COMPLETE

G U I DE

TO C O L O R M A N AG E M E N T

TA B L E O F C O N t E N t S Color Management Overview. .................1 What is the problem Color Doesnt Match?...............................4 Why is there a problem? Devices are Different.................................5 Making it work Calibration and Proles.............................8 Taking it Step-by-Step............................. 10 For Advanced Users................................ 14 Soft Proong Guide. ................................ 18 Glossary. .................................................... 20

 C OL OR m AN Ag E mENt OV ERV IEw

Tired of Prints that dont match your monitor? The fact is all your devices scanners, digital cameras, monitors, and printers reproduce colors differently. There are even differences in the way individual printers of the same model manage color. Many variables affect color, including your ink and paper type.Time to take control! Color Management is a way to set up your environment (called a workow) to allow all these devices to speak the same language so you can get accurate and predictable results. The ultimate goal is to match the colors of the image displayed on your monitor with the ones produced by your printer. We use Color Management software to create proles for all your devices. A prole provides a description of each devices color gamut the range of reproducible color. You use these proles in your workow, and the result is an accurate translation from one device to the next, giving you consistent, predictable color.

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 C OL OR m AN Ag E m ENt OV ERV IEw cO Nt.

This diagram (FIGURE 1) presents a simple look at Color Management. The fact is the human eye sees a very wide range of colors wider than scanners and cameras can see and much wider than any monitors and printers can show. Each of these devices reproduces color differently, both in terms of how many colors and also in terms of which colors, or the shape of their vision (gamut). They truly each speak a different language. Color Management acts as the translation system and nds a

No Colour Managment Nothing Matches

Apply Colour Management

Printer Vision Monitor Vision Scanner Vision

Human Vision

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common language or vision. Once we turn on Color Management software and apply the unique translation controls (proles) the work is done colors match! If you are expecting to get a match between your original image and your nal output, without the hassle of trial and error, Color Management is for you. Get the competitive edge to creating accurate prints. Get out of the loop save time, money, ink and paper using proven techniques to control color throughout your system.

Colour Management Got a Match!

Translate to a Common Vision

See accurately what you Scan, Print what your Monitor Displays

FIGURE 1

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 W H AT IS T H E P ROBLEM COLOR DOESNT MAT CH ?

If you really want to understand how things work we need to start with some basics. When color reproduction was rst becoming a science it was determined that all the colors visible to the average person could t into a twisted horseshoe-shaped graph affectionately know as the xyY Chromaticity Diagram. This diagram (FIGURE 2) represents the way we see and accurately indicates the uneven sensitivity we have to all of the colors. Its also convenient as we can count on this space to stay the same regardless of how its viewed or imaged with any device. In fact, because of the lack of dependence on any other factors we call it device-independent. As more technologies evolved it became apparent that measurement systems and computers needed a better balance of information, so the spacing between colors was shaped to become more consistent and even.We call this space L*a*b*, or simply Lab (FIGURE 3). Technically a* represents the red/green axis, b* represents the yellow/blue axis, and a straight line going right through the center corresponds to L or the lightness. Lab is a great place for scientists, but its also the space thats hidden in all of our computers. So were going to look at a few images the way our computers do.

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 WHY IS THERE A PROBLEM? DEVICES ARE DIFFERENT

Since the computer monitor is our window into the digital world, the question is just what colors can it display. This diagram (FIGURE 4) gives you a three dimensional view of Lab and shows the basic boundaries of reproduction, which is called the gamut. Not only can we see the reproduction range on the a/b axis, but in this view the L axis clearly indicates the depth into the dark colors and height into the light colors. In a perfect world this would be a full sphere, but the world is far from perfect. These are real examples of the gamut of colors a professional CRT (solid shape) and professional LCD (wire shape) can reproduce on their displays. The color we see depends on each of these devices, and therefore, as opposed to color space, hardware is device-dependent. Now that we know what the computer monitor can display, how does that compare to an input device like a camera or scanner? Well lets see. Heres a good example (FIGURE 5) of a professional desktop scanner (wire shape) and a professional CRT (solid shape). Scanners and cameras can see much more than you could hope to reproduce (just like lm).The actual effects of this are shown here (FIGURES 6 & 7) (recognizing limitations to the inks used on this page).

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S C ANNER G A M U T
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mO NItO R GAMUT
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 WHY IS THERE A PROBLEM? DEVICES ARE DIFFERENT

Taking this to the next logical step, lets compare the monitor to a printer. Heres a good example (FIGURE 8) of the output of a professional six color inkjet (wire shape) and a professional CRT (solid shape). The printing process has always been a limiting factor in how photographs reproduce and that hasnt changed much over the years. However, since there is a closer match between these two gamuts, the actual differences in the effects shown here are not as dramatic (FIGURES 9 & 10).
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m O N I tOR G A M U T
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pR INtER GAMUT
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Finally, lets put it all together. But this time were going to compare the three gamuts in a two dimensional space for simplicity (FIGURE 11). Its quite clear that the printer (solid shape) is the limiting factor. The next outlined shape represents the computer display which pretty well encompasses the gamut of the printer. And of course the outermost line shows the wider range of the scanner (similar to a camera with its extreme gamut).

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Said another way (FIGURE 12)

DISPLAY

INPUT

Monitor

OUTPUT

Scanner

NO COLOR MANAGEMENT

RGB Printer

Scanner Sees This

Monitor Shows This

Printer Prints This

Its important to recognize that because every piece of hardware has its own gamut, we need to translate all of their rendering abilities in a common and shared way thats Color Management.
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 M AK I N g I t wOR K C A LIBR AtIO N A Nd P RO FILES

X-Rite brings powerful color control to you. And considering X-Rites only business is making Color Management solutions, youd better believe we want to make the color look right! So how does it work? The rst step to Color Management is to look at your window into the digital world your monitor. Making your monitor the reference is actually a two-part process: you need to set the display to some xed level of performance (calibration) and then measure its color-rendering capability in a denable way (prole). Proles translate the uniqueness of each device into a universal language that can be shared among devices in a device-independent Color Management System (FIGURE 13). Note: Mac users will see proles identied as .ICC les.Windows users have .ICM extensions, otherwise both systems essentially work the same way and are cross-platform compatible.

DISPLAY Monitor INPUT Prole (ICC/ICM) OUTPUT

Scanner

Prole (ICC/ICM)

COLOR MANAGEMENT

Prole (ICC/ICM)

RGB Printer

Scanner Color Translates to This

So Monitor Knows to Show This

And Printer Can Print This

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Calibration can be done by eye with simple software, but we all see color differently so that doesnt work too well. A special light meter, called a Colorimeter does the job. X-Rite color software automatically guides you step-by-step through the process. In just minutes your brightness and contrast are set to optimum levels, and by comparing actual output from your monitor to reference color data in the software, your computer is told everything it needs to know about how your monitor displays colors and your prole is created. Whether you make your own prints or send them out, all monitors need to be calibrated and proled. Otherwise its like talking on the phone and telling someone how to adjust their television set to display the same color youre seeing on yours. If youve got all the basics on your desktop, then X-Rite color software also makes it just as simple to ensure color accuracy in the workow between your scanner, monitor and printer. And, special test targets and proling software can keep the color from your digital camera just as faithful. There are two types of measuring devices: Spectrophotometers and Colorimeters. Colorimeters typically match human vision and measure color targets in four broad areas as we can see in the graph here (FIGURE 14) and offer an excellent price /value relationship. For printer calibration, or more professional monitor calibration you may prefer to use a Spectrophotometer. The range of colors that we can see, the visible spectrum (light), consists of wavelengths of radiation ranging from approximately 400 to 700 nanometers (or nm a unit equaling one billionth of a meter). Spectrophotometers as their name implies look at the whole spectrum and give more accurate results by making up to thirty-one measurements (in 10nm increments).

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400nm

500nm 600nm Wavelenth

700nm
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 TAKIN G I T S T E P -B Y- ST EP

Proling the Monitor Here are the steps used to prole the monitor, but before you begin, turn off any color management settings that may have come with the monitor as you will apply your own later. Adjust the Room Lighting Before any measurements are taken or images viewed, the room lighting should be adjusted to the way you normally work. Avoid any harsh direct lighting on the face of the monitor. This will allow more accurate measurements and a better prole. Put the Monitor in Its Optimal State Before proling any device, it should be set up to produce its largest, most consistently reproducible color gamut. For monitors, this is accomplished by adjusting the brightness and contrast settings. Pick Prole Settings Monitor proles typically have a white point setting (how white will appear on the screen) and a gamma setting. X-Rite proling software allows you to customize these settings based on your viewing condition and operating system (Mac or Win.). Naming and Saving the Prole After entering a few easy-tochoose settings, the prole is automatically saved in the correct location so ICC-compliant applications, such as Photoshop, can nd it. Proling the Input and Output Devices Printer proles are built by printing a set of known color patches. A spectrophotometer then reads the color patches so the software can interpret the difference between the original le and the printed patches. This information is stored in the form of an output prole, which is applied to images to ensure they are printed correctly.

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Printer proles are applied when you are ready to print your image. The proles compensate for any variance that the printer introduces and help the printer to match the image displayed on-screen. If you have a prole for another printer along with a prole of your own printer, the proles can be used in conjunction to have one printer simulate another. Depending on the level of color management and application, procedures vary. The nal step to proling and calibrating your scanner and printer essentially involve the following: Create a prole for your scanner or digital camera using the appropriate target. Scan, crop and name the target. Select a target patch from an extensive list, and print it using your printer. Color patches vary depending on which level of color management suits your purpose. Targets can range in size from having just a few colors to thousands of colors. And they are read and measured using a spectrophotometer. Proles are created by the software which gives further control with features such as ink limiting, black generation, and advanced UCR/GCR. Step-by-step wizard driven software assures your success! Once you have proled and calibrated the scanner, monitor and printer, what you see on the monitor is what youll get from the printer. Youll save at least 75% of your time, 66% of your resources, and at least 33% of your cost. These numbers were veried by an independent study.

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 TAKIN G I T S T E P -B Y- ST EP

Editing Output Prole Proling the output, or printer les is a snap and X-Rite software creates accurate proles right out of the box. However, sometimes prole editing is necessary. This option allows you to modify any RGB or CMYK printer prole. Printer proles are edited to create a better monitor-to-print match, original-to-print match, or to shift color balance or tonal values towards a desired result. With professional software packages there is even greater control over your output le editing. The editing feature is used by those who have a super eye for detail. This option gives you powerful tools for adjusting output curves, editing CIELAB (L*,a*,b*) color attributes, customizing gamut compression to affect color selectivity, and ne tuning colors and neutrals in the color space of the prole. To edit an output prole, simply use the color tools to alter a sample image (or your own image) that has been processed using the prole. Once color edits are made, they are proofed by viewing the image on a calibrated monitor and/or by printing a hard copy of the image. When editing is complete, your adjustments are saved in the prole and subsequently applied to all images processed using the same prole.You can optionally apply the edits to the sample image if desired. Using ICC Proles Youve successfully created proles for your scanner and printer. Now what do you do? To use the proles, you need an ICC-compliant application, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and QuarkXpress.

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Why not use the print drivers color management from the printer manufacturer? Color management associated with drivers supplied by the printer manufacturer offers a good starting point to approximate the way color should be reproduced. However, variations in ink and paper manufacturing ensure that a standard print driver will not be able to offer the precise color matching required in professional imaging. Also, the standard print driver does not take into account different inks or paper stocks. These variations can show a signicant difference in the printed color. Finally, the print driver alone provides no support for matching the printer to the monitor. So if it is not possible to see what you are going to print, you cannot judge the image until after it is printed. Color management dos and donts

What it does...  Build custom ICC Profiles for color devices such as monitors, printers and scanners Improve color matching from device to device Provide accurate soft proofing and digital proofing

What it doesnt do...  Apply ICC profiles within the graphic application. Applying the prole is done through menu selection within ICC supportive programs such as QuarkXpress and Adobe Photoshop.  Fix poor quality images or expand the gamut of a device. Proper ICC proles can only ensure that the reproduction matches the original. Work on devices that are out of calibration.

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 FOR A DVAN C E D U SERS

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There are many options for the actual Color Space in which you choose to work, but the two most common are Adobe RGB (1998) and sRGB. The basic purpose of Adobe RGB is to provide a very wide range of colors that still can be managed in the viewing and nal printing space. While this has been great for serious professionals, it requires more advanced techniques than most users want to learn in order to get good results with the majority of photographic imaging systems. To satisfy this application, sRGB was developed. As you can see from this two dimensional view (FIGURE15), sRGB (the solid shape) provides a smaller gamut when compared to the larger outline shape which represents Adobe RGB. Although some users may feel the safe space offered by sRGB is too restrictive, if we compare it to the printers output we see a different story. In this view (FIGURE16) the solid shape indicates the gamut of a high-quality printed page (SWOP coated CMYK).The outermost line shows the gamut of sRGB which totally encompasses the color rendering capabilities of the printed page.The inner line represents a professional six-color inkjet output which is still mostly well within the boundaries of sRGB. The small difference that Adobe RGB can offer requires much work to compress the colors into the output space. In order to understand how colors are compressed (Rendering Intent), lets plot some actual images directly into three dimensions. First to make it simple well start with an image that only contains 24 discreet colors, a Macbeth ColorChecker (FIGURE17).

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If we position these colors relative to our six-color inkjet system we can see where they fall on the gamut (FIGURE18). The gray scale tracks quite nicely on the vertical L axis, and the colors fall on the higher, more saturated levels (those of you with sharp eyes and more than 24 ngers will notice two extra gray scale steps which are actually the blackest-black of the frame of the ColorChecker, and the white letters on the frame). Now that we get the idea of how this looks lets move on to something more complex an IT8.7-2 Target (FIGURE 19) which is used for proling many photographic systems (as they all work in RGB).  We had to back off a little on the view of the inkjet color space (FIGURE 20) to show everything, but all of the colors in the target are clearly visible and if you look carefully many, especially the brighter areas are actually oating above the surface of the space which means theyre beyond the printers capability to render they are out of gamut. Fortunately our color managed system has a number of options to make sure these colors still are represented in some way on the nal print. This is called the Rendering Intent.
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Adobe Photoshop provides four different conversions for this purpose in their software and the one you choose will vary according to the kind of work you are doing. There are many technical explanations of exactly how each of these four Conversion Options manages this, but a simple way of deciding what to test rst is based on your business. If youre dealing with photos select Perceptual; for graphics try Saturated; on logos choose Relative Colorimetric; and if you need the most strict conversion (including simulation of the color of the paper base) use Absolute Colorimetric.

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 FOR A DVAN C E D U SERS

The next image (FIGURE 21) shows the application of Perceptual as the Rendering Intent. This has moved the out of gamut colors into the range where they can print safely. If you compare the two images youll see the little streaky comet-like shapes show where the colors were, and also where they have been repositioned to print (the little square dots) as a result of the rendering. For a more dramatic example lets see how color is shaped to t the printed page. Our image for this application is the IT8.7-3 Target (FIGURE 22) which is used to prole most 4-color web, sheet fed and offset printers (CMYK). The printing industry has long been very color conscious and needed a different chart with a much greater range of colors to help make images t into the small gamut of the printed page.

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IT8.7/3 ExtENdEd INK VALuE DAtA SEtDEFAuLt SINgLE PAgE FORmAT

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In an even more demonstrable way we can see a very large number of out of gamut colors (FIGURE 23). Plus, due to the size of the gamut, the degree of compression must be much greater than our previous example in order to cover the distance. Tracking the newly rendered, and now in-gamut printable image, its easy to see that with compression this extreme (FIGURE 24), printers have needed to develop and employ a wide range of techniques to assure the most pleasing (although rarely very accurate) image. Over the years, photographers who shot exclusively for print knew to avoid lots of the heavily out of gamut cooler bluish colors, and lit scenes in anticipation to compress the tonal range. Obviously this hasnt changed much, but its much easier to see in this graphic example why good photographers still develop and follow these imaging techniques.

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 SOF T P ROOFIN G W IT H ADOBE P H OTOS H OP

A soft proof is an on-screen simulation of how your image will appear when output on another device typically a printer. You expect that the image you print will be the same quality as the image on your monitor. When the color does not match, this can be an endless frustration of trial and error color corrections. Using proles can simplify your workow, giving you the assurance that the image you see on your monitor will print accurately.

Prole your monitor

 Proling your monitor is essential as this provides a baseline and assurance that your monitor is displaying colors as accurately as possible. Any edits you apply to an image will be based on your visual judgments.

Prole your hardware

 Create custom proles for your printer. For greatest accuracy, you should create a prole for each combination of ink, paper and printer quality settings.

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View your image in Photoshop as it will print:

a) OPEN YOUR IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP. b)  CHOOSE VIEW>PROOF SETUP>CUSTOM

c) SELECT YOUR PRINTER PROFILE, RENDERING INTENT, AND ANY OTHER OPTIONS YOU LIKE

 (A good starting point for photographs is the use of Perceptual or Relative Colormetric Rendering Intent and Simulate Paper Color).

SAVE YOUR CUSTOM PROFILE SO THAT IT IS READILY AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE USE AT THE d)  BOTTOM OF THE PROOF SETUP MENU.

 NOW you have a soft proof the monitor simulates how your printer will print the image. You can edit the image in Photoshop, trusting that what you see on your monitor will print on your printer.

Tip:  If you want the custom proof setup to be the default proof setup for documents, close all document windows before choosing the VIEW > PROOF SETUP > CUSTOM. Whatever you choose as the custom prole will then be selected when you select VIEW > PROOF COLORS (or Cmd+Y [Mac] / Ctrl+Y [Win]).
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 G L OS S ARy

Absorb / Absorption: Dissipation of the energy of electromagnetic waves into other forms as a result of its interaction with matter; a decrease in directional transmittance of incident radiation, resulting in a modication or conversion of the absorbed energy. Additive Primaries: Red, green, and blue light. When all three additive primaries are combined at 100% intensity, white light is produced. When these three are combined at varying intensities, a gamut of different colors is produced. Combining two primaries at 100% produces a subtractive primary, either cyan, magenta, or yellow: 100% red + 100% green = yellow; 100% red + 100% blue = magenta; 100% green + 100% blue = cyan. See Subtractive Primaries. Appearance: Manifestation of the nature of objects and materials through visual attributes such as size, shape, color, texture, glossiness, transparency, opacity, etc. Attribute: Distinguishing characteristic of a sensation, perception or mode of appearance. Colors are often described by their attributes of hue, saturation or chroma, and lightness. Black: The absence of all reected light; the color that is produced when an object absorbs all wavelengths from the light source. When 100% cyan, magenta, and yellow colorants are combined, the resulting color theoretically is black. In real-world applications, this combination produces a muddy gray or brown. In four-color process printing, black is one of the process inks. The letter K is used to represent Black in the CMYK acronym to avoid confusion with Blues B in RGB. Brightness: The attribute of visual perception in accordance with which an area appears to emit or reect more or less light (this attribute of color is used in the color model HSB Hue, Saturation, Brightness). See Lightness. Calibration: To check, adjust, or systematically standardize the graduations of a device. Chroma: The attribute of visual perception in accordance with which an area appears saturated with a particular color or hue for example, a red apple is high in chroma; pastel colors are low in chroma; black, white, and gray have no chroma (this attribute of color is used in the color model L*C*H Lightness, Chroma, Hue).Also referred to as Saturation.

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CIE Chromaticity Coordinates: x and y values that specify the location of a color within the CIE chromaticity diagram. CMC (Color Measurement Committee): Of the Society of Dyes and Colourists in Great Britain. Developed a more logical, ellipse-based equation for computing _E values as an alternative to the spherical regions of the CIELAB color space. CMY: The subtractive primaries cyan, magenta, and yellow. See Subtractive Primaries. CMYK: The subtractive primaries cyan, magenta and yellow, plus black (k) which is required in the printing process for more faithful reproduction. See Subtractive Primaries. Color Management: Matching colors between an original image, scanner, monitor, color printer and nal press sheet. Color Matching Functions: Relative amounts of three additive primaries required to match each wavelength of light. The term is generally used to refer to the CIE Standard Observer color matching functions designated. See CIE Standard Observer. Color Model: A color measurement scale or system that numerically species the perceived attributes of color. Used in computer graphics applications and by color measurement instruments. Color Separation: The conversion of the red, green, and blue color information used in a computer into cyan, magenta, yellow, and black channels that are used to make printing plates. Color Space: A three-dimensional geometric representation of the colors that can be seen and/or generated using a certain color model. Color Specication: Tristimulus values, chromaticity coordinates and luminance value, or other color-scale values, used to designate a color numerically in a specied color system. Color Temperature: A measurement of the color of light radiated by an object while it is being heated. This measurement is expressed in terms of absolute scale, or degrees Kelvin. Lower Kelvin temperatures such as 2400K are red; higher temperatures such as 9300K are blue. Neutral temperature is gray, at 6504K. Color Wheel: The visible spectrums continuum of colors arranged into a circle, where complementary colors such as red and green are located directly across from each other. Colorants: Materials used to create colors dyes, pigments, toners, phosphors. ColorSync: Built-in color management architecture for Apple Macintosh computers. Third-party vendors utilize the ColorSync framework to provide device calibration, device characterization, and device prole-building methods.

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 G L OS S ARy

Chromaticity, Chromaticity Coordinates: Dimensions of a color stimulus expressed in terms of hue and saturation, or rednessgreenness and yellowness-blueness, excluding the luminous intensity. Generally expressed as a point in a plane of constant luminance. See CIE xy Chromaticity Diagram. CIE (Commission Internationale de lEclairage): A French name that translates to International Commission on Illumination, the main international organization concerned with color and color measurement. CIE94: The CIE94 tolerancing method utilizes three-dimensional ellipsoids as containers for color acceptance. CIE94 is conceptually similar to CMC2:1 but lacks some of the hue and lightness adjustments. It is expected that CIE94 will evolve over the next few years as additional studies are performed. CIELAB (or CIE L*a*b*, CIE Lab): Color space in which values L*, a*, and b* are plotted at right angles to one another to form a threedimensional coordinate system. Equal distances in the space approximately represent equal color differences.Value L* represents Lightness; value a* represents the Redness/Greenness axis; and value b* represents the yellowness/blueness axis. CIELAB is a popular color space for use in measuring reective and transmissive objects. CIE Standard Illuminants: Known spectral data established by the CIE for four different types of light sources. When using tristimulus data to describe a color, the illuminant must also be dened. These standard illuminants are used in place of actual measurements of the light source. CIE Standard Observer: A hypothetical observer having the tristimulus color-mixture data recommended in 1931 by the CIE for a 2 viewing angle.A supplementary observer for a larger angle of 10 was adopted in 1964. If not specied, the 2 Standard Observer should be assumed. If the eld of view is larger than 4, the 10 Standard Observer should be used. CIE xy Chromaticity Diagram: A two-dimensional graph of the chromaticity coordinates, x as the abscissa and y as the ordinate, which shows the spectrum locus (chromaticity coordinates of monochromatic light, 380-770nm). It has many useful properties for comparing colors of both luminous and non-luminous materials. CIE Tristimulus Values: Amounts of the three components necessary in a three-color additive mixture required for matching a color: in the CIE System, they are designated as X,Y, and Z.The illuminant and standard observer color matching functions used must be designated; if they are not, the assumption is made that the values are for the 1931 CIE 2 Standard Observer and Illuminant C.

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Colorimeter: An optical measurement instrument that responds to color in a manner similar to the human eye by ltering reected light into its dominant regions of red, green, and blue. Colorimetric: Of or relating to values giving the amounts of three colored lights or receptors red, green, and blue. Contrast: The level of variation between light and dark areas in an image. Control Limits: The amount of acceptable variation in press capabilities over the course of a press run. Cyan: One of the process ink colors for printing. Pure cyan is the redless color; it absorbs all red wavelengths of light and reects all blue and green wavelengths. D50: The CIE Standard Illuminant that represents a color temperature of 5000K. This is the color temperature that is most widely used in graphic arts industry viewing booths. See Illuminants D. D65: The CIE Standard Illuminant that represents a color temperature of 6504K. Delta (): A symbol used to indicate deviation or difference. Delta Error (E): In color tolerancing, the symbol E is used to express Delta Error, the total color difference computed using a color difference equation. The color difference is generally calculated as the square root of the combined squares of the chromaticity differences, Da* and Db*, and the Lightness difference, L. See CIE94. Densitometer: A sensitive, photoelectric instrument that measures the density of images or colors. Density: The ability of a material to absorb light the darker it is, the higher the density. Device-Dependent: Describes a color space that can be dened only by using information on the color-rendering capabilities of a specic device. For example, the RGB color space must be generated by a monitor, a device which has specic capabilities and limitations for achieving its gamut of colors. In addition, all monitors have different capabilities and limitations, as do different scanners, printers, and printing presses. Device-Independent: Describes a color space that can be dened using the full gamut of human vision, as dened by a standard observer, independent of the color-rendering capabilities of any specic device.

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Device Prole: Device-specic color information that is a characterization of a devices color rendering and reproduction capabilities. Monitor proles, scanner proles, and printer proles are utilized in a color management system such as Apple ColorSync to help the devices communicate color information with each other. Proles are created by calibration and/or characterization method. Dye: A soluble colorant; as opposed to pigment, which is insoluble. Dynamic Range: An instruments range of measurable values, from the lowest amount it can detect to the highest amount it can handle. Electromagnetic Spectrum: The massive band of electromagnetic waves that pass through the air in different sizes, as measured by wavelength. Different wavelengths have different properties, but most are invisible and some completely undetectable to human beings. Only wavelengths that are between 400 and 700 nanometers in size are visible, producing light. Invisible waves outside the visible spectrum include gamma rays, x-rays, microwaves and radio waves. Emissive Object: An object that emits light. Usually some sort of chemical reaction, such as the burning gasses of the sun or the heated lament of a light bulb. Fluorescent Lamp: A glass tube lled with mercury gas and coated on its inner surface with phosphors.When the gas is charged with an electrical current, radiation is produced which in turn energizes the phosphors, causing the phosphors to glow. Four-Color Process: Depositing combinations of the subtractive primaries cyan, magenta, yellow, and black on paper to achieve. These colorants are deposited as dots of different sizes, shapes, and angles to create the illusion of different colors. See CMY, Subtractive Primaries. Gamut: The range of different colors that can be interpreted by a color model or generated by a specic device. Gamut Compression: Or tonal range compression.The color space coordinates of a color space with a larger gamut are reduced to accommodate the smaller gamut of a destination color space. For example, the gamut of photographic lm is compressed for representation in the smaller CMYK gamut used for four-color process printing. See Gamut. Gamut Mapping: Converting the coordinates of two or more color spaces into a common color space. Often results in tonal range compression. See Gamut Compression.

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HiFi Printing: Process printing that expands the conventional fourcolor process gamut using additional, special ink colors. Hue: The basic color of an object, such as red, green, purple, etc. Dened by its angular position in a cylindrical color space, or on a Color Wheel. ICC (International Color Consortium): A group of hardware and software companies dedicated to the development of a specication that is OS independent and provides the digital imaging, printing and related industries with a data format for dening the color and reproduction characteristics of devices and their related media. Illuminant: Incident luminous energy specied by its spectral distribution. Illuminant A (CIE): CIE Standard Illuminant for incandescent illumination, yellow-orange in color, with a correlated color temperature of 2856K. Illuminant C (CIE): CIE Standard Illuminant for tungsten illumination that simulates average daylight, bluish in color, with a correlated color temperature of 6774K. Illuminants D (CIE): CIE Standard Illuminants for daylight, based on actual spectral measurements of daylight. D65 with a correlated color temperature of 6504K is most commonly used. Others include D50, D55, and D75. Illuminants F (CIE): CIE Standard Illuminant for uorescent illumination. F2 represents a cool white uorescent lamp (4200 K), F7 represents a broad-band daylight uorescent lamp (6500 K), and F11 represents a narrow-band white uorescent lamp (4000 K). Intensity: Saturation or reective energy as related to visible wavelengths of light. Reectance of wavelengths at high intensity generates high saturation, or chroma. IT8: Series of test targets and tools for color characterization established by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Committee IT8 for Digital Data Exchange Standards. Different IT8 targets are used to characterize different devices such as scanners and printers. Kelvin (K): Unit of measurement for color temperature.The Kelvin scale starts from absolute zero, which is -273 Celsius. L*a*b: A color space which represents human visual perception and has equal spacing between colors. See CIELAB L*C*H: A color space that is similar to CIELAB, except uses cylindrical coordinates of lightness, chroma, and hue angle instead of rectangular coordinates. Light: Electromagnetic radiation in the spectral range detectable by the human eye (approx. 400 to 700nm).
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Lightness: The attribute of visual perception in accordance with which an area appears to emit or reect more or less light. Also refers to the perception by which white objects are distinguished from gray objects and light- from dark-colored objects. Magenta: One of the process ink colors for printing. Pure magenta is the greenless color; it absorbs all wavelengths of green from light and reects all red and blue wavelengths. Metamerism, Metameric Pair: The phenomenon where two colors appear to match under one light source, yet do not match under a different light source. Two such colors are called a metameric pair. Monitor RGB: Same as RGB; monitor RGB simply refers specically to the color space that can be achieved by a particular monitor using combinations of red, green, and blue light. Munsell Color Charts: A three-dimensional color system developed by Albert Munsell that is based on the attributes Munsell Hue, Munsell Value, and Munsell Chroma. Nanometer (nm): Unit of length equal to 10-9 meter, or one millionth of a millimeter. Wavelengths are measured in nanometers. Overprint: On a press sheet color bar, overprints are color patches where two process inks have been printed, one atop the other. Checking the density of these patches allows press operators to determine trap value. The term Overprint also applies to any object printed on top of other colors. Phosphors: Materials that emit light when irradiated by cathode rays, or when placed in an electric eld. The quantity of visible light is proportional to the amount of excitation energy present. Photoelectric: Pertaining to the electrical effects of light or other radiationfor example, emission of electrons. Photoreceptor: The cone- and rod-shaped neurons that cover the retina of the eye. Photoreceptors are excited by visible wavelengths, then send signals to the brain where the sensation of color is perceived. Pigment: An insoluble colorant; as opposed to a dye, which is soluble. Pixel: A tiny picture element that contains red, green, and blue information for color rendering on a monitor or a scanner. When generating colors, pixels are similar to dots of ink on paper. A monitor resolution description in terms of pixels-per-inch (ppi) is similar to a printer resolution description in terms of dots-per-inch (dpi). Primary Colors: The dominant regions of the visible spectrum: red, green, and blue; and their opposite colors cyan, magenta, and yellow. See Additive Primaries, Subtractive Primaries.
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Prism: Triangular-shaped glass or other transparent material. When light is passed through a prism, its wavelengths refract into a rainbow of colors. This demonstrates that light is composed of color, and indicates the arrangement of colors in the visible spectrum. See Visible Spectrum. Process Control: Using densitometric and colorimetric measurement data from press sheet color bars to monitor press performance throughout the press run. Data is analyzed in relation to established control limits. See Control Limits Reective Object: A solid object that returns some or all of the wavelengths of light that strike its surface. A reective object that returns 100% of all light is called a perfect diffuser a perfectly white surface. Reectance: The percentage of light that is reected from an object. Spectrophotometers measure an objects reectance at various intervals along the visible spectrum to determine the object colors spectral curve. See Spectral Curve, Spectral Data. RGB: The additive primaries red, green, and blue. See Additive Primaries. RIP: Raster Image Processor is either a software program or hardware dedicated to the purpose of converting certain le formats (typically vector graphics such as page layout les) into the rows of pixels (raster) that are the information in the les which printers need to produce output. Saturation: The attribute of color perception that expresses the amount of departure from the neutral gray of the same lightness. Also referred to as chroma. Sequence: The order in which inks are deposited on paper by a printing press. Spectral Curve: A colors ngerprint a visual representation of a colors spectral data. A spectral curve is plotted on a grid comprised of a vertical axis the level of reectance intensity; and a horizontal axis the visible spectrum of wavelengths. The percentage of reected light is plotted at each interval, resulting in points that form a curve. Spectral Data: The most precise description of the color of an object. An objects color appearance results from light being changed by an object and reected to a viewer. Spectral data is a description of how the reected light was changed. The percentage of reected light is measured at several intervals across its spectrum of wavelengths. This information can be visually represented as a spectral curve. Spectrophotometer: An instrument that measures the characteristics of light reected from or transmitted through an object, which is interpreted as spectral data.
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Spectrum: Spatial arrangement of electromagnetic energy in order of wavelength size. See Electromagnetic Spectrum,Visible Spectrum. Standard: An established, approved reference against which instrument measurements of samples are evaluated. Subtractive Primaries: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Theoretically, when all three subtractive primaries are combined at 100% on white paper, black is produced. When these three are combined at varying intensities, a gamut of different colors is produced. Combining two primaries at 100% produces an additive primary, either red, green, or blue: 100% cyan + 100% magenta = blue; 100% cyan + 100% yellow = green; 100% magenta + 100% yellow = red. Tolerance: The amount of acceptable difference between a known correct standard (usually the customers specications) and a set of measured samples. See Delta Error. Transmissive Object: An object that allows light to pass through from one side to the other. The color of a transmissive object results from the manipulation of wavelengths of light as they pass through. Tristimulus: A method for communicating or generating a color using three stimuli either additive or subtractive colorants (such as RGB or CMY), or three attributes (such as lightness, chroma, and hue). Tristimulus Data: The three tristimulus values that combine to dene or generate a specic color, such as R 255/G 255/B 0.Tristimulus data does not completely describe a color the illuminant must also be dened. Also, in device-dependent color models such as RGB, the capabilities of the viewer or color-rendering device must also be dened. See Device-Dependent. Viewing Booth: A enclosed area with controlled lighting that is used in graphic arts studios, service bureaus, and printing companies as a stable environment for evaluating proofs and press sheets.Viewing booths are generally illuminated using graphic arts industry-standard D65 lighting, and are surfaced in neutral gray colors. See D65. Visible Spectrum: The region of the electromagnetic spectrum between 400 and 700 nanometers.Wavelengths inside this span create the sensation of color when they are viewed by the human eye. The shorter wavelengths create the sensation of violets, purples, and blues; the longer wavelengths create the sensation of oranges and reds. Wave: A physical activity that rises and then falls periodically as it travels through a medium. Wavelength: Light is made up of electromagnetic waves; wavelength is the crest (peak)-to-crest distance between two adjacent waves.

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White Light: Theoretically, light that emits all wavelengths of the visible spectrum at uniform intensity. In reality, most light sources cannot achieve such perfection. Yellow: One of the process ink colors for printing. Pure yellow is the blueless color; it absorbs all wavelengths of blue from light and reects all red and green wavelengths.

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