/contain all the colors (especially Cyans and some press Yellows) that can be printed on press. Most inkjet printers used without a RIP are accessible using only RGB. Even though the printer uses CMYK or CcMmYK, due to operating system limitations, your application can only speak RGB to it. Does this mean that the gamut will be affected by the use of RGB? No, whether you print to a printer using RGB or CMYK, the choice of one over another should not affect the gamut. That said, using a RIP may allow you to change your inking and enlarge the gamut. While you will access this larger gamut via CMYK it is not CMYK itself that gets you the bigger gamut... you'll just have to trust me on this one.
Calibration is monkeying with your device to get it to some known, repeatable behavior (see military school, above). Setting a monitor to 6500K and gamma 2.2 or linearizing a printer is calibration. This is an important function and closely related to Color Management but it is NOT color management. Once you have calibrated your device, then you build a profile for it. In the case of monitor profiles, the calibration curves from the graphics card are often embedded into the profile for safe keeping. This might seem to blur the line between calibration and profiling but pay no attention to that. The profile describes your wonderful device's behavior to the rest of your color-managed workflow so all your devices can get along and color can travel through your workflow un-harassed.
Why this is not the case is a particularly involved answer. As I mentioned in issue #2 of ColorNews, it simply isn't so in most cases and the why's are outside the scope of this newsletter. Suffice to say that if you have a good-quality light booth such as one from GTI, the lights in the booth are typically fairly close to 5000K. Close or not, if you choose to have your booth near your display then you are choosing for it to be your white standard. If you calibrate your display to 5000K you will probably find that the white on display does not match a piece of paper in the booth. Try calibrating to 6500K or some other white point until you get closer. It is not a sin to tweak the white point using controls on the front of your display. Just remember that you'll have to do it each time you re-calibrate. This is one of the reasons why monitor calibration software with a wide range of color temperature settings is a better option. Something to think about at upgrade time... I will stop at 5 Myths for this newsletter, I have many more waiting in the wings and I'll trundle them out in the future. If you have any you would like included / answered / dispelled in a future newsletter, please forward them to me at uptonCN(at)chromix.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FEEDBACK and FAQs
To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at SUBSCRIPTIONS
To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with
Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2003 CHROMiX Inc. --
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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #10 - The Color of Toast |
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___________________________________________________________________ C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S
Issue #10 ====================================================================
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color This month we would like to draw particular attention to two items:
** ONE DAY HALF PRICE SALE ON PROFILEMAKER PRO!! See details below or go to
** The Color of Toast
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1. CHROMiX News
==================================================================== Since our last ColorNews issue (October) many things have happened at CHROMiX that are worth mentioning here:
** CORBIS has become a CHROMiX PARTNER!!! This announcement has serious import if you're a CORBIS Photographer, Designer, Client or Member. You are eligible for unrivaled savings on CORBIS endorsed color management products! These products and services have been carefully thought out, tested, and conform to CORBIS high standards of quality. Check out the full details at
By the way
** Catch Steve Upton speaking at the following events:
MACWORLD, Moscone center, San Francisco, CA January 5-9, 2004
SPOKANE ADVERTISING FEDERATION LUNCHEON, Spokane, WA February 4th, 2004 ** CHROMiX will be ending the FREE Eye-One Display promotion December 31st. See details below. NOTE: If you've bought an EyeOne Display, you have until December 31st to utilize the $200 coupon towards the purchase of an EyeOne Photo, Publish, Beamer or Pro Bundle. Furthermore, CHROMiX will kick in another $50 towards your upgrade purchase! It doesn't matter where you bought it. That's $250 total savings!!! When it ends, it really ends. So take advantage before it's too late!
==================================================================== Apple released Panther (Mac OS 10.3). Jury is in. Good product!
In Panther Apple released ColorSync for OS 10.3 (Panther) that touts features like: Host-based color matching, an improved Display Calibrator, ColorSync Gamut Display and Comparison, Default ColorSync Matching, fully supports the ICC version 4 standard, and more. For more information go to:
GretagMacbeth has just introduced a new EyeOne for higher end monitor calibration and control. EyeOne Display PM includes the ProfileMaker Monitor Module. Retail is $399, CHROMiX price is $379. Existing EyeOne owners can upgrade to the PM Module for $199.
Meanwhile: GretagMacbeth is challenging users to switch from an old monitor calibration/profiling product to the EyeOne Display. Get $80 back from the trade-in of your old calibrator and software when you buy an EyeOne Display.
Attention EyeOne Pro device owners: GretagMacbeth's $500 discount for upgrading to ProfileMaker Pro 4.1 ENDS December 31st, 2003. Take $500 off when you purchase the full version of ProfileMaker Pro 4.1. See CHROMiX offer at Monaco released two new versions of its OPTIX line: MonacoOPTIX XR and MonacoOPTIX XR PRO. These are the first products co-developed by X-Rite and Monaco since X-Rite acquired Monaco in July 2003) Phase One released Capture One PRO 1.2 for Mac OS X in November. The new version of Phase One's digital SLR RAW processing application (formerly known as Capture One DSLR) broadens its base of cameras to include the full range of Canon SLR models, supports Mac OS X 10.3 and introduces much more functionality and improvements.
- Shootsmarter.com and FujiFilm are sponsoring the FREE PROFESSIONAL WORKFLOW Workshop with Will Crockett at various locations around the country. Spend all day with nationally recognized digital mentor Will Crockett and improve the image quality of YOUR digital capture portraits. Will shares his deep technical knowledge, his pro digital techniques, and even a few secrets Find out more and US locations at: click here
- January 5-9, 2004 MacWorld Expo and Conference will be at Moscone Center in San Francisco. And, for the first time ever, MacWorld has devoted two entire days to Color Management within the PowerTools Conferences!
- January 5-7, 2004 National Event Photographers Conference and Trade Show in Dallas, Texas.
- February 7-10, 2004 PEI Live! Conference for Digital Photographers in Dallas, Texas. The Professional Photographers of America has elevated this to be one of the great photography events. Speakers include: John Paul Caponigro, Bruce Fraser, Jim Divitale, Jeff Schewe, Greg Gorman, Henry Wilhelm, Katrin Eismann, Martin Evening, Scott Kelby, Jack Reznicki.
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Each month, our President Steve Upton will take time to answer questions This Month - The Color of Toast
- A lot has been written and said about color management in an attempt to describe what it is, what it solves and how it works. Like any discussion about computing, these descriptions often use fancy new terms that effectively confuse and turn off people who just want to understand, well, what it is, what it solves and how it works.
An effective and greatly simplified analogy is that of the toaster. Pay attention here because this is one even your clients will understand. Probably not. This is the problem of color management. The settings used on the toaster do not necessarily produce the same colors. As in the toaster, RGB and CMYK values on your computer are also just settings. And, just like the toasters, when they are sent to different devices, they produce different colors! Now if you were a severe toast geek, you would toast 10 pieces of bread in your toaster; one at every setting. Then you would lay them all out in order on your kitchen table, grab the bag of bread and head over to your neighbor's. Avoiding his bewildered stares you would toast 10 pieces of bread in his toaster and take them back to lay on your table beside your toaster's work. Fanning through your Toastone independent toast guide(*) you would decide that "B" was, in fact, the color of toast you prefer. Looking up and down your toaster column you would confirm that yes, indeed, "4" is the setting on your toaster that will get you the color you want - you know this after several mornings of frantically waving smoke away from the alarm on your kitchen ceiling. After looking over your neighbor's toaster column, you note that a setting of "6" is what is needed to get the color you want from his toaster. This, in essence, is what color management is all about. Carefully sampling what a device (monitor, printer, toaster, whatever) will do and then comparing it to an independent guide for actual color. In the case of the toast we used the fictitious Toast Guide and in the case of computers we typically use the Lab color space. Lab is a whole 3D range of numbers across 3 coordinates (L for lightness and a & b for color information). The important thing about Lab is that it is actually COLOR. That is, a number that represents a sensation. Let's take a little reminder on color. Color is a sensation produced by the cooperation of our eyes and our brains in response to mixtures of light. To have color you need 1) light, 2) an object and 3) an observer - for our purposes, a human observer. Without all these components you do not have color. Lab, as mentioned, is a whole range of numbers that are assigned to actual sensations. Each Lab number - like 50, 23, 47 - describes what a certain sample will look like under 5000K lighting (a graphic arts viewing standard in use in most viewing booths) and from a standard distance (creating a specifically sized spot on the retina) to an "average" person. In 1931 a group of scientists sat many people down to perform painstaking color tests to come up with this "average" person and for our purposes it works quite well. Back to the toaster. To get the same color from different toasters, we needed to sample all the colors of toast the lowly machine could produce and then compare them to an independent guide. This lookup table is the equivalent of an ICC profile. To get the same color from different devices - what we are basically trying to do here - we need to sample all the colors that device can produce and setup a table that converts between the device settings - say, a monitor - and the colors it produces at those settings. For a monitor we attach a device to the monitor and then run software that walks through a list of settings,: red (255,0,0), yellow (255,255,0), green (0,255,0), and so forth. At each RGB value, it takes a reading with the instrument and gets a Lab color back. After running through a long list that only a computer should have to suffer, a profile is built for that monitor. If we want to get the same color from our printer as well then we also need to build a profile for it. The same technique applies. We send a file out to the printer that contains a long list of settings - for example: cyan (100,0,0,0), blue (100,100,0,0), magenta (0,100,0,0), and so forth. We then read each patch on the paper with a device like the Eye-One that supplies Lab values for each corresponding set of CMYK settings that were sent. A few calculations and your computer produces a profile for your printer. Great, you think, but how do I use these things? That depends on what you are trying to achieve. A good example is when you want to get the file you print to match the one you see on screen. The file on screen is, by definition, in MonitorRGB and you need to convert it to PrinterCMYK. If you apply the monitor profile to the file, it will convert all those MonitorRGB settings which are unique to your monitor to Lab (remember the toaster). Lab, you will recall, is color - so we are out of the arbitrary world of settings that only work for your monitor and on to something much more useful. Any profile can be applied to those Lab values to get the color you want. In this case, we want the color to go to your printer. When the printer profile is applied it formulates the correct CMYK settings for each color in your file. A good quality profile will do a great job of matching those colors within the abilities of the printer. At first blush it may seem like a toaster is an over-simplification of color management but the analogy actually fits quite well. When you are in the process of untangling a complicated workflow just remember; they are all different toasters. A good profile for each device, applied properly and color will flow through your shop predictably.
* totally fictitious but familiar sounding color guide for Toast
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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2003 CHROMiX Inc. --
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CHROMiX Assumes ProfileCity Profiling Business |
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CHROMiX, Inc. and ICS Announce Transfer of Profiling Business Interest Business Combination Creates Largest, Most Comprehensive Profile Service Worldwide Seattle, WA; February 11, 2004 CHROMiX, Inc. and Integrated Color Solutions (ICS) announced today that they have reached an agreement for CHROMiX to assume ICSs ProfileCity custom profiling service and combine it with their highly successful ColorValet profile building service. This combination of CHROMiXs ColorValet and ICSs ProfileCity services will make CHROMiX the largest, most comprehensive profiling service in the world. "The experienced technical specialists and product developers at CHROMiX are well equipped to support the needs of ProfileCity customers," says Dan Caldwell, Vice President of Operations at ICS. He continued, "When ICS decided to look for a partner to handle the technical services of ProfileCity, CHROMiX was the logical choice. Their parallel business model of providing cost effective profiling via a website makes them the ideal company to assume the ProfileCity business unit of ICS." "We are pleased to welcome ProfileCity customers and extend to them our unparalleled technical support and 100% print profile guarantee for their future profiles." said Steve Upton, President and CEO of CHROMiX. "Custom profiling is a service business. With dedicated technicians and customized equipment we deliver high-quality, worry free ICC profiles to photographers, fine-art printers, and commercial printers alike." CHROMiX has profiled such diverse media as ceramic tile, silk, cotton, credit cards, CDs and even jet airplane interiors. "Most of our profiles are for inkjets, proofing systems and presses" commented Upton "but the unusual materials keep us on our toes and gain us experience we can apply to any color challenge." ProfileCity services are to be handled by CHROMiX starting immediately and will continue to be delivered using the same profiling technology, ensuring consistency with previous profiles. CHROMiX, the creator of the popular ColorThink color management software, has long been a leader in the field of custom print, transmissive print, scanner and press profiles. CHROMiX has worked with companies in more than 40 countries for over five years creating the most accurate profiles possible. www.CHROMiX.com ICS will remain focused on the development of the core color management technology used in ProfileCity profiling and in their flagship remote color-proofing product, Remote Director. www.ICScolor.com Contact
Steve Upton |
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