Search: for:

5000K

SmartNote: 4
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor:
5000K has the coordinates for xyY of (0.3457, 0.3585, 100)

See white point

See Also

Term: White point
Term: Blackbody, Black Body Radiation
Term: Color Temperature
Term: D50

Contrast

SmartNote: 43
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor: unrated
1) setting on monitors

2) in images

See Also

Term: Monitors

Cross-platform color

SmartNote: 45
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor: unrated
Cross platform color management refers to managing color between different operating systems. Getting your Mac and Wintel monitors to match and your printed output to be the same is a difficult task. Luckly, several things are in place to help, and others are on their way.

- ICC Profiles - are platform-independent by definition. That means you can easily move them from machine to machine.
- Adobe Photoshop 5.x is available on both platforms and implements color management (mostly) the same way on both.

Some things working against you are:

- The gamma settings can be quite different between the Mac and PC. Photoshop can compensate for this when designing, but when displaying on different systems you can have problems.
- Windows does not implement color management on nearly the same scale, nor do as many content creation programs support ICC color management.

See Also

Term: MacOS
Term: UNIX
Term: Windows 98
Term: Windows NT
Term: ICC International Color Consortium
Term: Gamma

Gamut Comparison - CMYK

SmartNote: 422
Type: TechTip
ColorGeek factor: unrated
This is a relative gamut size comparison of Adobe RGB(1998), ColorMatch RGB, and a CMYK press with coated and uncoated paper.




Note how the gamut size of the press is so different with a simple paper-type change. With uncoated it fits entirely inside the gamut of ColorMatchRGB but with coated paper the gamut is large enough that Adobe RGB(1998) may be a more appropriate working space.

This plot was made using GretagMacbeth's Profile Editor 3.0.

See Also

Term: Chromaticity Diagram
TechTip: Gamut Comparison - Epson/Working Space

ProfileMaker Pro 3.1 Editor

SmartNote: 426
Type: Tool
ColorGeek factor: unrated
The ProfileMaker Pro Editor package includes the ProfileMaker Profile Editor application.

This package allows you to edit and linearize ICC profiles.

Access codes are used to upgrade an existing GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker 3 dongle to run this package.

Link: http://www.profilemaker3.com
(will open in a new browser window)

See Also

Also included in... Tool: ProfileMaker Pro 3.1 Complete

Gamut Comparison - Epson/Working Space

SmartNote: 430
Type: TechTip
ColorGeek factor:
This is a relative gamut size comparison of Adobe RGB(1998), ColorMatch RGB, Joseph Holmes' Ektaspace and an Epson 1520 inkjet printer on glossy paper




Note how the gamut size of the Epson printer is so large that even Ektaspace cannot contain it. Without choosing a non-Photoshop-standard working space, we recommend Adobe RGB(1998) for use with Epson printers.

For Ektaspace, go here

See Also

Term: Chromaticity Diagram
TechTip: Gamut Comparison - CMYK

ColorBlind Edit Server

SmartNote: 436
Type: Tool
ColorGeek factor: unrated
Edit Server is a 64-Bit, ICC-Dependent Application For Editing Images Via Input Or Output Profiles and processing them in batch form

ColorBlind Edit is a powerful color-correction and image enhancement application that allows you to edit images via attached ICC profiles without affecting the actual raw data. With ColorBlind Edit, you can apply various tonal curve corrections and global and selective color corrections in device-independent color space.

Image Acquisition:

ColorBlind Edit supports all scanners with an acquire module. Images can also be acquired via a "Hot" folder from anywhere on your network. Images saved on disk can also be opened. The application opens and saves in TIFF, EPS, DCS, and Scitex CT formats.

Attach Profiles:

With ColorBlind Edit, you attach ICC source and color edit profiles to an image for processing with other ICC aware applications, or you can process the image to the desired color space, depending on your selected output profile.

Image Display:

Fast, accurate RGB, LAB, and CMYK image display is achieved through constant use of ColorSync 2.0 monitor profiles within the application. Output color space can be simulated in the display.

Image Processing:

Profiles and corrections can be applied at the host workstation or via any application
compatible with ColorSync 2.x

Batch Processing: (included only with ColorBlind Edit Server)

Any or all image acquisitions, profile attachments and editing can be applied in a batch mode. Batches can be customized in any configuration to perform all or part of your image processing work.

See Also

For Edit without Batch capability see Tool: ColorBlind Edit
Available bundled with... Tool: ColorBlind Pro System
Non-batch Available bundled with... Tool: ColorBlind Matchbox

Make ColorSync Profile Utility

SmartNote: 441
Type: Utility
ColorGeek factor:
Sometimes you have a profile on your Mac which does not get recognized by the system as a profile.

The Mac keeps track of file types and creators using invisible tags within the file. If the tags have not been set properly, then even though the file contents are correct, the system will not know how to use the file and in the case of ColorSync profiles, may ignore them altogether.

Download the utility below and whenever you have a problem, simply drop the offending profile onto the utility. It will change the invisible tags into ColorSync profile tags and the profile will be usable on your Mac!


Download "Make Profile" Now (OS 8-9)

Download "Make Profile" Now (OS X)

CHROMiX Custom IT8 Target Data Files (TDF's)

SmartNote: 443
Type: Utility
ColorGeek factor:

If you have purchased a custom calibrated target from us, you will need to download the Target Data File (TDF) for each target.

Please refer to the serial number on your target to download the correct file below:


* These items were updated 1/15/08 to correct for a formatting error. The measurement data is unchanged. We recommed downloading this updated file and discarding any earlier versions.

Kodak "stock" IT8 data files are available here

Profile Editor by Ben Griffin

SmartNote: 444
Type: Utility
ColorGeek factor:
Profile Editor is a powerful profile editing tool that allows you to open ICC profiles and view and edit their tags.


Ben Griffin, the author, has graciously allowed us to post this great utility for the color community to use. Unfortunately, the original source code for the program has been lost so there are no plans for future upgrades.


Please note that this is a complicated and powerful tool. You should only edit copies of your profiles and we cannot assume any responsibility if you really mess things up.

Also, the tool will only work with mft1 tags (8 bit profiles) and not the more accurate mft2 tags (16 bit profiles).

Download Profile Editor

(380K - Mac only)

ColorSync Error/Response Code List

SmartNote: 450
Type: TechTip
ColorGeek factor:

noerr0No error (not specific to ColorSync)
cmProfileError-170There is something wrong with the content of the profile
cmMethodError-171An error occurred during the CMM arbitration process that determines the CMM to use
cmMethodNotFound-175CMM not present
cmProfileNotFound-176Responder error
cmprofilesldentical-177Profiles are the same
cmCantConcatenateError-178Profiles can't be concatenated
cmCantXYZ-179CMM does not handle XYZ color space
cmCantDeleteProfile-180Responder error
cmUnsupportedDataType-181Responder error
cmNoCurrentProfile-182Responder error
cmE]ementTagNotFound-4200The tag you specified is not in the specified profile
cmIndexRangeErr-4201Tag index out of range
cmcantDeleleElement-4202Can't delete the specified profile element
cmFatalProfileErr-4203Returned from File Manager while updating a profile file in response to CMUpdateProfile; profile content may be corrupted
cmInvalidProfile-4204Profile reference is invalid or refers to an inappropriate profile
cmInvalidProfileLocation-4205Operation not supported for this profile location
cmInvalidSearch-4206Bad searrh handle
cmSearchError-4207Internal error occurred during profile search
cmErrIncompatibleProfile-4208Unspecified profile error
cmlnvalidColorSpace-4209Profile color space does not match bitmap type
cmInvalidSrcMap-4210Source pixel map or bitrnap was invalid
cmInvalidDstMap-4211Destination pix/bit map was invalid
cmNoGDevicesError-4212Begin matching or end matching-no graphics devices available
cmlnvalidProfileComment-4213Bad profile comment during drawpicture
cmRangeoverFlow-4214One or more output color value overflows in color conversion; all input color values will be converted and the overflow will be clipped

See Also

Utility: ColorSync

CHROMiX CCT Updates

SmartNote: 451
Type: TechTip
ColorGeek factor:
(Feb 12, 2001) - CHROMiX ColorThink has been updated to version 1.1

Please go to the ColorThink Product Page for more information and instructions on upgrading.

ColorThink 1.1 is a free upgrade for all 1.0 users.

Thank you for buying ColorThink!

BESTColor RIP Designer Edition

SmartNote: 460
Type: Tool
ColorGeek factor: unrated
Proof on Macintosh!

BEST now offers a proofing solution for Apple Macintosh with its latest addition to the BESTColor family.

BESTColor Designer Edition is a complete proofing solution for the Mac user who does not want to have a PC in his agency or studio. The Designer Edition of BESTColor offers high color accuracy for the Mac environment. This version is customized for designers, photo-graphers and other creative professionals. It is easy to use with an intuitive menu set. You can run the BESTColor Designer Edition in the background of your Mac workstation or on a Mac as a print server which will show BESTColor as a normal printer on your network. All settings which are necessary, such as: resolution, printing size and quality can be selected in your DTP-software. Like other BESTColor versions the Designer Edition is able to process composite as well as separated PostScript files and to produce color managed output. The color management is done via ICC-profiles. Before printing you can preview the file on your screen.

Link: http://www.bestcolor.com/bc-us/produkte/bcDesEdit.php
(will open in a new browser window)

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #1 - Monitor Calibration

SmartNote: 472
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
___________________________________________________________________
C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #1
February 28, 2001
___________________________________________________________________

======================================================
Our First Issue of CHROMiX ColorNews
====================================

Welcome!

We are proud to announce (and deliver) our new CHROMiX ColorNews
newsletter. ColorNews is a monthly update on all things related to Color
Management. We will cover 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 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. Color News
2. New Releases
3. ColorFAQs - this month's FAQ is on Monitors
4. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

======================================================
Color News
================

Apple finally replaces ColorSync product marketing manager.

During last August's Seybold seminar, Apple announced that they had
hired John Zimmerer to replace the long-since-departed Ken Applebaum.
Although Ken's are big shoes to fill and there have been many changes in the color management arena (including much greater acceptance) since he left, we believe John is more than equal to the task.

We welcome John and wish him good luck in his new position.

======================================================
New Releases
===============

- ColorThink 1.1 released - CHROMiX (yes, that's us) just released version 1.1 of our profile managing, fixing, evaluating, and graphing tools. Version 1.1 improves memory management, tunes the user interface, and also adds a demonstration mode. Download a free copy and check it out:
<http://www.chromix.com/colorthink>

- GretagMacbeth upgrades ProfileMaker Pro to 3.1 - PM3 Pro 3.1 improves profiling of RGB and CMYK devices, profiles LCD displays, supports USB dongles and now has an additional module to profile digital cameras. Upgrades from 3.0 are free from their site:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=383> (in our store)
<http://www.gretagmacbeth.com/> (their site)

- Colorblind 4.0 for Mac released - Win version to follow. ITEC has upgraded their ColorBlind Professional software to 4.0 on the Mac. 4.0 supports more devices, improves speed and device profiling and supports Mac OS 9.x
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=440> (in our store)
<http://www.itec.net/> (their site)

- Monaco to receive Pantone certification - Monaco Profiler is one of the few profiling applications that will produce 6-channel profiles. They have been recognized for their efforts by earning a Pantone Hexachrome(r) license.
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=457> (in our store)
<http://www.monacosys.com/PantonePR.html> (their site)

- Praxisoft releases new RIP - Marrying their ICC Autoflow technology with a fast, high-quality RIP Praxisoft has a great large-format and proofing solution. The new Mach1RIP runs on NT/2000 to supply network printing for your entire workgroup.
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=459> (in our store)
<http://www.praxisoft.com/products/rip.html> (their site)

- BEST RIP released for Mac - BESTColor has produced quality NT-only RIPs until now. The BESTColor Designer Edition runs on the Mac platform creating one color-managed print queue for quality proofing in a workgroup.
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=460> (in our store)
<http://www.bestcolor.com/bc-us/produkte/bcDesEdit.php> (their site)

- Adobe announces & releases Photoshop 6.0 - In Photoshop 6.0, color is handled more accurately and through a much smoother interface. Advanced transformations such as separating into CMYK and then proofing on an RGB printer are handled automatically. This is a must upgrade! ($650 list $199 upgrade)
<http://www.adobe.com/store/products/photoshop.html> (their site)

- Adobe announces Photoshop Elements - users of PhotoDeluxe and Photoshop LE have been left out in the cold when it came to color management. No longer, Photoshop Elements will offer basic image editing along with ICC-profile-based color management. Due in the second quarter Elements will list for $99.
<http://macweek.zdnet.com/2001/02/11/0211pshopelements.html> (MacWeek Article)
<http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/overview1.html> (their site)

- As we went to "press" Adobe had posted and then withdrawn an updater to Photoshop 6.0.1 At this time there is no mention of 6.0.1 on their site but you may want to keep an eye on the link below for the update.
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/psmac.htm>
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/pswin.htm>

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 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>
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

====================================================================
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 - Monitors

by Steve Upton
_______________________________________________

* Monitor Calibration and Profiling: What's the Difference?
* I've heard I should calibrate my monitor. Why?
* What is a monitor profile?
* How do I calibrate and profile my monitor?
* How often should my monitor be recalibrated or reprofiled?
* My monitor has color controls. How do they apply?
* I've seen some monitors that have integrated controls and extra cables
connecting them to the computer. What difference does this make?
* I've heard you can't see all colors on a monitor. Is this true?
* I can choose 5000 or 6500 Kelvin as my white point. Which is best?
* How about gamma? Should I use 1.8 or 2.2? What is the difference anyway?
* How bright should the monitor be?
* What is the life span of a monitor?
* How can I tell when my monitor is at the end of it's useful life?
________________________________________________

Monitor Calibration and Profiling: What's the Difference?

To calibrate is to change the behavior of a monitor (or printer or scanner) to return it to a standard. Periodic calibration will maintain the monitor so that the way it produces color will stay consistent over time.

To Profile is to analyze the monitor to see how it produces its color. With a
profile you can tell other applications (like Photoshop, for instance) how to convert color settings so the image looks right on screen.

In practice, most monitor calibration and profiling software performs both of these tasks at once and you may not notice when it moves from one task to another.

________________________________________________

I've heard I should calibrate my monitor. Why?

Monitors vary their color output over time as they age and with normal use. Calibration keeps them operating in a stable way and keeps the profile valid.
________________________________________________

What is a monitor profile?

A monitor profile is a conversion table that describes how a monitor produces color. It's used by your system and applications to convert colors for display - for when you want that scanned photo to look good on screen. It's also used to convert screen images for use elsewhere - for example, when you've edited an image on screen, like what you see, and want to reproduce the colors on your printer.
________________________________________________

How do I calibrate and profile my monitor?

There are a couple of different methods to calibrate and profile your monitor:

1. Software only. Apple's ColorSync Default Calibrator and Adobe Gamut control panels can both be used to profile and calibrate your monitor "by eye". The software walks you through several steps to set your monitor's gamma and white points, and allows you to select your monitor from a predefined list.

2. Software and Hardware. Using a colorimeter or spectrophotometer (instruments which measure color output) in conjunction with software will also calibrate and profile the monitor. The hardware is "stuck" right to the surface of the screen and reads multiple color patches.
________________________________________________

Is using hardware better? Why use it instead of software alone?

When only software is used, you are left to guess at the phosphor colors the monitor displays. With a hardware instrument the red, green and blue phosphor colors, as well as the white points, are all accurately measured and this builds a much more accurate profile. It also takes into consideration the aging of your monitor.
________________________________________________

How often should my monitor be recalibrated or reprofiled?

As you can imagine, this depends on the stability of your monitor and how particular you are about its accuracy. We typically suggest a minimum of once every two weeks. In demanding environments you may want to recalibrate once a week or even every day.
________________________________________________

My monitor has color controls. How do they apply?

Higher-quality monitors tend to have controls that allow the adjustment of each red, green, and blue gun, as well as other settings. You should use these in conjunction with your profiling hardware to calibrate your monitor first. Then let the software fine-tune the calibration using your system's graphics card, and profile the monitor. By setting the monitor first you can take advantage of the analog controls in the monitor, rather than the potentially quality-limiting controls in the graphics card, to set the calibration.


I've seen some monitors that have integrated controls and extra cables connecting them to the computer. What difference does this make?

A "smart" monitor like Apple's ColorSync monitor is tied to the computer with an integrated communication cable in addition to the regular monitor cable. This extra computer control helps by automating the calibration process, as well as monitoring the performance of the monitor and keeping it in calibration. Until recently, these monitors were the typical choice for accurate monitor color. But with the advent of quality lower-priced monitors and inexpensive colorimeters, smart monitors are no longer a requirement except for the most demanding environments.
________________________________________________

I've heard you can't see all colors on a monitor. Is this true?

It's true. There are also colors your monitor can display that cannot print. It is commonly thought that CMYK printing processes have a smaller gamut than the monitor but, in truth, they overlap each other. Monitors are typically deficient in cyans and often will not display saturated yellows. At the same time, the saturated reds, blues, and greens your monitor can display are out of gamut for most printers and can't be printed. These limitations are classic problems of color management and are the result of the physics of monitors and printing.
________________________________________________

I can choose 5000 or 6500 Kelvin as my white point. Which is best?

White point calibration is a point of some discussion. In theory, calibration of your monitor to 5000 Kelvin would achieve a match with a light booth containing 5000 K lights. In practice, however, due to instrument inaccuracies or the differences in human perception between monitor-produced white and paper-reflected light, the calibration may not match. 6500 Kelvin is becoming a popular choice for monitor white points and has just been accepted in a new ISO viewing standard. We suggest 6500 for monitor calibration.

Many monitors ship from the manufacturer at a 9300 Kelvin white point. Manufacturers prefer this blue version of white as it is bright, but the blue guns are fired at a high level and this can drastically affect the life of the monitor. Calibrating you monitor to 6500 or 5000 Kelvin will reduce the wear and tear on your monitor and bring it into more standard viewing conditions.
________________________________________________

How about gamma? Should I use 1.8 or 2.2? What is the difference anyway?

Gamma on a monitor is similar to dot gain on press. It describes the mid tones of your images. Monitors can be calibrated to a gamma of 1.8, 2.2 or sometimes everything in between. 1.8 gamma has traditionally been the setting for Macs as it is similar to dot gain on paper. 2.2 is the typical gamma setting for PC monitors and televisions. This gamma difference is the main reason images appear different between Macs and PC's on the web. If your work is headed to the web, 2.2 is probably the best choice, if headed to print 1.8 or 2.2 are both good choices. Experimentation is key.
________________________________________________

How bright should the monitor be?

If your profiling tools give readings for brightness, you should shoot for brightness between 85-95 cd/m2. Any brighter and you run the risk of burning your monitor out too soon. Any lower and you reduce the dynamic range of your monitor too much.
________________________________________________

What is the life span of a monitor?

Naturally this depends on many factors, the most important of which is hours of use. In a typical full-time business environment a monitor will have a useful life of 2 to 3 years.
________________________________________________

How can I tell when my monitor is at the end of it's useful life?

If you find your monitor is too dim even at full contrast, if there are color casts across the surface of the screen, or focus problems, then it may be time to upgrade to a fresh screen. Time to move it along to accounting.
________________________________________________

NEXT MONTH: Making Prints and Monitors Match

FEEDBACK and FAQs

To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, contact our online customer service group at custsvc(at)CHROMiX.com. Please include your name and email address in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

To unsubscribe to CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.
To subscribe, email colornews(at)lists.chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

ColorNews is edited by Carolyn Hobart (hobart(at)chromix.com)

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2001 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.

See Also

ColorNews: CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #2 - Screen to Print Matching

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #2 - Screen to Print Matching

SmartNote: 473
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
___________________________________________________________________
C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #2
April 9, 2001
___________________________________________________________________

======================================================

Welcome to the second issue of ColorNews, a (approximately) monthly update on all things related to Color Management. We had lots of positive feedback from our first issue, and hope you will continue to let us know what interests you so we can address these concerns in our coming issues.

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. Color News
2. New Releases
3. ColorFAQs - this month's FAQ is on Making Prints and Monitors Match
4. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

======================================================
Color News
================

Seybold is in Boston!

This Spring's Seybold seminar runs from April 8th through the 13th at the
Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Look for CHROMiX's own Steve Upton to
speak on a variety of subjects, including profiles, digital camera profiling, and other tips and tricks. You will also be able to find Steve in the GretagMacbeth booth upon occasion (more below).

For more information on Seybold, go to:

<http://www.key3media.com/seyboldseminars/boston2001/index.html>


CHROMiX ColorThink 2.0 Announced

Today, at Seybold Seminars in Boston, MA we announced ColorThink 2.0. This new version will support Carbon and other Mac OS X technologies including OpenGL. The 3D graphing in OpenGL is very cool with real-color shading of gamuts, transparency and a 3D slicer for accurate gamut evaluation.

Also part of ColorThink 2.0 is full integration with ProfileCentral.com. The Profile Manager receives a massive upgrade with the ability to:

- Manage profiles between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X profile storage areas.
- Manage profiles for a workgroup across a LAN. Centralized administration makes it easy to keep an entire workgroup up to date.
- Manage profiles worldwide. We have developed version tags which can easily be embedded in ICC profiles. From within the Profile Manager you can register a profile with profilecentral.com, upload it to a share point on the Internet and then check all the profiles on your system for updates.

ColorThink 2.0 will be entering Beta in 30-60 days and is expected to ship fairly soon after that.

For more information, please refer to the press release on our website.
<http://www.chromix.com/pages/cm/cctrelease2.html>

======================================================
New Releases
===============

GretagMacbeth Announces Eye-One low-cost color management solution.

We are excited to announce a new scanning spectrophotometer by GretagMacbeth. The Eye-One is a high-quality, hand-held color instrument that will allow many more people to make their own quality profiles. The Eye-One is available in three flavors:

Eye-One Monitor ($579) - will calibrate and profile CRT and **LCD** monitors only.
Up to now the Spectrolino (at $3700) was one of the only choices for quality LCD profiling.

Eye-One Pro ($1,459) - is a full featured spectrophotometer that will calibrate and
profile displays and also read prints by spot. Profiling software is not in this package.

Eye-One Pro with Eye-One Match ($2,949) - is the Pro package and instrument and
adds the Match software for profiling monitors, scanners, and printers. Readings
can be performed by spot or, with the included scanning ruler, entire targets can
be quickly strip-read. The Match software is based on the same high-quality code
behind GretagMacbeth's excellent ProfileMaker Pro software.

At CHROMiX have had the pleasure of working with GretagMacbeth to test this product under their surprisingly secret NDA. We have found it to be easy to use and capable of generating profiles that rival $10,000 systems. All the new Eye-One products are now available for order in our store and should ship to customers within two weeks.

Eye-One Monitor:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=465>

Eye-One Pro:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=466>

Eye-One Pro & Eye-One Match:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=467>

Eye-One Feature Comparison:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=464>


Adobe:

- Photoshop 6.0.1 released - Adobe released a free upgrade to Photoshop
6.0 with a number of significant fixes, including an improved painting
toolbrush picker, improvements to Image Ready, and a variety of other small
improvements. Download it at:
Mac <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/880a.htm>
Windows <http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/880e.htm>

- Updates for InDesign for Macintosh are now available. This updates from
Version 1.5 to 1.5.2, including versions in Italian, Spanish, Dutch,
Swedish, French and German, as well as English. Check it out:
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/idmac.htm>

- Adobe Photoshop Elements offers unique features designed specifically
for amateur photographers, hobbyists, and business users who want an
easy-to-use, yet powerful digital imaging solution. Unlike Photoshop LE
or PhotoDeluxe, Elements has support for color management! To download
a 30 day free tryout, check out:
<http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/demoregzdnet.html>

- Acrobat 5.0 will ship in early April, with an estimated street
price of US$249. Existing users can upgrade for $99. Adobe plans to make
Acrobat 5 Reader available for download on April 17. For a detailed
article on the changes you can expect in this version, check this out:
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0103/12.acrobat.shtml>

- IMI Europe announces Digital Printing Summer School at Christ's College,
Cambridge, England. For more information on this upcoming event, and on US
events running from April on into the fall, check out:
<http://www.imieurope.com/>

- Crosley Bendix, Director of Stylistic Premonitions, U.M.N., announces the
discovery of a new primary color, Squant, in a story that promises to
revolutionize the color industry and, indeed, color as it is known
worldwide!
<http://www.negativland.com/squant/story.html>


And, by the way, Happy April Fool's!

====================================================================
Other News Worth Noting
================================

- Macintouch has posted a special report written by Adobe's Ed Edell listing
Adobe products' compatibility with OS X. Go to:
<http://www.macintouch.com/adobemosx.html>

- Macworld has a fabulous article on color management - what it is, why it's
important, and how to do it. We recommend anyone with any questions on this
subject read this article:
<http://macworld.zdnet.com/2001/04/howto/color.html>

- CreativePro has a two-part article on how the lighting in your workspace
can change your perception of the colors you see on your monitor, and the
best ways to remedy this problem. See:
Part A <http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/11791.html>
Part B <http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/12054.html?cprose=2-10>

- This just in... Bruce Fraser has written another excellent article on color. This time it's about rendering intents. You can find it on CreativePro as well:
<http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/12641.html>

====================================================================
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 - Making Prints and Monitors Match

by Steve Upton
_______________________________________________

It seems that the first thing people do when they get a color printer is open the best color image they can find and print it. Then they hold the sheet up beside the monitor and wonder why they are not even close. It can be a fairly complicated issue so we decided to spend some time on it this month.


I printed my file and it does not match the screen, why?

There are many reasons why a printed file doesn't match the screen. First lets start with a quick test.

- open a white document in Photoshop and enlarge it so it covers most of your screen
- pull a blank piece of paper from your printer and hold it up beside the screen.
- see the problem?

Chances are very good that the white color of the paper does not match the white color of the screen. We call this a white point mismatch. If you do not have a match here, why would you think that putting graphics on the screen and paper would help?


Let's talk about white.

Computers produce their version of white on the monitor by setting the RGB values to 255,255,255. The flavor of white can vary from a warm yellow-red color to a cool blue color. Typically we measure these colors by referring to them in kelvin degrees. 5000K is a fairly warm-looking yellowish light that is a compromise between reddish typical home-lighting and daylight. 6500K is cooler in color and looks more neutral without seeming too blue. 9300K, the color temperature at which most monitors ship from the factory is quite blueish.

Paper, on the other hand, is very dependant on the color of light illuminating it. Papers have their own color as well but nothing affects them more that the ambient light you have in your work area. In many cases your ambient light consists of a mixture of overhead fluorescent lights, daylight and perhaps desktop task lamps.

The human eye tends to see white as the basis for other colors. That is, the eye "white balances" to the paper or monitor white and all other colors fall out relative to that white. This works quickly and typically quite well. We can see graphics under many different shades of white and they pretty much look the same. Problems arise however when two different whites are placed near each other. The eye cannot adjust to both whites and so the difference between them - and the graphics displayed on them - becomes quite noticeable.

Now, back to your screen-to-print test. Chances are good that the paper looked yellowish and the screen looked blueish.

This is very important so I want to emphasize it.

** If you do not setup your system so the white of the paper and the white of the monitor are as close as possible, you will not get a good screen-to-print match. **

OK, sounds like a nasty problem. Can I get it to work at all?

Yes. There will always be problem colors (more below) but if you are careful, you can get a good screen-to-print match.

I should note that "match" here does not mean exact match. How close? Well, people often use terms like 90% or 95% but I have yet to see acceptable methods that numerically compare prints to screens to give these types of numbers. I am comfortable in stating that I have seen good and sometimes very good matches. The type of match that causes our customers to smile and nod their heads. To me, that's a good match.

If it's possible, then how do I go about doing it?

You need to concentrate on four areas:

- lighting
- monitor calibration and profiling
- print profile
- proper system setup and profile use

Lets start with lighting. The international standard for lighting in graphic arts is 5000K. Most lighting products you can buy are balanced to 5000K. Lighting can come in a variety of forms. Fluorescent overhead lighting, either installed in the ceiling or in hanging luminaires (light boxes), viewing booths, or task lamps. For screen matching we typically suggest small light booths with dimming capability. Setup the booth beside the screen with about a 90 degree angle between them. Dim the booth so the intensity of a white page in the booth matches the intensity of the white screen - this is surprisingly important and is the reason why we always suggest spending a little more on the dimmable booths.

GTI Lighting Products:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/pages/store/toolframeset.lasso?contribid=925>

Next, monitor calibration and profiling. Make sure you start with a good monitor. Good typically means you paid more than $500 for it and it is less than 2 years old. Spending money on a monitor will not hurt you here. First adjust the monitor using its built-in controls to get as close as possible to your target white point (we suggest 6500K - more about that below). The better monitors and software will allow you to fine-tune this color using the monitor's gun controls. Then calibrate and profile the monitor using a good quality monitor calibrator like the Color Vision Monitor Spyder, the X-Rite Monitor Optimizer or GretagMacbeth's new Eye-One. Make sure the profile is selected properly in the Monitors and ColorSync control panels (Mac) or associated with the monitor in the Display control panel (Windows). Photoshop looks here to find which profile to use.

ColorVision Spyder:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=410>

X-Rite Monitor Optimizer:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=375>

GretagMacbeth Eye-One Monitor:
<http://www.chromix.com/chromix/store/toolsearch.lasso?toolid=465>

The print profile is often a forgotten part of this. It is not fair to expect that an RGB file displayed on screen will match a print. The RGB file could contain many colors that cannot be printed. To get the monitor to match the print you need the monitor to be simulating the print. The only way to do that effectively is to have a good print profile for the printer (or printing process) in question. We build many of these profiles for customers in over 25 countries (so far). If you are wanting to simulate a proof then try this:

- download our profiling kit: <http://www.chromix.com/pages/cm/rps.html>
- gang up the CMYK target in the kit with several of your favorite CMYK test
images on one 11"x17" sheet. (28cm x 43cm - A3 size).
- Make a proof using that sheet (or send out to have one made).
- Clip the CMYK images off the sheet and save them.
- Send us the target to have a custom profile built. When building proofing
profiles it pays to take advantage of our $10,000 equipment.
- We will build a high quality CMYK profile and email it to you.

Setting up your system

This final piece of the puzzle is also often done incorrectly. I am going to give you directions for Photoshop 6.0 (what? you haven't upgraded yet?)

- Install your proofing profile onto your system.
- select Edit:Color Settings
- choose your CMYK profile under Working Spaces:CMYK
- open the CMYK test images you sent off for proofing
- place the printed proof images in your light booth
- dim or brighten the booth until you feel the lightness matches.

You should now have a fairly close match. If you find the blacks or paper white are still off try this:

- select View:Proof Setup->Custom
- select your proofing profile for Profile:
- check "Preserve Color Number" <-- very important for CMYK files
- ignore the "Intent" setting
- check the "preview" box
- while you can see your images, try selecting Paper White and/or Ink Black.
- you can name this proofing method by clicking "save" then it will appear in the proofing menu for use later.

Paper White will attempt to simulate the white (or non-white) of the proofing stock. Sometimes this looks great, other times not.

Ink Black will simulate the grayness of the black ink as recorded in the profile. For printing processes like newsprint where 100% is a dark gray, this will lighten up the blacks on screen.

If they still don't look close, go back and try the blank-paper-beside-the-screen test. You may want to calibrate your monitor at a different white point to better match the white of your viewing booth/paper.


Wiggle Room - or what to do when it doesn't match as well as you want.

Matching a screen to print is a pretty tough thing to do. Don't get too discouraged if it doesn't work perfectly the first time. What we are finding is that setting things up the "theoretically" correct way may not be the best way.

- white on monitor - In theory you should calibrate your monitor's white to 5000K to match a viewing booth with 5000K bulbs. In reality 5000K on screen often looks too warm / reddish. We suggest calibrating your screen to 6500K. It will give you a more pleasing white color on screen and will probably match your booth better. If your monitor calibration system allows the selection of many different white points, experiment to see which one works best. Before you get worried that this may be an unorthodox method, remember that your eye is the final judge. If the viewing booth has good quality 5000K bulbs installed and an instrument-calibrated monitor looks wrong then change the monitor's white (in the profiling software). Just because the instrument says it's OK doesn't mean you should believe it!

- lighting - Viewing booths with fluorescent lights are not the only way to go. Ottlites are a popular task lamp which has 5000Kish lights. I don't think they have been certified for graphics arts use though so don't take them as gospel. Also Tailored Lighting has created a remarkable set of halogen lamps that can be installed in track lighting. They are the closest lighting to sunlight and don't suffer from spectral "spikes" like fluorescents do.

Tailored Lighting / Solux: <http://www.solux.net/>

Understand the limitations

Remember that a monitor cannot display all the colors a typical press or printer can print. Gamut differences can vary a fair amount and it can get to be a complicated topic. If you want to learn more about gamut comparing and device limitations I suggest you try our ColorThink software. One of ColorThink's main features is its ability to overlay multiple profile gamuts in 2D and 3D graphs. There is simply no better way to see if the monitor will display all your printing colors or if your inkjet printer can actually simulate the proof or press.

As always, if you have feedback or questions on the above information or anything else related to color management, feel free to contact me at upton (at) chromix.com.


________________________________________________

NEXT MONTH: Gamut and Gamut Comparisons



FEEDBACK and FAQs

To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, contact our online
customer service group at custsvc(at)CHROMiX.com. Please include your
name and email address in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

To unsubscribe to CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with
"unsubscribe" in the subject.
To subscribe, email colornews(at)lists.chromix.com with "subscribe" in
the subject.

ColorNews is edited by Carolyn Hobart (hobart(at)chromix.com).

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2001 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.

See Also

ColorNews Issue #1 ColorNews: CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #1 - Monitor Calibration
ColorNews Issue #3 ColorNews: CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #3 - Editing Profiles, How & When

Profiling the BESTColor DE RIP

SmartNote: 483
Type: TechTip
ColorGeek factor:

The Desire:

The BESTColor DE RIP (Designer Edition) for the Mac is a good-quality RIP for lower-cost inkjet printers that runs on the Mac OS. It can readily accept CMYK profiles for proofs or presses for simulation (proofing) on the inkjet. BESTColor DE comes with a suite of ink/paper profiles for the standard manufacturer's papers as well as BESTColor papers.


The Situation:

Many people want to use the proofing RIP with their own ink/paper combinations or want to improve on the profiles supplied with the RIP. When both profiles are removed from the setup overinking tends to create dark sloppy target prints.

An application called "Ink Assistant" is included with the RIP but is intended as an after-color-management adjustment so is not appropriate for use in creating ink limits for better target printing.

There is no application for the Mac at this time that will create custom base linearizations for use when profiling and printing.


The Technique:

The work-around is to use one of the included base linearization files when profiling and then setup the profile so the RIP will use the linearization file when it is chosen.


- Run the BESTColor DE RIP
- File: General Settings - click the "Color Management" tab
- Remove any profiles you may have set for "Reference Profile" or "Paper Profile"
- Hold down Control-Command-B and click on "Linearisation"
- Select a linearization file from the Profiles folder in the BESTColor folder.
- Print your profiling target

You can tell the base lin files as they have a name like "BaseLin_100950073.BPL". If you cannot see these files when loading then you have not pressed the right keys while clicking on the "linearisation" button - this is the trick.

Experiment with this step using a few of the baselin files until you find one that prints the target well on your ink/paper combination. You should look for clean whites, dark blacks and bright colors. Avoid blown-out highlights, plugged-up shadow colors, or rapid transitions in any tones.

- build your profile using your profile building tools or send it off to us at CHROMiX to build you a custom profile. When you build your profile (or send it to us) make sure you name the profile "BEST_xxx_date.icc" where the xxx is the exact number in the baselin file you used and date can be a numeric date (punctuation not suggested). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - see below.

- When you have built your profile you can use it "by hand" in Photoshop for testing.

To load the profiles into the RIP for in-RIP transforms (proofing):

- select your proofing profile for the "Reference" profile
- copy your new inkjet profile into it's own folder - inside the BESTColor folder is a good place
- copy the baselin file you used into the same folder
- select your new printer profile for the "Paper" profile.

The RIP will automatically choose the baselin file according to the number you used in naming the profile. If the numbers are wrong or the baselin file is not in the same folder as the profile, the RIP will not load the baselin file properly and so your proofing will not work.

That's it! Now your can proof print to your inkjet using custom profiles.


Note: Give the RIP as much memory as you can. 128MB or more will not be too much!

Note: If you have access to the Windows versions of BESTColor RIPs you can create baselin files using the Windows version for use on the Mac version.


TechNote - Printing to the BESTColor RIP from the same computer on which it is running.

The MacOS does not always handle simultaneous network connections well. When you try to print to the BESTColor DE RIP from an application on the same computer, the machine can slow to a crawl and take FOREVER (as in hours) to print.

A quick work-around is to print the job to a file (save as postscript) and then drop the file into the BESTColor DE RIP's folder for your printer. Then the RIP will take the job and quickly RIP and print it.

Thanks to Daniel Portnoy for this printing hint.

See Also

To buy the BESTColor DE RIP... Tool: BESTColor RIP Designer Edition

ColorThink v2

SmartNote: 486
Type: Tool
ColorGeek factor: unrated
*** IMPORTANT Mac OS Catalina 64-bit NOTE:

ColorThink 2.x is NOT compatible with Mac OS Catalina (64-bit) so we have removed it for sale from our store. Please contact us directly at sales (at) chromix.com or by phone if you need to purchase it for an earlier version of the Mac OS. We are working on an upgraded product and more information will be provided about our path moving forward. Sorry for this inconvenience.

For those on Mac OS Catalina (64-bit), we recommend ColorThink Pro which is fully compatible with Catalina. -

ColorThink v2

The complete toolset for managing, repairing, evaluating and graphing ICC profiles.

You can't manage your color if you don't understand it.

CHROMiX ColorThink is the color management toolset that helps you understand your color more than ever before. The ColorThink toolset is an application composed of nine modules that are proven to keep your brain on color.