Search: for:

6500K

SmartNote: 5
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor:
see white point

See Also

Term: Color Temperature
Term: Blackbody, Black Body Radiation
Term: White point
Term: D65

Displays

SmartNote: 55
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor: unrated
see monitors

See Also

Term: Monitors

Drum scanners

SmartNote: 56
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor: unrated
see scanners

See Also

Term: Scanners

EMR

SmartNote: 59
Type: Term
ColorGeek factor: unrated
Electromagnetic Radiation. Visible light is one subset of a whole range of radiation called EMR.

See Also

Term: Blackbody, Black Body Radiation

ProfileMaker Editor 4.1

SmartNote: 522
Type: Tool
ColorGeek factor: unrated
Provides ability to edit all types of profiles, including multi-color. Works on Mac and Windows, utilizing a dual-platform USB dongle.

See Also

For a more comprehensive tool tool: ProfileMaker Pro 4.1 Complete

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #21 - The Color Key

SmartNote: 50017
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We are striving for a regular consistent newsletter of high value to our customers. Please let us know what your interests are so we can address these concerns in our coming issues.

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C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #21
October 18th, 2005

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A few Quick Notes of Interest:

** GretagMacbeth and CHROMiX have launched the Eye-One Customer Loyalty Program (CLP) to help past Eye-One Pro customers upgrade to the new RevB Eye-One Pro (shipping since April 2005), and allow users of past Eye-One Pro packages to acquire the additional software modules not previously available in their original Eye-One Pro purchase. See details below in CHROMiX News.

** The CHROMiX Color Management Utility Kit special continues. Here's the deal: when you buy either an Eye-One Pro solution or an X-Rite Pulse ColorElite solution, CHROMiX will send you a FREE Color Management Kit. See ad for details below.

** TRADE in your old measurement device and get up to $200 off your next GretagMacbeth Eye-One purchase! See details in ad below.

** "The color Key" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

** X-Rite Free Accessory Kit promotion ends October 31st. If you are considering an X-Rite Pulse we suggest you act quickly as the free promotion ends soon!
Click here


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Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Color, Product & Industry News
3. Shows and Events
4. Tech & Education Notes
5. "The color Key" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton
6. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
7. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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CHROMiX News

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

Since our last ColorNews Issue #20 on September 7th, 2005, here's what's been happening at CHROMiX:

We are pleased to be working closely with GretagMacbeth on the Eye-One CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAM. Regardless of where you bought your Eye-One Pro, this program allows you to upgrade to the newest hardware and software at substantial savings. For example, if you bought your old Eye-One Pro solution in year:
2001/2002 then your savings would be 30% off List Price of the new Eye-One solution
2003 then your savings would be 40% off List Price of the new Eye-One solution
2004/2005 then your savings would be 50% off List Price of the new Eye-One solution
For details of the program or more information, call ColorGear Sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, email sales (at) chromix.com or go to our website
Click Here


One more step in the progression
CHROMiX is very pleased to be beta testing COLORTHINK PRO ! We will do everything we can to ensure that this final stage will go smoothly and that we'll be able to finish the product for release soon. Stay tuned..

CHROMiX's President, Steve Upton will be demonstrating ColorThink Pro at PHOTO PLUS EXPO 2005 at Javits Convention Center, New York from October 20-22. He'll be in the Eizo booth # 775. Using ColorThink Pro, Steve will be giving presentations regarding workflow, advanced profiling tool concepts, and profile evaluation. Come by and talk with him or get a demonstration of our newest software if you are attending the Expo.
Click Here


CHROMiX has had a great initial response to the new Kodak ColorFlow Custom Color Tools profile editor. Custom Color Tools is a Photoshop plug-in that allows editing of output profiles using the Photoshop editing tools we are all know. Until now, this great editor has been very difficult to find. Now you can order it easily from our site, anytime. (Mac OS X-only)
Click Here


ColorThink 2.2b17 beta is now available. It is a free update to the current ColorThink software. We continue to add fixes and look for feedback from our users. Download a copy, give it a try, and let us know what you think.
Click Here


CHROMiX has added Red River Paper and iVivid to our growing list of OEM partners. These are two outstanding companies that CHROMiX is supplying high quality profiles for. If you're an organization, association, manufacturer, or large end user, give us a call to discuss how we can customize a profiling program to meet your customers' and/or company's needs. Call Rick Hatmaker directly at (206) 985-9844.


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Color, Product & Industry News

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

GretagMacbeth Customer Loyalty Program is here! The Loyalty Program is designed to help Eye-One Pro owners to upgrade to the new RevB Eye-One Pro (shipping since April 2005), and acquire the additional software modules not previously available in their original Eye-One Pro purchase. Users can enjoy savings from 30%, 40% to 50% off the new Eye-One Pro packages. For more information go to:
Click here

GretagMacbeth has released Eye-One Match v3.3 for Windows and Mac. The new version adds the long-awaited profile editing module to the software. A new scanning ruler, a new backing board and a new soft case will be bundled with the Eye-One.

Beginning week October 31: Eye-One Ruler and Softcase upgrade kits will be available for use with any Eye-One. You can order them now here:
Click here

Rumor has it that the Eye-One IO from GretagMacbeth may actually start shipping early November. This has been a long awaited X/Y scanning table that will automate scanning target charts using the ever popular Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer. CHROMiX has been testing this baby, and we must say that it is so fast using the new RevB Eye-One Pro device that we were amazed. We've done some tests, and found that the IO scanned an IT8 target a little over 2 minutes - almost noiselessly!! The iO can be used with any Eye-One Pro device but to obtain this speed, the rev B version is required - see the GretagMacbeth Customer Loyalty Program for details about upgrading your Eye-One. The Eye-One IO is set to be priced at $2000.

Epson has developed an application called ColorBase v1.1 for the Stylus Photo R2400 and Stylus Pro 4800/7800/9800 printers that allows color output to be calibrated to match that of Epson's reference printer for each model. ColorBase has Mac and Windows versions and is a free download from various Epson web sites.

Adobe released v3.2 of the Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop CS2. Version 3.2 adds support for the Nikon D2Hs, D70s and D50, Leica's Digital-Module-R back and the Hasselblad H2D. Also, Camera Raw now fully honors the 'As Shot' white balance (WB) for D2X, thanks to cooperation from Nikon.

Microsoft and Canon announced joint implementation of some of the core technologies inside the Windows Color System (WCS), which is the ambitious new color management architecture in the upcoming Vista operating system. The technology has features promising "better screen-to-print matching, better overall color appearance, and support for higher fidelity printing..."


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SHOWS & EVENTS

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

October 20 - 22, 2005, PhotoPLUS EXPO Photography & Design Conference, Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. This is the largest and most comprehensive expo in the photographic and imaging industries. CHROMiX will be exhibiting in the Eizo booth #775. Steve Upton will be demonstrating CHROMiX's newest product, ColorThink Pro. Using ColorThink Pro, he will be giving presentations regarding workflow, advanced profiling tool concepts, and profile evaluation. Come by and talk with him and get a demonstration of our newest software if you are attending the Expo.
Click here

November 1 - 4, 2005, The Creative Suite Conference, Sydney, Australia, offers training and conferences specific to Adobe Creative Suite products (Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat or GoLive). Looking for an excuse to get to Australia? This is the one.
Click here

November 29 - December 2, 2005, Seybold San Francisco at The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA.
Click here

December 4-6, 2005, PIA/GATF Color Management Conference at The Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. This is the largest US show with exclusive focus on color management technology. Hear about the latest tools, workflows, and trends in producing high-quality color. Steve Upton of CHROMiX is speaking in sessions and labs ranging from 'Photoshop Usage' to 'Profile Verification Tools and Analysis' and 'Tools of the Trade-Under the Hood'. Hear Steve and other great speakers at the only conference focusing entirely on color management. For more details:
Click here

January 9 - 13, 2006, MacWorld Conference and Expo at San Francisco's Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA.
This is the #1 event for Mac users and devotees in the world.
Click here


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Tech & Education Notes

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Since many of our readers are photographers, we thought we would mention a very good article at Creative Pro titled 'Digital Photography How-To: The Pros and Cons of Lens Flare', from Cambridge in Colour, by Sean T. McHugh. Although this excerpt doesn't focus on color management science specifically, this is relevant information for a common photography problem.
Click here

Not sure where else to put this one....
There's a significant buzz surrounding Microsoft's recent and upcoming Color Management efforts. We found an on-line article with a humorous, but relevant perspective on the matter from Edmund Ronald at Publish. It is titled 'Microsoft: The Bull in the Color Shop' and is at:
Click here

Enjoy!

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"The color Key" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

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

The color Key

If you work long enough in or near the print industry you start to take CMYK for granted. Especially K.

In looking over my previous articles I noticed that I had yet to cover the topic of K so it seemed like it was time.

The K in CMYK stands for "Key", NOT black as many might have you believe. The Key plate, in traditional color separations, is the plate that holds the detail in the image. In CMYK this is usually done with black ink.

In the modern color-managed workflow, an RGB image has an associated profile so each RGB number combination can be converted to a defined Lab color. This is fairly straight-forward and repeatable. When creating a CMYK combination to represent that color on output, things get considerably more complicated.

Lets talk a bit about how color is created using CMYK. If you apply yellow ink to paper, your color range starts at paper white and then becomes more yellow and saturated with the more ink you apply. But once you get to 100% yellow there's nothing more you can do without adding other inks. If you are looking for a medium-dark yellow you now have a whole host of choices to get it. First, you can add cyan and magenta ink. They are both required in order to offset each ink's tendency to move the color toward green or red. The addition of cyan and magenta does darken the yellow but they are also, together, blue - which is anti-yellow. So this addition of blue desaturates the yellow ink quickly, limiting the range of dark yellow colors available. A second choice is to add black ink. As black is added, the yellow darkens but is not desaturated nearly as quickly. This can result in a greater gamut of dark yellows.

When CMYK colors are created in normal workflows, either or both of these techniques are used. In fact, for a single original RGB color, many different combinations of CMYK can be used to (theoretically) create the same color on press.

So how do we decide which one to use? How much black should be used instead of CMY? The answer, as you should already guess, is the classic color management answer: "It depends".

Lets cover a bit more technique and terminology first.

Cyan, magenta and yellow inks used for offset printing are not pure enough colorants to be mixable in equal amounts for gray. The SWOP standard expects 50% cyan and 40% each magenta and yellow inks to produce a neutral gray. So let's say we had a CMY color of 60, 50, 40. In theory, if we removed the components of the color that produced gray (50,40,40) we would then be left with (10,10,0). If we then add enough black ink to bring us down to the same darkness (about 54% K), we have the CMYK combination of 10,10,0,54 that should appear very close to the original color yet is composed of VERY different amounts of ink! The total ink used drops from 150% to 74% AND changes from the more expensive color inks to black ink.

This kind of color replacement is called Gray Component Replacement (GCR). If the color range affected by this replacement is limited to dark, near-neutral colors, then it is called Under Color Removal (UCR). GCR, on the other hand, can be applied to neutral and non-neutral colors that are either light or dark. That brings us back to the "how much?" and "when?" questions.

It's probably best to cover this next section in point form:

Black start / max / width
--------

In ICC profiles, the black generation method and amount is chosen at the time the profile is calculated and "baked" into the profile. For flexibility, we suggest calculating several profiles from the same measurements; each with different black generation settings (this is what we do with our ColorValet press profiling service). Black Start is the amount of cyan ink where black starts replacing other inks. For instance, a black start of 10 means that when cyan ink is less than 10%, CMY will be the only inks used to create colors, but for any colors where cyan is greater than 10%, K will replace some component of the color. Black Max is how high you want the K level to get in the resulting color. If you find your shadows are plugging, reducing Max K can help. Finally, black width is how far "out" into the saturated colors you want black to be substituted. A low black width will limit K substitution to near-neutral colors (similar to UCR). A high black width will allow substitution much farther out into the saturated colors. If you find your saturated colors look muddy, try lowering your black width.

Dot Gain vs color stability
--------
Here are a few basic facts about printing (unsubstantiated, I admit, there's just not enough space here). Color casts, especially in neutrals, are the single most common (color) reason customers refuse print jobs. Dot gain varies due to press fluctuation the most in the mid tones of each channel - ranging from 40-60% - and the variance can differ from channel to channel. This means that when neutral colors have CMY inks that are in the range of 40-60%, they have a fairly good chance of shifting on press. Our example color of 60,50,40 has all three inks in the "danger zone" and so could be quite unstable on press. The converted color of 10,10,0,54 however, has only the black ink in the danger zone and changes in black dot gain won't create a color shift. (Thanks to Dan Remaley of the PIA/GATF for turning the light bulb on for me with this issue.)

Print job stability on press VS adjustment on press
--------
With the above explanation in mind, you might think that GCR should be used heavily in all images, and yet many printers recommend light GCR or UCR. Why? Well, the very same reason you would use GCR - stability of color on press - makes it very difficult to change color on press. Many printers don't trust their customers' color management or separations and so they want the ability to adjust the job on press. GCR IS a very good thing. Just remember that if you use it, ensure that the color in the file is good (verified with an effective soft / hard proofing system) and that the printer can print according to the specs that defined your separation. If they are nowhere near SWOP, or your files are not well color managed, sending them high GCR files is going to cause problems. Or, more correctly, will limit their ability to correct problems. (of course, exchange the "you"s and "them"s if you are the printer)

Ink Speckling
--------
In offset printing, the line screens for each channel tend to be the same or very close. When black is used in highlight colors, the dot size and shape is similar to the other inks and doesn't typically cause any problems. Inkjet printers using light cyan and light magenta are a different story. Highlight colors on inkjets are often built from CMY inks only. Inkjets that don't use Epson's UltraChrome inkset have no light black (gray) ink. If GCR is used in the highlight colors, the dark black ink exposes the true resolution of the printer, creating speckles that people often mistake for lowering of the printer's resolution. On these systems, use a black start value of 40-50% to keep K out of the highlights. This means that the careful balance of CMY is required for light colors - beware that color balance failure (often mistakenly called metamerism) might cause problems. Also, your profiling target had better effectively sample CMY-only near-neutral colors or your profiling software has little hope in finding how to print neutral highlights. I bet you've seen this problem as well.

Ink costs & drying time
--------
This one is pretty simple. Less ink = less money AND less dry time. GCR = less ink so it saves both time and money.

Gamut
--------
If you think back to the dark yellow example above, recall that to build dark colors we could either add cyan / magenta to yellow OR add black. The difference to the size of the shadow gamut (the number and saturation of dark colors available) is significant. Black slowly desaturates yellow as it darkens it. In comparison, the blueish cyan/magenta mixture darkens and quickly desaturates yellow because it cancels it out. The result is many more saturated dark yellows when black is used rather than cyan/magenta. If you haven't realized it yet, dark-yellow is brown, and having full saturation in browns means wood, leather, and hair or flesh tones as they fall into shadow look MUCH better. If you are missing your browns, the profile will desaturate them into becoming more gray and you will be disappointed in your wood and leather and often see sharp transitions as faces and hair fall into shadow... sound familiar?

ColorThink Pro has a new graphing feature, Constrain Channels, which features sliders that allow you to "pull back" color channels individually. Pulling the K channel back to 0 is an interesting demonstration of how important black is to the gamut of a press. The gamut size is reduced by 20 to 30%.

Muddying saturated colors
--------
The use of too much black in saturated colors can "muddy them up" on some printing systems. See Black Width above.

UCR vs GCR
--------
Restricting black replacement to neutrals is what UCR is all about. GCR came along later and extended this technique beyond the neutrals and into the colors. If done correctly, GCR can be very effective and improve image quality. Early GCR didn't always work as expected and many fell back to UCR for safety. GCR is now at the point where it is reliable and effective, and UCR is falling out of use. As the function of UCR is a special case of GCR (dark neutrals only), I expect the term UCR will fall out of use and we will refer to all black replacement as GCR.

Rich black
--------
100% K is not typically the darkest color you can get from a printer or press. When Cyan and other inks are added, the darkness can often drop noticeably (from an L* value of 19 down to 9 in SWOP TR001 for instance). The combined color can either be neutral or have an intended hint of color. Blue blacks are popular as well as warm blacks and tend to be used differently in different cultures and parts of the world. Some profiling packages allow you to select the combination of inks for "max black".

Standard vs Custom separation profiles
--------
As I mentioned above, the black generation method and amounts are set at the time of profile generation. They are not changeable on-the-fly as many would like. This is a limitation of the current ICC profile architecture. The profiles that ship with Adobe publishing products are high-quality and some are based on published standards, such as US Sheetfed Coated v2, but there is only one profile for each printing condition. This means Adobe chose a middle-of-the-road group of GCR settings when the profile was originally created. Color images vary widely and different levels of black generation should be used for each image type. Images that are predominantly neutral should typically have more GCR than those with many saturated colors. Flesh tones benefit from GCR but too much makes them appear muddy on press. Because of the baked-in limitation of ICC profiles it's best to keep a group of press profiles on hand so you can vary your black generation optimally.

As you can see, the subject of black is large and I haven't really scratched the surface. Suffice to say that "that extra channel" adds a lot of depth to color printing both in the color sense and in the number of choices we have and the number of topics there are to study. I hope I've at least opened your eyes to some of the effects of black and black generation. As always, I'm open to comments and more information if you have it.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton
October 18, 2005

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
Click here

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FEEDBACK and FAQs
To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at colornews (at) CHROMiX.com. Please include your name and email address in all correspondence (email, phone, fax etc).


SUBSCRIPTIONS
To subscribe, email colornews (at) chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2005 CHROMiX, Inc.
CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc.
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.
--

--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #22 - Color Times 7 - a summary of the seven ICC profile types

SmartNote: 50018
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We are striving for a regular consistent newsletter of high value to our customers. Please let us know what your interests are so we can address these concerns in our coming issues.

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

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #22 December 7th, 2005

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A few Quick Notes of Interest:

** GretagMacbeth is having a 50% off ONE-DAY ONLY sale on ProfileMaker v5.0.5 Publish Plus TODAY ONLY and then for ProfileMaker v5.0.5 Photostudio on 12/14. See details below.

** CHROMiX is releasing ColorThink Pro!! See details in CHROMiX News below.

** GretagMacbeth is offering a 50% savings off ProfileMaker v5.0.5 UPGRADE until December 20, 2005. See Ad below.

** CHROMiX is offering an INCREDIBLE deal on the X-Rite Monaco Optix XR Pro. See ad below.

** TRADE in your old measurement device and get up to $200 off your next GretagMacbeth Eye-One purchase! For more details or the coupon: Click here

**The Eye-One Customer Loyalty Program (CLP) will end January 31st, 2006 so, if you've thought about upgrading, better act fast! This program is designed to help Eye-One Pro customers upgrade to the new RevB Eye-One Pro (shipping since April 2005), and the new software modules. Depending on when purchased, you could get 30%, 40% or 50% off your upgrade. Give Sales a call for details, or go to: Click here

** "Color Times 7 - a summary of the seven ICC profile types" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Color, Product & Industry News
3. Shows and Events
4. Tech & Education Notes
5. "Color Times 7 - a summary of the seven ICC profile types" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton
6. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
7. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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

CHROMiX News

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

Since our last ColorNews Issue #21 on October 18th, 2005, much has been happening at CHROMiX:

* At last, the moment you've all been waiting for - ColorThink Pro is shipping December 16! Special thanks to all of our trusted friends and beta testers who have helped us bring this amazing product to the market. This product takes profile analysis to a new level.

Here are the highlights:


- New underlying architecture allows integration across tools, supports up to 10-channel profiles everywhere!
- Graphs have more detail, automation & features. Can be saved as images or movies.
- Profile Inspector adds gamut volume, inking statistics, dot gain and curve analysis.
- The NEW Color Worksheet is the centerpiece of ColorThink Pro - it allows analysis of your entire workflow at once to make it easier than ever to isolate all color issues.
- The NEW ColorSmarts Guide acts as your color consultant by performing tests and automating tasks.
- Powerful and enhanced profile linking capabilities. Create device-link and abstract profiles from ANY multi-profile combination. Includes clean-black links.
- The NEW and revolutionary ColorCast technology modifies existing profiles to have powerful built-in proofing capabilities. Use multi-channel profiles in Photoshop for soft and hard proofing with NO plug-ins!
- And much more!


To see more product details, check out this link to the product sheet: Click here

ColorThink Pro is available for $399. Upgrades are available for previous versions of ColorThink. See website later this week for details.


* And, finally, we wish a heartfelt goodbye to Mike Cummings, who is leaving CHROMiX at the end of December. Mike has been an outstanding team player and has been the backbone of the Support and Profile Production departments of CHROMiX. He is pursuing his life-long dream of teaching high school science. We wish him much happiness and success in his new life, and hope we see him from time to time hanging around CHROMiX. We'll sure miss Mike's sharp mind, his wry humor and, of course, his sick jokes.


Consequently, CHROMiX has an in-house Seattle, WA job position to fill. Follow this link for more details: Click here


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

The Eye-One IO from GretagMacbeth is due to start shipping (from Europe) the week of December 5th. This is the long awaited X/Y scanning table that will automate scanning target charts using the ever popular Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer. CHROMiX has been testing the IO, and we were amazed at the speed when using the new RevB Eye-One Pro device. In our tests, we found that the IO scanned an IT8 target in just over 2 minutes - and was so quiet you couldn't even hear it running!! The IO can be used with any Eye-One Pro device but, to obtain this speed, the rev B version is required - see the GretagMacbeth Customer Loyalty Program for details about upgrading your Eye-One. The Eye-One IO is compatible with the latest version of Match and the soon to be released ProfileMaker v5.0.5. List price is $1995. CHROMiX has a Pre-Order special of $1795 UNTIL IT SHIPS, at which time the price settles in at $1895.
Click here

GretagMacbeth has released ProfileMaker v5.0.5, a free upgrade to v5 owners. The new version boasts unmatched profile quality with new and improved gamut mapping! The new features include: new perceptual and colorimetric rendering intents, improved details and modulations, improved handling of out-of-gamut colors, increased smoothness for color transitions, 5 times faster calculations for multicolor profiles, supports NEW Eye-One iO automated scanning table, and more. To highlight the new version, GretagMacbeth is also offering TWO ONE-DAY SALES in December on two v5.0.5 versions: Publish Plus on 12/7 (TODAY!) and Photostudio 12/14. See details below.

Integrated Color Corporation, suppliers of ColorEyes products, is the worldwide exclusive distributor of stand-alone display software created by Integrated Color Solutions (ICS). This means that you will see ColorEyes Display and not basICColor Display marketed and sold in the US market according to a recent press release. For more details Click here

ColorBurst Systems has started shipping the Windows versions of their popular X-Proof and X-Photo RIP software. The Windows version includes the queue-based workflow from their Mac software, plus a few extras, including image preview and crop, Firewire support, and support for Epson, Encad, HP, and Roland printers with full 8 channel printing.

ColorBurst Systems has extended their support and SWOP Certification beyond the Epson Stylus Pro 4000, 7600, and 9600 to now include the Epson Stylus Pro 4800, 7800, and 9800 printers.

Epson has posted new, improved ICC profiles for the Stylus Photo R1800, the Stylus Photo R2400, and the Stylus Photo 2200. According to Epson, these new print profiles are free and provide more accuracy for both Color and B&W than the profiles that originally shipped with these printers.

Eizo has started shipping a new FlexScan model that may be of great interest to many graphics professionals. The FlexScan S2410W is a 24.1" model that boasts 14-bit color processing and much more. For more: Click here

GretagMacbeth Customer Loyalty Program is a huge success! The Loyalty Program is designed to help Eye-One Pro owners upgrade to the new RevB Eye-One Pro (shipping since April 2005), and acquire the additional software modules not previously available in their original Eye-One Pro purchase. Users can enjoy savings from 30% to 50% off the new Eye-One Pro packages. For more information go to: Click here

Adobe has posted update v1.0.3 to both the Windows and Macintosh editions of Adobe Bridge. According to Adobe, the new version delivers improved reliability. Mac version: Click here Win version: Click here

Digital Domain has released v2006.200 of Qimage, the company's RAW conversion/printing/browsing application for Windows. Improvements include a new look for the thumbnail browser and an instant preview feature.

Apple has begun shipping Aperture, Digital Photography software. Aperture supports the RAW formats from leading digital camera manufacturers (Canon, Nikon) and provides optimized support specifically for Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, Canon EOS 20D, Canon Digital Rebel, Nikon D2x , and the Nikon D50. Key features of Aperture are: advanced RAW workflow, professional project management, powerful compare and select tools, nondestructive image processing, versatile printing and publishing, and more. For more: Click here


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

December 8-10, 2005, SGIA Digital Expo and Conferences, Phoenix Civic Center/Convention Center (Halls A&B), Phoenix, AZ. The SGIA Digital Expo will showcase the best digital imaging suppliers have to offer for equipment, consumables, technologies and ideas so you bring home new applications and techniques, and even new approaches to the marketplace. This show is for you if you are a user of digital imaging technology to print and/or produce end products such as POP, displays, signage, outdoor advertising, labels/decals, banners, posters, textiles, garments, interior design items, nameplates/dials/panels or fine art/serigraphs. Click here

January 9 - 13, 2006, MacWorld Conference and Expo at San Francisco's Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. This is the #1 event for Mac users and devotees in the world. Click here

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

Tech & Education Notes

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

It seems everyone has a forum or a blog to tune into for more information. Some are good and some are overwhelming. Here is a list of the ones we watch the most, if it helps:

CHROMiX ColorForums (our favorite) Click here

ColorSync Users Forum Click here

Rob Galbraith Photography Forum Click here

Edmund Ronald's Monitor-Calibration Photofeedback Click here

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

"Color Times 7 - a summary of the seven ICC profile types" - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

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

Though we tend to use three different profile types - those for scanners, monitors and printers, the ICC has actually created a total of 7 different profile types. Each has its own capabilities and situations for best use. Here's a quick summary of the 7 profile types and how they may be useful in your workflow:

First there's the device profiles. These are the profiles we typically think about when we think of ICC profiles. This includes:

Input Profiles: eg RGB->Lab Monitor Profiles: eg RGB<->Lab Print Profiles: eg Lab<->CMYK

Device profiles perform 1/2 of the conversion when converting from one device to another. For instance, a scanner Input profile converts from RGB->Lab and then a press Print profile converts the rest of the way from Lab->CMYK. Used together they convert your scanner RGB file to press CMYK.

Monitor and Print profiles can convert color in each direction. So if you have a Lab color value you want to output on a printer, the Lab->CMYK portion of the profile gets used. If you have a CMYK value that you want to convert into a color (eg proofing CMYK values) then the CMYK->Lab portion of the profile is used. You may have noticed that the Input profile is the only profile listed with a single-direction arrow ->. Input profiles have the distinction of containing only device->Lab capabilities. When you think about it this make sense as you'll want to convert from a scanner's RGB values to Lab values but you won't have a need to convert from Lab colors to the scanner's RGB - there's no ability to output anything on a scanner after all.

If you are confused about the difference between device values (like RGB and CMYK) and colors (like Lab) please see my "Color of Toast" story in the ColorSmarts section of our website. Click here

There are several other profile types that don't get used as often but can be quite powerful. They are:

Device Link profiles (eg CMYK->CMYK) Abstract profiles (eg Lab->Lab) Space profiles (eg Lab->LCH) Named Color Profiles (eg Pantone 256 = Lab(x,x,x))

Device Links

Device link profiles are a unique and power type of profile with their ability to convert directly from device colors to device colors. This means a direct conversion from CMYK to CMYK can be performed by one link profile and so they are not applied in pairs like normal device profiles.

Typical link profiles are created by permanently combining the two device profiles from a transformation into a single hard-coded link file. This link performs the same transformation in the same way as the original two-profile combination and it also contains the CMM's (hopefully) correct math that was used to create it. This additional component can make link profiles effective in RIPs that do not convert color reliably due to some flaw or limitation in their internal CMM.

Device link profiles left in this basic condition are quite useful but if additional processing is applied to them they become essential to certain conversions and effects. One common effect is to tune the portion of the profile responsible for K-only conversions so they produce K-only results. This black-preservation ability is coveted by those who have the need to convert from one CMYK space to another but do not want to have K-only colors converted into 4-color grays. ColorThink Pro is able to create device link profiles with clean K conversions.

Other device-link effects take advantage of the device to device capability of a link profile. This capability means a "null" profile can be created that does absolutely nothing to the CMYK data that flows through it. Then, certain device-space edits such as individual channel curve bumps or ink-reduction effects can be added to the link. One ink-reduction effect we built into a client's profile converts any colors that have total ink levels over a certain amount to K=100, C=30. Any files sent through this profile have no conversion applied if their inking is OK but as soon as pixels are discovered with high ink levels they are corrected. It's fast, simple and it's effect can be created in no other way with no other kind of profile.

A few other points about device links:

- only one rendering intent is available, that which was selected at the time the link was created. - links cannot be embedded into images - the rendering intent encapsulated in the link is selected in the 'default intent' field in the profile's header. - a profile sequence tag in link profiles documents the profiles used to create the profile.

Abstract Profiles:

If device links convert from device to device then abstract profiles are the opposite; they convert from Lab to Lab. Where the device link's domain is device-space edits, abstracts are all about Lab-space (color) edits. Contrast bumps, increasing saturation, and gray or sepia effects are just a few examples of simple color edits than can be captured within an abstract profile.

But, like link profiles, a little ingenuity and number crunching and the real power behind abstract profiles can be released. The complex effect of a photographic process such as cross-processing can be captured in an abstract and applied to any image. Color differences between two systems can be also be captured and used to either correct one of the systems or recreate the effect somewhere else (such as the feel of a certain photographic film type). We are just beginning to scratch the surface of the powerful capabilities of these profiles.

Unfortunately Photoshop does not support the use of either abstract or device link profiles. Luckily, in the case of abstracts, we have a solution in ColorThink Pro's new ColorCast technology. ColorCast allows an abstract profile's effect to be embedded into another profile such as the Adobe RGB working space. The result is a "normal" RGB device profile that Photoshop can apply to any image, performing the function of the original abstract profile. sneaky!

Abstract profiles are also not allowed to be embedded into images.

Space Profiles:

Sometimes there's a need to convert between a non-device color space and Lab. An example of this would be the converting of Lab colors to an alternate color space that warped colors for some effect or other purpose. These profiles are quite rare, you are not likely to come across them in normal workflows.

Named Color Profiles:

If all other profiles are like math formulas, Named Color Profiles (NCPs) are like lists or palettes. The NCP profile stores a list of colors where each color contains a name, Lab color value and (optionally) device values. NCP profiles are supported in some color utilities and also in Mac OS X as palettes in the color picker. Unfortunately they are not supported in the major publishing applications from Adobe, Quark etc. Perhaps some day NCP profiles will gain wider support and we will finally have a standard method of storing and using color palette lists.

ColorCast Profiles:

OK, you caught me. ColorCast profiles are not part of the ICC standard. In fact, ColorCast profiles are 'normal' device profiles (typically printer) which have been altered with a special color effect such as proofing a 6-color press.

ColorThink Pro uses our patent-pending ColorCast technology to build profiles that allow many profiles to be used in places where they are not typically supported such as 6-channel profiles in Photoshop. ColorThink calculates the effect of proofing with a complex profile and then embeds this effect into either a working space or print profile. The profile appears to the system as a normal RGB or CMYK profile so it can be applied for soft and hard proofing in Photoshop without the need for any additional software plug-ins.

In Summary

Though the three types of device profiles are the most commonly created and used in photographic and graphic arts workflows it is worth learning more about the extra profile types as they have capabilities that can solve some sticky color problems easily and with high quality results.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton
December 6, 2005

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
Click here

==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


FEEDBACK and FAQs
To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at colornews (at) CHROMiX.com. Please include your name and email address in all correspondence (email, phone, fax etc).


SUBSCRIPTIONS
To subscribe, email colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2005 CHROMiX, Inc.
CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc.
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.
--

--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #23 - The ins and outs of GRACoL 7 and G7

SmartNote: 50019
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We are striving for a regular consistent newsletter of high value to our customers. Please let us know what your interests are so we can address these concerns in our coming issues. ============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #23 June 28th, 2006

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

Notes of Interest:

** Have you noticed that it's been a while since we sent out our last newsletter? We have been involved with many new projects we think you'll find quite interesting. We mention a couple developments below in 'CHROMiX News', and look forward to telling you more in the future.

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Color, Product & Industry News
3. Shows and Events
4. Standard, Spec or Method: The ins and outs of GRACoL 7 and G7
      - an article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

CHROMiX News

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

Since our last ColorNews, we have been very, very busy:

* CHROMiX has been selected to create the new GRACoL/SWOP G7 plate-curving and gray balancing software IDEALink Curve, we have been certified as a G7 Expert and we are also now able to qualify G7 Master Printers. More information below.

* For some time now, customers have asked for ColorThink training. Wait no longer! CHROMiX is now offering web-based training specifically for ColorThink Pro!! Steve Upton, designer and developer of the award-winning ColorThink & ColorThink Pro software, will personally conduct the training. The WebEx class will consist of one two-hour session, and one one-hour session. The first two hours will cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, to be held at a later date to allow for student experimentation beforehand, will cover advanced concepts and questions. All you need is a current browser and ColorThink Pro. The price for the training is $450. If you don't have ColorThink Pro, the above training plus ColorThink Pro is $725 (new version), or $625 (upgrade from ColorThink standard version). For more information or to register, call Sales at 866-CHROMiX x1 or email sales(at)chromix.com.

* ColorThink Pro was released in December and is doing well. There is a bug-fix beta (3.0.1) now available. You will need to download and install the full version of Pro before using the beta, as this beta package does not contain the entire installation. Also, beta versions do not run in Demo mode.

* Looking for an older version of ColorThink? You will now be able to find select past versions of ColorThink and ColorThink Pro in a new area titled: 'Older Versions' on the ColorThink page (catchy title, huh?). Currently we have ColorThink v2.1.2 posted. Click here

* CHROMiX would like to officially welcome Pat Herold to our team. Pat manages our technical support and profile production, and comes to us with a long history of color QA experience. We're glad to you have with us!

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

The International Digital Enterprise Alliance (IDEAlliance) announced that leading color management and on-press consultants have been certified as GRACoL Experts. According to Don Hutcheson, Chair of the GRACoL Committee and President of Hutcheson Consulting, "The G7 methodology is not an attempt to create new standards, but a way of utilizing existing ISO (International Standards Organization) Standards in a more efficient and effective way. The G7 methodology is revolutionary because it is the first specification designed to reliably and efficiently match the visual appearance of multiple devices by defining gray balance and NPDC (neutral print density curves) instead of the traditional method of measuring TVI (dot gain) for each color." For more : Click here

In 2003 the International Color Consortium (ICC) and Technical Committee 130 (TC130) of the ISO entered into a cooperative agreement through which specifications initiated or developed by the ICC could be jointly pursued and put forward as International Standards by TC130 and the ICC. This agreement provides for simultaneous publication and distribution by both groups. The first International Standard Profile Specification developed under this agreement was published as ISO 15076-1:2005. This International Standard provides both a cross-platform device profile format and a color management system architecture defined by the ICC. Such device profiles can be used to translate color data created on one device into another device's native color space. The acceptance of this format by operating system vendors allows end users to transparently move profiles, and images with embedded profiles, between different operating systems. The availability of this document as an International Standard facilitates its use in many venues, such as the widely used family of PDF/X file exchange standards, and the newly published International Standard for variable data printing.

IDEAlliance also announced a cooperative effort with other members of the ISO TC130 community to propose a unified international characterization data set for commercial offset printing. For more: Click here

EIZO has a White Paper available on the subject of 'Uniformity Compensation' regarding new technology available in the ColorEdge CG221, due out in early August. The new CG221 has sophisticated Uniformity Regulation & Control algorithm technology to reduce uniformity disparities across the screen face. The CG221 will be replacing the ColorEdge CG220 at or near the same price. The white paper is at Click here

EFI announced End of Life Support for ColorProof v5 end-users as of June 1st, 2006. ColorProof v5, a transition product from BestColor ColorProof to EFI Colorproof, was officially discontinued by EFI December 31, 2005. EFI is transitioning its customer base to Colorproof XF, a more enhanced and more modular product line. The current cost to upgrade from ColorProof v5 to EFI Colorproof XF 3.0 is $1200 per license, but we have heard rumors of an imminent price increase.

EFI Colorproof XF versions now incorporate 3D Optimizer, a new easy-to-use tool that optimizes printer output to a specific reference, whether it be a printing press or other output printer. Optimizer supports the Gretag Macbeth Eye-One iO automated measurement device, providing fast, accurate reading of test charts. It also supports the linearization tool of the basic Colorproof XF package, the Color Manager Option, and the Color Verifier Option. Colorproof XF can also process six-color input and simulation profiles. The Color Manager Option, now available for Mac OS X, further enhances RGB workflows for photographic applications, and allows the creation of device link profiles based on up to three different ICC profiles. Also new in the Color Manager Option is support for multi-color profiles for inkjet printers (i.e.: CMYK + orange + green).

DuPont recently selected GretagMacbeth's Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer as the color measurement instrument of choice for its new digital proofing and UV Cure printing system, DuPont Cromalin Largo and DuPont Cromaprint 22UV. DuPont currently embeds the Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer into the Cromalin b series and new Cromalin blue proofing solutions to enable automated robotic calibration for color measurement and accuracy. DuPont also uses the Eye-One device in it's iCertification product, which does local & remote proofing color verification.

TrendWatch Graphic Arts recently released a special report, "Proofing: The Customer is Always Right?Right?". Earlier versions of this study suggested that online and/or PDF-based proofing would start displacing halftone dot-based proofing methods. The current update shows how those trends are starting to reach their logical conclusion. The 150-page report ($995) and other TWGA reports are available for online purchase at the TWGA eStore in PDF format: Trend watch graphic arts or by phone at 66-873-6310.

GretagMacbeth released Eye-One Match v3.6 software, which updates the software for current Eye-One device usage. Match can be downloaded at Click here

Adobe updated Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop CS2 and Photoshop Elements (3.0 & 4.0), which extends Raw file support to eight additional digital camera models, including Canon, Epson, Leaf, Olympus, Pentax and Samsung.

The Rob Galbraith Photography Forum has been sold to new owners and will be fee based. It is now called the Pro Photo Community and registration is at http://www.prophotocommunity.com/. For more information from Rob on this transition go to Click here

Apago announced an upgrade to their Cluster Workflow 2.0, an innovative network server solution for creating reliable and highly scalable workflows for prepress, printers, and magazine and newspaper publishers. Featuring sophisticated scheduling capabilities and fault tolerance, this system maximizes the available computing resources of a networked collection, or cluster, of servers. Combined with workflow production application modules that perform common prepress tasks--such as PDF distilling, ripping, file conversion, preflighting and correction, document assembly, ICC color management, cropping, and repurposing--Cluster Workflow helps users eliminate real-world production bottlenecks.

Epson has selected GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker v5 to develop and distribute premium ICC profiles for the Epson Stylus Photo R800 printer. The Epson R800 printer uses eight individual ink cartridges to create archival quality glossy and matte photo prints. The new premium ICC profiles are available for download at: Click here

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SHOWS & EVENTS

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

June 20, 2006, The initial meeting of the Seattle chapter of the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group took place last Tuesday with CHROMiX, Eizo, Apple, Adobe, and other vendors in attendance. If you missed it, be sure to keep an eye on the following link for notification of the next meeting. Click here

June 27-30, 2006, The InDesign Conference is being held in London June 27-30, and in Stockholm October 3-4, 2006. Join the leading InDesign experts, developers and authors for 3 days of InDesign focused information. The InDesign Master Class Conference will be in Seattle November 6-8.
London: Click here
Stockholm: Click here
Seattle: Click here

July 30 - August 3, 2006, SIGGRAPH 2006 will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center; GRAPHITE 2006 will be held November 29-December 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ACM SIGGRAPH is dedicated to the generation and dissemination of information on computer graphics and interactive techniques.
Boston: Click here
Kuala Lumpur: Click here

September 7-9, 2006, Photoshop World, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV. This conference brings together photographers, designers, artists, educators, motion graphics designers, and Photoshop users of every kind for a three-day Photoshop love fest of training, learning, and fun. Click here

December 3-5, 2006, The GATF/PIA Color Management Conference. This is the largest and best conference dedicated to managing color in photo, production and print. Keep an eye on this link for more information: Click here

January 7 - 13, 2007, Macworld Conference and Expo, San Francisco, CA. The definitive show for Mac everything. Click here

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

Standard, Spec or Method: The ins and outs of GRACoL 7 and G7 by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

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

Perhaps I've spent too much time gazing at color in three dimensions, but I continue to think of color and color concepts in relation to the 3D color wheel from early school days, and in relation to the 3D color gamuts of more recent ICC profiles and the devices they represent. One of the first things I notice about a 3D gamut is the central peak, which represents the paper white in a print profile and, to me, resembles the peak of a tent. Click here

If the white point of a printer's paper represents the peak of a tent, then the neutrals - grays flowing from black up to paper white - are the tent pole holding the whole color structure up. It is interesting to find that human color perception follows this analogy closely. The eye adapts quickly to the most dominant white in a scene - paper, in the case of printing - and the other colors "fall out" relative to this white. Only slightly less important than white, however is gray. The neutrals in a scene are also an important perceptual reference that our visual system uses to help 'position' the relative saturation of other colors.

Indeed, basic image correction techniques involve first adjusting where the white and black points of an image should lie (the footing and angle of the tent pole), and then click-balancing a known-gray element in the image. This pulls the tent pole tight and true, and is often 95% of the correction any image requires. I never cease to get gasps of amazement from the digitally inexperienced when I perform these three simple operations on a seemingly dead image, and it springs to life with a new depth and breadth of color, and, in many cases, it's all the correction the image needs.

Our pro photographer customers, aware of this important color relationship, often apply this principle as a stress test to a color system by first printing a grayscale image. They correctly realize that if the color printer is incapable of handling the first three important parts of image reproduction, then they needn't bother testing its color output. Why bother venturing into a tent that appears ready to topple over at any moment?

So what does this have to do with press output and printing standards? Well, we gray balance cameras, we gray balance monitors, and we gray balance images. Should it not follow that we could gray balance presses? Naturally. Does this mean it hasn't been done up to now? No, gray balancing presses has been done for many years - but differing methods have been used, and some print standards have been based on systems that were not necessarily gray balanced.

So what's different today? In a word, CTP.

Computer-to-plate imaging, the ability to create a printing plate directly from a digital file, has opened up new frontiers in print control. Once printers realized that their new plate making system could be curved to reduce or even eliminate dot gain on press, all sorts of different printing methods ensued. Unfortunately, it was not clear which was the best technique for plate control. Should printers follow the dot gain that their older film-to-plate systems produced? It certainly helped when reprinting older jobs. Should they reduce dot gain to zero? Should they shoot for somewhere in the middle?

When plate curving is combined with modern ICC profile-based color management, the decision is confused further. Profiles can compensate for a wide range of printing conditions so, in some ways, the curving decision is irrelevant once a profile is made for the press. But what if you don't want to profile each and every press condition? What if you receive files that have already been separated to CMYK? Then profiles may not be the solution to regulating press behavior. What do you do?

Wise people who have been considering this problem for some time now have observed that having presses run in their natural state makes for a more stable printing system and happier press operators. It would follow that whatever press condition is selected for a standard should follow the natural behavior of a well maintained press.

Printing experts realize that with the power and flexibility of CTP, we now have the ability to gray balance a press. Wouldn't it be nice to have a standard AND a methodology for press-friendly printing curves that were gray balanced? It would also make sense that the mid-tone gray level of both the black and combined CMY curves were measured for density and gray. This doesn't mean that monitoring solid ink density and TVI (dot gain) numbers should stop. They are important indicators of press behavior, and many diagnostic tools and techniques are based on using them as indicators. What should happen is a reprioritization of measurements' relative importance on press.

In simpler wording, if gray balance is so important in every other stage of imaging, and in color perception, it should be one of the most important things to aim for, and monitor, on press.

There is one massive side benefit of using this technique - press to press consistency. It turns out that gray balance and consistent tone curving is so important to image perception that a print job separated for one printing condition (say SWOP) will look VERY SIMILAR when printed using a different printing system (such as sheet fed GRACoL) when both presses have been gray balanced and toned using the same method. This is huge. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard printers say that profiles and color management can't help them with one of their everyday problems - that of CMYK being created before the paper, press, and even printing company has been chosen. What can we do to help them get their different presses looking as similar as possible so that they can survive the last minute decisions their clients continue to throw at them? The answer lies in gray balance and toning to a standard. (This does not remove the need to use profiles if printing conditions vary in certain important ways, such as ink colors)

This brings us to the topic of standard vs specification vs methodology.

Standard - a standard is a set of measurement aim points and tolerances to be used as an aim point and a means of exchanging data. Things become standards when standards bodies such as the ISO accept them and publish their numbers and methods. Two specific standards that affect printing in gray balance and toning are ISO-12647-2 and ISO-2846-1. I'll discuss these more later.

Specification - a specification is a body of numbers and methods that is put forth as a working technique and may be in line for submission to a standards body for acceptance as a standard. It often doesn't have the strict tolerances of a standard. Specifications we're familiar with in the print world include SWOP and GRACoL. Sometimes specifications are considered an implementation of a standard, where other implementations that use different techniques but also adhere to the standard may also exist.

Methodology - a methodology is, quite simply, a way of doing things. In the case of gray balancing and toning a press, the methodology I'm talking about in this article is called G7 (I bet you were wondering when I would finally get around to it).

So, G7 is NOT GRACoL, and GRACoL is NOT a standard. BUT, both G7 and GRACoL operate within the published tolerances of several ISO printing standards. The G7 gray-balance and toning technique can be applied to GRACoL, SWOP and other printing conditions. As it was formalized at the same time as GRACoL 7, it is often talked about in the same context and is sometimes confused with it. GRACoL 7 is due to be available electronically early 4th quarter of this year, with printed publication in January 2007. G7 is available NOW from the GRACoL website. (Sure it adds to the confusion but it's also the best place to put it for now.)

Make sense? I hope so. If not, please refer to the list of references I have gathered at the end of this article for further reading and reference.

So how does this all affect things? And how (in case you're curious) is CHROMiX involved?

Well, first, GRACoL 7 includes a set of press measurement data to be used to create profiles for sheetfed printing, which will be a considerable improvement over what's available today. Probably the most widely used sheedfed profiles are available in Photoshop and other Adobe software, and are actually based on the Matchprint proofing system rather than an actual press run. Good profiles based on actual press behavior are long overdue. CHROMiX will be creating a full set of profiles based on the beta data soon so stay tuned...

As the data are finalized, we will recreate the profiles from the final release data and update the profiles on our website. The profiles contain our new serial number and versioning tags, and you will be able to tell when yours need to be updated using upcoming software from CHROMiX... stay tuned on that one.

This data is also useful as a reference for evaluating the performance of proofing systems. For instance, it can be combined with profiles - or actual measurements - from your proofing system to illustrate how close your proofing system is to the standard and where its problems or deficiencies may lie. ColorThink Pro can be used for this purpose, and its ColorSmarts Guide includes a technique for just such a comparison.

Second, G7 really is as good as it sounds. There's an entire document describing the step-by step procedure for gray balancing your press or proofing system available on the GRACoL site. It describes a method using measurements and graph paper that determines the best curves for your CTP system. Which brings us to...

Third. CHROMiX has been chosen by IDEALiance, the umbrella organization for both GRACoL and SWOP and Don Hutcheson, the source of the current G7 technique and mathematics, to write a software package to streamline and simplify the application of the G7 method. This package is available this week and is called IDEALink Curve. IDEALiance is the reseller for the software here:

www.gracol.org/idealink/

And we are also selling it with our G7 bundle specials mentioned above.

Once again, I have produced a fairly lengthy article, but I felt it was necessary to cover the benefits, strategy and state of the new print capabilities that are emerging today. This is an exciting time for printing in the US, and other markets, as we color geeks finally have a standard and method that works well with color management which also actually creates many benefits for the press room.

The truth is, there's more to cover on G7 and GRACoL, but it will have to wait for a future article. If you want to discuss it, feel free to pose questions and offer opinions in the Print & Press forum on ColorForums.com. Colorforums

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton CHROMiX

References:

GRACoL: www.gracol.org G7 Process: www.gracol.org SWOP: www.swop.org IDEAlliance: www.idealliance.org ISO: www.iso.org

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link: Click here

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at colornews(at)CHROMiX.com. Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.

To subscribe, emailcolornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2006 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. --

--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #24 - How Do I Get My Printer to Match My Screen?

SmartNote: 50020
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We strive for a periodic newsletter of high value to our customers. Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue #24
Oct 20th, 2006

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

Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News
3. Color Industry News
4. How Do I Get My Printer to Match My Screen?
- an article by CHROMiX's Tech Guru Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

October 15th - 18th, 2006, NAPL GraphEXPO and Converting Expo 2006 USA, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. Regarded as the USA's most comprehensive prepress, printing, converting, and digital equipment trade show and conference, it is estimated that over 40,000 industry professionals will attend this event. Click here

November 2nd - 4th, 2006, PhotoPlus Expo, Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. This show has become the premiere event for professional photography. Click here

November 6th - 8th, AdTech, New York Hilton, New York, NY. This is an advertising and technology conference focusing on brand marketing. Click here

December 3rd -5th, 2006, GATF/PIA Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. This is the largest and best conference dedicated to color management in photography, design, production, and print.
Click here

December 7th, 2006, Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, 'Color Management of InDesign CS2'. The featured speaker, back by popular demand, is Steve Laskevitch; 6:30 to 9:00 PM, The Oregonian Conference Center, Portland, OR.
Click here

January 7 - 13, 2007, MacWorld Conference and Expo, San Francisco, CA. THE show for everything Mac.
Click here


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

CHROMiX News

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

ColorValet Client

CHROMiX announces the release of ColorValet Client, the first free downloadable software to simplify remote printer profiling. ColorValet Client automates printing the target and download of the custom profile when available. Simply download the software, follow the instructions for printing the target, and send the target to CHROMiX. CHROMiX then creates a high-quality profile, which the Client software automatically downloads and installs in the proper location on the customer's computer, ready to use with every application, printer driver, and RIP that supports profiles. CHROMiX stores user's profiles in a secure private area on their servers so they are available for download at any time. Check it out:
Click here

PANTONE has partnered with CHROMiX to make ColorValet Client available to Pantone customers worldwide. For more details see
Click here for CMM webcast
or Click here for Macsimum news article

ColorWiki

CHROMiX is excited to introduce ColorWiki.com, the first open-source, open-forum wiki devoted exclusively to color management information. With ColorWiki, you can find information about color management topics and tools, and contribute your own knowledge to help develop this open, cooperative community whose focus is to further public knowledge of color management. We also have a unique setup in that some articles are 'reserved'. These articles retain their copyright and are not editable by general wiki users. While this may seem restrictive, it allows us to publish articles of many different types such as manuals, technical articles, papers, etc. So if you have an article you would like published, please let us know. We hope you enjoy it and find it useful!
www.colorwiki.com

ColorThink Pro Manual on ColorWiki

Which brings us to - the ColorThink Pro Users Manual is now officially available! We have included it as part of the ColorWiki site, and invite all ColorThink Pro users to help update and add to this dynamic manual as you find new uses for the software. We have been working on this idea for quite a while, and hope you like it as much as we do! Let us know what you think:
ColorThink manual

Our ColorThink Pro WebEx Training Classes have been highly successful, judging from the feedback we have received. The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $625, which includes an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and the Webex training; $725 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program; or $450 for the Webex class only. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email sales(at)chromix.com.

ColorThink Pro has a new beta release (3.0.1b7) now available on the ColorThink Downloads page. Most issues reported to us from previous versions have been addressed in this version.
ColorThink downloads page


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

X-Rite has begun the consolidation of product lines acquired in the purchase of GretagMacbeth.

Here's a current list of discontinued products with their last-available dates.:

October 1, 2006 - X-Rite ATS, ATD, ATS Pub and ATD News.
November 1, 2006 - SpectroMat/iCPrint Portfolio, SpectroMat, SpectroMat with iCPrint.
December 1, 2006 - Monaco Optix XR, Monaco Optix XR Pro and the Pulse ColorElite.
December 31, 2006 - QUIKDens 200, DensiEye 750, D19C, iCFilm, Spectrolino/SpectroScan.

X-rite says they will continue to support all of these products for seven years, or until the hardware becomes obsolete.

Also from X-rite, the Eye-One iSis automated chart reader, possible successor to the DTP-70, is expected to be released by year-end. The instrument automatically adjusts for misalignments during chart feeding, can feed a chart without pressing any buttons, and, once chart feeding begins, the measurement procedure starts automatically. With two sizes available, the larger version, the A3+, allows for more than 2,500 patches to be printed on one A3 page, with no cutting necessary for A3 papers. The A3+ version also allows long charts to be measured without cutting (optimal for large format printing). Because the iSis has LED technology for the illumination, no lamp replacements are required. A UV Cut feature will be available as well.

Eizo announces the ColorEdge CG-211 and CG-211-N, carrying on the ColorEdge tradition of cutting-edge advancements. These new models, the replacements for the popular CG-210) are expected to be available by year- end. The new models have the same excellent panels, components and precision as the old one, and now includes an integrated circuit to control uniform color and brightness across the screen (a Uniformity Regulator). The addition of this regulator is the icing on the cake for an already fabulous monitor. For more product information, see Eizo.com
or Chromix.com

Epson officially announced the new Stylus Pro 3800 at Photokina in Germany. Smaller and lighter than the Stylus 4800, the 3800 prints to 17" wide format, has 9 inks, and employs the UltraChrome K3 pigment ink-set. Expected street price is $1299 for the standard unit, and around $1500 for the Pro Edition (includes ColorBurst RIP). We think this printer will be a high volume winner. Due out in December, but don't expect any until January. Check it out: Click here

Hewlett Packard has announced a ground-breaking closed-loop proofing solution called the HP DesignJet Z Photo Printer Series. The Z Series boasts accurate proofs quickly and easily whether you're familiar with color management or not, and includes an embedded Eye-One Pro spectrophotometer, Adobe Lightroom, and your choice of RIPs. This unique printer line, available in two models, Z2100 and Z3100, both in 24" and 44" sizes, provides the ability to automate calibration, linearization and ICC profiling with HP Automated Closed-Loop Color Calibration. According to a reliable source who looked closely at this solution at Photokina, this thing is for real and only takes minutes to auto calibrate and then have a highly accurate simulation proof match.
For more: Click here

Apple released Aperture v1.5 ($299) at Photokina, Cologne, Germany September 25th. Among the many new features is an export API that extends the Aperture workflow to third party applications and services. These plug-ins include a wide range of printing, publishing and storage workflows that take advantage of this new architecture. New plug-ins are also available from Getty Images, iStockphoto, Pictage, Flickr, PhotoShelter, DigitalFusion, Soundslides and Connected Flow. Several new adjustment tools are also included. For more:
Click here

GRACoL News:
If you haven't downloaded and read the document 'Calibrating, Printing and Proofing by the G7 Method' yet, you should. This free 56-page document is packed full of essential information.
Click here (PDF)

IDEAlliance has both the characterization data set and the digital proofing form for both SWOP and GRACoL available for download.
Click here

CHROMiX, a certified G7 expert, was selected to work with IDEAlliance and Don Hutcheson to create the new GRACoL/SWOP G7 plate-curving and gray balancing software called 'IDEALink Curve'.
Click here

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

This Month's Feature Article

How Do I Get My Printer To Match My Screen?

by Pat Herold, CHROMiX's Tech Guru

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

I get to hear first hand what many of you are struggling with when you call for help, so I thought I'd answer a question we often hear: getting your monitor to match your printer.

(Wait a minute. Wasn't there a ColorNews article on this topic a long time ago? Well, yes. Issue #2 of CHROMiX ColorNews from April of 2001 was on the topic of "Screen to Print Matching." However, in our daily business of answering customers' questions here, a shift has occurred in the past 5 years. You may not have noticed, but a lot has changed in the digital world in the past 5 years.)

In the past, a fair number of the people interested in color management were involved in the press industry, digital photofinishing, and maybe on the cutting edge of digital camera development. These days we've seen a great increase in the number of digital photographers out there. There is a steady stream of photographers who migrate over to digital, only to find themselves scratching their heads over how to achieve these stunning results (in color control) they keep hearing about.

A lot of times, a newbie will have picked up a few pieces of the puzzle, but won't have the whole picture put together.

"I just bought a new $1000 monitor; why doesn't my screen match my prints?"
or
"I just bought a new printer; why doesn't my screen match my prints?"

So I have in mind the private photographer who is working in Adobe Photoshop to get his on-screen image to match his inkjet printer. You veterans of color management may find this article to be something of a review, but I'd bet you know someone who needs to understand this topic, and you could hand this on to them. Plus, I'd like to put a special emphasis on soft-proofing, a sometimes forgotten and-often times misunderstood aspect of this process.

_________________

There are at least five items needed to match a digital image from a computer screen to an inkjet printer.

- A properly calibrated monitor
- A properly applied printer profile
- Soft proofing procedure
- Lighting
- Eyes and a brain.

THE MONITOR

Usually the best place to start in getting a color-managed workflow is with the monitor. In the old days a CRT monitor would come from the factory with its RGB color guns blasting at full force. This would result in a white point of somewhere around 9300 degrees Kelvin which looked very blue. Out of the box, modern LCD monitors make at least a reasonable attempt to have their back-lights put out something close to daylight color. On my desk I have a nice LaCie 321 with a very respectable white point of about 6100, and next to it, a bargain-basement LCD with a native white point of almost 7000 - rather blue.
We don't often notice when a monitor is off-color because our eyes have a way of automatically adjusting to whatever color shift they see. But we want the monitor to be more dependably white. What the sun gives us in normal daylight is around 5000 Kelvin, which is what is normally assumed in a printer profile. 6500 Kelvin is a happy medium that is usually recommended for computer monitors to simulate normal white. Some people end up choosing a point between 6500 - 6000 or less to get a white that works in their workflow, but the recommended starting point is 6500 Kelvin.

=== How to Calibrate the Monitor ===

Adobe Photoshop comes with a small utility called Adobe Gamma that can be used to adjust your monitor "by eye" in order to get close to the correct color and brightness/contrast. On Mac systems you also have the Display Calibrator Assistant. Of course, these methods are "by eye" and, as I said already, our eyes have a way of "white-balancing" themselves to whatever colored light is prevalent. So our eyes can be fooled, and it is best to depend on something that will give you a dependable, consistent correction of your monitor's peculiarities: a colorimeter.

Variously referred to as a "puck," a "spider", a "thing that hangs on the screen" - these colorimeters have come up in quality and down in price enough so that they are attainable for the serious photographer. A colorimeter is a hardware device that will allow you to calibrate and profile your monitor so that the white point and every color point along the spectrum is consistently and dependably adjusted to be where it should be. These can be purchased from a number of reputable vendors, including CHROMiX.

The procedure is similar with most modern colorimeters:
- Install the software & plug the colorimeter into a USB port on your computer
- Launch the software and run through the procedures given.
- Place the colorimeter on the surface of the monitor.
- The software presents colored patches for the colorimeter to read. It compares the colors given to the measurements received at the colorimeter.
- The video card in the computer is changed to produce the desired colors on the monitor.
- An ICC profile is created which the computer operating system and image manipulating applications (like Photoshop) can use to properly represent color to the viewer.

Now you have your monitor all adjusted and giving you an accurate presentation of what your digital image "really looks like" - at least as far as your monitor is capable of producing it.


THE PRINTER

Your inkjet printer will print colors differently than will your neighbor's printer - just as your toaster will toast bread differently than your neighbor's toaster. An ICC color printer profile will characterize how a printer handles color, and makes it possible for color input from all different situations to be handled intelligently when it gets printed.

=== "Canned" profiles ===

Each printer driver comes with ICC color profiles that are specifically designed for the papers that the printer manufacturer sells. For example: An Epson printer will come with profiles like "Epson Premium Luster". These are designed to correctly print color onto this same kind of paper in your printer. If you are printing with Epson Premium Luster paper, then you would choose this profile when you print.

If you are printing on other brands of paper, you will find there are few profiles supplied for alternate media and, since they are "generic", you may not get the perfect color you are looking for. Also, there can be minor differences in consistency between different printers even if they are of the same model. So, even with manufacturer-supplied profiles with manufacturer paper, a precise color match might not be achievable.

=== Custom Profiles ===

Custom profiles are made specifically for one printer, with one ink set, with one paper type (and one lighting condition). These present the highest level of accuracy that can be achieved with printer profiles.

Software and hardware packages are available whereby users can print up their own profiling targets, measure them, and create these custom profiles themselves. These packages usually include software that generates ICC profiles, and a spectrophotometer that is capable of reading reflective measurements. The cost of these packages runs from $600 to several thousand dollars depending on quality and extent of features.

As an alternative to "doing it yourself" there are service providers who supply custom printer profiles over the web. There is a cost advantage to using a service provider, especially if you only need a small number of profiles. In addition, many people find that allowing a service provider to do their profiling makes life simpler for them. Finally, it is possible to get a better profile from a competent profiling service than one can make oneself - without investing in several thousand dollar's worth of equipment.

The usual procedure is:
- Download instructions and a profiling target image.
- Print the profiling target image on your printer, following very specific instructions.
- Mail the target print into the profiling service.
- The service provider measures the target using their spectrophotometric equipment
- The service provider uses the target measurement to create the profile, and emails the profile back to the customer.

=== RGB or CMYK ===

It is useful to know whether your printer will be considered an RGB device or a CMYK device. This cannot be determined merely by reading the color names of the print cartridges, or by counting the cartridges. Most inkjet printers will use at least four standard inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black - yet most inkjet printers will need to be profiled as RGB devices. Generally, if a driver is used to submit images directly to the printer, then it should be profiled as an RGB device. If you are printing through a RIP, then you might be looking at a true CMYK process. CHROMiX provides a test image which you can print and use to determine which arrangement you have.

=== ColorValet Client ===

CHROMiX has just created a new service which makes this process even easier. Our ColorValet service now features a "Client" application that you can download onto your computer. The Client walks you through target printing and shipping, and even the profile installation process once we've finished the measurement! It's easy and fun and almost impossible to make a mistake! (Steve keeps a proper reserve when writing ColorNews articles and holds back on promoting CHROMiX services, but I HAVE NO SUCH COMPUNCTION!)

Here are important points to watch for when printing your profiling target:

- The printer must be in top working order when printing the target.
- Ensure that there is sufficient ink to complete printing.
- Ensure that all nozzles are working perfectly (Do a nozzle check and nozzle cleaning if necessary.)
- Ensure that the target does not get bent or creased when delivering to the profiling service.
- Any printing irregularities (dust spots, streaking) which change the density or color of the colored patches will affect the measurement of the target.
- Targets must have NO COLOR MANAGEMENT: Ensure that the target image is not converted to a working space when it is opened in Photoshop. At the "File > Print with Preview" dialog box, choose "Document" in the Print region, and choose "No Color Management" in the Options region. In the printer driver, navigate into the 'Custom' or 'Advanced' section of the driver and turn all color management off.

Before you send it, inspect your target for any type of imperfection. A quick review and, if necessary, reprint at this point in the process could save lots of time and effort, and get your color matching issues resolved that much more quickly.

OK. I have a custom ICC printer profile. Now what?

WHERE TO PUT IT:

Windows

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\DRIVERS\COLOR

Macintosh
Your ICC printer profile can be placed in several locations:

If you want system-wide access to the profile (i.e. all users), it belongs in

HD>Library>ColorSync>Profiles

If you would prefer to make your profiles available only to one user,

User>Library>ColorSync>Profiles


HOW TO PRINT WITH YOUR PROFILE

When you are ready to print your image in Photoshop, you will:
- Open it in Photoshop
- Go to File, Print with Preview
- Under "Color Handling", choose "Let Photoshop determine colors"
- Choose your new printer profile
- Choose your rendering intent (usually relative colorimetric or perceptual)
- Click print
- Ensure that any color management is still off in the printer driver

You want the conversion to the printer profile to happen in only one place. And Photoshop is the most dependable place around.


SOFT PROOFING

You've got a monitor profile for your recently-calibrated monitor. You also now have a well-made printer profile that you are printing through. Your profiled monitor is presenting to you your image as accurately as it can, given the limitations of the color gamut of the monitor. Your printer profile is printing your image in an intelligent way so that it looks as good as it can, given your intents, and given the limitations of the printer. Anybody see what's missing? Monitors are capable of showing colors that printers cannot print (like saturated reds, blues and greens.) And printers can produce colors that are out-of-gamut for most monitors (like some cyans.) Soft-Proofing allows you to look at your image in Photoshop THROUGH the printer profile, so you can see what your image will look like when it gets printed through the profile.

- Open the image in Photoshop
- Choose "View: Proof Setup->Custom"
- Profile: Select your new, custom profile
- Intent: Perceptual or Relative Colorimetric (whichever you used to make the print)
- Use Black Point Compensation: checked
- Simulate: Paper White (unchecked), Ink Black (checked)
- Leave "Preserve Color Numbers" UNchecked (in most cases - see below)
- Click OK

The monitor now shows what the image will look like when it gets printed, with all the limitations and color adjustments that the printer and its profile will accomplish. This "soft-proof" should match fairly closely to what gets printed through the same profile.

You can also save this whole setup as a "proof setup file" with a name you choose, so you can quickly view an image through this soft-proof any time you want to see what your image will look like when printed.
_____

No ColorNews article is ever complete without a little bit of Geek Talk, so let's talk about the "Preserve RGB/CMYK Numbers" check box. (In pre-CS2 versions of Photoshop this is just the "Preserve Color Numbers" box.)

Some of you will want a printer profile to print through when you are printing. I'm thinking of a professional photographer who has an inkjet printer connected to your computer directly. You are doing this soft-proofing so you can see what your image will look like after you go to the Print with Preview window and print your photo using the custom profile. When you are at this proof setup stage, you will want to leave the Preserve numbers box UNchecked. You don't want Photoshop to keep the numbers that make up your colors the same. You want them to change; you expect the color numbers to change because you are sending the image through a profile, and that's what a profile does - it changes the color numbers to something else.

Some of you will want to use a printer profile to merely view what a printing system is going to do when you hand off your image to it. I'm thinking of a press operator who is going to send something through your press, or a minilab operator who has made a profile of their Fuji Frontier, or just a photographer who is going to send his image to a lab to be printed. In this case, you have a printer profile (perhaps supplied to you by the out lab, or a custom profile made by someone like CHROMiX for your Frontier) and you are going to hand over your image to this printing system, and no profile conversion is going to happen downstream from where you are. In this case, you would CHECK the Preserve RGB/CMYK Numbers checkbox, and Photoshop will display what that printing system will do to your image when you hand it straight over (without converting to that profile.) With this box checked, you ARE going to keep the device numbers that make up your color the same, and then hand it over to the downstream printing process, and that printing process is going to do whatever it will to your image. The profile you are using has captured that effect, and you are bringing that profile to bear to display what that downstream effect is going to have on your image. Have I said this enough times? I try to say the same things in different ways in the hopes that one of them will make sense!
____

Still doesn't match? Here are some finer points to consider:


LIGHTING

This is not really a minor point, but it is one that many overlook easily. An image displayed on a monitor that is balanced to a daylight white point cannot be expected to match a print viewed under normal household lighting conditions. You can't hold your print under your 65 watt GE table lamp and expect it to look like your calibrated monitor. And you can't trust your eyes to tell you what light sources are "white". (Yipes! Who can you trust?!) Many colorimeters have software that will allow you to take ambient light measurements. Look into getting some form of daylight-balanced lighting.

Issue #5 of the ColorNews newsletter deals with metamerism and lighting in great detail.
Metamerism
Color management myths

===The White Paper Test===

Open a blank image in Photoshop (with a white background) and hold up a sheet of your printing paper. If the white of the screen does not match the white of the paper, you will not have success getting the actual monitor image to match the print. You can change your lighting to match the monitor, or you can adjust your monitor to match your lighting. It is easier to do the latter, but it is more proper to do the former.

EYES AND A BRAIN (perception)

I'm actually not trying to be insulting. I just want us to keep in mind that color is not a THING, but the result of a PROCESS of perception - and a rather complicated process at that. Light from the sun shines on an object. The light that is NOT absorbed by the object bounces off of it and enters the eye, and the eye INTERPRETS that visual signal in the brain as a certain color.

If you have waded through all the above and something is still not matching, then (how do I say this diplomatically) you might want to consider whether you are falling victim to one of many common optical illusions. Maybe your brain is playing tricks on you.

We underestimate how easily our eyes can be fooled. Our eyes adjust to the available illuminant, so you can think you are looking at something of neutral color that actually is not. Our eyes are very good at noticing the subtlest change in color when two samples are viewed side by side, but we don't have a very good memory for color. We can't really remember what particular shade of color was on a flower we shot yesterday, and then successfully compare it to the picture we're looking at today.

Even the colors in our environment (the color of the walls, etc.) will affect how we perceive what we're looking at. People who are serious about accurate color perception go to the point of painting the walls gray, and wearing gray lab coats over regular clothing, when making decisions about images. (They probably are not much fun at office parties, but I'm sure their mothers love them.)

Also, when we are used to looking at a favorite picture and seeing it a certain color, we notice any change and tend to think that the change is "wrong". Consider the possibility that what you have gotten used to is wrong, and now what you are looking at is right for the first time. This is a tough thing for a lot of people to believe. "Seeing is believing," right?

At CHROMiX we like to collect examples of optical illusions. Here is a link to a website that features many interesting optical illusions concerning our color perception.

Click here

Hopefully this shake your confidence in believing everything you see.

If you are still thinking that YOUR eyes aren't susceptible to these kinds of illusions, here is an excellent example of an optical illusion from our ColorWiki:

Optical illusion

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, the dots will remain only one color, pink.
However if you stare at the black "+" in the center, the moving dot turns to green.
Now, concentrate on the black "+" in the center of the picture. After a short period, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see only a single green dot rotating.
It's amazing how our brain works. There really is no green dot, and the pink ones really don't disappear.


=== Test image ===

Use a neutral test image. And by neutral I mean an image with known neutral colors (this can be verified using the eye dropper in Photoshop and reading 128, 128,128, for example). We like to use the Fuji Test image because it has a wide variety of saturations & image scenes - and the background behind the pitchers in the Fuji Test image is truly neutral. You can find other test images on the home page of the ColorWiki.

Test images


STILL DOESN'T MATCH???
(Well, I hope you figure it out soon.... this newsletter's getting too long!)


=== Rendering intent mis-match ===

Are you printing with the same rendering intent that you are using to soft-proof?

=== Is the color within your device's ability to reproduce? ===

Due to gamut differences between your image, monitor and printer, colors on the monitor may not be printable (e.g., saturated blues, greens and reds), and colors not visible on the monitor may appear on the print (often cyans).

=== Profiling workflow vs. production workflow ===

When monitors and printers are not matching, the cause is frequently traced to some change between how the profiling target was printed, and how the regular production work is now being printed with the profile. Ideally, these two paths should be identical - except, of course, for the fact that while printing the target NO color management is used, and during production color management IS used in one (and only one) place to convert the image using the profile as it goes to the printer. The profile captures the characteristics of a printing process at a certain place in time. If something has changed, then your color might have changed. Sometimes, all you can do at the end of the day is make a new profile.

Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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.

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For previous ColorNews articles follow this link: Click here

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2006 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #25 - Editing Profiles for Fun and Profit

SmartNote: 50021
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We strive for a periodic newsletter of high value to our customers. Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 25
Dec. 12th, 2006

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

Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News
3. Color Industry News
4. Editing Profiles for Fun and Profit
    - an article by CHROMiX's Tech Guru Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

January 7th - 13th, 2007, MacWorld Conference and Expo, San Francisco, CA. A SPECIAL TRIBUTE will be given by industry leaders to honor Bruce Fraser, co-author of Real World Color Management, and the Real World series. Bruce is regarded as the very best our industry has to offer and has made many significant contributions to this industry.
Click here

January 14th - 16th, 2007, Imaging USA, San Antonio, TX.
Click here

Feb. 28th - March 4th, 2007, Graphics of the Americas 2007 and Xplor Conference 2007 combine once again for one of the worlds largest events of its kind. The event is held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Florida. Xplor's vertical markets include banking/financial, insurance, service bureau, direct marketing, government, manufacturing, medical, manufacturing, utilities, and other Fortune 1000 companies. Graphics of the Americas attendees include thousands of commercial printers and graphics-oriented, creative professionals. Together, the target audience is expected to be over 22,000 CEO's, E-Doc, IT managers and executives and creative professionals from around the world. Click here

March 8th - 11th, 2007, PMA 07 International Photography Trade Show & Convention, Las Vegas. This event is undoubtedly the largest show for the photography market. Click here

September 9th - 12th, 2007, GraphEXPO and Converting Expo 2007 USA, Chicago. Regarded as the USA's most comprehensive prepress, printing, converting, and digital equipment trade show and conference, it is estimated that over 40,000 industry professionals will attend this event. Click here

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

CHROMiX News

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

CHROMiX had several exciting announcements at the recent PIA/GATF
Color Management Conference:

Introducing CHROMiX Maxwell

Attendees of this year's Color Management Conference in Phoenix were treated to a special announcement and sneak preview of Maxwell. Maxwell is a revolutionary new color management system based on a central web-enabled color repository. Imagine a system you can easily upload and download color measurements to for free*. On top of the color repository, Maxwell offers device trending, color profiling, profile sharing and measurement services. Built on a solid foundation of clustered web and database servers Maxwell imports and exports popular file formats and has a fantastic graphing engine for color analysis and device trending. No more dongles, no more color conversion problems, no more color coordination problems.

Maxwell will be available in the first quarter of 2007 by subscription and other plans. We will have referral, reseller, bundling and OEM opportunities available.

To attend a Webex presentation of Maxwell send an email to us here: maxwellintro(at)chromix.com


Maxwell to Create Windows Vista WCS Profiles

An industry first, CHROMiX Maxwell will create color profiles for Microsoft's new Vista operating system. Vista's WCS breaks new ground in color management but its profiles are a proprietary new format. Maxwell will create Vista WCS profiles for easy download and installation.


ColorWiki
ColorWiki is the first open-source, open-forum wiki devoted exclusively to color management information. With ColorWiki, you can find information about color management topics and tools, and contribute your own knowledge to help develop this open, cooperative community. We also have a unique setup in that some articles are 'reserved'. These articles retain their copyright and are not editable by general wiki users. While this may seem restrictive, it allows us to publish articles of many different types such as manuals, technical articles, papers, etc. So if you have an article you would like published, please let us know. It's also a great place to publish Product User Manuals and, in fact we have published the ColorThink and ColorThink Pro User Manuals here. We hope you find it useful!
ColorWiki.com

The next ColorThink Pro WebEx Training session will be Wednesday, December 13th. This is your last chance to take advantage of this fabulous $299 deal. The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $625, which includes an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and the Webex training; $725 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program; or $450 for the Webex class only ($299 SPECIAL Price until 12/31). For more information or to
register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email sales(at)chromix.com.


* some limitations apply

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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


Integrated-Color showed the newest version of their ColorEyes monitor calibration software at the PIA/GATF Conference last week: ColorEyes Pro v1.0. The user interface has been completely redesigned and functions mostly from one main screen. It's much easier to navigate than previous versions, and you'll find the 'Easy' and 'Advanced' modes on the same main screen. 'Native Gamma' has been added as an option, and includes their L* technology. New 'Black Point Target' options have been added to accommodate a wider variety of monitors. CHROMiX tested ColorEyes Pro and found it works very well and is one of the best products on the market right now. Only the Mac version is available at this time, with the PC version expected soon. Upgrades and policies for upgrading information will be forthcoming soon as
well.

X-rite expects to ship the Eye-One iSis by year-end. The iSis is an automated chart reader and possible successor to the DTP-70. The instrument automatically adjusts for misalignments during chart feeding, can feed a chart without pressing any buttons and, once chart feeding begins, the measurement procedure starts automatically. With two sizes available, the larger version, the A3+, allows for more than 2,500 patches to be printed on one A3 page, with no cutting necessary for A3 papers. The A3+ version also allows long charts to be measured without cutting (optimal for large format printing). Because the iSis has LED technology for illumination, no lamp
replacements are required. A UV Cut feature will be available.

GTI has introduced a new family of Professional Desktop Viewers, the e-series. These new models feature improved light evenness, larger viewing area, improved visual appearance, a new larger 23" x 25" size, and all models can be folded easily for transport or storage. In addition to the PDV introduction, GTI has developed a series of
large format viewing for press room soft proofing.

ColorBurst announced a new version called X-Proof PLUS. Expected to ship around mid-January 2007 for an additional $300 above the standard pricing, X-Proof PLUS touts the following additional new features: Job Titles, Print Certification Target, Standard and Customizable Color Bars, Custom Spot Color Library, and Spot Color Functionality. ColorBurst also announced added features for X-Photo and X-Proof, including added support for most common spectrophotometer devices, L*A*B based linearization (Chroma, the former method will still be available as a feature), new ink limiting features, GRACoL/SWOP certification, and an updated PostScript
interpreter.

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

This Month's Feature Article

Editing Profiles for Fun and Profit

by Pat Herold, CHROMiX's Tech Guru

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


The first thing we usually ask when a client announces that they would like to edit a profile is: "Now, why would you want to go and
do a thing like that?"

The rule of thumb around CHROMiX is that if there's something wrong with a profile that requires an edit, then there was probably something wrong with the creation of the profile. Profiling software is quite advanced these days, and you generally don't find it making bad profiles when it is given good measurement data. So we will gently guide the user back to making sure the basics were covered when the profile was created. It is worthwhile to reprint the target and remeasure. Once in a while, an edit is necessary to adjust a profile that is not performing accurately, but it is the
exception to the rule.

Now that I've got that warning out of the way, let's do an abrupt about-face and get excited about editing!

Steve Upton's article on Profile Editing from the ColorNews issue No. 3 presents a good overview of what features to look for, and is a great place to start learning about editing. The balance of this article will explore some practical ways that output profile editing
can help you do more with already good profiles.

Three of our more popular editors are...

1. Kodak Colorflow Custom Color Tools.

Try saying that three times quickly. Kodak is the manufacturer, "Colorflow" is the name of the family of products, and "Custom Color Tools" is the name of the actual profile editor. This product is gaining a lot of popularity among professional photographers because it operates as a Photoshop plug-in. You edit a profile by importing an image into Photoshop, altering the colors using the more common Photoshop image adjustment tools, and then you merely export your changes as a new profile. If you are familiar with Photoshop, this gives you an interface that is pretty comfortable and can do just about anything you could want. You can't do anything too esoteric, like altering a specific color in a specific place in your image, and expect that transformation to be included in the edit. But pretty much anything that can be done to alter the color in the entire image
can be made into a profile edit.

What's more, Custom Color Tools works with just about every kind of profile out there: Input, output, device link profiles, monitor profiles, abstract profiles, and more. It can be used to edit in either direction, in any rendering intent. Custom Color Tools is also one of the few applications that will CREATE (not just edit)
ABSTRACT profiles.

2. Gretag Macbeth ProfileMaker ProfileEditor

This is a good example of an editor that has all the advanced features that make an editor really useful. It has a large assortment of the usual useful adjustment tools - but I really like their "Selective Color" tool. Here you can pick precisely the color you want to affect, and then specify exactly where in the spectrum you want it to go. When you are selecting a color (say blue for instance) you can choose the precise hue, you have total control over what luminosity range that blue includes, as well as the specific chroma (saturation) of the blue. In addition, you can specify how wide a range is included in each of these areas. And then you have the same pin-point accuracy in determining where in the spectrum you
are going to move that edited color.

A nice feature added in version 5 of ProfileEditor is the ability to save multiple edits. Now, when you make several edits in the Selective Color tool, you can save all those edits all together, and
easily apply them to another profile to get the same effect.

HOW TO USE IT

Let's say that you want to add saturation to your profile. A global correction would likely add color to everything, including neutrals and shadows. Do you really want the dark green grass in the shadow of a tree to be a brighter green like the rest of the green in the image? Using the Selective Color tool, you can taper off the saturation so that it does not affect neutrals and shadows to the
same degree as the rest of the spectrum.

Do you print portraits frequently? The Selective Color tool can be used to edit only the areas of flesh tones that are of a dull and lifeless character, and move them gradually in the direction of more warmth or saturation. You pick these colors with a simple eye dropper tool. This technique has been commonly used to improve color in high production workflows where individual "hand-correcting" is not possible. The profile is used to "juice up" the flesh tones so people look a little more healthy. Note that this does not move all flesh tones, but only those you've picked that have a gray or near-white complexion. It will make a "gray" face look better, while
leaving the healthy ones alone.

3. Gretag Macbeth i1Match Profile Editor

Are you intrigued at the idea of profile editing, but thought it was too expensive? The i1Match version of the Gretag profile editor is a nice little editor that you can upgrade to for less than $100. It is easy to use and comes from one of the most respected names in the
industry.

Naturally, this comes with some limitations:
- It only edits output profiles.
- It is limited to lightness/contrast, saturation, gray balance color adjustment, and overall color adjustment.
- These adjustments are rather broad; they affect the whole spectrum. There is no way to narrow the effected colors down to a
specific hue, chroma & luminosity.


A COST SAVINGS STORY

I once was making profiles for a series of Gretag Mileca printers back in the early days of digital printing onto photographic (silver halide) paper. The colors came out perfectly when printed through these profiles, but customers started complaining that their black and white images were "partially" colored. The original customer image was clearly black and white but, when printed, the woman's checkerboard-patterned dress came out a dark cyan while everything else in the image looked like a normal B & W image. We scratched our heads over that one. How does a printer make up its mind to just colorize certain parts of a picture? A thorough investigation showed that the printers were operating correctly, measurements were
accurate, and in every other respect these were good profiles.

We finally discovered that the company was using the same Kodak paper on these digital printers that they were using on their conventional (analog) MSP printers and minilabs. Kodak had a special, new digital photographic paper, but the company had rejected it because it was twice the price of the regular paper. The digital paper was designed to avoid "text flare". A digital printer is capable of slamming a lot more light at the dyes in the paper emulsion than a conventional printer (especially when printing black), and if the paper can't handle it, the dyes will bleed into areas next to the pixels where they were exposed. Hence, what should have been "white" portions between the checkerboard pattern turned out to have a bluish dye creeping into it. This is what made the whole dress look colored.

What to do? Of course, the correct thing to do would be to buy the digital paper. But the idea of suddenly doubling the cost of materials was making the financial department balk. "Gee, isn't there any way you can make this work without having to go to this expensive paper?"

Enter the profile editor. I edited the printer direction of the profiles to taper off just the very blackest section of the gamut. Instead of running diagonally straight down to zero, the curves had a bit of a "J" shape to them so that black would actually get printed as "almost black" gray. We had to experiment with how much of this "roll-off" was needed to get rid of the colored artifacts while still printing a good, rich, dark print. But a happy medium was reached, they were able to stay on their existing media, and by one estimate the company saved $117,000 a year in paper savings alone.

All right, individual results may vary - and you may not save $100,000 on your home inkjet. But it does get you thinking about what one humble, little profile edit can do!

Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

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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.

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2006 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--



CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #26 - Vista's New Color Management System: WCS

SmartNote: 50022
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a periodic newsletter of high value to our customers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 26
Feb 14th, 2007 (Happy Valentine's Day)

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

Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News
3. Color Industry News
4. Vista's New Color Management System: WCS - an Article by CHROMiX President Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
===================================================================

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

Feb. 27th, 2007 - Monitor Calibration and Other Cool Things To Do With A Spectrophotometer, hosted by the Seattle Chapter of the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, 7:00 PM at the Adobe Campus in Seattle, WA.
Click here

Feb. 28th - March 4th, 2007, Graphics of the Americas 2007 and Xplor Conference 2007 combine once again for one of the worlds largest events of its kind. The event is held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Florida. Xplor's vertical markets include banking/financial, insurance, service bureau, direct marketing, government, manufacturing, medical, manufacturing, utilities, and other Fortune 1000 companies. Graphics of the Americas attendees include thousands of commercial printers and graphics-oriented, creative professionals. Together, the target audience is expected to be over 22,000 CEO's, E-Doc, IT managers and executives and creative professionals from around the world.
Click here

March 1st, 2007 - Portland Chapter of the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group presents 'Quark v7 for Color Management' by Leith Speights from Quark. 7:00 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR.
pnwcmug.com

March 5th, 2007, IDEAlliance Proofing Summit, Marriott Marquis Times Square, New York, NY. This is a great opportunity to review proofs complying with new "to the numbers" certification criteria (GRACoL and SWOP). Also, attendees will be able to contribute input to the new standards.
Idealliance.org

March 8th - 11th, 2007, PMA 07 International Photography Trade Show & Convention, Las Vegas, NV. This event is undoubtedly the largest show for the photography market.
pmai.org

March 7th - 11th, 2007, Top Management Conference, Four Seasons, Santa Barbara, CA. This is an NAPL event. Click here

March 27th - 28th, 2007, Print Outlook 07, Fairmont Hotel, Chicago, IL. Geared towards industry executives and managers in marketing, sales, finance, research, manufacturing, and operations and involved in every aspect of design, commercial printing, publishing, and converting and delivery. Dr Joe Webb and many other financial experts will be speaking about the current state of the industry and what to expect in the upcoming year and beyond.
Click here

April 25th - 27th, 2007, 'ad: tech' Conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. Learn from Ad and Marketing experts about current trends.
ad-tech.com

September 9th - 12th, 2007, GraphEXPO and Converting Expo 2007 USA, Chicago. Regarded as the USA's most comprehensive prepress, printing, converting, and digital equipment trade show and conference, it is estimated that over 40,000 industry professionals will attend this event.
gasc.org


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

CHROMiX News

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

CHROMiX has recently been accepted by the ICC as a Regular Member of this renowned standards organization. We look forward to participating in the ongoing development of the ICC Profile Format Specification. We'll keep you apprised of any noteworthy announcements or developments.

Maxwell, a revolutionary new color management system based on a central web-enabled color repository, is developing nicely, and we expect to launch it by the end of March. Maxwell offers device trending, color profiling, profile sharing and measurement services. Maxwell also creates color profiles for Microsoft's new Vista operating system for easy download and installation. We will offer subscription and other purchase plans, and have referral, reseller, bundling and OEM opportunities available.

We apologize for the delay in our Maxwell webinar presentation. We have set the date and time for February 28th at 10:00 am Pacific Std Time. For those who expressed interest in this webinar, you will receive an email with the date and connection information. If you haven't signed up yet, send an email to us at or give us a call at (206) 985-9844.

ColorWiki continues to evolve. Manuals for the following products are now listed: ColorThink v2, ColorThink Pro v3, IDEAlliance IDEALink Curve, Left Dakota's Link-o-later's Introduction, User's Manual, Interface, and Troubleshooting. Let us know if you would like your manual listed. We also have over 40 interesting color management related articles. We would love to have more articles. Your article can retain the copyright and we can restrict editing by general wiki users OR contribute to the body of open source articles. Check it out:
Colorwiki.com

The next ColorThink Pro Webinar Training session is coming February 28th at 12pm Pacific Std Time. The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $349 for the Webinar class, $598 if you need an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and $748 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email
mailto:sales(at)chromix.com.


The ColorValet Software Client has also seen some upgrades and
refinements. Stay tuned for more improvements!

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Adobe will ship Mac and PC versions of Lightroom v1 on February 19, 2007. Lightroom is Adobe's professional photo management and RAW conversion software. Also on February 19th, Adobe plans to release Camera Raw v3.7. This version adds support for RAW files from the Nikon D40 and Pentax K10D. Also key, it will introduce cross-application compatibility between Lightroom and Photoshop CS2 RAW processing settings stored in a RAW photo's XMP file. For more information about Lightroom: Click here

Hewlett Packard USA launched a campaign to lure owners of other brands of wide-format inkjet printers over to one of HP's new 8-ink or 11+1-ink printer models. The program is called the HP Extreme Upgrade program and offers a rebate of between $500-$1000 (US) plus up to $500 worth of paper when a Designjet Z2100- or Z3100-series printer is purchased. For more: Click here

Author and Photographer Giorgio Trucco did an informative review of the new Epson Stylus 3800 posted at Digital Outback Photo. He highlights using the 3800 for B&W usage. Not unnoticed was his use of ColorThink for some of his evaluations. For more: outbackphoto.com
Giorgio Trucco's website gt-photography.com

Two Electrical Computer Science engineers from South Korea have proposed a very interesting idea. Yeong-Ho Ha and Chang-Hwan Son have listed an article on the SPIE website (International Society for Optical Engineering), proposing a system for real-time color matching between cameras and mobile phones (still and motion). Check it out and ponder:
Click here

Interesting Technical Tip for Vista: (but read this issue's article for Vista warnings)
How to make a Monaco Optix XR Pro work with Microsoft Windows Vista OS

please go directly to the Luminous Landscape forums for this tip. You can find it here:

Luminous-landscape.com/forum

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

This Month's Feature Article: Vista's new Color Management System: WCS

by CHROMiX President Steve Upton

Recently Microsoft released their delayed and highly anticipated upgrade to Windows: Vista.

There is no shortage of articles analyzing Vista, its requirements, its new features, and many of the changes that will take place for the user and software developer. What I have not seen, however, is an article addressing Vista's color management system (CMS) capabilities. So here we go.

Windows Vista includes a significant upgrade to operating system-level color management. The Windows Color System (WCS) represents an departure from the ICC-based architecture that most CMSs have used for the past 10 years or so. As I often do with many of my articles, let's take a few steps back to put it all in perspective.

Windows 2000 and XP include Microsoft's CMS called Image Color Management (ICM). The Color Management Module (CMM - I hope this is the last of these acronyms) was originally written by Heidelberg and has not seen much of upgrades or bug fixes over the years. As a result of this low priority on Microsoft's list, ICM has had enough bugs and short comings few people rarely use it for color conversions. Though you can select ICM for conversions in Photoshop and other applications, few users do. Many print drivers and RIPs on Windows use CMMs licensed from Kodak and other companies. It's fair to say that those of us in the professional realm had given ICM up for dead.

Windows ICM, Apple's CMM in the Mac OS, Adobe's CMM "ACE" in their publishing applications, Kodak's CMS and most other major color processing systems have used the architecture and profile format described by the ICC. In this architecture (at least thus far) the basic components have been 'smart' profiles and a 'dumb' CMM. This is an over simplification but it captures the basic building blocks.

In the early to mid 1990's computing power was only a fraction of what it is today. Calculating color transformations took time - 5 to 20 minutes or so - and it wasn't realistic to calculate these tables real-time in production workflows. At the same time, the bleeding edge of color research lay in mapping gamuts and transforming color as smoothly and realistically as possible. By placing the color mapping function into the ICC profile, the CMM was left to perform the much simpler - and faster - job of converting image colors using simple interpolations of the profile's tables. The hard work, both in design and computation, is performed off-line when the profile is originally calculated from color measurement and reference data. Profiling software manufacturers can refine and revise their color conversion technology to bring us better and better profiles without us having to upgrade our publishing applications. Competition between profiling vendors would also drive improvement in color technology over time. All in all, a wise method to get us through the first 10 years of advancement.

But over time, shortcomings in the architecture came to light. One of its primary strengths turns out to be a weakness as well. Recall that ICC device profiles perform half the required color conversion. In a normal workflow, when an image is converted between two color spaces (say Adobe RGB and SWOP CMYK), two profiles are put to work and they hand off the image color in the Lab color space. By selecting Lab (and sometimes its cousin XYZ) as the profile connection space the ICC gave us the brilliant system where a profile only needs to know about converting between its device and Lab. Users can select profiles on the fly and the CMS knits them together to perform the conversion. Profiles can be combined in different ways to convert from device space or to device space. Profiles can be used for matching between devices or simulating one device on another. The problem is that the very calculations that map color between one device and another are performed when we don't know what the 'other' device will be. In other words, when I choose the perceptual rendering intent, the tables in my source profile and in my destination profile will both try to map color from the, typically, larger source gamut to the smaller destination gamut. As I mentioned before, this stuff is the real rocket science behind color management and yet neither profile can be aware of the size and shape of the other's gamut. This can result in sub-optimal hand-off between profiles and inaccuracies or unnecessary desaturation in color conversions.

Another example of this is black point compensation. BPC is an Adobe work-around to this same gamut-blindness. With BPC, the Adobe CMM evaluates the lightness range of each device gamut and scales between them. BPC is performed in the CMM, has been only available in the Adobe CMM, and was outside the ICC spec.

For this and other reasons, advanced users have been calling for a change in the architecture to allow for moving some of the smarts from the profile into the CMM. The ICC is evaluating several options to change the way profiles interact as well.

Windows WCS, as you might have been able to anticipate, is based on an updated architecture where the profiles are simplified and the CMM enhanced. ICM, the ICC-based engine is still playing along for the times when users supply ICC profiles for their conversions. The new features and interplay between WCS and ICM are a bit involved so let's step through it:

- WCS profiles are NOT compatible with ICC profiles. They are XML-based text files that are much simpler and do not contain gamut mapping calculations at all. Think of them as slightly processed measurement files.

- There are three different kinds of WCS profiles: device model, gamut mapping method, and appearance model. The device model profiles contain the color measurement information from the actual graphics device. The gamut mapping method profile selects which gamut mapping technique the user desires. WCS is based on CIECAM02 appearance modelling. The appearance model profile contains the parameters for CIECAM02 transforms. This is where you might specify the color temperature of the lighting used to view your print or the color and intensity of its surround.

- WCS and ICM work hand-in-hand in Vista. If all the profiles supplied in a color transformation are ICC-format, then ICM is call upon to do the processing. If one or more of the profiles is WCS-format, then WCS takes over and performs the conversions.

- If WCS is performing the conversions, any ICC profiles in the workflow are converted to WCS format prior to processing the image color data. Any gamut mapping in the ICC profile is ignored and WCS treats it as a virtual device, reconstructing the device measurements from the A2Bn tags in the ICC profile.

- Microsoft has upgraded ICM to version 3, fixed its bugs and updated it to use ICC version 4 profiles, bringing it up to date and hopefully removing any processing problems we've seen in the past. This is great news as it shows that Vista will be able to play with all the ICC profiles in the world and fit into existing color workflows. ICM is still based on the original Heidelberg code.

- Because WCS calculates the color transformation on the fly, gamut mapping should be more efficient and accurate. WCS has the information for each device's gamut and can presumably make better judgements and choices when dealing with out of gamut colors. This also means that black point compensation is automatically handled at this stage. (more on BPC below)

- WCS can also perform calculations using floating point math and allows device models to describe where to map diffuse whites and specular highlights. This and other enhancements allow for a number of new things to occur such as avoiding possible round-off errors on 16 bit devices, support for high dynamic-range devices (like the new digital projectors in movie theaters) and also extended gamuts.

- WCS can also be set to preserve the black channel through a workflow. Something for which ICC users require device link profiles at this time.

- By separating the device information from the gamut mapping and viewing data, users may be able to address specific color problems in the most appropriate area. Gamut mapping issues could be addressed separately from device measurements and viewing issues. In ICC profiles today, all the functions are combined during profile construction into one table.

- WCS can convert WCS profiles to ICC profiles. After conversion, the original WCS device profile is embedded into the ICC profile as the 'MS00' tag. In this manner WCS profiles can be embedded into image files as ICC profiles.

- WCS is only available with Windows Vista and Microsoft has stated it will not be made available to Windows XP.

- WCS was developed in conjunction with Canon.

- Microsoft has documented the daylights out of WCS so very little of it is based on 'magic sauce'. Also, many of the algorithm components are extensible or replaceable so developers can write their own plug-ins and alter device models (how the system expects devices to behave, inks to mix, paper to absorb), gamut mapping and so forth.

- Microsoft has created a useful demo image that contains an ICC profile that has a WCS profile embedded within it. The image and profiles are constructed in such a way that a Ducati motorcycle appears to be blue, green or red if the profile is entirely ignored, the ICC component is used, or the WCS component is used, respectively. It's worth a look:

msdn.com/color_blog


Shortcomings

So, with all these new features and capabilities are there any shortcomings? Well, yes. This is a version 1.0 product after all.

- The WCS CMM essentially has black point compensation ON at all times. In most cases this is good, but if you don't want the blacks intelligently improved - such as when you are proofing - then it means you won't be able to simulate a printing system that has lighter blacks than your inkjet or monitor.

- WCS can handle CMYK devices but at this time there is NO control over CMYK parameters such as total ink limit, black start, GCR level, etc. Laser printers are very different than inkjets which are very different than offset presses. WCS can support different device model plug ins but that is more like presets and I believe there is only one CMYK model shipping with WCS at this time.

- WCS does not support more than 4 print channels. So no Hexachrome or other n-color printing systems.

- WCS, like Windows XP, still does not load calibration curves from monitor profiles. This one deserves a little background... After you calibrate and profile your display, the profiling software saves the graphics card's calibration curves inside the monitor profile so they can be reloaded on reboot. The Mac OS has reloaded these curves automatically since OS 8 but on Windows, a third-party utility is required. This is open to conflicts as two different software packages might fight over loading curves (LUT wars). Also, selecting different display profiles in the displays control panel does not load each profile's calibration curves... cumbersome at best. This is an odd oversight as it is a simple function and one that really should be performed by the OS.

- A more serious problem, and this one is a show-stopper in my eyes, is the authorization bug. As you use Vista, you are occasionally interrupted by the OS as it confirms you have the admin-level privileges required or confirms certain actions. As a user-interface effect, Vista dims the screen slightly while offering the user a password dialog. Unfortunately, this dimming of the display clobbers the calibration curves in the graphics card and they are not replaced. So you startup Vista, your 3rd party utility loads your display calibration correctly but then 5 minutes into your session Vista requests some authentication and your calibration is gone... so you restart Vista, reloading the calibration and start out again.... It will be difficult to have confidence in a system's state of calibration.

- The WCS user interface is limited to a simple default-profile configuration panel at this time. Windows XP has a more capable utility available for color settings but it is not compatible with Vista at this time. It will find its way to Vista eventually.

- ICC device link, abstract & named color profiles are not supported in WCS. This is not too much of a shortcoming as device links are the most popular of the three and yet the on-the-fly gamut mapping and black preservation of WCS may render device links unnecessary. Then again, device links are typically used to get around CMM limitations so... These profile types are supported in ICM however.


Implications:

One of the more challenging things about evaluating Vista color management is judging the actual impact of a major upgrade to a system that no professionals use at this time.

If a tree falls in the forest...

Let's face it, most professional color work is done in professional color applications. For production work that's typically an Adobe or Quark product and while they may give the user the option to select an outside color engine, people rarely do. It's end users that have been using ICM color conversions when they print and many printing systems licensed an outside CMM for those conversions anyway.

So does that mean that Vista color management is only going to change the consumer-level user? In the short term, I think yes. Especially as the current shortcomings in Vista's handling of display calibration and in WCS make it an unwise decision in professional color workflows. I'm sure Microsoft will eventually correct these problems in an upcoming 'service pack' but in the meantime consumer-level users will be the ones feting out WCS and that's OK with me. As much as we like change to happen quickly, the adoption of a major system upgrade is one that is often undertaken slowly.

Predictability - a bit of a wash

One of the concerns the ICC is addressing is predictability. If ICC profiles from different vendors are combined in a workflow, will they produce expected results? Vista's WCS combines color information into color transforms on the fly. While this technique makes for optimized gamut mapping how does it do for predictability? That remains to be seen. Suffice to say that both architectures are dealing with predictability in different ways and which one wins out remains to be seen.

Unknown capabilities (does it work?)

The color science and architecture behind WCS look good on paper. They've adopted acknowledged color science techniques and formulae such as CIECAM02. It should work well but as with any new system it remains to be seen if the implementation delivers on the promise.

Available only on Vista

As WCS is only available on Vista and will only be available on Vista, the adoption curve won't be too quick. Add to that the glacial pace of color management adoption in general and we will probably have something we'll be able to observe over many months. Again, this is probably a good thing.


Interactions with Photoshop:

Yes, I finally get around to the meat of the article that many people are looking for:

Can I get at WCS from Photoshop and how?

The short answer is yes, in some cases.

In Photoshop on Windows you have the ability to select "ICM" as the color engine for color transforms. When file conversions are performed, Photoshop will call on the operating system to perform the color calculations rather than its internal engine. So, a few points:

- Though "ICM" is what you select in Photoshop, WCS will be used if the selected (or embedded) profiles contain the MS00 tag which contain a WCS profile.

- Photoshop does NOT use ANY external engine to perform the image-to-screen conversion. So if an image's profile contains a WCS-embedded profile (I know, it gets convoluted), Photoshop will only use the ICC portion of the profile to display the image but will use the WCS portion of the profile when you convert the file to another color space or print with conversion. The chances of the WCS profile being radically different from its ICC 'host' are not too great but it could introduce some confusion and possible inconsistencies into your workflow.

In Summary

WCS has the makings of a very capable color management system. It seems to be able to fit into traditional ICC-based workflows and then quickly flip into WCS mode for some of its newer features and capabilities. The architecture certainly has a future. It's the present I am concerned with primarily. Due to Vista's non-handling and mishandling of graphics card calibration curves it is next to impossible for a professional user to be confident that their system is properly calibrated and displaying color correctly. For this reason I do not recommend Vista for professional workflows at this time. When Microsoft addresses the calibration-clobbering bug in a future service pack then I think Vista will make an effective platform for high quality color production.

For further reading:

Microsoft.com/color


Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton
Feb. 2007


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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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at: colornews(at)CHROMiX.com.
Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.

To subscribe,
mailto:colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
ColorNews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2006 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #27 - Monitors, Part 1

SmartNote: 50023
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a periodic newsletter of high value to our customers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 27
May 22, 2007

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

Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News
3. Color Industry News
4. Monitors, Part 1 - an Article by CHROMiX's Pat Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
===========================================================================

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

June 5th - 7th, 2007, IPA Technical Conference, Westin O'Hare, Rosemont, Illinois.
The 2007 IPA Technical Conference offers attendees comprehensive information regarding production capabilities and efficiencies required to successfully operate a total graphics workflow. Steve Upton from CHROMiX will be there in the Color Management Group booth showing previews of Maxwell and the upcoming IDEALink Verify (more below)
www.ipma.org

September 9th - 12th, 2007, GraphEXPO and Converting Expo 2007 USA, Chicago, IL. Regarded as the USA's most comprehensive prepress, printing, converting, and digital equipment trade show and conference, it is estimated that over 40,000 industry professionals will attend this event. CHROMiX will be there. Stay tuned for more information.
www.sgia.org/events


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

CHROMiX News

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

Maxwell, the revolutionary color management system we've been talking about for a couple of months, is nearly ready to launch! The next date and time for a free look (via WebEx) is May 31st, 2007, at 10:00 am Pacific Std Time (1:00 PM for EST). For those who express interest in this webinar, you will receive an email with the confirming date and connection information. If you haven't signed up yet, send an email to us at or give us a call at (206) 985-9844.

The next ColorThink Pro Webinar Training session will be held June 14th at 11:00 AM Pacific Std Time (2:00 PM EST). The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $349 for the Webinar class, $598 if you need an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and $748 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Integrated Color Solutions (ICS) introduced the newest version of its award-winning Remote Director software. Remote Director 3.5 incorporates a number of new features and capabilities, all designed to improve the virtual proofing process and make it possible for users to meet their clients' demanding deadlines. The features include: Spectral blending, N-color and Spot Only image support, Monitor uniformity mapping, Virtual 10-bit, Multi-language support and System certification.

In the March 2007 Digital Graphics Magazine, Rich Adams discusses color management utilities, including our very own ColorThink Pro. Check it out....
Click here

Xerox filed for a patent for an innovative new technology for verbally adjusting colors called 'Natural Language Color Editing'. This technology may make it easier for a non-expert to adjust device color in a simple manner. Check it out:
Xerox.com

Apple has updated Aperture, it's all-in-one RAW workflow tool for Mac, to Aperture v1.5.3. This new version addresses issues related to overall reliability and performance in a number of areas, including: generation of thumbnails for adjusted images, entering and exiting Full Screen mode, working with large sets of keywords in the Keywords HUD, restoring from a vault, and more. Among the specific issues that have been addressed: previews now update properly when images are sent to an external editor; Leaf Aptus 22 and Aptus 75 images are now imported with the correct orientation; when folders are imported as projects, the folder structure is now correctly preserved when identically named subfolders are included in the hierarchy; reconnecting referenced images that have been externally edited now works more reliably; and setting the ColorSync profile in the Aperture Print dialog now correctly suppresses color management settings in the Mac OS X Print dialog.


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

NEW POSSIBLE SECTION - - - CHROMiX requests your feedback

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

We have heard many very funny, and enlightening, stories from people using color management over the years. Wouldn't it be fun to have one of these humorous stories (from you!) in each issue of ColorNews?

If you have a funny or light-hearted story, with color management at the core, that you would like to share, please send it to . CHROMIX will select and publish submitted stories in each issue of ColorNews. CHROMiX reserves full editing rights upon submission.

If there's no interest in this idea, no problem. Or, if you have another idea for ColorNews, please let us know at:
mailto:hatmaker(at)chromix.com

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

This Month's Feature Article: Monitors

by CHROMiX's Pat Herold

LCD Monitors and Video cards

In recent years, most of us have been making the switch from CRT monitors to LCD either by choice or necessity. As our old CRT wore out and we went to replace it, we were surprised to find that some of our favorite CRT's are not being made anymore.

Seemingly overnight these venerable CRT workhorses that were 100 years in the perfecting, are suddenly no longer available. If you have been bemoaning the on-rush of progress and still hoping to locate a hoard of Sony Artisans, then maybe something in this newsletter will make it easier to bend to the inevitable.

A CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor has traditionally had several good things going for it:
- Has a naturally wide viewing angle.
- Can change screen resolution with no scaling problems.
- Might produce more blues than some LCD's.
- Might be less likely to produce banding.
- Can vary white point color at will as you are controlling the production of white.
On LCD's white is supplied by the backlight and coloring it is done by filtering.

On the other hand, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) has the following advantages:
- High brightness - possibly offering better shadow detail and contrast
- Razor sharpness - every pixel counts
- Flicker-free - easier on the eyes
- Energy efficient, light, compact, easily portable
- Very stable white balance
- Often has longer life - can get dimmer over time, but the colors tend to stay the same.

Since LCD's are rather new animals for many of us, let's look at how they work.

Fluorescent lights or white LED's (Light-Emiting Diodes) provide the light for the screen. This backlight shines through the LCD material which is a liquid or half-fluid substance that can allow light to pass or not, controlled by an electric field. In front of the LCD layer is a color filter which contains a red, green and blue filter for each pixel in the monitor's display. These layers are all sandwiched by two polarizing filters, and the whole business lies behind the front plate which is the surface of the screen that you see in front of you.

LCD screen

The Liquid Crystal layer determines whether or not (and how much) light will pass through the RGB filters. This is how the color for each pixel is formed. Therefore, from its essence, an LCD monitor is quite different from a CRT, and has a whole different set of advantages and challenges. The backlight is somewhat independent of the color producing function in an LCD. It is possible to put any kind of light behind an LCD panel, and some new photographic printers make use of super-bright LCD panels as exposure engines. Express-imaging.com

Unlike a CRT, where each of the RGB guns can be brightened or dimmed - affecting the brightness and the color, the LCD has a constant source of light that is independent of the coloring function. This explains why some LCD's (like the Apple Cinema Displays) have only a backlight adjustment on them. In a sense, that's the only hardware adjustment you need.

In order to produce "black" on the screen, the LCD elements need to completely block the backlight from shining through. As good as these are at trying to block light, they are not going to be as effective as a screen which actually turns down the light at its source, as a CRT does. For this reason, LCDs will not be able to get as black as CRT's, and we sometimes see "backlight bleed" shining around the edges of a dark screen. On the other hand, LCDs are great at being brighter than CRT's, and the extra brightness can be called into play to provide more shadow detail.

If an LCD can't get as black, how can it show more shadow detail?

Among the many ways our eyes can get tricked is low-light sensitivity. An equal amount of progressively darker shadows does not result in an equal perception of that change in our eyes. In near-dark situations, our eyes have trouble detecting subtle changes in shadow.

Because of this, it helps to have a monitor that can be brighter. A brighter monitor actually expands the range between the whitest white and the darkest dark. This extended range gives LCD monitors plenty of elbow room to represent all the steps along the way, including the shadow areas. (Ironically, this might be why some people find more banding with LCD's. More on banding below.) People will look at a bright, new LCD and say "Wow! I've got richer blacks!" The truth is, the blacks aren't deeper, they're just seeing more apparent contrast because the whites are so much "farther away" from the blacks.

Video cards, LUTs, 8-bits? What IS all this???

The color image in your computer needs to get to your display in order for you to see it. In order to do that, the signal needs to be transformed in a video card (also called "graphics" card or board) before it is sent to the monitor for display.

- Video cards contain edit-able color "curves" which can be changed to compensate for any irregularities in the way the monitor displays color.
- These calibration curves are exactly analogous to the RGB curves in Photoshop.
- Because these are on your video card, these effect everything that gets displayed on your monitor (even non-color-managed applications.)
- Even though these are operating all the time, you don't get to see the actual curves unless you have a piece of software that allows you to. Nor is there any need to. You are wanting to have your monitor calibration software figure out precisely where to set these curves.
- These curves are also called video LUTs (Look-Up Tables) or "Gamma Curves" or a few other labels made up just to confuse you.

When you create a monitor profile using one of the common software packages, you first use the built-in monitor color buttons to get the monitor reasonably close to what you want, then the software runs a series of color patches past the colorimeter hanging on the front of your display. When it is through, the color curves in your video card have been tweaked and adjusted so that your display looks right. At that point, your monitor is "calibrated." But we're not done yet. A further step is taking the calibration state and rolling it into an actual monitor "profile." (Some monitor profiling systems lump the calibration and profile-making tasks into all one step.)

The information about those curves is saved as a separate tag in the profile itself. Notice the profile does not "do" the color transformations itself. It merely keeps track of the condition that the video card needs to be in - in association with the profile. Then, anytime this profile is used, the vctg tag is called upon to tell the video card what curves to apply. This is why a simple matrix monitor profile can be fairly small in size compared to printer profiles. A monitor profile really gets the video card to do most of the work! In addition to storing the video card information, the monitor profile's main purpose is to be able to describe to an ICC-aware application like Photoshop how the monitor produces color.

On Mac computers, you can switch from one monitor profile to another and watch the screen change color as it automatically picks up new video curve information from the different profiles. All modern Mac computers do this.

There are some (very few) Windows PC cards that do not support editable calibration curves (or LUTs.) In addition, Windows operating systems need extra help to get these LUTs working. Many monitor profiling software systems have a quiet little extra program just for Windows systems that load the curves back into the video card automatically when the computer is restarted, since Windows systems lose this information when the computer is powered down. You might see something in your startup menu about gamma loader or "initializing display" when you start your Windows computer. There are also third-party applications (like Microsoft's Color Control Applet) that will allow you to switch monitor profiles at will as well as providing other functions like installing, inspecting and renaming them.
Color control applet


Flat curves?

Back to our discussion of the video card...
- Being an 8-bit system (2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2=256), these calibration curves are limited to 256 levels of input and output value for each channel (RGB). From white to black, you have 256 "places" along the color ramp. This may seem like plenty, until you start to imagine an image with blue sky, and how you expect to see one subtle hue of blue blend easily into another shade of blue, and so on. Imagine further that in order to hit your calibration aims, your video curves had turned blue down throughout the curve. This will further restrict how many steps of color are available, and this reduction in resolution can result in "banding". Banding is happening when a monitor is showing blocks of color with noticeable transitions, where there should be a smooth gradation between colors. It is especially visible when looking at a smooth grayscale pattern. You can make a grayscale gradient (in RGB or Lab) yourself in Photoshop or download this White Balance Target from the Hutchcolor site. Make sure you view it at 100%.
www.hutchcolor.com
I don't want to overstate this because not everyone has this problem, but some setup situations with LCD's can make banding more likely.

Some of the better monitors have graphic processors built right into the monitors themselves. These LUTs/Curves can have 10-, 12- or 14-bits per color channel. Even a mere 10-bit internal LUT will get you a whopping 1024 points of adjustment. The computer's video card can stay "zeroed-out" at a perfectly flat curve, and the monitor's internal graphics unit can do the high-precision gray scale curves. That way, nothing in the computer's video card is restricting the resolution or reducing brightness.

Next time, we'll look at Part Two of Monitors. There's a lot more to talk about:

- What gamma and luminance settings should I choose?
- How/when to select different white points: D50, D65, Native, Custom?
- What is DDC?
- Matrix vs. Lookup tables; 8-bit vs 16-bit profiles.
- Version 2 vs. Version 4 profiles.
- LCD native resolution and text.

Until next time,

Patrick Herold
May, 2007

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at mailto:colornews(at)CHROMiX.com.
Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.

To subscribe,

mailto:colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:

ColorNews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2007 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.

--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #28 - Monitors, Part 2

SmartNote: 50024
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a periodic newsletter of high value to our customers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 28
August 2, 2007

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

Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News
3. Color Industry News
4. Monitors, Revisited - an article by Patrick Herold, CHROMiX
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

September 9th - 12th, 2007, GraphEXPO and Converting Expo 2007 USA, Chicago, IL. Regarded as the USA's most comprehensive prepress, printing, converting, and digital equipment trade show and conference in the USA. CHROMiX will be in booth 5147 showing Maxwell, ColorThink Pro and IDEALink Curve software. See below CHROMiX News for more information.
gasc.org

October 24th - 27th, 2007, SGIA 2007, The Specialty Printing & Imaging Technology Expo, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL.
sgia.org

February 21st - 22nd, 2008, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium 2008 'Science Meets Color', Arabella Sheraton Conference Center , Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany. The main focus will be on the methods for capturing, color transformation and hard/softcopy output for RGB-workflows. Simultaneous German/English interpreting.
fogra.org

May 29 - June 11th, 2008 ,DRUPA 2008 - Dusseldorf, Germany.
drupa2008


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

CHROMiX News

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

CHROMIX will be releasing the first public version of Maxwell at GraphEXPO 2007 in September. CHROMiX's own Steve Upton will be in Booth 5147 in the Developer Pavilion showing Maxwell, a truly revolutionary enterprise-level color management system. If you're in Chicago for the event, this would be a great opportunity to see it firsthand as presented by its architect, Steve Upton. Please come by Booth 5147 for a demo and talk with us about your needs and thoughts. CHROMiX can also provide FREE Exhibits-Only passes. If interested, send us an email at sales(at)CHROMIX.com or contact Sales at 866-CHROMiX x1.

Can't make the GraphEXPO show? Take a look at Maxwell for FREE from the convenience of your own computer!! The date and time for the next Maxwell Webex Tour is August 22nd, 2007, at 10:00 am Pacific Std Time (1:00 PM EST). For those who express interest in this webinar, you will receive an email with the confirming date and connection information. If you haven't signed up yet, send an email to us at
maxwellintro(at)chromix.com or give us a call at (206) 985-9844.

The next ColorThink Pro Webinar Training session will be held August 23rd at 11:00 AM Pacific Std Time (2:00 PM EST). The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $349 for the Webinar class, $598 if you need an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and $748 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program. For more information or to register, call sales at
866-CHROMiX x1, or email
sales(at)chromix.com


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Adobe recently created a new feature in Acrobat CS3 to print directly to Fedex Kinkos via a new web-link in the application. Many people think this is a good idea. Many others feel this violates the trust and neutrality Adobe has shown for many years with the printing industry. One of the best perspectives on this is from Dr. Joe Webb, a highly respected mind in our industry. His comments are worth a read:
Click here

News Flash! Just as we were releasing this newsletter we received news that Adobe has decided to completely remove all links from their PDF software in an upcoming maintenance release version due sometime in October. PIA/GATF have been involved in the process and have an announcement on their site:
adobe

ColorBurst recently discovered that customers running ColorBurst RIP software on Macs running OS 10.4 or higher had been having problems with their dongle becoming inactive after a restart. A new dongle installer that fixes the issue has been created and is available at:
Colorburstrip.com

We found an interesting article about a possible breakthrough technology that could cheaply replace the color components in conventional LCD monitors. Here's the link:
Click here

Ken Fisher writes in his article, "A new study says that, on average, more than half of the ink from inkjet cartridges is wasted when users toss them in the garbage. Why is that interesting? According to the study, users are tossing the cartridges when their printers are telling them they're out of ink, not when they necessarily are out of ink." If this has happened to you, read the following story at this link:
fisher

The Eastman Kodak Co. unveiled 'next-generation color filter patterns' which Kodak says is designed to more than double the light sensitivity of CMOS or CCD image sensors used in todays camera phones and digital still cameras. Kodak is departing slightly from the standard Bayer light absorption pattern method by creating a hybrid pattern with 'transparent' pixels to absorb the light. For more:
Kodak

Don Hutcheson of HutchColor and IDEAlliance recently talked about press color specifications at the IPA Technical Conference. You'll find this video informative:
Video

***
EIZO's new 24" ColorEdge CG-241W LCD should be available in the US very soon. This model is noteworthy because it highlights the latest Super-PVA technology, which will have broader market appeal to wider market segments, from color critical viewing to motion and video usage. It is also rumored that the CG-241W will become SWOP certified by several sources. This monitor is aggressively priced at $2469 list. Here's more about this next generation product:
Eizo CG-241W


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

This Month's Feature Article:

Monitors, Revisited

by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold

In the last installment of the CHROMiX ColorNews, we looked at the overall process of how color gets from your computer into your monitor; sort of a look at the hardware involved.

In "Monitors Part 2," we'll look through the software side of things - the blistering array of settings that are available to you in a typical monitor calibration program.

== White Point ==

The idea behind White Point is to set the color of your screen's white to whatever white you think is "normal". The most common recommendation these days is 6500 Kelvin. You can choose a different color aim if you are trying to match your monitor to a particular output with a different white point. This is where a "custom" white point setting would come into play. Many people match their monitor color to the color temperature of their light booth or other lighting situation. 5000 Kelvin is technically the color temperature of normal daylight, which most profiling systems take as the standard - but that does not mean you should set your monitor to that. Most people see 5000 as too red. We discussed white point options in more detail in ColorNews issue #24 if you would like to read more about this:
ColorNews 24

== Native White point deserves some explanation ==

In the last article, we saw how LCD monitors are lit by a "backlight" of some kind. The natural color of this backlight (without any LCD filtering going on in front of it) is often very close to what you want to achieve, all by itself. Typical LCD native white points run anywhere between 5900 to 6700 or so.

With a CRT, the idea was to use the monitor's own adjustments to the red, green & blue guns to bring the white point close to what you're aiming at, and then the computer's video card would not have to make large adjustments to bring the color into line. Since users are used to this feature, LCD manufacturers have probably incorporated into the screen setup buttons some way to adjust the screen color. But this is really just artificially dimming the LCD array in front of the backlight, and it's questionable how uniform this sort of "correction" is.

An alternative method to try when calibrating an LCD monitor is to leave the "on-board" monitor color adjustments alone so that the monitor is left to produce its native white. Then let the calibration software do the adjusting in the video card to bring all the colors around to what you're aiming for.

However, it's a double-edged sword. If the video card has to yank the color around quite a bit, then banding is more likely.

== Gamma ==

2.2 is the almost universal standard now. If you are working in an ICC controlled application like Photoshop, then the gamma is irrelevant since it is corrected for in the monitor profile. A gamma setting of 2.2 might also help to reduce banding.

== Luminance ==

The Luminance setting you choose depends a lot on your viewing environment. General guidelines are 100 - 120 for a moderately lit room, 100 or less for a dim room. If you are trying to adjust your screen to match your printer output, then adjust your luminance so that a white screen will be as bright as a blank piece of paper.

If you plan to use your on-board monitor controls to adjust the RGB of an LCD display, you will want to adjust your luminance at the same time. These two effect each other. If your software does not have the colors and the luminance readout on the same page, then you'll want to skip back and forth a bit until you have the RGB the way you want, and the luminance the way you want.

== Matrix vs. Lookup Tables ==

Your monitor profiling software will offer you a choice between making a matrix profile or a look-up table profile. A matrix profile consists of a simple mathematical formula that describes the shape of the gamut. This results in a very small file size, and these profiles can be smoother in transitions (less banding), but perhaps less accurate hue-wise.

Look-up table profiles (or LUTS) define color using a table or grid describing the behavior of precise points of color in the monitor. These create larger file sizes, and can accurately handle monitors that have sudden spikes of color (as many LCD's do).

In general terms, older CRT's and some of the upper end LCD screens can be profiled very successfully using matrix profiles, and you can turn to a matrix profile if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of color accuracy for a reduction in banding on your LCD monitor. Otherwise, it is generally recommended that you choose to make LUT profiles for the average, modern LCD.

== 8-bit vs. 16-bit profiles ==

The 16-bit option gives more precision in profiles and should be used whenever possible.

== Version 2 vs. Version 4 profiles ==

Version 4 profiles conform to the most recent specifications of the ICC, and this option should be chosen in most cases. But if you using a program that does not recognize Version 4 profiles, you have the option to make and use a Version 2 profile.

== What is DDC? ==

If you have a DDC-capable monitor and a DDC-compatible video card, and a DDC feature in your calibration software, then you can have Direct Digital Communication between the three. DDC will automatically take care of adjusting the brightness, contrast and color controls that you would normally adjust on the front of your monitor. Not only does this make profiling easier and faster, but it can keep your profiling more consistent, and can produce finer adjustments that are available within your monitor's on-screen controls.

== What about these new LED-backlit displays? ==

I knew you were going to ask me about those. There is a new technology that uses Light-Emitting Diodes as backlights for LCD monitors (instead of fluorescent tubes). LED's show great promise, in that they are long-lasting, can use less power, and still get quite bright. Some LED LCD's use only "white" LED's for the backlighting. Those with separate red, green and blue LED's can be "tune-able" to a specific white point. When you have control over the actual color temperature of the light source itself, this makes for another way to avoid having to depend on the video card to make big changes in the color. That's the theory anyway. It's a little too soon for us to tell you to rush out and buy one. A lot is going to depend on how these LEDs are used in specific models.

Finally, here are a few interesting tidbits concerning LCD monitors that you should be aware of:

- An LCD screen is a grid of RGB pixels, and thus each model has a specific native resolution. To get the sharpest image, you should set your monitor to its native resolution. This is particularly important if you are viewing text.

- Do I really need a monitor that can duplicate the Adobe RGB colorspace if that is what I work in? A lot of people don't, and still get by just fine. You don't often see colors that are that saturated. A good quality monitor, properly calibrated, will give you a good representation of what you are working with, even though you may not see the true saturated reds and greens that are in there.

- Be careful about making color correcting choices when viewing images on a large-gamut display running in 16-bit mode. The limitation of 256 adjustment steps in the video card can introduce banding, and you may not be seeing the color that is really in the image. These monitors are more suitable for proofing than color-correcting.

- There is more to a high quality monitor than just its gamut size. Consistency of the image across the display is often overlooked. LCD's can sometimes show a lightness around the edges of the screen. This is not a result of a "burning-in" pattern like CRT's tend to get, but is usually a result of production. To check this on your display, bring up a 50% gray screen and look for evenness of brightness and color along the edge of the screen.

- I haven't mentioned "angle of view" yet. It is common knowledge that colors will change when viewing most LCDs off-center, but the same effect can happen with CRTs.

- The Monaco Optix XR colorimeter (also known as the X-Rite DTP-94) is being discontinued by X-Rite but, ironically, is considered the best colorimeter out there. Statistically it is very accurate, very repeatable, and has a number of more elaborate circuitry features such as automatically adjusting for ambient temperature changes. We have hoarded some of these at CHROMiX. Call our sales department if you are interested.

Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold
CHROMiX


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at: colornews(at)CHROMiX.com. Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.

To subscribe, mailto: colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
ColorNews issues

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2007 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.

--

CHROMiX Launches Online Color Management System

SmartNote: 50025
Type: PressRelease
ColorGeek factor:

CHROMiX Launches Online Color Management System

CHROMiX'S Maxwell Poised to Revolutionize Color Management

SEATTLE, WA., Sept. 9, 2007 - CHROMiX, Inc., announces a comprehensive suite of online color tools. Maxwell is a revolutionary new color management system based on a central web-enabled color repository - a system that allows easy upload and download of profiles, color measurements and other color data files - at any time and from any place. Maxwell also offers device trending, color profiling, profile sharing, and measurement services.

Built on a solid foundation of clustered web and database servers, Maxwell imports and exports popular file formats (including Vista's new WCS format), and has a powerful graphing engine for color analysis and device trending. Access to each account is determined by the account administrator for easy sharing across the board - or around the world. "We know our customers wish they could easily achieve reliable and predictable color results without first developing encyclopedic knowledge of color management," says CHROMiX President and Maxwell architect Steve Upton. "Whether a photographer using a small-format photo printer, or a professional print shop that needs to control color on press, anyone who wants to optimize color reproduction can use this service."

Maxwell's Tracks make it easy to monitor devices, pass/fail prints and proofs, and also set up a print performance program for vendors. DisplayWatch automatically tracks calibrated monitors and warns when they no longer meet tolerances or calibration is neglected. Widgets for OSX, Vista, and Apple's iPhone make access easy, and Notifiers alert color managers when something's not right. Maxwell even tracks environment variables like temperature, humidity, and light booth output.

Patent-pending SmartTarget technology enables Maxwell to mix and match profiling and proofing targets with unprecedented flexibility. "One common complaint we hear from our customers is that existing systems make transitioning between target formats or layouts painful and the configuration of new color targets next to impossible." explained Upton. With SmartTarget, Maxwell imports target data and automatically reconciles patch order and shared patch sets. "Basically, target issues simply disappear. Full size IT8 targets can be combined with the new ISO proofing targets and even press bars when trending a system with no configuration required."

Maxwell's web interface is based on modern AJAX & Web 2.0 technologies that streamline data access and reporting and are supported in today's web browsers. It also enables rapid adapting of the system to emerging technologies like Apple's new iPhone, something CHROMiX is showing off in their GraphExpo booth this week. "Color managers can finally track their internal systems as well as their customers' and can do so from any desktop system or even the palm of their hand," said Upton. "Adapting Maxwell for iPhone took only a few hours and is a great demonstration of the technology platform we're launching today. Expect to see more services built on this foundation in the future." CHROMiX is in booth 5147

Pricing and Availability
Maxwell Tracks are available this month at www.chromix.com/maxwell at a variety of subscription levels starting from $50 per month for 10 tracks. Maxwell does not limit access to the system on a per-seat basis. Users control who and how many people can access their color assets. Profiling services will follow next quarter.


CHROMiX, Inc. was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries and is a Color Management Group member. We dedicate our efforts to color management and image fidelity, and combine an excellent suite of tools, including its own popular ColorThink products, with years of industry experience. With customers, dealers and partners in over 95 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve the imaging industries. More information is available at www.chromix.com.


CHROMiX and other CHROMiX trademarks are the property of CHROMiX, Inc. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. (c) CHROMiX, Inc., 2007. All rights reserved.

Contact:

Carolyn Boone
CHROMiX, Inc.
(206) 985-6837
boonepr (at) chromix.com

IDEALink Curve to be bundled with CMYK Optimizer

SmartNote: 50026
Type: xPressRelease
ColorGeek factor:
Alwan Color Expertise Partners with
HutchColor, CHROMiX & IDEAlliance to make
G7 Color Attainable & Affordable
New Bundle Integrates Technologies from
Industry's Foremost Print and Color Engineers

Chicago, September 9, 2007 (Graph Expo) - Today's announcement that IDEALink Curve and Alwan CMYK Optimizer will be available in a single package means that G7(TM) proof and press calibration will be within reach of the majority of, if not all, prepress and print providers.

"IDEALink Curve(TM) and Alwan CMYK Optimizer together remove the technical, cost, and resource barriers that have prevented so many prepress and print companies from competing on a fair playing field in terms of production quality," says Dianne Kennedy, Vice President Media Technologies for IDEAlliance, the 200-member strong industry association and a center of influence for the industry. "By combining products designed specifically to make G7 proof and press calibration as easy and affordable as possible; prepress and press professionals will be able to achieve printing and proofing consistency easily and at very low cost."

How it Works:
IDEALink Curve software calibrates and verifies all systems without the tedium and uncertainty of manual curve drawing. It generates dot %-based correction values for most popular RIPs, compares press or proofing systems to GRACoL 7 and SWOP, and allows operators to qualify individual proofs as often as they like.
Alwan CMYK Optimizer's press calibration option, newly available in its 3.0 version of the application, allows prepress operators to import IDEALink Curves and use NPDC (Neutral Print Density Curve) and ICC-based calibration methods to calibrate presses according to ISO 12647-and GRACOL or SWOP specifications. This insures that output files are optimized to standardized print conditions, resulting in improved quality, easier press to proof match and shorter make ready times.
In other words, IDEALink Curve and Alwan CMYK Optimizer together do the complex color calibration and conversion work needed for standardized print quality and faster production.

How to Get It:
The IDEALink Curve - Alwan CMYK Optimizer solutions, both of which support GRACoL G7, will be available via Alwan's color experts partners - see www.alwancolor.com - and at CHROMiX - see www.chromix.com. Alwan Color Expertise will be exhibiting at GraphExpo in booth 4868, CHROMiX will be exhibiting in booth 5147, and both will be demonstrating IDEALink Curve in combination with CMYK Optimizer.

World-Renowned Color Experts Bring Unparalleled Credibility
IDEALink Curve was co-developed by Don Hutcheson of HutchColor LLC and Steve Upton of CHROMiX. Hutcheson is an internationally-respected graphic arts production expert and current Chair of GRACoL (General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography Committee). Upton is the founder of CHROMiX as well as the developer of the award-winning ColorThink utilities and Maxwell color system.

The architect of Alwan CMYK Optimizer is Elie Khoury. Khoury's name became synonymous with color expertise in the 90s, during which time he provided ICC and ColorSync(TM) color consulting to many OEMs, including Apple. Khoury is a member of ICC, ECI and ISO TC 130, and is very active in International Standardization workgroups.

ABOUT G7(TM)
G7, the new IDEAlliance proof-to-print process, is based on principles of digital imaging, spectrophotometry, and computer-to-plate (CTP) technologies. G7 is currently being applied to many types of printing including commercial and publication printing, newsprint and even flexo. This new methodology utilizes the existing ISO 12647 Standards as the basis for good printing. G7 requires printing with inks defined by ISO 2846-1 so that the dry solids measure as close as possible to the ISO CIELab values for seven colors the four primary colors and three 2-color overprints specified in ISO 12647.

About Alwan Color Expertise
Alwan Color Expertise was founded in Lyon, France, in 1997 by president Elie Khoury. His vision has resulted in the company becoming a world leader in standardization and color management implementation. Today, Alwan provides software, consultancy and training to key players throughout the graphic arts industry, from printers to publishers and from software developers to hardware manufacturers. Visit www.alwancolor.com for info.

About CHROMIX
CHROMiX was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries. CHROMiX dedicates its efforts to color management and image fidelity, and combines an excellent suite of tools with years of industry experience. With customers, dealers and partners in over 95 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve its customers. More information is available at www.chromix.com, or contact Carolyn Boone at boone(at)chromix.com.

About IDEAlliance
IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) is a not-for-profit membership organization. Its mission is to advance user-driven, cross-industry solutions for all publishing and content-related processes by developing standards, fostering business alliances, and identifying best practices. Learn more about IDEAlliance at www.idealliance.org.

About HutchColor LLC
With over 38 years of international experience in photography, design, pre-press and printing, and over ten years developing and teaching ICC-based software and techniques, HutchColor, LLC offers a unique level of color management consulting and training to a world-wide client base. The company also supports industry groups like PIA/GATF, GRACoL (IDEAlliance), and PAB.

Americas Helene Smith HSPR Tel +1 321 388 6511 Email: smith (at) helenesmith.com

Europe and ROW
Lutt Willems
Duomedia Public Relations
Tel +32 2 454 85 57
Email: lutt.w (at) duomedia.com

All products and services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #29 - Tech Support Grab Bag

SmartNote: 50036
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management. We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers. Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
============================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S
Issue # 29 October 17th, 2007
=============================================================
Table of Contents

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

1. Shows and Events
2. CHROMiX News - including new website launch
3. Color Industry News
4. Tech Support Grab Bag - an article by Patrick Herold and Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

October 18th , 2007, 6:30 pm - Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, The Oregonian Conference Center, Portland, OR. 'The Secrets of CS3's Color Management.' Peter Constable of Adobe, one of the foremost authorities on Adobe related color management in the world, will be the speaker. The talk will include relevancy to Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and even a little perspective on Photoshop Lightroom.
For more information and RSVP: www.pnwcmug.com

October 18th - 20th, PhotoPlus Expo 2007, New York, Jacob Javits Center. A comprehensive event for innovative imaging solutions and photographic education.
For more information: www.photoplusexpo.com

October 24th - 27th, 2007, SGIA 2007, The Specialty Printing & Imaging Technology Expo, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL.
www.sgia.org/events/

October 29th, 2007 or January 14th, 2008, 9:30am - 4:30pm, Seattle - "Master the Making of HDR images in Photoshop CS3", a hands-on workshop addressing the following questions: How should the images be captured? What are the pitfalls? How do you avoid them? How do you prepare HDR images for a client? Should I use HDR in the Studio? How? For more information and to enroll: luminousworks.com

December 9th - 11th, 2007, PIA/GATF Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Scottsdale, AZ. This is the ultimate conference for beginners and experts to discover color management, get expert advice and see the latest technology. There are more color management experts per square inch at this show than any other in the world. CHROMiX is a sponsor this year and Steve Upton with be presenting in several sessions. For more information and RSVP:
www.colormanagementconference.com

February 21st - 22nd, 2008, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium 2008 'Science Meets Color', Arabella Sheraton Conference Center , Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany. The main focus will be on the methods for capturing, color transformation and hard/softcopy output for RGB workflows. Simultaneous German/English interpreting.
For more information:
www.fogra.org

May 29 - June 11th, 2008, DRUPA 2008 - Dusseldorf, Germany. This is one of the world's most comprehensive conferences for the printing industry. For more information: DRUPA 2008

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

CHROMiX News

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

A new website? Really?? YES!! CHROMiX is happy to introduce our brand-new and (we think) very hot-looking new site. If you haven't been by for a while, come take a look and tell us what you think! The new site is located on our server farm which has been under development for over a year. As you may have guessed, this is the same server farm that will be hosting our new Maxwell color management system.
www.chromix.com

CHROMiX's Maxwell color system received a 'Worth-a-Look!' award under the category of Internet Related Products at Graph Expo 2007. Out of over 6000 products, only 125 were chosen by the Selection Committee for the Must See 'ems and Worth-a-Look recognition.

CHROMIX showed the latest (almost final) version of Maxwell at GraphEXPO 2007 in September. We were overwhelmed by the high amount of interest and excitement. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see a demo. There were many great suggestions by show attendees for additional Maxwell features, some of which we've decided to include in the first release. These new features delay us only slightly and we are in the throws of beta testing Maxwell right now. All things going well we will launch Maxwell for public use within 20-30 days!

We will also be holding another Maxwell WebEx overview in the next two weeks or so. If you have not signed up to be notified, please send an email to the address below. If you have already signed up, you will receive notification of each webinar until Maxwell ships.

The next ColorThink Pro Webinar Training session will be held November 8th at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM EST). The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $349 for the Webinar class, $598 if you need an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and $748 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email

The next 'second session' or '3rd hour' focusing on the advanced aspects of ColorThink Pro will be held October 30th at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM EST). This event is for paid attendees who have attended the first ColorThink Pro training session, and need to finish their training. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

The X-Rite iSis spectrophotometer won the prestigious European Digital Press (EDP) Award for Best Color Management in the software category. The winners are selected by the European Digital Press Association, and are awarded for the best and most innovative digital printing products of the year. Judged on efficiency, performance, quality, design and ease-of-use, the i1iSis is ideal for high production environments like prepress, high-speed digital printing, high-end proofing, packaging, and wide-format printing. The iSis comes in a standard size A4+/Letter, and an XL size A3+/Tabloid and is priced under $5600. There is a current iSis promotion for saving over $1400 through the end of 2007 (see CHROMiX Ad above). For more: www.xrite.com press

X-Rite announced a new product called Shade-X for dentists or laboratories needing to measure and match various shades. The bundled solutions include software and a new handheld shade-measuring device priced at less than $1,000. For more: www.xrite.com shadeX

Alwan CMYK Optimizer (new version 3) will be bundled with IDEALink Curve specifically to make G7 proof and press calibration and consistency as easy and affordable as possible for prepress and press users. Alwan Color Expertise (President Elie Khoury) partnered with HutchColor, CHROMiX & IDEAlliance to make this special bundle available. For more: www.alwancolor.com

Integrated Color Corp released ColorEyes Display Pro 1.3.0 for Mac. The new Mac version has the ability to automatically adjust the backlight brightness of Apple-brand flat panel displays (both built-in and external). ColorEyes Display Pro for Windows version is currently 1.2.8, but will be updated soon.

X-Rite released Eye-One Match 3.6.2 for Mac and Windows. The Windows version will now run in 64-bit Windows Vista, and the Eye-One Pro and Eye-One iO drivers have been improved for both Macs and PCs.
Download at:
www.xrite.com i1Match

Adobe released Photoshop Lightroom 1.2 for Mac and Windows. This new release incorporates the recent changes in Camera Raw 4.2, plus many other feature updates and bug fixes. Lightroom 1.2 is a free update for licensed users. Download Mac/PC updates at: www.adobe.com Lightroom


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

This Month's Feature Article:

Tech Support Grab Bag

by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold and Steve Upton

This month, instead of writing an article as we usually do, we thought we'd try to address some of the questions we're asked on a regular basis. As always, please remember that, if you have a specific question you'd like us to address, please send it in and we'll do our best to publish it, and its answer.

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

Photoshop, Mac and Epson combinations - Pat Herold

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

Every once in a while, we get a call from someone who is following the proper procedures for using their custom printer profile, but getting poor results in their actual prints. In the article from ColorNews Issue 24 Printer_to_Match_my_Screen, we explained what to look for if your printer is not printing as expected. If you are following all of these guidelines and the color is still not right, are you using a Mac computer to print with Photoshop to an Epson computer? These three don't always play nicely together when it comes to printer profiles, so here are a few more things to check:

- Make "GENERIC RGB.icc" your default ColorSync profile in the driver. (Yes, we know you've already got color management turned off in the driver, or set to "no color adjustment" - but there's a bug in the software that makes it necessary to choose "Generic RGB.icc" as your Current Profile in ColorSync.

- Make the printer in question the DEFAULT printer. When you have more than one printer connected to your computer, you should make the printer you are using the default printer - even if that means changing the default printer every time you need to print to a different machine. We have found that it makes a difference.

- Reinstall or update the Epson driver. We have seen this one, too. The color from a custom profile looks bad. Then the Epson driver is re-installed. Suddenly the color looks good.

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

How can I make one printer look like another? - Pat Herold

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

This is a basic question, but to get a simple answer depends on whether the profiles for your two printers are accurate. IF the profiles for your two printers are good quality, then all you need to do is to use Photoshop to convert to the profile of the printer you want to emulate. Then, print on your other printer as usual.

For example, you want to want to print on your HP Z3100 so that it looks the same as your Epson 2200. You would convert your image to the Epson 2200 profile. Then print that image to the HP Z3100 using the regular Z3100 profile. This assumes that these two profiles are accurately representing what these printers are putting out.

To streamline this process, set up the Epson 2200 profile for soft proofing, then select this soft proofing setup as the 'source' color when printing. Then Photoshop will perform the conversion to the Epson 2200 profile and onto the HP printer profile on the fly.

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

ColorThink Pro tip - Pat Herold

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

Did you know you can use ColorThink Pro to "fine-tune" profiling? Say you have an image to print that has some problem colors in it, and you'd like to make a printer profile that specifically samples those colors so that the profile will have more detailed information about how to treat them. This is not a "one-click" procedure, but it's very useful when you want to improve a profile without taking the dangerous step of editing it.

The worksheet in ColorThink Pro allows you to select colors in an image using the eye dropper or target marque tools. Those color selections are added to a colorlist, and that colorlist can be saved as a reference file - which can then be added into your regular reference file and made into a new, expanded target. This can be used with any printer profiling software that accepts custom targets.

- Open an image into ColorThink
- Convert the image to your device's color space using your existing device profile (or pre-convert the image in Photoshop)
- Using the eyedropper tool, click on the colors you wish to sample. This will start populating a colorlist. Remember that you can zoom in on an image by enlarging the worksheet or using the magnify tool (in overlay or slice image modes only.)
- Alternatively select the target marque tool and choose 'custom' as the size, then select the number of sample points you want. Click and drag to select a portion of your image, and ColorThink will sample many points from an evenly-spaced grid.
- Save the rightmost color list by clicking on "", and "Save List As...".
- Choose destination, and click the drop down box to choose the device space of your printer.
- Name the new colorlist and save it.
- Open the new colorlist in a text editing program, or a spreadsheet program like Excel.
- Open the reference file for your profiling target in the same program.
- Copy and paste the color information from your new colorlist onto the end of your profiling target reference.
- Bring your target reference into the Testchart Generator of MeasureTool (if you have that function enabled), or Gretag / Xrite's ColorLab program (if you don't have MeasureTool).
- Create a new testchart using the normal procedures.

Your profile will now be built with additional sampling in the area of the color space you selected. With ProfileMaker, we have found this can sometimes drastically improve flesh tone transitions and other common issues.

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

How do internal-calibration screens differ from regular displays? - Steve Upton

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

A number of high-quality LCD displays available today make use of "internal calibration" technology and we find that this feature, while very useful, confuses and confounds.

So, a quick background on screen calibration:

In a conventional CRT or LCD display system, calibration of the display mostly takes place in the computer's graphics card. When you run your screen calibration software, it displays many different color patches on screen and measures them using your calibration hardware (puck). Typically, the largest number of patches are for the calibration of the screen. This stage is where the behavior of each individual RGB color channel is measured, and then curves are loaded into the graphics card in order to achieve the gamma or L* curve you requested AND achieve neutral grays from black to white. The balance of maximum RGB values may also be set to achieve a white point other than the one the display shows in its uncalibrated state. (We strongly suggest altering CRTs on their front panels rather than having the software do this.)

As you may know, any time you pass numbers through a curve, you lose some of them (unless it's a flat curve). In a high-bit system (more than 8 bits per channel), this may not be a big deal, but in a display system using 8 bits per channel, it can be a big problem. 8 bits per channel is barely enough to display smooth transitions across all colors on a display - some feel it's not enough. If your display requires significant curving to bring it into calibration, then many of the 256 possible values become unavailable. This shows up as posterizing in displayed images.

If you want to explore this concept interactively, take a look at Bruce Lindbloom's Levels Calculator here:
Levels Calculator
One method to get around this problem is to find a graphics card with high-bit calibration curves.... good luck. Rumors abound that they exist (they used to) or that they soon will, but they are rare indeed.

Another method is to move the calibration function into the monitor itself. In this case, the video card's curves are set to gamma 1.0 (flat), so any outgoing values are unaltered and no precision is lost. Then the calibration software produces curves for the monitor's internal tables. The secret? These tables have 10-14 bits of precision.

How does this help? Well, the calibration software can alter the behavior of the display quite a bit before running up against the problem of losing precision in the 8-bit data coming from the computer. It can also spend more time (and patches) on the gray-balancing of the display, producing more neutral grays across the full range and also making the transitions smoother.

Do these displays work? Definitely!

Do you need to use software that can take advantage of these curves? Definitely!

Obviously, the software shipped with the display will support this level of calibration. Some other packages - ColorEyes Display Pro and Eye One Match are notables - will also support internal curves on many displays. I'd check with the software folks about it supporting your display before buying the software, just to be sure.

Now... the clincher...

How can I tell if I have one (or that it is calibrated correctly)?

Well, the curves that are internal to displays are not easy to get a hold of. In most cases, the curves themselves appear to be stored inside the display itself. But there is one quick way to check (on the Mac).

- open the ColorSync utility
- find your display profile among the listed display profiles
- double-click to open it
- click on the 'vcgt' tag in the profile

Note the shape of the curve and whether or not it has a gamma of '1.0'

If the curve is not completely flat then your display calibration is taking place in your graphics card. If it is flat, and the profile was created using calibration software and an instrument, then you can be assured that the calibration is taking place within your display's tables.

On Windows, it may not be so easy to perform this test. If you are a ColorThink user, open the profile into the Profile Inspector and select the 'vcgt' tag. ColorThink will report that the curve is defined by 'a formula' if it is flat, otherwise it will be described by the number of points in the curve. The Windows Color Control Applet does not report this kind of information. I believe that ColorShop X will report this information if you use it.

Finally: Does this mean that my display is a '14 bit' display? No! Definitely not!

You could say that it is a display with '14 bit calibration' but it is certainly not a 14 bit display. To be a 14 bit display you would need 14 bits per channel of image data coming from Photoshop, through a supporting graphics card, and then out to a supporting display. And we're a fair ways off from that! Also, this does not mean that you will have 14-bit grays. You will still only have 256 discrete levels of gray - they will simply be well calibrated levels of gray without any of the 8 bits lost due to calibration.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion you may have about these displays.


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

Matching two displays - with a virtual twist - Courtesy of Eric Walowit

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

How do you get your Parallels Windows XP display to match a Mac's OS X display?

For those wishing to match "two" displays between XP and OSX on a single machine with a single screen, here is how to do it with ColorEyes Display Pro (CEDP):

1) Install CEDP on OSX only (do not install CEDP under Parallels XP).

2) Calibrate and profile under OSX normally.

3) Copy the profile just created over to Parallels/XP, install, and select it from the Display Control panel.

4) Disable any LUT loading application from the XP startup folder, or anywhere else for that matter.

5) Repeat anytime the monitor is recalibrated and profiled.

This works under Parallels/XP but not VMWare/XP, and should work with most any monitor calibration solution.

A bit cumbersome but a small price to pay.

The Parallels/XP method should be obvious, but the wrinkle is that VMWare just doesn't support video LUTs, OS-level color management, or selection of a monitor profile even if no calibration is required.

Bummer because VMWare seems to be superior in every other way.

Thanks to Derrick Brown and Chris Murphy for their helpful suggestions.


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


Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold and Steve Upton

CHROMiX


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


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.

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2007 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and Profilecentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #30 - Color Management Answers

SmartNote: 50037
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 30 January 29th, 2008

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - - - - Maxwell.... it's here!!
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Color Management Answers - an 'article' by Patrick Herold and Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
========================================

CHROMiX News - M A X W E L L is here!

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

Maxwell is now official!
--------------------------------

Last week, after several months of private Beta testing, CHROMiX released the Public Beta version of Maxwell. Since announcing Maxwell in December 2006, much of our time and energy has been devoted to developing its infrastructure to be as robust and powerful as possible.

Maxwell is a web-based service that will allow you to evaluate and monitor the status of any device (that has web access) from any web browser, anywhere. Maxwell is a color management system based on a central web-enabled color repository. You can easily upload and download color measurements (free) and structure your data, users, devices and locations (also free). On top of the color repository, Maxwell offers device trending, profile sharing and measurement services. After the Public Beta period, Maxwell will be available initially for a low monthly subscription price of $50 per 10 Tracks. A Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when this item falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements. Enhanced Analysis and Reporting can be generated for almost any data. There is much more to come!

If you feel your company is a good candidate to test and report Maxwell Beta results (good and bad), please contact us at maxwellbetatester(at)chromix.com. We expect the Beta period to last one to two months.

Interested in seeing Maxwell for yourself? We will be holding a free Maxwell Training Webinar regularly. If you're interested in attending, please send an RSVP email to this address:
maxwellintro(at)chromix.com

ColorThink Pro Training:
----------------------------------

The next ColorThink Pro Webinar Training session will be held February 13th at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM EST). The WebEx class, which consists of one two-hour session and one one-hour session, is taught by Steve Upton, designer and developer of ColorThink. The first two hours cover fundamental and intermediate use, and touch on some advanced concepts. The second session, held at a later date agreed upon by class attendees, focuses on advanced concepts and questions. The class is presented in this manner to allow plenty of hands-on time with the program before the final hour of training. Interested? All you need is a current browser, and ColorThink Pro. Pricing: $349 for the Webinar class, $598 if you need an upgrade from ColorThink to ColorThink Pro and $748 if you are starting from scratch (no upgrade) for the training and the whole ColorThink Pro program. For more information or to register, call sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email sales(at)chromix.com

The next 'second session' or '3rd hour' focusing on the advanced aspects of ColorThink Pro will be held February 20th at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM EST). This event is for paid attendees who have attended the first ColorThink Pro training session, and need to finish their training. If you have attended a past 'first session' but not attended an advanced 'second session', you will be contacted before the event. If you have any questions or to RSVP contact sales at 866-CHROMiX x1, or email
sales(at)chromix.com

Have you seen the new CHROMiX website yet? We've received tremendous feedback... thank you! It was redesigned using the latest technologies available in the hopes of giving you, our customers, a better overall experience. The new site is located on our server farm - the same server farm that hosts our new Maxwell color management system. Check it out and let us know what you think!
CHROMiX

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

January 31st, 2008 - February 02, 2008 - PMA 08 International Convention and Trade Show, Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall - Las Vegas, Nevada USA. PMA is the leading international conference and trade show for photography. PMA 2008 hosts retail entrepreneurial memory makers from around the world, including photo retailers, professional photographers, mass merchandisers, professional labs, custom picture framers, scrapbook retailers and professional wedding and event videographers. The PMA 08 International Convention features more than 200 sessions, encouraging the discovery of more opportunities, professional development, and the inspiration to act on emerging trends. For more: pmai.org

February 21st - 22nd, 2008, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium 2008 'Science Meets Color', Arabella Sheraton Conference Center , Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany. The main focus will be on the methods for capturing, color transformation and hard/softcopy output for RGB workflows. Simultaneous German/English interpreting. For more information:
Fogra.org

March 11 - 12, 2008, 31st Global Ink Jet Printing Conference, Corinthia Grand Palace Hotel, Budapest , Hungary. Over 40 related industry speakers discuss a variety of ink jet industry issues and problems. To register:
Inkjetconference.com

April 2 - 4, 2008, Photoshop World, Orange County Convention Center South - Orlando, Florida USA. Considered the biggest and best show of everything Photoshop related. For more:
Photoshopworld.com

May 29 - June 11th, 2008, DRUPA 2008 - Dusseldorf, Germany. This is one of the world's most comprehensive conferences for the printing industry held every 4 years. For more information:
Drupa2008

April - September, 2007, National Business Media is promoting a unique Three Shows in One approach in multiple cites this year. The shows are one day each 9for 3 days total) and are called: The Sign Business & Digital Graphics Show (The Show for Sign Makers and Digital Printing Professionals), The Printwear Show (The Show for the Business of Apparel Decorating) and The Awards & Custom Gift Show (The Show for Awards, Engraving, and Custom Gift Professionals). Cities involved are Charlotte, NC (April 10-12), Fort Worth, TX (May 8-10), Baltimore, MD (June 19-21), Long Beach, CA (July 17-19) and Indianapolis, IN (September 4-6).
For more information: nbmshows.com

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Many people were not able to attend the 2007 PIA/GATF Color Management Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona this last December. While many topics were discussed, GRACoL/G7 seemed to be the central theme. CHROMiX was also there showing final aspects of Maxwell before it's world release. Although nothing beats a first hand experience at a great seminar, here is a link to many of the presentations from the event: colormanagementconference.com
And the conference brochure: gain.net

Enjoy!

Elie Khoury of Alwan Color Expertise was in Phoenix at the PIA/GATF Color Management Conference showing CMYK Optimizer version 3. CMYK Optimizer standardizes and optimizes files for more consistent reproducibility, saving time and especially materials. There are 4 different versions for each distinct market: Photo, Publish, Print and PrintGold. For more: alwancolor.com

EIZO has introduced several new FlexScan LCD wide-screen models including the luxurious new SX3031W-BK which is their new 30" LCD (expected street price ~ $3250). EIZO is also introducing a 30" ColorEdge model CG301W-BK which should dazzle high end color users needing more screen space. The CG301W will have a street price ~ $5200 and should be shipping Mid-February. We saw a prototype of it in December at the Color Management Conference and were impressed. It's very likely EIZO could be setting the standard yet again. To see the new FlexScan SX series and existing ColorEdge monitors go to:
Eizo monitors

LaCie has announced the new 324, a 24" LCD graphics monitor that fulfills the dual needs for affordability and quality performance for both still and motion graphics. The 324 is a 16:10 aspect wide-screen that employs a S-PVA panel and 10-bit gamma correction. It has 1920x1200 max resolution, 400 cd/m2 max luminance and has a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The 324 falls into the expanded gamut range category and LaCie claims it is 95% of Adobe RGB. It's response time is 6ms, it has 2 HDMI ports ,1 DVI-D port, and touts something called DCDi¨ by Faroudja - a video enhancing technology. We're told it should be shipping any day now. Price is expected to be around $1159.

Just NormLicht was in Phoenix at the PIA/GATF Color Management Conference showing their Color Communicator2 TNG system. The Color Communicator2 has software that automatically adjusts the brightness of the viewing cabinet to match the image displayed on the monitor. The target brightness of the viewing cabinet is determined and later measured with the same measuring device. First. the monitor is calibrated using adJUST software. Then the software calculates the optimal adjustment and sets the Color Communicator2 via a USB interface accordingly. Everything occurs automatically: the user simply puts the measuring device on the monitor and then into the viewing cabinet. The result is that a soft proof on the monitor and the proof in the viewing cabinet look exactly the same. For more:
just-normlicht

Sun Chemical was in Phoenix at the PIA/GATF Color Management Conference showing SmartColour Brand Color Management System. Sun has developed a new suite of tools including: SmartColour DigiBase (an optimized color digital library), SmartColour DigiGuides (digitally printed color guides), SmartColour DigiProofs and SmartColour iVue (a Photoshop plugin). For more: smartcolour.com

ColorVision (DataColor) started shipping the Spyder3Pro, it's third generation of monitor calibrators. The new device touts state-of-the-art optical design, and the industry's only 7 detector color engine and largest light aperture for unrivaled performance. Available in different packages: Spyder3Pro, Spyder3Elite, Spyder3Print and Spyder3Studio. For more information:
Spyder3

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

Other TidBits

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

Lithium-ion Batteries and Travel:
------------------------------------------- The U.S. Department of Transportation revised lithium battery rules for air-travel: In an effort to clarify lithium battery transport rules and reduce/avoid short-circuiting, on January 1, 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released a statement whose bottom line is: carry spare camera and laptop batteries in your carry-on, and NOT in checked luggage unless they are installed in the device itself. Digital SLR camera batteries and Laptop li-ion batteries should be fine. This does not apply to alkaline batteries.
safetravel.dot.gov

From USA today: A light-hearted forecast for trends of 2008, from lifestyle to attitudes.
usatoday.com

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

This Month's Feature Article:

Color Management Answers
(or at least where to try to find them)

by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold and Steve Upton

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

I spend a good portion of my day answering questions from customers who need information about color management, or how to use the color management tools they have. A reoccurring theme in these discussions is 'how complicated' color management is. It's true. Color management can be quite involved - but a lot depends on how deep you need to go to get the answers you need. You don't necessarily need to be a professor of color geekology. It is possible to read a twenty-minute article that will cover most of the bases for getting your desktop printer to match your computer display, for example. I realize that a lot of users of color management don't necessarily want to make it a full-time endeavor, that learning color management is really just a tool to get you closer to what you want - whether you are a professional photographer wanting accurate prints of your shots, or a press operator wanting to please your customers.

So the real question is "Where do I go to get the information I need without having to read an entire library of color science manuals?" This newsletter article is intended to offer some pointers for where to go to get accurate, quality advice and information that you can count on - without spending oodles of time or gobs of money on it.

==ColorNews==

You've already come across a great source for education. This is the 30th issue of the CHROMiX ColorNews newsletter, which means there are 29 back issues of these articles available on our CHROMiX website, or at the ColorWiki website. We try really hard to make these articles relevant and useful - real information that you don't already know but can really use. And we keep the language down-to-earth so that it is hopefully a little entertaining as well as educational. The ColorWiki site makes it easy to browse around and find an answer to topics you are interested in. www.colorwiki.com/wiki/colornews

==Color Management Myths==

Useful to experts and novices alike, reading over our list of color management myths will give you a broad understanding of what common pitfalls you should look for. It's surprising how easily we can fall into some of these wrong ways of thinking. This is one of those "lots-of-good-information-in-a-short-amount-of-time" things you could read.

Would you (or someone you know) describe yourself as knowing "just enough color management to be dangerous?" Reading through and understanding the Color Management Myths will go a long way toward keeping yourself from being too dangerous. Originally part of the ColorNews articles, we have recently broken them apart in the ColorWiki so you can browse all 33 of these topics easily by subject. Some of the topics are getting dated, but others seem to keep cropping up. To read some of the more "popular" myths check out :
- #10 "Profile Rot" myth.
- #11 Printing a target to evaluate a profile.
- #26 Graphing tools provide the same results.

colorwiki.com/wiki/colormanagementmyths

==Manufacturer's Support==

Most of the manufacturers of color management products will have support pages on their website, even if their live technical support personnel are unavailable or not helpful. And these sites often have good, general color management answers in addition to support for specific products.

X-Rite
-------
The "Support" section of the X-Rite website has a wealth of articles designed to answer common questions. These are linked together with X-Rite products, so you first need to enter an X-Rite product name into the search engine to have it search for support documents.

For example, if I enter "i1Match" into the search engine, it returns 114 links to software downloads and common questions including:
- Free, downloadable training videos, showing how to calibrate monitors, set up Photoshop, etc.
- Differences between LCD and CRT monitors.
- How to handle dual monitors on Windows XP
- How often should I profile a monitor?

xrite.com/support

EIZO Nanao
-----
EIZO has two good articles worth a look:
- Choosing the Right Monitors for a Color Management System: eizo.com/CMS
- Monitor Calibration: eizo.com/calibration

==Forums==

There are quite a few forums on the net. Whether they are a source of accurate information depends on which forum you're looking at and what people are involved. Businesses who maintain forums that support their products will generally be monitoring the content to make sure it is accurate.

ColorForums, sponsored by CHROMiX:
www.colourforums.com

Integrated Color Corp., makers of ColorEyes products:
integrated-color.com

Lets Talk Print forum, sponsored by the PIA/GATF:
letstalkprint.com

Luminous Landscape, a Photography forum:
luminous-landscape.com

ProPhoto Home, a Photography forum:
prophotohome.com

Many forums are free. In many cases, you can't expect a very detailed answer from volunteers who answer your particular query. But forums can be useful in furthering your general information about color management, where the industry is going, who is doing what.

The Colorsync User's List has evolved over the years to go beyond Apple's Colorsync application, and has become a highly respected forum where the top color geeks around the world discuss color management, and thousand of others subscribe to the list just to read what they have to say.
lists.apple.com/colorsync

==Websites==

Here are some web sites by industry veterans:

Andrew Rodney has an extensive library of pdf's covering many aspects of color management and Photoshop tips and tutorials. For example, there is a 4-page "Color Management Primer" that explains the history of, and why we have and need, color management. His opinions are informed and objective. digitaldog.net
digitaldog.net/files/introtoCMS.pdf

_____

Bruce Lindbloom's site is more technical in nature. This is where you go when you want to know the math and the calculations that go into various aspects of color. The Info section has some evaluations and test images.
brucelindbloom.com

_____

The foremost description of how to profile a scanner is on the Hutchcolor site, under the HCT section.
See the Free section for color management notes & test targets and images.
hutchcolor.com

_____

==Books==

Real World Color Management by Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy, and Fred Bunting.
This is often considered the 'bible' of color management.
colorremedies.com

Understanding Color Management, Dr. Abhay Sharma
One of the best books anywhere at demystifying color management in an easy to read, easy to understand format. Dr. Abhay Sharma explains the basics of color science and color measurement, and provides an in-depth look at the range of measuring instruments available to the end-user. He explains (ICC) profiles and uses (ICC) profiles for procedures for profiling scanners, digital cameras, computer monitors, inkjet printers, and printing presses.

Measuring Color - 3rd Edition, R.W.G. Hunt
This third edition contains the latest developments in the theory and practice of measuring colour. It also has a extensive Appendices that provide a review of photometric measures and tables of data necessary for colour computations, and a glossary of terms and full index.

Practical Color Management, Eddie Tapp
This book has simple but strong emphasis on color managing photography.

Microsoft Windows XP Color Management, Color Management in Mac Os X, both books (and others) by Joshua Weisberg
Josh Weisberg is a well respected writer and one who tackles OS level issues and topics.

==Quick Links to interesting things:==

Photographer Bob Johnson compares color management to setting your clocks: (1 page)
earthboundlight.com

Ethan Hansen of Dry Creek Photo has written good, very readable articles on color management. He also has interesting comparisons between different calibration products and other advice worth checking out:
drycreekphoto.com

The Pacific Northwest Color Management User's group site has several free pdfs including Chris Murphy's popular "Introduction to Color Management" series. (medium length) pnwcmug.com

LaCie provides a short color management white paper that explains the scientific foundation for color and how that relates to computer displays. (3 pages)
lacie.com/wp_colormanagement_en.pdf

Western Michigan University publishes a review of ICC profile-making software. Back issues are free, and the latest issue is $10.
wmich.edu

____

Finally, and at the risk of patting ourselves on the back, one of the things CHROMiX is known for is its great customer support. CHROMiX will be here to help you navigate that sea of color management information and misinformation. When you are looking for a voice that you can depend on for accurate and reliable information, put forth in a way that is easy to understand, give us a call.

We know there are other sources for information on the web. This list was not intended to be exhaustive. Instead we hope it is an effective summary of our favorites in a size that isn't too daunting.

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

Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold and Steve Upton

CHROMiX

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

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To subscribe, with "subscribe" in the subject.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews/

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2007 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #40 - Photo Books

SmartNote: 50114
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: colorforums

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

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S


Issue # 40
December 3rd, 2009

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - Curve2! Virtual Press Run, CurveCore, Maxwell, DisplayWatch and ColorValet Pro
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Forum Topics, etc.
5. Tech Notes #1, #2, and #3
6. Photo Books - an article by Pat Herold
7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale **See our USED spectrophotometer Sale**
8. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

CHROMiX News

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


And here's.... Curve2 !!

Curve2 - the new version of IDEALink Curve - has shipped!!!

Now, the details:

Curve2:
______

IDEALink Curve, a joint-development between (CHROMiX) and HutchColor, ushered in the age of G7 calibration and helped propel it into a mainstream press calibration technique that is the basis for today's North American characterization colors in GRACoL #1, SWOP #3 and SWOP #5 (and more to follow). We've been working on the underlying technology and new features for almost two years now. The results are worth the wait.

Over 50 new functions and features have been added to Curve2. A new document format holds a series of press runs in a single file, allowing Curve2 to double check run-to-run consistency, check how well a run meets G7 metrics, and base one set of curves on another. Iterative tuning becomes as simple as selecting the previous run. The accuracy of the underlying algorithms is also significantly improved.

Graphing has seen a complete redesign. Curve 1.1 users will be happy to see that all Curve2 graphs have integrated zoom, pan and expansion tools. You can view Curve2's corrections vs control points and optimize the control points sent to the RIP for the most effective corrections possible.

Curve2 can now export some important formats such as device link profiles, Photoshop(tm) curves, text files and RIP configuration files. Curve2 can also display the "Measured" percentages required by some RIPs, instead of the more common "Wanted" percentages.

As a surprise to some users, Curve2 can also calculate ISO-standard TVI curves instead of G7 curves. TVI calibration was the number one request from European users. Including both methods allows users to compare the TVI and G7 methods of calibration and makes Curve2 a more flexible tool.

There are too many features to list here so please visit the new Curve2 section of our website for more information, pre-release sales and upgrade details:
chromix/curve2

We would also like to express our many thanks to the valuable beta testers that helped test Curve2. Without these folks, Curve2 would have been further delayed.

Finally, we've created a technical forum devoted especially to Curve2 and IDEALink Curve: Curve2/forum

This will be the main place to get support, answers and discuss any issues for Curve or Curve2. The forum is free to all users.


Virtual Press Run (VPR):
_____________________

G7-calibrating a press requires multiple, dedicated press runs right? Not any more.

Our VPR technology has been under development for more than two years so we're excited to finally reveal this powerful new tool. The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job.

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs; one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press.

VPR typically eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run. The savings can be huge. The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers.

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2. VPR has now entered beta testing and should ship in January-February timeframe.
curve2/VPR


CurveCore Development Kit:
________________________

CurveCore is a new toolkit enabling developers and manufacturers to include G7 curve calculation and evaluation in their products.

In response to numerous requests, we are now making the core technology inside Curve2 available for integration into new and existing Graphic Arts products like RIPs, printer drivers, workflow solutions and analysis software. To a developer, licensing CurveCore means shorter development times and virtually no research costs, because the complex gray balance and curve fitting algorithms inside the original IDEAlink Curve software have already had three years of practical field testing in hundreds of end user sites. The core algorithms have been further enhanced for even greater accuracy and functionality in Curve2.

Another benefit of licensing CurveCore is that IDEALink Curve is the defacto G7 reference implementation, so G7 conformance testing or certification should go very smoothly. We will ensure that Curve2 passes IDEAlliance's planned G7 conformance testing, so any application using CurveCore should also pass as long as developers follow the SDK development procedures.

Our friends at SpotOn! Press have already announced support for CurveCore, announcing this week that their SpotOn pressroom monitoring and trending tool will include CurveCore's G7 curve calculation capabilities in a future add-on module.

Curve2/CurveCore


Webinar:
_______

Curve2: A webinar demonstrating Curve2 and discussing its many new features is scheduled for Tuesday December 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am Pacific US. Send an email to webinars(at)chromix.com and we'll send you connection information. If you've responded about previous Curve2 webinars, you'll get notification about this one as well.


Full press releases:
________________

Curve2 PR/curve2
Virtual Press Run PR/VPR
CurveCore SDK PR/CurveCore

MAXWELL, ColorShuttle, and DisplayWatch:
___________________________________

Have you ever wished that you could be automatically notified when your monitor needs calibration or, more importantly, when it is out of tolerance?
Or do you need the ability to ensure users calibrate their monitor on a regular basis? Or be notified if they have not calibrated?
Or, would you like to know if your customers' Remote Proofing monitor is out of tolerance?
Then DisplayWatch is the perfect solution for you and is now in final testing.

DisplayWatch is the unique combination of Maxwell and ColorShuttle applied to a monitor instead of a printer. ColorShuttle interacts with your system and monitor to accumulate every calibration made, and automatically uploads each file into a Maxwell 'Track'. Then, notifiers (that you set) will let you know when the monitor is out of tolerance. And much more...

Overview of the latest Maxwell features:
- DisplayWatch for monitor tracking (New!)
- Immediate print verification with Pass/Fail calculations and reporting in ColorShuttle client (New!)
- Pass/Fail Reporting and Labeling (New!)
- Customizable Labels (New!)
- Long Term Trending Reporting & Graphing
- Notification of Tolerance Failures
- Streamlined measurement process (4 clicks from measure to label)

For complete Maxwell product information, go to mxwell.com

If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1.
Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.

For users, check out the ColorForums.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle:

colorforums.com/maxwell


Our top PROFILING services compared: ColorValet Pro and ColorValet Print (Which one is right for you?)
_________________________________________________________________________________

ColorValet Pro ($199 for 18 months):
- UNLIMITED profiles for ONE RGB-controlled printer
- Access to other profiles for your printer via ColorPool
- A free Maxwell Track for 1 paper
- A quick and easy-to-use submission target for the 'Tracked' paper
- Trending Report for the 'Tracked' paper for performance or conformance
- Email Notification of Tolerance Failure for the 'Tracked' paper
- Support via Email, Forum, ColorWiki
For more information about ColorValet Pro go to: ColorValet Pro

-or-

ColorValet Print ($99 for each profile, $396 for 5-pack, $699 for 10-pack):
- RGB or CMYK profile
- Highest quality
- Money Back Guarantee
- Deep-Color measuring
- Full CHROMiX Support (Phone, Email, WebEx, Forum, ColorWiki)
For more information about ColorValet Print go to: ColorValet Print

The website includes a comprehensive FAQ that should answer all your questions. We've also created a matrix to help differentiate between ColorValet Print and ColorValet Pro ColorValet pro compare


PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' star burst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

December 6th-8th, 2009, Printing Industries of America (PIA) presents the 11th Annual Color Management Conference, The Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Attendees include beginners to experts for this ALL color management only conference. New this year: a Full Digital Track (color management for printers) produced by the Digital Printing Council, a Pre-Conference Session focusing on color management processes for sheetfed, flexography, web printers, and finally a Pre-Conference Annual Off-Site Photo Shoot for both beginners and experts. CHROMiX will be attending as both a vendor and with Steve Upton as a speaker at this event. PLEASE STOP BY OUR BOOTH AND SAY HELLO!
For more details or to register colormanagement conference

January 21st, 2010, 6:30 - 9:00 PM at The Oregonian, Downtown Portland, OR, the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group hosts 'Digital Camera Profiling' presented by past CMUG advisor Michael Neumann. Michael is an expert on camera profiling and has countless hours of what works and what doesn't work (products, DCs, processes). Attendees are invited to bring your digital camera as Michael also gives some real life walk-throughs of some important functionalities. Event to be held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: PNWCMUG

January 18th-20th, 2010, Premedia Spectrum 2.0, at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, Naples, Fla. This event is a merging of the Gravure Association of America's Premedia conference and IDEAlliance's Spectrum360 conference. This new event addresses the convergence of premedia across multichannel digital supply chains.
WhatTheyThink Article: Premedia Spectrum

January 23rd - 24th, 2010, Photo Partners, LLP presents Navigate Photography Seattle, Lynnwood Convention Center. A conference focused on photography issues for both professionals and amateurs alike. Steve Upton and Pat Herold will be featured speakers for both Saturday and Sunday. CHROMiX will also have a booth exhibiting. Hope to see you there. Navigate Photography Seattle

> February 25th - 26th, 2010, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium, Konferenzzentrum Sheraton Muenchen Arabellapark, Germany. Our very own Steve Upton of CHROMiX will travel to Germany to be a guest speaker at this event.
FOGRA

February 25th-27th, 2010, Graphics of the Americas, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, FL. Presented by GAIN. ==================================================

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Apples mini-DisplayPort video connector was adopted and ratified by the VESA board:
appleinsider.com
Hopefully this will cause more rapid development and adoption of DisplayPort.

Apple seeded third Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta and then released 10.6.2 later:
iphone.macnn.com

Eizo released version 5.3 of its Color Navigator calibration software (which allows full hardware level calibration for its ColorEdge series). Version 5.3 is Snow Leopard and Windows 7 compatible. One particular feature called Light Box Brightness Adjustment integrates an Eizo ColorEdge series model with the JUST USB Interface and allows direct control of an JUST Normlicht Color Communicator 2 light booth. This combined technology allows for a much more accurate screen to proof color matching by closely matching the light box's brightness to the desired target value of the monitor. For more details: Eizo.com

Microsoft launches the much anticipated Windows 7. Early reports are very good.
microsoft.com/windows7

Pantone released myPANTONE iPhone application xrite.com/iphone

X-Rite released ColorChecker PassPort this last quarter. $99 introductory price. We love this product and it really works well.
Press release: www.xrite.com/passport
Seth Resnicks 'Overview' video: xritephoto.com/overview
Buy at CHROMiX: chromix.com/passport

X-Rite Announces Out-Of-The-Box ISO 12647-2 and G7 Support for 500 Series Handheld Spectrodensitometers
xrite.com/news=586
!See Trade-In Ad above.

X-Rite continues to lose less money:
whattheythink.com


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

Forum TOPICS, Random Findings, Recommended Readings, Etc.:

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

Using ColorThink Pro for the analysis, Earl Robicheaux illustrates the rendering differences between Lightroom and Capture One Pro.
Valuable information and an excellent usage of ColorThink Pro.
naturesetude.com

Francisco Inchauste has written a great article worth reading: 'Color: The Next Limited Resource?'
Check it out: sixrevisions.com

On the X-Rite i1Display2 website: xrite.com/os10.6
It seems that the initial releases of Apple's Snow Leopard operating system, versions OSX10.6 and OSX 10.6.1 at least, do not support ICC version 4 profiles.
For checking applications for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard compatibility, check this website out: snowleopard.wikidot.com

Regarding the 'Pantone for my iPhone' app, Eddy Hagan at The Flemish Innovation Center for Graphic Communication (VIGC) did a review of it and shreds it.
For more reasons than just the screen too.
It's mentioned here: thedigitalnirvana
The study is discussed in more detail here: members.whattheythink.com

For those that couldn't make Print09 in September, here is a quick overview:
members.whattheythink.com/print09

FrankenCamera??
news.stanford.edu

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

TECH Notes #1: Turning Off Color Management in Mac OS X ColorSync - Pat Herold

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

CHROMiX has found that certain combinations of Epson printers with Photoshop and the Mac operating systems have a problem ensuring that color management is turned off. In this condition, even when the settings say that color management is off, there is still some color conversion going on "behind the scenes." Ironically the way to fix this is to intentionally put a certain profile into place in Colorsync.

This is a vital issue to check if you are creating profiling targets (through ColorValet Profiling Service or our ColorShuttle software), or are printing through Photoshop (and want to be sure that your printer profile is the only conversion happening.) For a Photoshop-specific work-around, see Tech Note #2 below.


Here are step-by-step instructions:

Procedure:

1) Open the ColorSync utility inside the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.
2) Click on the Devices button, expand the Printers list, and find the printer you are using in the list.
3) Expand the list under the printer you are using. With Epson drivers, you will see listed some profiles representing different paper types. One of these will represent the media type you are using. It will most likely be the default or current profile. (Hit "expand all" if necessary.)
4) Click on the Current Profile: (>) arrowhead, Choose "Other...", and browse to find and choose the "Generic RGB.icc" profile. This profile is usually found here: HD/System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/
NOTE THAT THIS ARROWHEAD WILL BE GRAYED OUT IF NOT AN ADMIN USER.
Note also that the default profile indication will not change in the 'Registered ColorSync devices' window, but the current profile will be changed to reflect the new Generic RGB profile.

This procedure works on all Mac operating systems BEFORE Snow Leopard (10.6). --> As of Snow Leopard and following OS's, follow same procedure as above but choose the "sRGB profile" in step #4 instead of "GenericRGB". <--


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

TECH Notes #2: Printing Without Color Management through Photoshop using Mac OS X ColorSync

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

Mark Dubovoy recently posted a work-around in Luminous Landscape which solves the problem of how to print a profiling target without color management. This work-around accomplishes the same result as Tech note #1 above, but specifically uses Photoshop instead of ColorSync. Mark provides excellent background and walk-through of the process. Here is a link to his solution:

luminous-landscape.com

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

TECH Notes #3: A ColorThink Solution: How can I extract P2P information from a profile? - Steve Upton

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


A customer asked this question recently, so we wanted to share this with others:

- open the P2P text file into ColorThink. It will open into the Color Worksheet.
- drop your profile onto the list of numbers (or click the "+" sign and open it from there)
- if CTP asks about replacing / etc choose "Assign" to replace the Lab values in the file with those from the profile.
- select abs col as the rendering intent
- click the popup above the list and select "save"
- select "Source" and "Destination" & save.

that's it. Any CMYK/RGB CGATS text file (all the reference files from ProfileMaker etc) can be used to generate Lab values from any profile. Then you can graph them, apply additional profiles, etc, etc.

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

This Month's Feature Article:

Photo Books

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


A few years ago a revolution happened.
Almost all of the people who used to shoot photographic film in their cameras all switched to digital cameras within a few years. Revolutions have a way of upsetting industries, and many of the large companies that specialized in film development have closed or found a way to change with the times. People in the industry saw it coming of course. In the beginning, digital cameras were expensive and had fairly small mega pixel counts. But it was easy to see where the trend was going. The idea among industry heads was that yes, it was pretty cool to see your images on a computer screen, but deep down inside everybody will want a piece of paper to hold. Everybody is going to want to print these digital images and all the people in the "film developing" business can just switch over to the "prints from memory card" business.

Then a funny thing happened. Nobody printed. We all got our point-and-shoots and happily clicked away, seldom feeling the need to print the images out - so long as we could feel assured that we had them somewhere. In fact, since we could take so many more pictures digitally than we ever did with film, we certainly didn't want to print all those pictures and just add to the pile of shoeboxes in our closet. In addition, Moore's law contributed to the equation. Just about the time our memory card was getting full, along would come a new generation of cards with 2 or 4 times the memory of the last card.

The industry tried to encourage the consumer to print more. There was a price war among online photofinishers. 10 years ago, you would have paid 50 cents to make a 4x6 reprint from film. Today you can get an online 4x6 for less than 10 cents. We even reminded people that printing your digital images is a form of backup which very few of these new digital shooters are doing. Unless you back up your images, the memory cards could become corrupted, and you'd loose it all. Even so, actual 4x6 printing of digital images is today a fraction of what people expected it to be.

Then about 5 years ago, the ability to use digital presses to print variable data had advanced to the point where they could be pulled into service to print consumer images. This has taken the form of stationery, personalized greeting cards, and in particular: photo books. These books are printed on some form of digital press, and can come in a variety of shapes and sizes - from 5x7 paperbacks for about $10 to very high quality hardbound books at $70 or more.

This is getting to be a popular item and there are a lot of uses for these books:
- A gift book for Christmas or birthdays showing what the family has done during the year.
- A very nice gift book for a present any time of year, which can be easily re-ordered if others want one too.
- A portfolio book which a photographer can use to demonstrate his work.
- A way to document club activities, family reunions, birthdays, vacation memories, funerals, memorials, etc.
- A proof sheet. (For about $10 you can make a paperback book that can be easily populated with over 40 pictures in a 20- page format.)

A great number of online companies offer these photo books.


Some of these companies started out as online digital print providers (Snapfish, Kodak Gallery, PhotoWorks) and have added photo books to their line of products. Some do this as their main product (My Publisher, Blurb). Some do all their own production in-house (Shutterfly), and some interface closely with an outside printer to handle the actual fulfillment of the books (Snapfish and Lulu are printed by outside printers.)

Don't be put off by a service that uses an outside printer. Many of these are "vertically integrated" with their printers. The customer service rep you talk to can tell you at what stage your book is in the process in the lab, and can even pull up a report on how accurate the press was that your book was printed on.

The book building process takes different forms. MyPublisher and Blurb have client software to download onto your own computer which walks you through the process of organizing the files for the book. Then, when it is complete, the client program uploads your book to their website and they take over from there. Other companies that specialize in storing your online images have a web-based wizard that walks you through the process. In either case, the idea is the same: Figure out what pictures you want on which pages, what text you want to go with the pictures, what "theme" your book will take - the colors and graphic elements that accentuate your images. It pays to figure out what works best for you, since this process of populating the book tends to take the most time.

You will also have a lot of choices to make. With the book covers, you can choose from soft (paper) cover, soft (pillow-like) hard cover, hardcover with a customized die cut window in the front, or a paper "dust cover" for the really nice hardcover books. The better companies will score the dust cover slightly to make it easier to fold onto the book. This makes a bigger difference that you think!

Here are a few practical issues to discuss when looking to make a photo book:

Do they have a variety of designs? Do you like the designs they offer? Some companies specialize in graphics that are tasteful and attractive for many occasions. These designs can greatly enhance the overall impression of the book for those who receive it. It's not just pasting pictures on a page. Do they allow for you to control your design? Submit your own graphics? What level of customization is available to you?

Color Management Questions:

Do they accept embedded profiles? Most photo books are intended for the average point-and-shoot consumer, and so most of these companies expect all images to be in the sRGB working space. If an untagged image (an image without a working space profile embedded in it) is to be printed, it will be considered in the sRGB color space. Some book manufacturers honor embedded profiles. A few honor the AdobeRGB working space and handle it appropriately through the workflow. Since the vast majority of photo books are printed using short-run, variable-data HP Indigo presses, there can be a gamut limitation depending on what you're expecting. The sRGB working space is adequate to define most of the colors these printers can print. The only exception is with saturated greens and cyans. If you are printing a photo book with a lot of greens and cyans, and full saturation is important to you, look for a company that will honor AdobeRGB images. AdobeRGB fully encompasses all the colors these printers can print.

Can they supply you with a printer profile ahead of time so you can "soft-proof" what your images will look like? (Hint: Some companies will supply you with a "SWOP" profile which has a rather constricted gamut, for the express purpose of allowing you to be pleasantly surprised when you receive the actual book!)

Finally, when you get your book, check your binding. Are the book blocks sewn and glued, or glued only? Are the pastedown end leaves (attaching the pages of the book to cover) applied neatly and square to the corners? Did the handlers use gloves? There's nothing quite as disappointing as seeing your new book with fingerprint smudges on a shiny black dust cover surface.

If everybody likes your book, can you order more for the rest of the family? Will they look the same? Are there controls in place to ensure that the subsequent books look the same?

Some players in this business are putting together a Digital Color Consortium. Reischling Press in Seattle formed this Consortium last June as an effort to standardize best practices and workflows between the folks who offer photo books on-line and the print service providers that print them. A website is reportedly in the works, but was not posted at the time of this article.

(Thank-You to Rick Bellamy and Henrik Christensen of RPI, Inc. for their contribution to the content of this article.)

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:

colorforums.com/viewforum

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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


In a visit to CHROMiX.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.


FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat! colorforums.com/viewforum/feedback

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2009 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.


CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #31 - My Printer is Too Dark

SmartNote: 50090
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 31
May15th, 2008

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - - - MAXWELL.... 1st Public Release!!
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. My Printer is Too Dark - an 'article' by Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
========================================

CHROMiX News

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

MAXWELL News
----------------------------
Maxwell public beta testing has gone exceptionally well. Many features were added and improvements made to make it a more rounded service.

So (drum roll please)... CHROMiX released the first commercially available version of Maxwell today, May 15th!! Originally announced in December 2006, Maxwell has come a long way to the final feature set for version 1.0. Thanks for your patience. We think you will find it worth the wait!

Maxwell v1.0 features will include:

- Access Maxwell with any current web browser, anywhere, anytime.
- Secure, protected color repository and database with redundancy and fault tolerance.
- Organize unlimited users, devices, measurement files, locations... with no cost!
- Tracking, monitoring and trending of 'Printer' devices initially, Monitors and other devices to follow in v2.0.
- Useful graphics for reporting and visualization initially, much more to follow soon after launch.

- CHROMiX Measurement services available (extra fee... please call sales).
- QuickTime video tutorials within a Maxwell browser pane. Start with the 5-minute orientation video.
- Online help and ColorWiki Maxwell Users Manual available.

Features to follow soon (expected to go beta in June)

- Compatibility with i1 Pro spectrophotometer for measurement uploads.
- Share or download profiles, files or color information with internal users or with customers.
- Multi-level access privileges.
- Upload single, multiple or complete folders with multiple files... fast!


Maxwell is available initially for a low monthly subscription price of $49 for 10 Tracks. A Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when this item falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements. Design your own Print Performance and/or Conformance programs. Enhanced Analysis and Reporting can be generated for almost any data. The vision for Maxwell is long-term, and certainly there is much more to come in the short-term!

For complete Maxwell product information: www.mxwell.com or to register for a free trial 'Track' for 1 month, so that you can become familiar with and see how easy Maxwell is to use, simply email maxwellfreetrack(at)chromix.com or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX. (in fact, all tracks are still open for a limited time, so feel free to come play!)

**Maxwell and IDEALink Verify software will also be facilitating the IDEAlliance SWOP Industry Proofing Study, as described in 'Industry News' below. Please read this important announcement.**

Interested in seeing Maxwell for yourself? Come by the site! We will be holding Maxwell Training Webinars regularly. If you're interested in attending, please send an RSVP email to this address:
maxwellintro(at)chromix.com

And yes, if you have responded to this list before you are still on it! We'll be sending a webinar notification soon.

Also, thank you for all who volunteered for beta testing. We had many participants and were not able to accommodate all who applied. But! don't forget, Maxwell is a web-based service, we will be adding features regularly and can always use an extra set of eyes and hands.

Come check it out!

www.mxwell.com


NEW Brands at CHROMiX ColorGear:
----------------------------------------------------------------

CHROMiX now sells Alwan, Barbieri and Techkon products. We have been impressed by these fine product lines, and we think you will be too:

Alwan products help with controlling color at every stage by standardizing incoming files, produced proofs and the final print. This in turn significantly improves productivity and profitability with faster make-readies, better proof matching and significant reduction of ink consumption.
Alwan

Barbieri: coming soon -> Barbieri

Techkon is emerging as a new innovative leader in the design and manufacture of measurement instruments for the Graphic Industry. Techkon solutions range from high-quality densitometers, color measuring devices and software solutions for applications in the pre-press and printing industry. Oh, and in case you are wondering, it's pronounced "teshcon".
Techkon

NEC LCD monitors. CHROMiX also now sells NEC graphics and professional level LCD monitors. NEC monitors


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

May 21, 2008 - The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Seattle Chapter is having a CMUG Users meeting titled 'Color Management Demystified'. CHROMiX's own Steve Upton and Pat Herold will be the guest speakers. The time is from 6:30 - 9:00 PM at Adobe, U Conference Rooms, Adobe Campus, Fremont, WA. This will be an informative, interactive event you won't want to miss! All are welcome. For more information or RSVP: SCMUG events


May 30, 2008 - CMYK Primer: Preparing Images for Publication with Marco Ugolini,
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, $295, at the Future Light Workshops at Calumet, 2001 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94110.
Veteran Bay Area digital imaging and color management expert Marco Ugolini presents an all day hands on workshop on CMYK conversion and the art of preparing images for offset press publications.
CHROMiX is a sponsor of this event. CHROMiX will also give-a-way 2 ColorValet Profiles (Print or Scan) during the event.
For more information:CMYK conversion


June 25, 2008 - The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter (www.pnwcmug.com) is having a CMUG Users meeting titled 'The ABC's of Color Management for Designers'. The time is from 6:30 - 9:00 PM at The Oregonian 1320 SW Broadway, Conference Room A (just off Columbia). A panel of 3 designers who are 'color managed' will discuss their experiences and other topics relevant to their journey of becoming color managed. All are welcome. For more information or RSVP:Color Management for Designers


May 29 - June 11th, 2008, DRUPA 2008 - Dusseldorf, Germany. This is one of the world's most comprehensive conferences for the printing industry held every 4 years. For more information:
DRUPA 2008


September 17th & 18th, 2008 - Spectrum 360 Conference - New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA.
Spectrum is an IDEAlliance initiated conference to provide a forum to explore and validate current and emerging technologies. Also occurring at Spectrum 360, IDEAlliance will release results information about the SWOP Industry Proofing Study. Those who participated in the study will receive special recognition for their contribution at Spectrum 360. (See details below in Industry News). Spectrum 2008


October 26th - 29th, 2008, Graph Expo 08 - McCormick Place South Convention Center, Chicago, IL The most comprehensive prepress, printing, package printing, converting, mailing and fulfillment and digital equipment trade show in the Americas.
Graph Expo


November 10, 2008, ICC DevCon '08 - The Benson Hotel, 309 SW Broadway Ave, Portland, OR. Hosted by the ICC (International Color Consortium), DevCon (short for Developers Conference) brings hundreds of developers and high-end users of ICC based color management products together to learn the latest on proper implementation of ICC technology. This event is just following the Fall ICC meetings and a day before the IS&P Conference, also in Portland, OR. For more: DevCon 08


November 10th - 15th, 2008, IS&T Color Imaging Conference, The Benson Hotel, 309 SW Broadway Ave, Portland, OR. Hosted by the IS&T (Society for Imaging Science and Technology), hear about the latest research in the areas of color theory, color in displays, edge-cutting printing technologies, and systems and workflows advances. This single track conference will also include the ever popular interactive session where attendees directly engage the presenters and decide which interactive paper will be awarded the coveted Cactus Award for Best Interactive Paper. There will also be a special program to honor contributions by Dr. Robert W.G. Hunt to the color imaging community on Friday, November 14th.
Color Imaging Conference


December 7th - 9th, 2008, GATF 2008 Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by the PIA/GATF, as suggested by the name, the entire focus of this conference is 'Color Management'. Color Management Conference


March 3-5, 2009, PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show. Everything photography.
Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Las Vegas, NV PMA 2009


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


Color, Product & Industry News


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


X-Rite had a major staffing layoff to cut costs.
Layoffs at Xrite
What They Think

X-Rite raised most product prices May 1, 2008. This affects the i1, iO and iSis as well as most product lines. However, if you've been waiting for lower prices on any Eye-One Match Module Upgrades, these were in fact lowered by X-Rite on May 1st. For the new i1 Match Module prices: EyeOne modules

X-Rite and Pantone announced the ColorMunki. It's got a funki name and a novel design for an inexpensive all-in-one spectrophotometer. It measures and makes profiles for monitors, printers, etc., and is expected to appeal to those in the $400- $600 price range.
You can find more out about it here: www.ColorMunki.com. Watch out for the cheesy music.
Here is a good ColorMunki review from Keith Cooper of NorthLight Images:
ColorMunki review
The official press release:
And yes,... if you were wondering, CHROMiX sells the ColorMunki.
Xrite Hubble

X-Rite will be allowing you to upgrade an older X-Rite device and receive an additional 15% off an Eye-One iSis X or iSis XL until July 31st, 2008. Devices eligible are the SpectroLino/Scan, DTP-41, or the ICColor. CHROMiX will be supporting this promotion. For the net price, just simply take 15% of of the CHROMiX price. Contact ColorGear Sales for program details 866-CHROMiX x1, or email sales(at)chromix.com


Oooops! We neglected to mention in our last newsletter that two of our color colleagues have banded together to multiply their effects. Dan Gillespie and Dan Reid have created ColorGeek2.com a color consultancy specializing in training and remote support. So if you want to have live-chatting, webexing, color tech guys at your disposal, give them a try.
www.colorgeek2.com


On March 20th, IDEAlliance Launched the G7 Press Pre-Qualification Project to assist printers in qualifying their presses for G7 Calibration. The new G7 press pre-qualification toolkit will provide guidelines and tools to help printers access the readiness of their press to undergo G7 calibration. For more: G7 Press Pre-Qualification


On April 8th, IDEAlliance announced that 27 monitor proofing systems have passed the newly launched IDEAlliance Monitor Proofing Systems Certification Program. This comes after two years of ongoing research by the IDEAlliance Print Properties Working Group and the SWOP Technical Committee in conjunction with the Rochester Institute of Technology Printing Applications Laboratory to determine how best to judge the quality of monitor proofing systems to the "numbers."
IDEAlliance Monitor Proofing Systems


IDEAlliance (facilitated by CHROMiX, Verify software and Maxwell) will begin a SWOP Industry Proofing Study. Emerging out of the IDEAlliance 'Certification Program', this study will be a comprehensive effort to quantify how the industry is doing as a whole also offer individualized reports for the participants. An additional component of the study will be a report on inter-device agreements. IDEAlliance is now actively soliciting participants and sign-ups will be conducted from May 15th to May 30th.

To sign up go to www.swop.org. When the study commences, you will download IDEALink Verify software to help facilitate the uploads and measurements required. There is no need to buy Verify to participate, it will operate for the purposes of this study in 'Demo' mode. The study will occur from June 1st to August 15th. Participants must have a spectrophotometer (preferably an i1Pro), have a hard-copy proofing system and conform to GRACoL #1, SWOP#3 or SWOP#5. Participants will also complete a short questionnaire, complete the Measurement Control exercise and provide proof data and hard-proofs weekly. Besides contributing and benefiting the industry, participants will receive an individual Proofing Quality Report Card, They will also receive recognition at the Spectrum 360 Conference (see above Shows & Events section) and in The Proofing Industry 2008 Report. Finally, participants will receive a copy of the Proofing Industry 2008 Report. Everyone qualified is encouraged to apply as well as tell others to apply. For more:www.swop.org
A webinar was held May 13th announcing the study and covering details. A recording is available here:
Webinar


NUREG LLC, a high-end graphics, pre-press and color specialist based in Germany and with a US office in Portland, Oregon, has become the first G7 European qualified Master Proof Provider. nureg.com and nureg.de


Eizo is now shipping the NEW ColorEdge CG222W LCD for $1499 at CHROMiX take off $100 with an instant rebate.
The CG222W is a wide gamut 22" monitor ideal for pre-press, digital photography, and other graphics work. It features 12-bit hardware calibration, 16-bit internal processing for grayscale rendering and uniform brightness across the screen. The price point of this unit will make it a very popular LCD for many! In stock now! Price includes free US shipping and CG monitor hood.
CG222W LCD


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

Other Tidbits -

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

LaCie 324 Wide Screen LCD Review:

Our own Pat Herold has done a handy technical review of LaCie's new 324 LCD monitor. The 324 is a 24" expanded RGB gamut LCD for under $1000. It also has hardware calibration, meaning that LaCie includes their Blue Eye software for DDC level calibrations.

Pat's review: LaCie 324 review notes

--------------------------------------------

Color Perception Web Video:

Here's a 5 minute basic overview of color perception by Apple.
This video explains how eyes can be fooled by ambient colors and lighting conditions.

Color Perception by Apple

--------------------------------------------

Recent EIZO ColorNavigator software update:

If you are using an older EIZO display, you may not have the newest ColorNavigator calibration software. EIZO has released v. 5.2 of ColorNavigator in February. It can now support the newest instruments, and the newest operating systems (Vista and Leopard).

Eizo ColorNavigator software update


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


This Month's Feature Article:

My Printer is Too Dark


by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold

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

First off, I have a confession to make. The real title of this article is "My Monitor is Too Bright." But we've had a lot of articles on monitors recently and, given that we've had so many articles on monitors recently, you'd think we'd have exhausted the subject. However, judging by the volume of questions we get on this topic, it seems to be a hot button for many people right now.

We have dealt with the general subject of how to get the display to match the printer output in other ColorNews articles.
www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Monitor_to_Print_Matching
www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Printer_to_Match_my_Screen
But an increasing number of people are reporting problems with density and, specifically, that their printer is too dark compared to their screen. This article suggests reasons why that might be happening and what you can do about it.

We have a service called ColorValet where we make custom-made printer profiles. Occasionally a customer will call up and report that the profile is too dark. Upon deeper investigation, we find that the user is comparing the print to their display, and their display is a newer LCD (and perhaps recently purchased.) Perhaps the customer has confidence that the display is accurate because they have calibrated it with a colorimeter.

If you were that customer, you would have good reason to assume that what you see on your screen is accurate. If you get a new printer profile from CHROMiX and, when you use it, your printer prints out prints that appear too dark, it's natural to assume that there's something wrong with the profile.

Well now, hold on a minute.

Without even printing anything you can see if your printer will ever be able to look like the display: Check to see if the white of your monitor matches the white of your paper. Think about it this way:

Suppose you have an image of a snowman, in front of a white house, with lots of puffy white clouds overhead - a picture with a lot of white. When it gets printed on an inkjet printer, there's not going to be very much ink on the page. Much of the color and brightness will be determined by the white background of the paper, and has relatively little to do with what the printer does. How can you ever hope that this print will match the display if the display is naturally a lot brighter?

You really have to get the white of the paper to match the white on the display if you ever hope to get your pictures to match. This is surprisingly hard to do. Emissive light (coming from a display) does not register in our eyes quite the same way that reflective light (bouncing off your page) does, but the idea is to do the best you can. There are two ways to accomplish this:

ADJUST THE DISPLAY

This is usually the quickest and easiest way to attack the problem. Turn down the brightness on your monitor. Calibrate again. Does it match the print white? If not, adjust the brightness and calibrate again.

Q: Wait a minute - I bought this colorimeter so I could eliminate these subjective judgments and know my monitor is accurate. Now we're going back to doing things "by eye"?!

A: Well, yes. When it comes to setting the brightness of the monitor, the "correct" setting will vary depending on the environment. Once you have determined what your brightness should be, then your profiling software will make sure your colors relate accurately.

Surround the image with several inches of white border. This can make an image appear significantly darker. If you doubt how much this affects perception, switch to a black background and see how much lighter your image looks.

Q: I've turned the brightness on my monitor down to zero, and it's still too bright compared to my print white.

A1: See if your display has an "economy" mode, where it will use less power, and also produce less back-light.

A2: Turn down the Red, Green and Blue levels equally in the monitor controls. This usually reduces the overall brightness, but it does so by depending on the liquid crystals in the LCD display to block the light - not the ideal way to accomplish this. This will tend to reduce your contrast ratio, might reduce the color repeatability of your profile, and should only be used sparingly.

A3: Refer to the instructions for increasing your print illumination (below).

A4: Buy a profiling software package that can make use of your computer's graphics card to reduce the brightness beyond what the monitor's controls can do.

Most monitor profiling software systems have you turning down the brightness at the monitor, and they depend on you being successful at doing that. The rest of the calibration procedure determines the color adjustments that are made in the graphics card.

There are only a very few that can reduce your brightness by lowering the curves in the graphics card. ColorEyes Display Pro, and the MeasureTool module of GretagMacbeth's ProfileMaker suite will do this.

The ProfileMaker suite, while very good, is a bit of an overkill for someone just wanting to get their screen looking good.

ColorEyes Display Pro is available as software-only, which is handy for those who already have a colorimeter device - although still a bit of a shock for someone who thought they had this color stuff all figured out until they bought their latest new LCD display.

Shades
Shades
I mention this as an option rather than a recommendation. This is a quick little plug-in, available on Mac only, that will reduce the levels in your graphics card evenly. Since your profiling software forcibly resets your graphics curves to "neutral" when it begins its process, you can't use Shades before profiling and expect it to result in anything usable in the end. Also, using Shades after the calibration effectively eliminates the accuracy of the profile, since it alters the graphics card curves. However, for those for whom color accuracy is not as important as brightness, this program might be used with success if you don't take it too far.

Another wrinkle to worry about while you're reducing your brightness on your display is that it will make banding more likely. When you let your video card handle the color adjustments without asking it to reduce luminance, it will have approximately 256 steps of resolution. But when you bring that curve down by limiting luminance, it will have a smaller resolution grid. It might have, say, only 200 or less steps to use to define a gradient from black to white. So transitions from one subtle color to another might not be very smooth. Displays with internal graphics cards, that have say 10-bit or 12-bit processing ability, can handle these curve changes with more resolution, and make banding less likely.

(Now you're starting to see why those upper end displays cost a bit more.)

ADJUST THE LIGHTING

That piece of printer paper does not have some kind of inherent color or brightness in itself. Leave us not forget that reflective color is a process whereby an illuminant reflects off of a surface, enters our eyes and is interpreted by the brain. To a large extent, that print will be as bright as the light that is used to illuminate it.

Under a bright light, look closely at the print that you think is too dark, and you might very well find all the shadow detail that you see on the screen. Because it is not normally lit up as brightly as the screen version, you perceive it as too dark.

There are various controlled lighting solutions available. We have an entire section of our online store devoted to lighting products. Those big, overhead florescent tubes, even if they say "daylight balanced" on them tend to have sharp spectral spikes. Try to stay away from those. A nice, budget-minded solution for the do-it-yourselfer is to use Solux bulbs in a track lighting setup. www/solux.net

Typically, a print will come off your home inkjet with some white border around it. If this is what you're using to compare to the display, then your print will appear darker because of the white border. Cut off the white border or, better yet, mask the border with some black material so that only the image shows through. (This is essentially the opposite of what we did before with the monitor.) Give your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the scene, or go away and come back in a few minutes and you will be amazed at how much lighter the image got while you were gone!

Okay, now if you're about to skip what I just suggested because you don't really think it'll make any difference - just humor me on this. Go get some black cardboard, fabric or paper - and cover the four white borders of your print. It makes a difference.

A few final points to keep in mind:

- When you are comparing the print to the display, you don't want to hold the print in FRONT of the display so that the light from the display shines though the print and makes it appear washed out.
- You also don't want the illumination that you are shining on the print to also shine ON the display. That will make the shadows on the display looked washed out. If you have overhead illumination, this is where a monitor hood is very useful. (Now you're starting to see why people buy light viewing booths!)

Again, there is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.


Thanks for reading,

-Patrick Herold
CHROMiX


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


ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


In a visit to CHROMiX.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.


FEEDBACK and FAQs To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at: colornews(at)CHROMiX.com. Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject.

To subscribe, email us at: colornews(at)chromix.com with "subscribe" in the subject.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews/


Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2007 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.




CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #32 - Color On the iPhone

SmartNote: 50091
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 32
August 25th, 2008

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Color on iPhone - an article by Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
========================================

CHROMiX News

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

MAXWELL Update:
---------------------------
In our last issue, we announced and released Maxwell v1.0. Thanks so much for everyone's involvement in a successful launch!

We started selling Maxwell for a low monthly subscription price of $49 for 10 Tracks. However, we've had tremendous interest from larger customers asking to buy Maxwell for longer period increments.
So, starting August 1st, we now sell Maxwell for $539 for one year (the cost of 11 months, with the 12th month free).

As a reminder, a Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when the item associated with the Track falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements.

For complete Maxwell product information, go to Click here. If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time it can save you!

IDEAlliance SWOP Industry Proofing Study Update:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maxwell and IDEALink Verify software are facilitating the IDEAlliance SWOP Industry Proofing Study, as described in our last ColorNews. This free project is proceeding very successfully.The results will be announced at Spectrum 360 Conference September 17th & 18th in New Orleans. One benefit of the study is that participants will get an individualized Proofing Quality Report Card of how their proofing system stacks up against other study participants. They will also receive recognition at the Spectrum 360 Conference (see above Shows & Events section) and in The Proofing Industry 2008 Report. Finally, participants will receive a copy of the Proofing Industry 2008 Report. For more: swop.org

and a recording is available here: Click here

Other CHROMiX News:
--------------------------------

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue when people want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' starburst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.

In the last ColorNews issue, we mentioned a new monitor from EIZO, the CG222W. Well.... EIZO sent CHROMiX a unit to test. Our own Pat Herold did an internal review that we thought we would share with you. Although it's not a comprehensive formal review for publishing purposes, we thought you may still find value in it if you were considering the EIZO ColorEdge CG222W LCD monitor. Here is a link to the review: CG222W review

Enjoy!

No more Monaco Optix XR Pros !!
When X-Rite first announced that they were ceasing production of this fabulous product, we immediately stocked up on them, so we could make them available to you long after production ended. Well, the time has come, and we are sorry to report that we have sold the last of them. We are now directing customers to two solutions we feel are worthy replacements. ColorEyes Display Pro uses the same DTP-94 sensor, but has an array of high-end functionalities the advanced user will appreciate. In our opinion, ColorEyes Display Pro is even better than the Optix XR Pro. The other solution is the Eye-One Display 2, which will fit most other users. The Eye-One Display 2 is considered the world's standard professional monitor calibration system. Below are links to both. Please call us if you would like to discuss your specific needs and requirements. Sales: Toll Free at (866) CHROMiX ext 1.

ColorEyes Display Pro ($319): CEDPro

Eye-One Display 2 ($219): eyeone display 2

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

September 4th - 6th, 2008 - Photoshop World Conference & Expo - Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV. Photoshopworld.com

September 16th & 17th, 2008 - Extreme Color Management - New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA. A first time, open industry event offering an array of educational sessions that provide comprehensive technical information and insights into the newest color management techniques and technologies plus admittance to the SPECTRUM Conference Keynote and a second day track designed to provide managers with information to help them make decisions regarding implementing color management techniques and technologies. Co-located with SPECTRUM and the G7(TM) Summit and G7(TM) Experts Re-certification Training. For more and to register: colormanagement.com

September 17th & 18th, 2008 - Spectrum 360 Conference - New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, LA.
Spectrum is an IDEAlliance initiated conference to provide a forum to explore and validate current and emerging technologies. Also occurring at Spectrum 360, IDEAlliance will release results information about the SWOP Industry Proofing Study. Those who participated in the study will receive special recognition for their contribution at Spectrum 360. (See details below in Industry News). idealliance.org

September 23rd - 28th, 2008 - Photokina - Koelnmesse Fairground in Cologne, Germany. Held only every 2 years, Photokina hosts more than 160,000 buyers and 1,600 exhibitors of photo equipment and imaging products. Products organized by category will be showcased in 12 halls. photokina

October 1st, 2008, Portland, OR, Oregonian Conference Room, the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group is proud to host popular author Mark Fitzgerald. Mark is the author of the Photoshop CS3 Restoration and Retouching Bible and the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Photoshop Workflow Bible. Mark is an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor for Lightroom and Photoshop CS3, and is based in the Pacific Northwest. We are thrilled to finally have him share some his expertise especially for aspects of color management. The event registration starts at 6:30 and should go through 9:00 PM. For more information and to RSVP pnwcmug.com

October 26th - 29th, 2008, Graph Expo 08 - McCormick Place South Convention Center, Chicago, IL The most comprehensive prepress, printing, package printing, converting, mailing and fulfillment and digital equipment trade show in the Americas.
graphexpo.org

November 10, 2008, ICC DevCon '08 - The Benson Hotel, Portland, OR. Hosted by the ICC (International Color Consortium), DevCon (short for Developers Conference) brings hundreds of developers and high-end users of ICC based color management products together to learn the latest on proper implementation of ICC technology. This event is just following the Fall ICC meetings and a day before the IS&P Conference, also in Portland, OR. For more: color.org

November 10th - 15th, 2008, IS&T Color Imaging Conference, The Benson Hotel, Portland, OR. Hosted by the IS&T (Society for Imaging Science and Technology), hear about the latest research in the areas of color theory, color in displays, edge-cutting printing technologies, and systems and workflows advances. This single track conference will also include the ever popular interactive session where attendees directly engage the presenters and decide which interactive paper will be awarded the coveted Cactus Award for Best Interactive Paper. There will also be a special program to honor contributions by Dr. Robert W.G. Hunt to the color imaging community on Friday, November 14th.
imaging.org

December 7th - 9th, 2008, PIA/GATF 2008 Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by the PIA/GATF, as suggested by the name, the entire focus of this conference is Color Management. CHROMiX's Steve Upton, along with Dave Hunter and Dan Caldwell will be delivering a general session together looking back on the last 10 years of color management and forward to the next 10 years.
Colormanagementconference.com

March 3-5, 2009, PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show. Everything photography.
Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Las Vegas, NV
pmai.org

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

In June 2008, X-Rite announced a new approach to optical brightener correction (OBC) for solving proof and print color matching challenges caused by optical brighteners. Optical Brightening Agents (OBAs) are increasingly used by paper mills and premium inkjet paper manufacturers to make a yellowish paper appear whiter and brighter. Until now, color measurement and management technologies have not been able to effectively compensate for the color variations caused by OBAs.
OBC technology is now included with new i1iSis measurement devices plus ProfileMaker and Monaco Profiler solutions. It is also available as a stand-alone ($300 US) if you have ProfileMaker or Monaco Profiler. Here's an interesting link to X-Rite's PDF explaining the problem and the solution:
Xrite.com

and here is the Press Release drupapdf

In March 2007 at PMA, Hewlett Packard announced an exciting new concept in product development and manufacturing called DREAMCOLOR technology. HP DreamColor is a step toward a solution in which all devices involved in the capture, design, editing and printing process use sensor-based, closed-loop control systems for definitive color reproduction.
Two reference links:
hpnews

and
government.hp.com

Roll forward... just recently (at SIGGRAPH 2008) HP announced and showed one of the first fruits of the DreamColor initiative, the HP DreamColor LP2480zx 24" Professional LCD Display. The LP2480zx is touted as a color-critical LCD based on HP DreamColor Engine technology. It offers 30-bit LCD panel technology and a tri-color LED backlight. It has customizable seven color space presets for luminance, gamma, gamut, and white point. It also has analog, DVI-I, Display Port 1.1, HDMI 1.3, component, S-video, composite inputs, HDCP support for protected content, and an integrated USB hub. Impressive. List price is $3499 with an expected street price of ~$3299. CHROMiX will be acquiring a LP2480zx for testing and will provide a review for the public of our results. It's likely this model will live up to it's advertised performance, so CHROMiX will probably also carry the LP2480zx LCD when it becomes available. Specification information:
HP dreamcolor

Finally, regarding the HP DreamColor LP2480zx, there was a show floor special at SIGGRAPH that CHROMiX *may* be able to acquire postmortem and then extend to CHROMiX customers for $2299. We are compiling a list for a one-time bulk order. If you are interested in purchasing an LP2480z at $2299, please send an email of your intentions and quantity desired to

Lenovo (the company who picked up the ThinkPad from IBM) has announced a new PC laptop that boasts an integrated X-Rite monitor calibrator, an embedded Wacom tablet and much more. The ThinkPad W700 is targeted at professional photographers and is expected to range from $2949 to about $6000. It's supposed to be available September 2, 2008. Here is a link to a great review by Rob Galbraith:
robgalbraith

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

Other Tidbits - (4)

=========================
(1)
Problem Printing in Mac Leopard:
Our Pat Herold has uncovered an occasional but annoying problem printing and using color management in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

This applies only to those on a Mac computer printing through Photoshop to an Epson printer using an Epson driver. We have found the same issues mentioned in Issue #29 of ColorNews are still happening with Leopard. For more information:
colorwiki.com/techsupportgrabbag

--------------------------------------------
(2)
NASA makes use of color targets:
nasa.gov

--------------------------------------------
(3)
These new versions of Web Applications include or support color management:

Flash v10: Color management is implemented using an ActionScript when the Flash content is created.
labs.adobe.com/flash

> Firefox v3: To enable color management, just set gfx.color_management.enabled to true and restart Firefox. Details at:
firefoxcm

Safari v3.1.X: Safari has had color management capability for a while, here's one post about the latest:
safaricm

--------------------------------------------
(4)
And Finally....

Mark Fairchild of RIT has completed an interesting project available to the public that compiles GPS, colorimetric and photographic data of the American West (including Yellowstone). If you're into color science, we thought you would find this interesting and useful. Thanks to Roger Breton for pointing it out.
cis.rit.edu
=========================

This Month's Feature Article:

Color on iPhone

by CHROMiX's Steve Upton

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

Color on iPhone

The iPhone has been out for over a year now and I'm surprised how long it took us to come around to writing an article about its color handling abilities (or lack thereof).

----------------
Background
----------------
From the outset, Apple has told us that the iPhone runs Max OS X and, while it has many unnecessary pieces removed, it is essentially the same core code that we enjoy on our desktop computers. Days after its initial release I hurried over to our local Apple store and iPhone-surfed over to the ICC's profile evaluation page to see if ColorSync was something that Apple decided to leave in or take out. It was immediately evident that Mobile Safari, the iPhone's version of the desktop web browser, did not support color managing images. The desktop version does.

Fast forward to today. The iPhone is on its second generation in both hardware and software. It seems like we cannot put off a comprehensive evaluation of color on this new platform any longer. We have been experimenting with the iPhone for quite some time now. So here it is.

-----------------
What to manage?
-----------------
We can't evaluate the iPhone without first enumerating the components that *might* be color managed. And while we're at it, let's cover what we mean by color management.

Color Management, constrained to the iPhone's mobile platform, would consist of the following features:

Capture - images snapped with the iPhone's internal camera would either have an embedded ICC profile OR EXIF tags configured to correctly describe the color space in which they reside.

Display - images (and possibly other elements) which contain ICC profiles will be converted to, presumably, a canned ICC profile which describes the iPhone's screen.

Conduit - images which pass through the iPhone will not have their color management information stripped off or altered so they may be forwarded to other systems intact.

Printing and proofing functions are outside the scope of the iPhone's functions (at least at this time) so we don't expect these features to exist yet.

How did the iPhone do? It's fair to say that color management does not exist on the iPhone in any but the most basic form...more on that below.

I also need to say here that I didn't expect the iPhone to have any color management capabilities, nor do I think it is essential to the success of the platform. I like my iPhone very much, thank you, and we are providing this review as an informative overview for those color geeks who want to know what's going on under the hood.

-----------------
iPhone 1.x, 2.x
-----------------

For the record, the iPhone we tested was a 1st generation phone updated to OS version 2.0.1. We were able to perform some tests on photos from the previous 1.x OS version. We have seen no evidence that there are any color differences between the two OS versions.

The applications and functions we tested include:
- Mobile Safari
- iPhone's photo browser
- Wallpaper
- Mail - image viewing
- Mail - PDF viewing
- iPod cover art

Let's break this down by the functions listed above:

Capture - Images snapped with the iPhone's internal camera are NOT tagged with an ICC profile NOR do they contain any EXIF data. We didn't expect to see an ICC profile but we assumed there would be some EXIF data. The lack of EXIF data is not necessarily a problem as EXIF can only contain references to the sRGB or Adobe RGB color spaces and I expect neither of those represent the space of captured images. Interestingly iPhoto gets involved in the process when images are transferred from the phone. More on that below.

Display - The only way to get images onto the phone with embedded ICC profiles intact is over the web through Safari or emailing them. In both cases, the iPhone ignores the embedded profile(s) in image *and* PDF files. Transferring images via iPhoto or as cover art with music files results in stripped profiles. Again, iPhoto/iTunes gets involved (see below)

Conduit - Images & PDFs which are emailed to the phone and then email-forwarded to another account arrive with their embedded color information intact. With the iPhone 2.x upgrade came the ability to tap a picture and then add it to the images in the phone. The image is stripped of its ICC profile, resampled, and dropped into the "camera roll" list as if the iPhone's camera itself had taken the picture. The stripping of profiles and resampling of the image is somewhat destructive though. I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than the most basic snaps.

----------------
iPhoto / iTunes
----------------

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the role that the desktop applications iPhoto/iTunes play in transferring images to and from the iPhone.

First, when photos are transferred TO the iPhone through the iTunes syncing process, they are converted to an unknown color space prior to transfer. This has led some to believe that the iPhone is performing color management when test images in different color spaces (and with correctly embedded profiles) end up looking the same on the phone. Instead, all images are converted to the same space prior to transfer and, therefore, they look the same. Sometimes this process of converting all images to the same space is referred to as "normalizing" the images.

Second, images transferred FROM the phone to your computer via iPhoto/iTunes undergo a somewhat mysterious conversion and end up with the computer's system profile embedded in them. They also gain EXIF data in the process, though the color space itself is listed as "untagged". When I tried to replicate the conversion process (Generic RGB to my monitor profile, & others) I was unable to determine which profile is used to represent the iPhone's source color space.

Basically, Apple has chosen to offload much of the image processing to the desktop machine and pre/post-process images in iPhoto / iTunes instead. Overall, this makes sense though it is a bit mysterious as to which profile is used when converting to and from the iPhone's images. Also, now that the iPhone has the ability to directly email iPhone-captured images or upload them to websites* AND grab images emailed to the phone for other uses, there are ways of bypassing the desktop-sync process. This leads to inconsistent results and end user confusion. *(uploading images directly to web sites is available in some 3rd party iPhone apps)

An example of this is when an image is captured with the iPhone's camera. If emailed to my desktop it arrives without any EXIF data (so none of the new GPS information is available) and without any profile. If synced to my desktop and exported from iPhoto, it contains EXIF fields including GPS data, etc AND an embedded ICC profile - that of my desktop monitor. As a result, these images look a bit different in various applications such as Preview.

Also, iPhoto is part of Apple's iLife bundle, which is only available on the Mac. I assume that iTunes for Windows performs similar functions but was not able to test it in time for this review.

-----------------------
The iPhone's Display
-----------------------

The iPhone's LCD 3.5 inch display is 480x320 pixels at a remarkable 163 ppi. From a color standpoint I would call it hot and blue. By hot I mean that at maximum brightness it puts out 375 cd/m2 which rivals the brightest desktop displays. Granted, it's easier to obtain that brightness over 38 cm2 than the 1420 cm2 of a 21" desktop display. Also, the Auto-Brightness setting tends to keep the output down to a less scalding 33-50% overall. In our testing I was pleased to see that the white point of the display is fairly consistent over the wide range of brightness levels. At maximum brightness, the white color temperature was measured at 7855K; a very blue version of white. The white point ranged between 7680K-7960K for brightness settings between maximum and minimum, which is pretty good for varying brightness so much on this type of display. Also, though the white point of the iPhone never struck me as blue prior to this testing, in visual comparison with other displays it's a bit bluer than our 6500K EIZO display, but not objectionably.

We subjected our iPhone to a battery of measurements, and also constructed an ICC profile which is available for download from our Maxwell online color system. (more below)

The gamut of the display, as calculated using ColorThink Pro, is a respectable 576,800 which is larger than an LED MacBook Pro display's 537,500, and smaller than an EIZO CG-series display's 828,000 and sRGB's 832,000. For a hand-held device (I have trouble calling it simply a phone) it's a gamut capable of displaying a good range of natural and custom(brand) colors.

The iPhone display's gamma is 1.8, which is to be expected from Apple. The rest of the world is calibrating to 2.2 but Apple remains firmly entrenched in 1.8. THAT argument will have to be left for another article.

----------------------------------------
How to manage color with the iPhone
----------------------------------------
I expect this section to be relevant mostly to website and application designers, but anyone wanting to maximize the color fidelity of images sent to the iPhone can use these techniques.

Creating color FOR the iPhone:

Download and install the iPhone profile directly from our Maxwell online color system:

www.maxwell.com/iphone/downloadicc

Preparing Images

When preparing images for use on the iPhone - whether they are interface components, photographs or other graphics(buttons & such), convert to the iPhone profile with the relative colorimetric intent. Then save the file without an embedded profile. We recommend saving all converted images in a separate area on your hard disk or perhaps including a note in their name about their color space. Images without profiles can create confusion, so be careful. You may want to create a Photoshop action to save time converting images.

Preparing Custom Palette Colors

To determine the best RGB combinations for iPhone interface elements or other artwork, follow these steps:

- Create a new RGB document or open an existing RGB file,
- Set the document's profile to the iPhone ICC profile using Edit:Assign Profile,
- Open Photoshop's color picker,
- Click on "Color Libraries",
- Select your color in the Pantone or other libraries supplied with Photoshop. (If you have Lab values for your colors you can enter them directly into the color picker dialog.)
- Click on "Picker" to return to the normal Photoshop color picker dialog. Photoshop will have calculated the RGB color values for the iPhone.
- Make a note of either the decimal RGB values or the hexadecimal values depending on your requirements.

You will now have custom colors formulated specifically for the iPhone.

Handling color FROM the iPhone:

For images that have been emailed from the iPhone or uploaded directly to a website (and then transferred to your desktop):

- Open image into Photoshop,
- Assign iPhone ICC profile,
- Save image to disk, embedding the profile.

The image can now be used in your color-managed workflow.

--------------
In Summary
--------------
The iPhone is a remarkable achievement in software and hardware engineering. So much has been written about using it, touching it, controlling it. It's about time we knew what to do so our creations look good ON it.

I hope you have found this article informative. If you have further questions or want to engage in other color discussions, we recommend you visit ColorForums.com. It's a great place to get answers and exchange ideas about color and color management.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton
CHROMiX, Inc.
=========================================================

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
Colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2008 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.



CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #33 - Custom Profiling Services

SmartNote: 50092
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 33
October 29th, 2008

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Custom Profiling Services - an article by Pat Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

CHROMiX News

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

MAXWELL Update:
---------------------------

Maxwell expansion and development continues. We are happy to report that Maxwell is in use today in customer sites in North America and Europe gathering color information for process control and diagnostics. As always, we appreciate your feedback. We are now almost ready to launch ColorShuttle and DisplayWatch.

ColorShuttle, Maxwell's client application, now directly supports the i1 and iSis hardware and uploads measurements right into Maxwell Tracks for immediate use anywhere in the world. It is currently in limited release and will go into a much wider beta release soon. We appreciate the patience of everyone who's been waiting for the Shuttle to arrive. If you are on the original Maxwell beta or announcement list, you will receive notification of ColorShuttle's release.

DisplayWatch is a service provided by ColorShuttle and Maxwell where any system's display can be continuously monitored for calibration updates and calibration and profiling data is uploaded into Maxwell for tracking and notification alerts. DisplayWatch will be available for beta testing at the same time ColorShuttle is released.

As a reminder, a Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when the item associated with the Track falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements.

Finally, and from a User Manual perspective, we've been continually adding relevant information about Maxwell on the ColorWiki. Check this out: Colorwiki.com/maxwell

For complete Maxwell product information, go to www.mxwell.com

. If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time it can save you.


IDEAlliance SWOP Industry Proofing Study Update:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 13, 2008, 2:00 PM Eastern, Steve Upton and Larry Warter will present 'The Final Results' of the IDEAlliance SWOP Proofing Study via webinar.

During the summer of 2008, IDEAlliance conducted a proofing study on behalf of its SWOP and GRACoL Working Groups. This effort utilized new online reporting technology (Maxwell) that forms the foundation of the new IDEAlliance IDEALink Verify software. The study captured, and reports, weekly proofing tolerances submitted from more than 60 printers, publishers, agencies and premedia shops world wide. This study, first presented at the IDEAlliance Spectrum Conference in September 2008, yielded meaningful results for us all. Attend this webinar and learn more about the status of quality in Proofing in our industry. A registration link will be activated soon at www.idealiance.org/schedule


Other CHROMiX News:
--------------------------------
Brian Lawler does an appreciated and thoughtful review of ColorThink software in Graphics Arts OnLine. We thought you might enjoy it... (we did):
www.graphicartsonline.com


Andrew Darlow, on The Imaging Buffet website, makes mention of CHROMiX ColorThink in his 'Imaging Buffet PODCAST 007' (ColorThink mention is at about the 38 minute mark), and also more extensively in Chapter 4 of his book '301 INK JET TIPS and TECHNIQUES'. Thanks for the mention, Andrew!


Carl Chapman makes a nice reference to ColorThink in his blog www.carlchapman.com


CHROMiX will be at the PIA/GATF Color Management Conference in Phoenix from December 7th to 9th (see event details below). If you're planning to attend this great event, please stop by and say hello to Rick Hatmaker at our booth, or wave to Steve Upton in one of his many seminar speaking roles.


PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue when people want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' starburst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.


No more Monaco Optix XR Pros !!
When X-Rite first announced that they were ceasing production of this fabulous product, we immediately stocked up on them, so we could make them available to you long after production ended. Well, the time has come, and we are sorry to report that we have sold the last of them. We are now directing customers to two solutions we feel are worthy replacements. ColorEyes Display Pro uses the same DTP-94 sensor, but has an array of high-end functionalities the advanced user will appreciate. In our opinion, ColorEyes Display Pro is even better than the Optix XR Pro. The other solution is the Eye-One Display 2, which will fit most other users. The Eye-One Display 2 is considered the world's standard professional monitor calibration system. Below are links to both. Please call us if you would like to discuss your specific needs and requirements. Sales: Toll Free at (866) CHROMiX ext 1.

ColorEyes Display Pro ($319): ColorEyes Display Pro
Eye-One Display 2 ($219): Eye-One Display2


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

================
October 26th - 29th, 2008, Graph Expo 08 - McCormick Place South Convention Center, Chicago, IL The most comprehensive prepress, printing, package printing, converting, mailing and fulfillment and digital equipment trade show in the Americas. graphexpo


November 10, 2008, ICC DevCon '08 - The Benson Hotel, Portland, OR. Hosted by the ICC (International Color Consortium), DevCon (short for Developers Conference) brings hundreds of developers and high-end users of ICC based color management products together to learn the latest on proper implementation of ICC technology. This event is just following the Fall ICC meetings and a day before the IS&P Conference, also in Portland, OR. For more: Devcon08


November 10th - 15th, 2008, IS&T Color Imaging Conference, The Benson Hotel, Portland, OR. Hosted by the IS&T (Society for Imaging Science and Technology), hear about the latest research in the areas of color theory, color in displays, edge-cutting printing technologies, and systems and workflows advances. This single track conference will also include the ever popular interactive session where attendees directly engage the presenters and decide which interactive paper will be awarded the coveted Cactus Award for Best Interactive Paper. There will also be a special program to honor contributions by Dr. Robert W.G. Hunt to the color imaging community on Friday, November 14th.
Imaging.org/conferences


November 21, 2008, Digital Festival & Print Contest (a free, open educational event), Embassy Suites, 3225 158th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98008. Primary sponsor and organizer is JVH Technical, LLC. See the latest large-format digital printers, RIP software, new media, and new applications for photographers and digital print makers. Steve Upton and Pat Herold of CHROMiX will also be speaking at this event. To attend event, enter contest or for more information, contact John Harrington at 425-643-7323 or email


December 2nd, Color Control Freak, Portland, Oregon (an all-day color management seminar training) sponsored by X-Rite, MacForce and the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Portland Chapter . Cost is $299. CMUG Members receive $100 discount and can attend for $199. Lunch provided. RSVP is required for this event. Non-CMUG members register and pay for event at Color Control Freak
CMUG members email for membership verification. Once confirmed, a $100 coupon code will be emailed to the CMUG member to use when registering at above link.


December 7th - 9th, 2008, PIA/GATF 2008 Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by the PIA/GATF, as suggested by the name, the entire focus of this conference is Color Management. CHROMiX's Steve Upton, along with Dave Hunter and Dan Caldwell, will be delivering a general session together looking back on the last 10 years of color management and forward to the next 10 years.
piagatfcolor.org


December 8th, Color Control Freak, Seattle, Washington (an all-day color management seminar training) sponsored by X-Rite, University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Seattle Chapter pnwcmug.com

Cost is $299. CMUG Members receive $100 discount and can attend for $199. Lunch provided. RSVP is required for this event. Non-CMUG members register and pay for event at Color Control Freak/Seattle
CMUG members email for membership verification. Once confirmed, a $100 coupon code will be emailed to the CMUG member to use when registering at above link.


March 3-5, 2009, PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show. Everything photography - considered THE show for photography.
Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Las Vegas, NV piagatfcolor.org


March 9-11, 2009, 32nd Ink Jet Printing Conference, Fira Pakace Hotel, Barcelona, Spain. For more information: Suzy Sclater, Tel: +44 208 367 7808, Email: suzysclater(at)ems-ltd.org


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Initial reports indicate that Apple's upcoming OS X upgrade, Snow Leopard, will have gamma 2.2 as the system-level gamma. For those of us in the industry who have been mystified by Apple's stubborn refusal to follow EVERYONE ELSE in using gamma 2.2, this comes as welcome news. Apple's 1.8 gamma originated (so the story goes) from adjusting the original B&W Mac display's mid tones to match those of the new LaserWriter printer. Once color management, monitor profiles, and Photoshop 5 arrived on the scene the need to adjust the display to paper's tone response was no longer required. Any application which made use of the monitor profile would adjust images to look correct regardless of the display's gamma. Unfortunately Apple chose not to alter the system-level gamma to 2.2 to match Windows' and normal TV gamma so web pages always looked odd on the Mac unless the user calibrated to gamma 2.2. So, now we have the two main browsers on the Mac capable of color management and Apple decides to move to gamma 2.2... well... good. Late, but good.


Adobe began shipping CS4 On October 15th.
For a good overview, here is a free 70-page CS4 SuperGuide you can download compliments of Creative Studio (CAFE) Photoshop Cafe.com
Here is a good overview of the top 10 features of Photoshop CS4: Photoshop User.com
and
Here is a link to Adobe's Eligibility Tool: Adobe.com/creative suite


Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.1 and Camera Raw 5.1 updates are now available as a free download to existing users Adobe.com/downloads/updates
The updated camera profiles are available separately at labs.adobe.com


Apple has released Aperture 2.1.2 for Mac, a free update. Apple/aperture


Apple updated the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops and introduced a 24 inch Cinema Display with an LED backlight. The new LED screens will be evident in all MacBooks and most Desktop monitors Apple offers. We'll anxiously wait to see how well these LED monitors perform for color management users. Apple.com/displays


Apple has released a new video connector, called a DisplayPort Mini connector. This connector will be necessary to connect a 'normal DVI monitor connection' to a new MacBook, MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air machines ONLY at this time. DisplayPort is a new style of connector & connection protocol. It has lots of promise but very limited support in the industry so far.
For more on DisplayPort: www.displayport.org


Klaus Karcher has released GaMapICC, a free droplet tool that accepts one or more TIFF images as input, derives an optimized gamut mapping for the selected output device, and applies this gamut mapping to the images. GaMapICC uses a Mac OS X GUI for Argyll's device link tools (tiffgamut, collink and cctiff). GaMapICC allows you to choose from 3 gamut mapping strategies: "Source Profile specific", "Image specific" or "Sequence specific". For more information: Digitalproof.info


NEC unveiled the the new P2221W 22" LCD, the first display in its MultiSync P Series of LCD that can display 96% AdobeRGB for under $700. The P2221W offers 1680 by 1050 pixel native resolution, contrast ratio of 1000:1, 300 cd/m2 max brightness, integrated 10-bit color look-up tables and optional SpectraView color calibration kit (by years end for $375). The only downside is that it has a fairly slow response time of 16ms. The P221W should be available in December, with an estimated street price of $640. CHROMiX will carry this model NECdisplay.com


X-Rite is offering a very generous mail-in rebate from Oct. 26th through Nov. 30, 2008. Receive an additional $500 for combined purchase values over $3999, and $1000 for combined purchases over $10,000. Apparently ALL X-Rite products and solutions apply. The promotion mail-in deadline is 12/31/08. See other details in Ad below.


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

Other Color related Tidbits - (5)

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

On the ColorSync Forum List recently, Tom Lianza pointed out a good tip for testing if your system and web browser are ready for v4 profiles:
If you take a moment to go to the ICC site, www.color.org

, and click on the tab "Is your system version 4 ready?" link on the right side, you will see an interesting CM artifact. If you are running on IE7 (not color managed), you will see that the HTML document is clearly not managed. If you display the PDF document, you will see that when viewed through IE7 both v2 and V4 profiles are managed. That is because the PDF viewer is completely color managed. If you feel the need to display truly color managed content on the web, you should provide a PDF link to the document. This is a very easy test to perform on any system with a browser.


If you missed Photokina this last September 2008, Cygnus Imaging Group has published a great overview of Photokina highlights in an online photo book. It's a bit of a long link, but worth a look:
Photokina highlights

We found this interesting comparison between the new Fujifilm 400 DL "dry" minilab (just coming out in Walmart stores), Epson RX-680 "all-in-one" inkjet printer, and a silver-halide Fuji Frontier digital printer. aardenburg-imaging.com


Recently on the ColorSync forum, Paul Sherfield found and provided this interesting piece on spectros and accuracy, from VIGC, the Flemish Innovation Centre for Graphic Arts: graphicbrain.com


And, here's a strange but fascinating read about about UV 'brighteners' also showing up in BANANAS:
www.livescience.com


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


This Month's Feature Article:

Custom Profiling Services


by CHROMiX's Pat Herold

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


Here at CHROMiX ColorNews central, we have taken great effort over the years to bring you timely articles that are truly useful, readable and not filled with a bunch of marketing hype...the kind of articles that we would like to receive in our inbox. Yes. So we figured that by now you're about ready for something shameless and self-serving.

Actually, this month's article talks about printer profiling - a service we offer here - but since we have never written on this topic before, we thought this could provide you with a glimpse into our business philosophy here at CHROMiX, sort of an "inside look" at our equipment and personnel. I invite you to read through it and see if you don't come away learning something new.

CUSTOM PROFILING SERVICES- what do you get for your money?

In recent years, everybody's uncle has started offering profiling services through online websites. Some are less expensive than others, some have different services. As people are shopping around, we inevitably get the question, "How are CHROMiX's profiles different from say... Nancy's?" Here is a brief look at what options are available with different profiling services and what it might mean to you.


EQUIPMENT

While it is quite possible to take a consumer-level spectrophotometer and get a good profile from it, it is also possible - and expected - to get a GREAT profile from a professional-level instrument. For example, a good printer profile will get you colors that match your well-calibrated screen. A GREAT profile can get you not only colors that match your screen, but ensure there are no hue shifts (blues turning to purple, yellows turning to green, and the like) and, at the same time, bring out more shadow detail so that all the shadow detail on your screen is seen in the print.

As an example, we have a whole bank of Gretag Macbeth SpectroScan tables. These spectrophotometers cost over $5000 each when they were available, but they don't make them anymore. (You need a whole bank of them because they are so SLOW.) We like to measure canvas or matte papers on one of these tables because this is about the only device around that allows use of a polarizing filter. This filter will remove stray light reflecting off the surface of the material, making for a more accurate measurement and drawing out more detail in the shadows of the prints. It is worthwhile to ask your profiling service what kind of equipment they use.


OPTIONS

Just about every online profiling service offers RGB profiles. Some offer CMYK profiles as well, usually at a slightly higher price. But you don't need to stop at your printer. Profiling services can also handle extensive press profiles, drawing samples from throughout the press run to create a profile truly representative of the press. If you already have a target for your scanner, a scanner profile is very inexpensive to have made, because the whole process can be done via email. Any business with a spectrophotometer can make a custom reflective measurement of your target and create a new reference file to be used in making a newer, more accurate scanner profile for you. Other services include transmissive profiles for those working with clear or semi-opaque materials. These materials are intended to be backlit, and require a special transmissive measurement to create a proper profile. If you print onto tile, aluminum or fabric, some companies are equipped to handle these unusual, thicker materials.


SERVICE

It's one thing to have a lot of options for your customers. But *service* involves taking care of the customer. Do you need the profile tomorrow or can you wait a few days? At some of the inexpensive on-line custom profile services, you are presented with a set of instructions and you must follow them as best you can, but you have nowhere to go if you have any questions. At best, you might be limited to email support only, and at worst - you don't even have that. If you haven't figured this out yet, color management can be a complicated business. Other profiling services (guess who!!) have *live people* available every business day to answer your emails or pick up the phone and actually talk to you if you have questions about the services or products. This sort of service is invaluable if you need something a little unusual, like a custom-made target for a unique situation.

When creating a profile, there are several areas where people frequently make mistakes:
- Choosing the wrong target (RGB or CMYK)
- Having color management on (using profiles) in the printing of the target
- Knowing where to put the profile on their computer when they get it back
- Knowing how to use the profile once it's on their system

For our customers, we have developed a small program (ColorValet Client) that walks you through the process of printing out a target print for your custom profile, sending it in to us, and automatically downloading it to the location in your computer where your programs can find it. At the same time, this is a boon for groups with multiple printers on multiple computers, as it makes it easy to download all the profiles to the right place with one program.

If you are helping someone else build profiles, a program like this can free up YOUR time - so you don't have to spend so much time explaining how to do it.


KNOWLEDGE

Digital color management has been around for more than a decade and has reached a certain level of maturation as an industry. A lot of the software is pretty good these days; it pretty much does what it is supposed to do and gives you the color you expect.

And then again....

There are those times when you have all the right settings in place and your color comes out WRONG and you CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY?!?

A prime example of this is the Photoshop > Mac > Epson bug that we mentioned in the ColorNews Newsletter issue #29.

Also, printer profiles are bi-directional. This means they influence the color going to the printer, but also have color tables which handle the proofing direction of the profile - so that the image looks correct when you're soft-proofing in Photoshop. Do you really only care about quality printing? Or do you need the profile to be accurate with printing and proofing?

For these reasons, we recommend you use a profiling service that has experience to know which software works best in which situation, which works best in others, what bugs are in the latest software, pitfalls, workarounds, solutions, and what's coming next.

GUARANTEE

Does the profiling service guarantee their work? Are they confident enough in their work that they will guarantee you will like your profile or give you your money back? By contrast, with some profiling services, you are forewarned not to make any mistakes in your part of the process because there will be no refunds if you do. We prefer the former policy. It's a shame to make people pay for profiles they can't use.

An even better solution is to edit the profile color to any way the customer wants it. There are very sophisticated profile editors out there that can take any color or range of colors, as narrow or wide as you like, and move them to whichever part of the color spectrum you like. Sometimes this is necessary at the end of the day when all the best equipment and software was used to make your profile, but "it just doesn't look right." If a profiling service is willing to work with you, there is no reason why you can't get a profile to do everything you want it to.

As you can see, there is quite a range of choices available for those seeking profiling services. Hopefully you have an idea which options are important for your situation, and you can know what questions to ask when seeking these services.

Thanks for reading,

Pat Herold
CHROMiX, Inc.


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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com

for more information.

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


ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


In a visit to CHROMiX.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.


FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.


SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.


To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.


For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews


Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2008 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #34 - Color Management in Photoshop CS4

SmartNote: 50093
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S - 10th Anniversary Issue

Issue # 34
November 25th, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving (this week) to all US recipients. CHROMiX will be closed 11/27 to celebrate.
========================================================

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - CHROMiX is 10 years old!
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Color management in Photoshop CS4 - an article by Pat Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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

CHROMiX News

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

CHROMiX is 10 years old!!! It's 10 years from when Steve Upton first started the company. Wow.. time flies when you're having fun! @ CHROMiX. Raise your glass please.... To commemorate this milestone, we're having a 10th Anniversary 1 month Sale and slashing prices on 2 Eizo LCD models to ultra-low levels. See Eizo Ad below.


MAXWELL Update:
----------------------------
We are now ready to launch ColorShuttle and DisplayWatch.....

ColorShuttle, Maxwell's client application, now directly supports the i1 and iSis hardware and uploads measurements right into Maxwell Tracks for immediate use anywhere in the world. It is currently in limited release and will go into a much wider release after the PIA/GATF Color Conference in December. We appreciate the patience of everyone who's been waiting for the Shuttle to arrive. If you are on the original Maxwell beta or announcement list, you will receive notification of ColorShuttle's release.

DisplayWatch is a service provided by ColorShuttle and Maxwell where any system's display can be continuously monitored for calibration updates and calibration and profiling data is uploaded into Maxwell for tracking and notification alerts. DisplayWatch will be available for beta testing at the same time ColorShuttle is released.

As a reminder, a Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when the item associated with the Track falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements.

Finally, and from a User Manual perspective, we've been continually adding relevant information about Maxwell on the ColorWiki. Check it out: Colorwiki.com/maxwell

For complete Maxwell product information, go to www.mxwell.com
If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at maxwellfreetrack(at)chromix.com or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time it can save you.


New Brands at CHROMiX:
_____________________
PHOTO RESEARCH spectroradiometers.
Samsung XL series LCD monitors
LaCie 700 series LCD monitors


IDEAlliance SWOP Industry Proofing Study Update:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On November 13, 2008, IDEAlliance, Steve Upton and Larry Warter presented 'The Final Results' of the IDEAlliance SWOP Proofing Study via webinar.
During the summer of 2008, IDEAlliance conducted a proofing study on behalf of its SWOP and GRACoL Working Groups. This effort utilized new online reporting technology (Maxwell) that forms the foundation of the new IDEAlliance IDEALink Verify software. The study captured, and reports, weekly proofing tolerances submitted from more than 60 printers, publishers, agencies and premedia shops world wide. The initial results were first presented at the IDEAlliance Spectrum Conference in September 2008. The final general report will be available to IDEAlliance members soon. At this time IDEAlliance's intention to release the report to the general public are unknown. We will keep you up to date however.


Other CHROMiX News:
---------------------------------
CHROMiX will be at the PIA/GATF Color Management Conference in Phoenix from December 7th to 9th (see event details below). The sole focus of this conference is 'color management'.
If you're planning to attend this great event, please stop by and say hello to Rick Hatmaker at our booth, or wave to Steve Upton in one of his many seminar speaking roles.


CHROMiX is pleased to be able to sell PHOTO RESEARCH spectroradiometers, considered the world standard in high-end lab-level spectroradiometers. We feel uniquely qualified to sell and support these excellent products. Please give us a call if you have any questions or would like to discuss your needs.


PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' starburst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

December 2nd, Color Control Freak, Portland, Oregon (an all-day color management seminar training) sponsored by X-Rite, MacForce and the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Portland Chapter www.pnwcmug.com
Cost is $299. CMUG Members receive $100 discount and can attend for $199. Lunch provided. RSVP is required for this event. Non-CMUG members register and pay for event at www.xrite.com/register
CMUG members email for membership verification. Once confirmed, a $100 coupon code will be emailed to the CMUG member to use when registering at above link.


December 7th - 9th, 2008, PIA/GATF 2008 Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by the PIA/GATF, as suggested by the name, the entire focus of this conference is Color Management. CHROMiX's Steve Upton, along with Dave Hunter and Dan Caldwell, will be delivering a general session together looking back on the last 10 years of color management and forward to the next 10 years.
www.piagatfcolor.org


December 8th, Color Control Freak, Seattle, Washington (an all-day color management seminar training) sponsored by X-Rite, University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Seattle Chapter www.pnwcmug.com
. Cost is $299. CMUG Members receive $100 discount and can attend for $199. Lunch provided. RSVP is required for this event. Non-CMUG members register and pay for event at www.xrite.com/register
, CMUG members email for membership verification. Once confirmed, a $100 coupon code will be emailed to the CMUG member to use when registering at above link.


March 3rd-5th, 2009, PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show. Everything photography - considered THE show for photography.
Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Las Vegas, NV
www.piagatfcolor.org


March 9th-11th, 2009, 32nd Ink Jet Printing Conference, Fira Palace Hotel, Barcelona, Spain. For more information: Suzy Sclater, Tel: +44 208 367 7808, Email: suzysclater (at) ems-ltd.org


March 15th-18th, 2009, NAPL Top Management Conference, Tucson, AZ. www.napl.org


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Adobe began shipping CS4 On October 15th.
For a good overview, here is a free 70-page CS4 SuperGuide you can download compliments of Creative Studio (CAFE)
Here is a good overview of the top 10 features of Photoshop CS4: www.photoshopuser.com

and
Here is a link to Adobe's Eligibility Tool: www.adobe.com/upgrade

Finally, for a unique CHROMiX perspective don't miss Pat Herold's review below in this issue's article, 'Color Management in Adobe Photoshop CS4'

Techkon USA is offering an additional 10% off selected SpectroDens, SpectroPlate and SpectroDrive models through end of November as a continuation of their Graph Expo specials. Hurry, any orders must be placed by Nov. 28th. Please call CHROMiX Sales for details or questions.

X-Rite is offering a very generous mail-in rebate from Oct. 26th through Nov. 30, 2008. Receive an additional $500 for combined purchase values over $3999, and $1000 for combined purchases over $10,000. ALL X-Rite products and solutions apply. The promotion mail-in deadline is 12/31/08. See other details in Ad below.

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


This Month's Feature Article:

Color Management in Adobe Photoshop CS4


by CHROMiX's Pat Herold

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

Color Management in Photoshop CS4

With the recent release of Adobe Photoshop CS4, plenty have written about the new features in this newest version of the gold standard in image manipulation. This month's article will present an overview of what's new in Photoshop's color management.

Incidentally, CHROMiX ColorNews newsletters are always sent out in text-only format as a courtesy to our readers (to not fill up their inboxes with large emails.) As a result, this current article might seem rather dry without pictures of what we're referring to. So we encourage all who can to browse over to the www.colorwiki.com site and see the Reserved Article version of this issue.
www.colorwiki.com/CM in PS CS4

There, we have posted screen shots of all the dialog boxes we mention here.


COLOR SETTINGS

(Edit > Color Settings)

At first glance, the Color Settings dialog box is relatively unchanged from the previous versions. Under the hood, however, you'll find that several new profiles are included. If you click the drop down box for Working Spaces: CMYK, you will find the latest GRACoL and SWOP profiles from the 2006 specs.

Those who have a need to convert to a larger CMYK working space than the often-used "US Web Coated SWOP2" profile will find that the Coated GRACoL 2006 profile is a great improvement in gamut, and is a good representation of a press running to a G7 standard.

Also note an additional checkbox under Conversion Options: "Compensate for Scene-referred Profiles." It is recommended that this checkbox stay checked, unless you are trying to duplicate colors in other programs that do not compensate for scene-referred profiles. Color profiles are said to be scene-referred if their tone-response curves are based on the conditions in the typical scene. Color profiles are said to be output-referred if their tone-response curves are based on the conditions in the typical viewing environment. This choice may be more important to those working with moving pictures and video. Check the Photoshop help menus for more information on scene-referred profiles.

PRINTING

(File > Print)

The left side of this dialog box features some new soft-proofing options. There are now check boxes allowing you to see a gamut warning and/or simulate your paper white right here in the preview window. Previously, you would have had to go to the View > Proof setup > Custom section to view your image with these features.

The top center of this page now has a small printer icon next to the Printer selection box. This button will automatically bring up the printer maintenance utility program for the printer selected. This is a great way to check your inkjet nozzles just before printing a big job.

The right side of the page is essentially the same on CS4 as it was with CS3. You still choose whether you want Photoshop, or the printer, to manage colors (or whether you want No Color Management), and you choose your rendering intent, black point compensation, etc.

SOFT PROOFING

(View > Proof Setup > Custom)

This section is unchanged from previous versions of CS, except for the multi-color profile issue I'll be mentioning below.

CONVERT TO PROFILE

(Edit > Convert to Profile...)

While the "Assign Profile" dialog box has not changed, the Convert to Profile dialog has much more functionality. Click the new "Advanced" button, and you are now presented with a choice of almost any profile type you can think of. Just like before, you can still convert to an RGB, CMYK or Gray profile, but now you have the added ability to:

- Convert directly to the Lab color space
- Convert to a multi channel profile
- Convert to a device link profile
- Convert to an Abstract profile.

Each of these choices comes with a drop down box so you can choose which profile you want to use in each category.

MULTICHANNEL PROFILES

Just a note here: We are not talking about profiles for a typical modern inkjet printer that has more than the usual four inks. Multi channel profiles (or "n-color" profiles) are very specialized animals that handle 5, 6, 7 or more inks, and only work on certain multichannel printers/presses and the rare RIPs that can process multi channel printing.

The ability to convert to a multichannel profile is a big step for Photoshop, and those who work with a Roland 6-channel printer using spot colors (or some such monster) will be pretty excited to add this useful tool to your arsenal. Epson is rumored to be coming out with new printers that will be using multichannel inks, so this feature may have wider applications in the future.

While the conversion to multichannel profiles works very well - the preview or visual display of that profile conversion does not. According to Adobe, the calculation required to do an accurate soft proof of these profiles would take so long as to be unusable at this point in time. However, they did want to make available this conversion to multichannel separations, and didn't want to remove the feature just because the soft proofing was not there yet.

(We should note that CHROMiX has patent-pending technology called ColorCast which creates specialized soft proofing profiles that will accurately soft proof multi-channel profile conversions quickly and accurately. ColorCast is available as an optional add-on for ColorThink Pro 3. visit www.chromix.com/pro_colorcast
for more information) You can see the preview inconsistency when you look at how a converted image is displayed. For example, compare the preview of your image when using the Convert to Profile "Preview" checkbox with the image after conversion to the multichannel profile, and you can probably see a noticeable difference where you would not expect one. We looked at a preview of the unsharp mask filter and saw the preview as almost monotone. Similar results were found with the soft proofing function in View > Proof Setup, and the Print dialog preview.
_______

For those worried about having to learn a new interface, the Adobe folks have left alone that which works well. But they have snuck in more functionality in reasonable places where you need it and want it. While they don't yet have accurate previews using multicolor profiles, the ability to convert to multicolor separations in Photoshop has been on the wish list for many years with many printers, and its inclusion might come to be very timely in the near future.


Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold

Tech support, CHROMiX

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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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


ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence.

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2008 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #35 - CHROMiX Stunt Profiles

SmartNote: 50094
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well:
ColorForums/ColorNews
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 35
January 21th, 2009


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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. CHROMiX Stunt Profiles - an article by Pat Herold and Steve Upton
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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

CHROMiX News

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

MAXWELL Update:
----------------------------
ColorShuttle and DisplayWatch are now ready for the final round of beta testing. We're so confident that you'll be pleased with Maxwell that when ColorShuttle and DisplayWatch are out of beta we'll be offering 3 free months with any monitor or calibrator purchased, no strings attached. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, we are opening the beta testing of ColorShuttle, DisplayWatch and Maxwell 1.1 for volunteers who want to help test.

So, first some background on these new tools:

ColorShuttle, Maxwell's new client application, bridges the gap between the browser and your computer. We're excited about all the things we can do within a web browser but a browser can't drive an i1 to take measurements or continually monitor your system for updated profiles or new arrivals in a hot folder (at least not without plug-ins, etc). ColorShuttle 3.0 directly supports the i1 and iSis hardware and uploads measurements right into Maxwell Tracks for immediate use anywhere in the world. It also creates and monitors hot folders so you can measure color using practically any hardware and software that can save measurements into a file format Maxwell can understand (which is continually expanding).

DisplayWatch is a service provided by ColorShuttle and Maxwell where any system's display can be continuously monitored for calibration updates and calibration / profiling data is uploaded into Maxwell for tracking and notification alerts. DisplayWatch will be available for beta testing at the same time ColorShuttle is released.

What does ColorShuttle 3.0 NOT do? It doesn't yet do real-time proof verification (immediate pass/fail feedback). That feature and many others will arrive in steady progression. We wanted to get the current capabilities into Maxwell users (and evaluator's) hands ASAP. Don't forget, Maxwell and ColorShuttle are currently in use around the world by companies ranging from Fortune 500 size down to smaller service providers.

As a reminder, a Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when the item associated with the Track falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements.

So! If you want to take a look at ColorShuttle and Maxwell 1.1 (which includes the new TimeLine tool which enables easy multiple-track reporting and comparisons) then please send an email to: maxwellbetatester(at)chromix.com. We'll send you the download information a bit later this week and you'll be off and running.

For complete Maxwell product information, go to www.mxwell.com
If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at maxwellfreetrack(at)chromix.com or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.

We've also created a new ColorForum.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle! Come by with questions:
ColorForums/Maxwell

Other CHROMiX News:
---------------------------------

ColorNews now has its own forum on ColorForums.com! Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So it seems it's time to create a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!
ColorNews Forum

CHROMiX was at the 2008 PIA/GATF Color Management Conference in Phoenix from December 7th to 9th. Thanks for all who stopped by the booth to say hello or to ask questions about our products and services. As a footnote (and in spite of the economy), this was the largest attended PIA/GATF conference ever. We had both the highest attendance and the most vendors present. That speaks greatly about the importance of color management. BTW... apparently, the GATF/PIA will now be called the Printing Industries of America as the GATF name is going away.

You may have noticed that your ColorThink Pro beta version 20 has expired.
You can download the latest version here: Beta 21 for Mac/Windows:
ColorThink download
Your existing serial number will work fine.

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' starburst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

February 26, 2009, Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group (Portland Chapter) announces a user meeting open to all: 'The Secrets of CS4 Color Management'. Mark Fitzgerald, author, 6:30 - 9:00 PM at The Oregonian 1320 SW Broadway, Conference Room A. A panel of 3 designers who are 'color managed' will discuss their experiences and other topics relevant to their journey of becoming color managed. For more information or RSVP at PNWCMUG.com

February 26-27, 2009, G7 Expert/Professional Sheetfed Training with Don Hutcheson. Hosted at KBA North America, 291 Hurricane Lane, Williston, Vermont. Learn the latest G7 techniques. To Register G7 Expert

February 26-28, 2009, Graphics of the Americas Exposition and Conference, owned and operated by the Printing Association of Florida, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL is the premier trade show for the printing and publishing industry for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. For more information: Graphics of the Americas

March 3rd-5th, 2009, PMA 09 International Convention and Trade Show. Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Las Vegas, NV. Everything photography - considered THE show for photography. www.pmai.org

March 9th-11th, 2009, 32nd Global Ink Jet Printing Conference, Fira Palace Hotel, Barcelona, Spain.
For more information: www.inkjetconference.com

March 15th-18th, 2009, NAPL Top Management Conference, Tucson, AZ. www.napl.org

March 23rd, 2009, IDEAlliance 'PROOFING SUMMIT. Proof to Press: Best Practices. Survivor's Guide to Best-in-Class Proofing', Marriott Marquis, New York, NY. Learn from top industry experts best in class practices and how you can become more efficient, productive and knowledgeable with your proofing strategies. For more event information: Idealliance.org/proofsummit

To register: idealliance/register

May 5th-8th, 2009, CONTROL 2009, Stuttgart Exhibition Centre, Stuttgart, Germany. CONTROL is an international trade fair focusing on quality assurance.
For more information: www.control-messe.com


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

X-Rite announced a reduction of approximately 90 jobs as part of a new profit improvement plan for its 2009 sales expectations and cost structure. They also announced a reduced fourth-quarter and 2008 sales estimate due to the slowdown in the global economy. In an article from WhatTheyThink, Tom Vacchiano remained very positive and was quoted as saying: "Despite current economic challenges, we remain positive about X-Rite's future". WhatTheyThink article: Whattheythink.com
and X-Rite Press Release: www.xrite.com

NEC announced the new 26-inch MultiSync LCD2690W2-BK-SV and 30-inch LCD3090W-BK-SV widescreen displays with calibration sensor and SpectraView II calibration software. CHROMiX will carry these at competitive prices.
ImagingInfo.com review: www.imaging info.com

RIT's School of Print Media has released the latest edition of Test Targets, a free publication from the collaborative efforts of students, faculty and staff researching various topics related to improving printing. Topics range from practical to theoretical. There is a wealth of information here. The latest issue, Test Targets 8.0 explores Ink Sequences on Offset presses, Device Link Profiles performance, Ink Trapping on press and more. Check it out. You'll be amazed at the wealth of information here:
cias.rit.edu

Of pop culture interest:
Gap and Pantone opened up a 'concept T-shirt store' adjacent to its flagship store at 54th and 5th Ave. in New York.
www.lintcoat.com

Apparently this is the last MacWorld conference and expo that Apple will attend:
www.macworld.com

Steve Jobs has taken a leave of absence from Apple: Steve Jobs
and
Imaginginfo.com

Polaroid files Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization: www.imaginginfo.com/polaroid

Our good friend, sometimes partner and sometimes sub-contractor consultant/trainer for CHROMiX, Steve Laskevitch of Luminous Works, is releasing his new book 'Photoshop CS4 Photographer 's Handbook'. Congratulations getting through that last edit, Steve! We look forward to seeing it on the shelves soon. This is Steve's first solo effort. He co-wrote 'Photoshop CS3 Photographer's Handbook: An Easy Workflow' with Brad Hinkel. For more about Luminous Works
http://luminousworks.com

Going Green? We found this free article of the '56 Ways to Go Green in 2009' from WhatTheyThink. Check out the 'Going Green Digest' alongside the article. Lots of related information.
whattheythink.com/green

Joel Wolfson Photographic Workshops will be conducting a digital/giclee printing workshop January 24-25 at their Arizona studio. This hands-on workshop takes you from simply making a print to creating beautiful exhibition quality images. For more information: Call toll free 1-866-WOLFSON or www.joelwolfson.com


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

Article Update - Revisions to last month's article on Photoshop CS4

Steve Upton

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


Last month's ColorNews included an article on Adobe's new Photoshop CS4. In our eagerness to get it out the door, we neglected to mention a few interesting and important notes.
www.colorwiki.com/PS_CS4

Device Link Profile Limitations:

While Photoshop CS4 supports the application of device link profiles, it is important to note that you can only use profiles that convert to and from the same color model. So, if you have an RGB file you can only use an RGB->RGB device link. For CMYK files, only CMYK->CMYK device links will work. For many linkers, this will suffice, but for those experimenting with customized gamut mapping and other effects for their RGB->CMYK conversions, you'll need to continue using either device link plug-ins or tools outside Photoshop.

Some users have complained that CS4 drops the image into the same color space as it started. In other words, if your file was originally in Adobe RGB(1998) then it is deposited into Adobe RGB(1998) after conversion. To the complainers we say, "what did you expect?" or perhaps more importantly "how would it know to do anything else?"

It's true that post-link, a file may be intended to be in a different color space. If you were testing a device link that converted from GRACoL 2006 to your inkjet's paper profile then the converted file *should* indeed be assigned your inkjet profile in order to appear correct in Photoshop. But, if you were testing a device link that converted from GRACoL 2006 to GRACoL 2006 with heavy black generation, then the assigned profile should be unchanged. But the most important point here is that the ICC spec doesn't require that the entire source and destination profiles be embedded inside device link profiles. So Photoshop has no *reliable* way of knowing (or doing) what should be done. It is the nature of device link profiles today. Some profiling tools like Link-o-later DO embed the profiles for reference and future use and it's a great idea - but not something Photoshop can rely on.

Abstract Profile Application:

CS4 can finally use abstract profiles. In it's current incarnation, Photoshop uses your current document profile as the source and destination with the abstract profile in between.

To clarify - when you choose an Abstract profile from "Convert to Profile...," Photoshop will convert via: (current profile) -> abstract profile -> (current profile). At this time you are not able to select the abstract profile as part of an RGB->CMYK conversion.

Interestingly, Photoshop allows you to select a rendering intent during this conversion. Abstract profiles do not contain tables for different rendering intents, so the intents at work are from the document's current profile. I cannot see why any intent other than Relative Colorimetric would be used in this conversion, but I'll keep my ear to the ground for strategies and ideas.

Some are unhappy that this conversion method creates an extra step and could degrade the image. I suppose this is a possible issue, but I'm just glad to see the ability to use abstract profiles is finally available. Time will tell if this power profile type will finally get the exposure it deserves.

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

This Month's Feature Article:

CHROMiX Stunt Profiles


by CHROMiX's Pat Herold and Steve Upton

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

Using profiles for testing, analysis, or fun!

Over the years, we have created, garnered and collected several test profiles here at CHROMiX. These profiles are not generally for the purposes of viewing or printing out pretty-looking pictures, but are frequently for the exact opposite reason! These are test profiles, intended to help us analyze workflows, verfiy rendering intents, test to see if things we think are happening are in fact, *actually* happening.

When we send these newsletters out in email format, we consciously choose to keep it in plain text formatting, which does not allow images, so as to not fill up your inbox with unnecessary large files. However, you can also view this article in the "Reserved Articles" section of ColorWiki.com soon after its email release. There, this newsletter contains links and images showing the results of using these test profiles.


RENDERING INTENT TESTERS

CX RGB RenderTest PCS=RGB.icc
----------------------------------------------------

We have taken a typical output printer profile and edited each rendering intent (B2A). When you *print* using this RGB output profile, your prints will give a different color hue with each rendering intent chosen. The "PCS" in the file name stands for Perceptual, Colorimetric and Saturation. If you use the Perceptual rendering intent during printing, the image will have a strong red cast. If you use Relative Colorimetric, the image will go green, and Saturation will look blue. P = R; C = G; S = B. Get it?

How can you use this profile?

Even though your software says that you are using the rendering intent of your choice when you are printing, sometimes it's nice to have something else confirm that fact. If you are using some new, experimental or beta software, this is a quick test to see that it really does print using each rendering intent as expected.

Once in awhile, we run into a printing system that does not offer a rendering intent choice, and you're left to guess which one they are using, or if they are grabbing the "default" rendering intent. This profile will give you an easy way to find the answer. The "Proofing" transforms of this profile are all normal. This means that if you assign this profile to an image, you will not see any of the strange transforms. For testing THAT part of a workflow, see the next profile

CX CMYK RenderTest PCS=RGB.icc
--------------------------------------------------------

This is a CMYK version of a rendering intent tester profile. As above, this will *print* with a different color cast for each rendering intent. This can be used on a RIP or other image processing software that requires a CMYK profile. The results are the same as what was described above with the RGB RenderTest.

Perceptual = Red
Colorimetric = Green
Saturation = Blue.


PROOFING INTENT TESTERS

CX RGB ProofTest PCS = RGB.icc
CX CMYK ProofTest PCS = RGB.icc
--------------------------------------------------------

For these profiles we have altered each of the *proofing* (A2B) intents. If you assign this profile to an image it will appear to be heavily color casted depending on the rendering intent used by the software performing the conversion. In most software packages the Colorimetric intent is used so the image will appear to have a Green cast. Of course you need to choose the correct profile for the color model in which your image resides. If you just want to see if an application uses a profile at all, try the profile "CX scnr RGB->Gray.icc" below.


CX RGB scnr IntTest PCS=RGB.icc
------------------------------------------------------

This is an input profile version - again, showing a different color cast for each rendering intent. This can be used to verify what rendering intent is being used with input profiles like scanners or cameras. If you rely on your scanner software to apply a scanner profile, you might use this profile to verify that your scanner software is actually using the profile and is applying rendering intents correctly.


OTHER TEST PROFILES

CX scnr RGB->Gray.icc
----------------------------------------------------

When this profile is used, it will strip all saturation out of a color image, making it a black and white image. This (along with the weird.icc profile below) makes it easy to see if an embedded profile is actually working or not.

If you are dealing with a new workflow - a new printer interface, new computer - any situation where you have reason to doubt that your profile is actually being used - a little profile like this in place should remove all doubt.

We've all been in situations where we're setting up a new printer and trying to troubleshoot why the color is not coming out correctly. You're pulling your hair out trying to figure out if you've missed a button somewhere because everything you try just ends up with the same bad color. It is a small thing to plug one of these profiles into place in your workflow. If you don't see a change, then something is certainly wrong. If you do see the change these profiles cause, you at least have the reassurance that whatever is controlling your color management is doing its job correctly. It may not solve all your problems, but this is a simple, useful troubleshooting tool to keep in your color management bag of tricks for a rainy day.


CX output weird.icc
----------------------------------------------------

This one is a little more fun. Every rendering intent in this profile gives the image a different strange, mind-bending, retro 60's tie dye posterization look. There's no mistaking it when this profile is working. Psychedelic!


CX_Monitor_weird.icc
----------------------------------------------------
This is a matrix monitor profile.
Ever find yourself doubting whether your Vista operating system is using your monitor profile? This monitor profile gives a strange look, while still rendering your display readable.


CX Hue+45 abst.icc
----------------------------------------------------
This is an abstract profile that simply adds 45 degrees to the hue of all colors. In other words, all the colors in the image take a short spin around the color wheel. I always liked abstract profiles as they can capture interesting transformations for use again and again. With ColorThink Pro's ColorCast technology you can also permanently attach them to normal ICC profiles to create special effects, capture proofing color shifts or correct profiles.

All of the profiles mentioned in this article are available for download for free, courtesy of CHROMiX, from the public area of our Maxwell site. (www.mxwell.com)

CX RGB rendertest PCS=RGB

CMYK RenderTest PCS=RGB

RGB ProofTest PCS=RGB

CMYK ProofTest PCS=RGB

CX RGB scnr IntTest PCS=RGB

CX scnr RGB-Gray

CX output weird

CX Monitor weird

CX Hue_45 abst


As always, if you or any of your color management team are caught using these profiles on April 1st, CHROMiX will disavow any knowledge of them!


Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold and Steve Upton

Tech support, CHROMiX

Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:
www.colorforums/newsletter


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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.


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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence. ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: www.colorforums/newsletter

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2008 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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.
--


CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #36 - Optical Brighteners in Paper

SmartNote: 50095
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: www.colorforums.com

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

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 36
March 17th, 2009 ~ Happy St. Patricks Day! ~


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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. 'Optical Brighteners in Paper' - an article by Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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

CHROMiX News

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

A New Service: ColorValet Pro unlimited profiling service:
__________________________________________

CHROMiX has expanded the world's largest custom print profiling service into a unique new service available to anyone printing to an RGB-controlled device (most inkjets not using a RIP, photo printers, etc). Announcing 'ColorValet Pro'! For $199, anyone can have unlimited RGB profiles for one printer for 18 months.

That's right, for one RGB-controlled printer, UNLIMITED profiles! These are the same top-of-the-line profiles you've come to expect from CHROMiX. This is an ideal service for those who dream of experimenting with varied paper types and styles - and we do all the measurements.

But wait, there's more! As a ColorValet Pro customer, you automatically have access to other profiles in the ColorPool for your printer model. Every time you and other ColorValet Pro customers make a new profile for a printer model, your profile is automatically (and anonymously) entered into the ColorPool. This gives you instant access to media profiles that have already been built for that printer. No more waiting to see how a paper profile will work. Also, use ColorPool profiles for soft-proofing to find the optimal paper for your image and needs. As the ColorPool grows, so grows the possibilities!

Finally, the ColorValet Pro service includes a single Maxwell Track. All measurements submitted for a selected paper are added to the track so you can trend your printer, confirm it's quality over time and even receive email notifications from Maxwell's Notifiers when the color shifts outside your target zone.

ColorValet Pro and ColorPool will be available very soon after a short beta testing period. However, if you buy now or before the final commercial version is released, you will receive a 10% discount (Net price $179). That's a savings of $20. Also, if you buy now, you will be able to start making profiles early by volunteering to help us finish the beta testing of ColorValet Pro and ColorPool. Your 18 month period won't begin until the final version is released.

For more information about ColorValet Pro see Ad below and go to: www.chromix.com/colorvalet/pro

The website includes a comprehensive FAQ that should answer all your questions.


MAXWELL Update:
----------------------------
ColorShuttle and DisplayWatch beta testing has been going extremely well and we are ahead of our projected schedule. Expect a final release soon.

An overview:

ColorShuttle, Maxwell's new client application, bridges the gap between the browser and your computer. ColorShuttle 3.0 directly supports the i1 and iSis hardware and uploads measurements right into Maxwell Tracks for immediate use anywhere in the world. It also creates and monitors hot folders, so you can measure color using practically any hardware and software that can save measurements into a file format Maxwell can understand. What does ColorShuttle 3.0 NOT do? It doesn't yet do real-time proof verification (immediate pass/fail feedback). That feature and many others will arrive in steady progression.

DisplayWatch is a service provided by ColorShuttle and Maxwell where any system's display can be continuously monitored for calibration updates, and calibration / profiling data is uploaded into Maxwell for tracking and notification alerts.

A Maxwell Track is any item (printer, paper, monitor, etc.) whose activity you want to monitor. Also, Notifiers within Maxwell alert you when the item associated with the Track falls outside of tolerances or fails to meet certain requirements.


For complete Maxwell product information, go to www.mxwell.com
If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.

We've also created a new ColorForum.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle! Check it out.
www.colorforums.com


Other CHROMiX News:
---------------------------------

Finally, a Maxwell webinar for our European friends!
Maxwell & ColorShuttle webinar Overview and Tour with Steve Upton on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 9:00 AM Pacific (12:00 PM Eastern US, 4:00 PM London, 5:00PM Germany). 1 hour. Free. Webex IP audio so no need to dial in for audio. Expand your color managed mind. RSVP Email:

ColorNews (this publication) now has its own forum on ColorForums.com! Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So it seemed time to create a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!
www.colorforums.com/colornews

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' starburst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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


March 23rd, 2009, IDEAlliance 'PROOFING SUMMIT. Proof to Press: Best Practices. Survivor's Guide to Best-in-Class Proofing', Marriott Marquis, New York, NY. Learn from top industry experts best in class practices and how you can become more efficient, productive and knowledgeable with your proofing strategies. For more event information: www.idealliance.org/proofsummit
To register: www.idealliance.org/proofsummit/meetingdetail
www.idealliance.org/eseries/source/meetingdetail
(One of these sites may have an expired certificate)

March 24th, 2009, 6:00 PM Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Seattle Chapter, presents: Thom Schroeder of REI: 'Studio Workflow & RGB Correction'.
For more information or to RSVP: www.pnwcmug.com/events/seattle

March 30th-April 2nd, 2009, ON DEMAND Conference & Expo. Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA. www.ondemandexpo.com

April 23rd, 2009, 6:30 PM, Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Portland, Oregon Chapter, presents: Steve Upton of CHROMiX: 'Forward thinking'. Steve will talk about color management and its problems (micro and macro). He will also talk about his visions about how to solve many of the problems plaguing our industry by illustrating the new CHROMiX Maxwell service. For more information or to register: www.pnwcmug.com/pages/events/

May 5th-8th, 2009, CONTROL 2009, Stuttgart Exhibition Centre, Stuttgart, Germany. CONTROL is an international trade fair focusing on quality assurance.
For more information: www.control-messe.com


June 8th-10th, 2009, IPA Technical Conference, Intercontinental O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, IL. In its 44th year, the IPA Technical Conference is a premier event for showcasing the latest advances in graphic technology and workflow innovations. www.ipa.org

September 11th-16th, 2009, GASC presents PRINT 09 or myPrint 09, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. www.gasc.org


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Adobe released Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and Camera Raw 5.3, including updates to its pro photo management application and to Photoshop CS4's RAW conversion plug-in, respectively. Adobe has posted the final versions of each, for Mac and Windows. Support for Nikon D3X and Olympus E-30 RAW files were among the changes in both the application and plug-in.

Adobe also released an update for Photoshop CS4 for Mac and Windows. Version 11.0.1 primarily fixes bugs. You can update via the update feature within Photoshop, or as a standalone updater from Adobe.

Alwan and Enfocus announced the release of PDF Standardizer, a joint partnership between the two companies. PDF Standardizer is a PDF automation tool to assure PDF's standards compliance to PDF/X-1a, Ghent PDF Workflow specifications, ISO 15930-1 and compliant color optimization to ISO 12647. Information at either www.enfocus.com
or www.alwancolor.com

Datacolor, (aka ColorVision) announced the SpyderCube, a tool for setting white balance as well as checking or establishing the density of highlights and shadows in a scene. Expected price $59. For more information: spyder.datacolor.com

DIMA (as part of PMA 2009) posted the winners of the Digital Printer Shootout: www.pmai.org

EFI announced Colorproof XF 4.0 and Fiery XF 4.0. New features are: Dynamic Wedge(TM) (patent pending) - Control the key colors in your job, Intelligent calibration, Enhanced spot color simulation, Wizard based licensing, set up and configuration, and Support of Adobe PDF Print Engine v2.0. More 4.0 information: www.efi.com/products/proofing

EIZO announced the release of EasyPIX, a color matching tool ideal for digital SLR camera users looking to match colors between their monitors and photo prints. With the EasyPIX software you can match the monitor's color and brightness with that of the photo paper and then create a monitor profile.
For more information: www.eizo.com/products/easyPIX

EIZO ScreenSlicer is a Free desktop monitor software utility that allows an entire screen to be effectively used though partitioning. Multiple windows can be easily aligned and dropped into the partitioned areas in single- or multi-monitor environments for convenience. Windows only.
www/eizo.com/sslicer

Printing Industries Press announced the release of Volume 3 of the Color Essentials series: Color and Quality for the Graphic Arts and Sciences series by Gary G. Field. The essays in this unique series prompt readers to break away from routine thinking when it comes to stubborn production problems that have plagued color reproduction for decades, and to see problems - and solutions - from entirely new perspectives. $40. For more: members.whattheythink.com

X-Rite Announced Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Results. Despite X-Rites weak stock value, they reported a stronger balance sheet of $50.8 million in cash and a reduced debt balance of $270.9 million at year end. For more: Finance.yahoo.com/news

X-Rite announced a program to reach into the WideFormat and Signage market through distributor partner TekGraf:
finance.yahoo.com/xrite

X-Rite announced a New G7 Toolkit: www.xrite/toolkit

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

HOT TOPICS discussed recently in ColorForums:

Printer forums:
Difference between Monaco Profiler Gold and Platinum?
www.colorforums.com/topic2607

Monitor forums:
Old monitor had RGB, now only brightness. What to do?
www.colorforums.com/topic831

Press Forums:
Idealink Curve - How far out can it correct?
www.colorforums.com/topic2491

ColorThink Forums:
User manual for ColorThink?
www.colorforums.com/topic1313


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

OTHER HOT TOPICS, articles and blogs we have followed that are worth sharing:

Print CEO:
The effect of the stimulus on the printing industry, Print 2: Internet 19 - by Cary Sherbourne
printceo.com/stimulus

YouTube:
U.S. Government Printing Office: President Obama's Official Photograph
www.youtube.com
An interesting little video about the GPO.
Note the target on the press sheet, and the only one on the sheet other than the std press control bars... (the P2P target for G7)

Reuters Blogs:
And from a photographer's perspective: Air Force One:
blogs.reuters.com

John Paul Caponigo Insights blog:
www.johnpaulcaponigro.com
Lots of 'insightful' stuff here. 'Color Theory' is excellent. Below that is a dialogue on the merits of appropriate monitor investment. Below that Solux lighting...

Digital Nirvana:
The Future of Print Trade Shows, by Roberto Wong
thedigitalnirvana.com

What They Think:
Price Cutting and Print Competition - Dr. Joe Webb
members.whattheythink.com/price
Applicable to any industry these days...

CreativePro.com
A number of iPhone apps for design work - several of them are for color and look pretty good!
www.creativepro.com/iphone
Check out ColorExpert $9.99 or Palettes $4.99 or PhotoCalc $2.99

Figital Revolution:
Check out the One Minute Rant series if you're a photographer....
figitalrevolution.com


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

This Month's Feature Article:

Optical Brighteners in Paper

by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold

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


Optical brighteners are additives that paper manufacturers put into paper in order to help a paper look "whiter." They are also called optical brightening agents (OBA), or sometimes "artificial whiteners."

In order to make paper appear brighter, it is common for most paper manufacturers to add certain chemicals to the paper which can take invisible ultraviolet light and cause it to re-emit in the blue spectrum - or "fluoresce" - at a point that is just barely within our ability to see. While our eyes see this as a brighter, blue-ish white - a light measuring instrument will only see this as a different form of blue. That is why printer profiles made with paper using a lot of optical brighteners can end up printing out images that have a yellow tint to them. The profile is trying to correct for what it sees as too much blue in the paper.

Before you say "Well I use a really good quality paper - I'm sure they don't use this stuff," you should know that just about every paper that has a nice, satisfying "white" to it has some amount of optical brightener. In fact, you usually have to hunt around a bit to find paper that specifically has no OB in it. It's usually labeled "natural white" or something similar and is noticeably less bright with a small tint of yellow to it.

Examples of paper with OBA in it are common office bond paper, Epson Premium Matte, Luster, Glossy, etc., and most every other brand of commercial inkjet paper. Paper without OBA (or very little) include "silver halide" RA-4 process photographic paper, certain press proofing papers, fine art papers and other specific paper types that are marketed by paper manufacturers as having no OBA.

Before you panic and think this is the printing equivalent of hormone-injected beef, consider that this is a very reasonable way to get more white onto a paper. Without it, many of our papers would be rather drab looking by comparison, given the natural color of wood pulp and cotton. Consider that the chemicals required for bleaching a paper white might be worse in many ways than the OBA. You should be aware of some issues with this paper though.

The chemical agents in paper causing this fluorescence will 'run out of juice' over time (sort of like the pocket warmer in the bottom of my sleeping bag on our last camping trip. It was nice while it lasted.) That means that over the course of several years or even months, the apparent brightness of your paper will decrease; it won't be "glowing" with the artificial white that it does now. This is part of the reason why some people choose to print with "natural" papers.

How can you tell if your paper has OBA's? The quickest way is to shine a black light on the paper. A black light lamp will cause the OBA's to glow in a big way. You've probably seen this effect with white clothing under a black light. Paper (or clothes) without artificial brighteners will not react to the black light at all. Black lights that screw in to normal household sockets are available, but sometimes hard to find. Your kid's "invisible ink pen" he got at the toy store probably has a black light lamp on it to illuminate the OBA's in the invisible ink.

For years Chromix has offered small, battery-operated black lights for this purpose. Here's a color management tool for only $15.00. In this economic climate we need more of THOSE.
www.chromix.com/colorgear/shop

As a special added bonus you can amaze your co-workers in the lunchroom by identifying when their bananas are ripe:

www.livescience.com/strangenews

____

Now that I've found out that my paper (or my bananas) have optical brighteners, what do I do about it?

The industry has a long history of instruments that make use of some kind of UV-filtering. The SpectroLino/SpectroScan (now discontinued) had interchangeable filters that would connect to the end of its measuring head. One of these was a UV filter. The X-rite DTP-70 (now discontinued) came with a UV filter that would mechanically move in and out of the measurement path as needed by the user. The X-rite DTP-41 was available from the factory in either a UV-filtered model, or a non-filtered model. The same is true for the i1 Pro Spectrophotometer: You decide at purchase if you want it non-filtered, or UV-filtering built in.

The iSis chart reader is X-rite's replacement for the DTP-70. It can measure with UV light included and excluded, on the same instrument, even during the same measurement of a page. Its function is a little different than the others. The iSis has two different light sources:
- One utilizes normal, visible light (which is used to create the non - UV measurement file.)
- One utilizes UV light only, and this measurement is mathematically combined with the other to create the UV-included measurement.

This new instrument, handling its filtering differently, has led to some semantic confusion around this whole topic of UV filtering. Since the iSis does not have an actual "filter" inside it that filters the UV, it's not proper to call this measurement UV-filtered. X-rite follows a naming convention similar to their previous instruments, but it is arcane, and can lead to confusion. You can have "UV-cut" or "no filter" At CHROMiX, we have chosen a different naming scheme. We identify these measurements as what they are: "UV included" or "UV excluded" (UVi; UVx). We think these two terms can describe all such measurement conditions regardless of whether the instrument has a filter or not.

Also, to answer a question we often hear, the optional UV filter on the i1 Pro instrument does NOT affect monitor measurement and calibration. The UV filter is for the light source, not the reflected (or emitted) light that's gathered by the instrument. So UV and non-UV versions of the i1 will calibrate and profile displays identically.

A final not about filtering. While fluorescence discussions usually center around papers, pigments may be fluorescent too.

In addition, the GretagMacbeth (now Xrite) ProfileMaker software has a software algorithm that can automatically detect optical brighteners and corrects their effects in the profile. The i1Match software also applies this software fix when making printer profiles.

So far, these hardware and software solutions I've mentioned don't take into account how *much* optical brightener is being used in the different papers, or how the OBA's react in different viewing environments. At CHROMiX, we are looking into making use of a combination of UV included and UV excluded measurements to provide a more precise correction as part of our new ColorValet Pro service (mentioned earlier in this newsletter.)

In our next issue of ColorNews, we'll take a look at X-rite's Optical Brightener Correction (OBC) module. This can be a useful solution to some of these problems experienced by those who work in a press room or other color-critical environment where a light booth is used.

Finally, bananas will ripen more quickly if you put them with other (ripe) fruit. Mix over-ripe bananas with other fruit to add sweetness and consistency to a fruit smoothie. (Secret tip for CHROMiX ColorNews subscribers: Add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for a little added ZIP to your smoothie!)

News you won't get anywhere else!

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX Tech Support / Lab Operations


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:
www.colorforums.com/colornews

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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence. ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: www.colorforums.com/colornews

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link:
www.chromix.com/colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2009 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.
--

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #37 - X-Rite's Optical Brightener Module

SmartNote: 50096
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: colorforums.com/colornews

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

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 37
May 27th, 2009

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - Print Verification now available in Maxwell
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. 'Optical Brighteners Part 2 - X-Rite's OBC' - an article by Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

CHROMiX News

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


MAXWELL Update: Real-time Print Verification

----------------------------

ColorShuttle and Maxwell now have real-time Print Verification!! The much-anticipated Pass/Fail feature in Maxwell (implemented via ColorShuttle software) is ready for beta testing.

ColorShuttle 3.2 now provides immediate print verification with Pass/Fail calculations and reporting in the client software itself. This captures the best of both worlds: 1) Immediate feedback (on screen) and reporting (labeling) for measurements AND 2) Longer-term trending, control and notification via Maxwell's centralized, online color Tracks.

We've streamlined the measurement process down to 4 clicks on the Eye-One itself. One to calibrate, two to scan the target lines, and one more to save, verify, label and upload the measurements.

But there's more. We've built a comprehensive sync feature into ColorShuttle that ensures that the metrics and tolerances in ColorShuttle are always correct and the labeling is current as well. You can change the tolerance of Maximum delta-E in Maxwell, for instance, and each copy of ColorShuttle in the field using that reference will use the new numbers for the VERY NEXT measurement. Two clicks in Maxwell and ColorShuttles across the globe immediately obey your command. THAT's power.

Did we mention labels? ColorShuttle uses advanced layout capabilities for its label reporting / printing function. As a result, our labels look better than from any other system available; easily including YOUR logo and other graphics, a constantly expanding set of reporting fields and all the metrics you've specified in Maxwell. Add a metric in Maxwell? No problem. The VERY NEXT label printed will include it, whether it's on the same machine or across the country.

Naturally, for the updates to occur in real time, ColorShuttle must be able to access Maxwell across the Internet. BUT, ColorShuttle continues to perform pass / fail functions and print labels when offline. All measurements are stored in a reliable store-and-forward database and uploaded into Maxwell the next time Internet access is available. This is what we mean by the best of both worlds: reliable client-side measuring and reporting WITH centralized control and aggregate reporting.

There's no other system like it. Period.

Want to try it? Email us at maxwellbetatester(at)chromix.com and we'll send you a link to the latest beta version of ColorShuttle 3.2. The Mac version is available today, the Windows version is coming soon.

Want to learn more and see it in action? Check out our free Print Verification webinar next Thursday (at) 11 am Pacific time. Email maxwellwebinar(at)chromix.com to be added to the invite list.

As you can tell, Print Verification in Maxwell is like no other system offered so far. The technology under the hood is comprehensive and we appreciate your patience as we've developed it. We could really use your help testing these new functions so if you have a chance, give it a try and don't forget to use ColorShuttle's or Maxwell's feedback functions to let us know what needs work.


For complete Maxwell product information, go to mxwell.com
If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1. Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.


We've also created a new ColorForums.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle! Check it out.
colorforums.com/colorshuttle

ColorValet Pro versus ColorValet Print
__________________________________________

Both Mac and Windows versions of ColorShuttle 3.1 (the ColorValet Pro client software) are in late beta testing and going well.

Many people have asked what the differences are between our traditional ColorValet Print service versus the new ColorValet Pro service. This would be a good time to differentiate, so we created a matrix to aid in this: ColorValetPrint_vs_ColorValetPro

As an overview of ColorValet Pro:
UNLIMITED profiles for ONE RGB-controlled printer! CHROMiX has expanded the world's largest custom print profiling service into a unique new service available to anyone printing to an RGB-controlled device (most ink jets not using a RIP, photo printers, etc). For $199, anyone can have unlimited RGB profiles for one printer for 18 months. These are the same top-of-the-line profiles you've come to expect from CHROMiX. This is an ideal service for those who dream of experimenting with varied paper types and styles - and we do all the measurements. Also, as a ColorValet Pro customer, you automatically have access to other profiles in the ColorPool for your printer model. Every time you and other ColorValet Pro customers make a new profile for a printer model, your profile is automatically (and anonymously) entered into the ColorPool. This gives you instant access to media profiles that have already been built for that printer. No more waiting to see how a paper profile will work. Also, use ColorPool profiles for soft-proofing to find the optimal paper for your image and needs. As the ColorPool grows, so grow the possibilities! Finally, the ColorValet Pro service includes a Maxwell Track. All measurements submitted for a selected paper are added to the track so you can trend your printer, confirm its quality over time and even receive email notifications from Maxwell's Notifiers when the color shifts outside your target zone.


The final versions of ColorValet Pro and ColorPool access will be available very soon after a short beta testing period. However, if you buy now or before the final commercial version is released, you will receive a 10% discount (Net price $179). That's a savings of $20. Also, if you buy now, you will be able to start making profiles early by volunteering to help us finish the beta testing of ColorValet Pro and ColorPool. Your 18 month period won't begin until the final version is released.

For more information about ColorValet Pro see Ad below or go to: chromix.com/colorvalet/pro
. The website includes a comprehensive FAQ that should answer all your questions.


Other CHROMiX News:

---------------------------------

CHROMiX has been testing the new EIZO FlexScan S2242W LCD monitor (List $899). In addition to other calibration products, we tested the S2242W with EIZO's new EasyPIX calibration software bundled with EIZO's new EX-1 calibration instrument (Bundle List is $189). Our results? Wow! For the money, the S2242W will be hard to beat on many levels at this price range against any mid-range/intermediate product including Dell, Apple or HP. Unfortunately you'll need to wait until the next ColorNews issue #38 for our formal comments and reviews of these products. However.... if you call CHROMiX Sales, you can get a sneak preview of our results. There's also some surprising testing information we probably can't publish, but would be happy to discuss off-line. ColorGear Sales 866-CHROMiX x1 (206-985-6837 x1)

The ColorWiki website is becoming quite popular as a standard resource and reference point for many people, so CHROMiX continues to expand information that we supply to the ColorWiki, almost daily. Did you know that you too can contribute information to ColorWiki? If you see ColorWiki areas lacking information, you can contribute your knowledge and let others benefit. Check it out www.colorwiki.com

ColorNews (this publication) now has its own forum on ColorForums.com! Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So it seemed time to create a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat! colorforums.com/newsletter

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' star burst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.
========================================================

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

June 8th-10th, 2009, IPA Technical Conference, Intercontinental O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, IL. In its 44th year, the IPA Technical Conference is a premier event for showcasing the latest advances in graphic technology and workflow innovations. If you're attending and want to save $150 for the registration fee, feel free to use Coupon Code 09TCEN during on-line registration. Provided by our friend Eric Neumann. To register: www.ipa.org/2009-conference
For the Brochure: www.ipa.org/brochure

June 18, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents Technology Ruined My Life! Printing, Change, and why, yes, you do have to learn this Color Management Stuff presented by Jim Dittmer, CMUG Advisor & JDA President. Event to held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: june.eventbrite.com

June 19th, 2009, Gjovik Color Imaging Symposium 2009 organized by the Norwegian Color Research Laboratory at Gjovik University College is collaborating with SCIA, the organizer of the 16th Scandinavian Conference on Image Analysis SCIA2009, to combine both events into one. The overall theme is called 'Putting human vision into image processing and evaluation'. Eli Peli and Sabine Suesstrunk will be the keynote speakers at the Gjovik Color Imaging Symposium 2009. For more: www.colorlab.no
or www.scia2009.org

July 20-21, Total Immersion: VDP Taking it to the Next Level, Pittsburgh, PA, 2 days hands-on training and planning strategies to take VDP to the next level. Presented by David Zwang and Julie Shaffer of Printing Industries of America. For more: www.gain.net

August 6, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents NUREG, LLC: An international perspective on color, production workflows and how these affect interaction with global customers. NUREG has an interesting story to tell . Join us at this FREE event at the Lucky Lab Beer Hall by 6:30 PM, 1945 NW Quimby, Portland, OR for CMUG's annual summer event (beer involved!). RSVP at www.pnwcmug.com
Not posted yet.


September 11th-16th, 2009, GASC presents PRINT 09 or myPrint 09, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. www.gasc.org

September 24th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents Tyler Boley: Bringing traditional photography standards into the digital age. Event to held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: www.pnwcmug.com
Not posted yet.

September 30th - November 1st, 2009, IDEAlliance presents the 25th Annual Conference on MarkUp & XML at the Hilton Arlington, Arlington, VA. For more information: www.idealliance.org

November 18th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Seattle WA Chapter presents Barry Haynes: Photoshop with Bridge and Photoshop actions to automate color correction tasks and other Production Tips. Event to held at 6:30 PM somewhere in Seattle, WA To Be Determined. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: www.pnwcmug.com
Not posted yet.


December 6th-8th, 2009, Printing Industries of America (PIA) presents the 11th Annual Color Management Conference, The Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Attendees include beginners to experts for this ALL color management only conference. New this year: a Full Digital Track (color management for printers) produced by the Digital Printing Council, a Pre-Conference Session focusing on color management processes for sheetfed, flexography, web printers, and finally a Pre-Conference Annual Off-Site Photo Shoot for both beginners and experts.

For more details or to register colormanagementconference2009


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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


EFI released version 4.0 of Colorproof XF for software color proofing and Fiery XF. Features include a new Dynamic Wedge, Intelligent calibration, enhanced spot-color simulation and automatic proofing with the Epson Stylus Pro 900 series. For more: www.ir.efi.com

Eizo recently announced several new FlexScan LCD models, the S2432W 24.1" and S2242W 22". The specifications on each are solid. Also, each model touts a surprising resolution of 1920 x 1200 which is unusual for wide screen LCDs. Even more surprising is the price point: the S2432W List is $1399 and the S2242W List is $879. CHROMiX has tested one of the early coveted models and will provide a bench review in the near future (from a color management perspective, of course). We're excited about these models because of the appeal to customers who want good color but find the ColorEdge series out of reach or justification. These Flexscan models will stack up very well against Apple, Dell and other prosumer to low commercial grade LCDs.
Press Release for S2432: eizo.com/press
Press Release for S2432W and S2242W: www.eizo.com/press/s2242w

Epson America and EFI have collaborated to create their most complete proofing solution to date. Combining the Epson Stylus Pro 7900 or 9900 wide format ink jet printers with EFI's latest EFI Colorproof XF v4.0 for Epson, the new bundle is called the Epson Stylus Pro 900 Series Proofing Editions. For more: www.ir.efi.com

Sun Chemical and the Novel Device Laboratory of the University of Cincinnati have developed new Electrofluidic Display (EFD) technology that for the first time ever electrically switches the display appearance in a manner that provides high quality color reproduction comparable to conventional printed media. EFD technology enables the production of reflective displays exhibiting vastly superior color gamut compared with existing electrowetting, electrochromic and electrophoretic displays, while providing improved contrast ratio, lower power consumption, and competitive cost. A new company called Gamma Dynamics LLC was created as a result of this collaboration to commercialize EFD technology. Sun Chemical will be the sole supplier of the new pigmented fluids that are used in the EFD devices. Polymer Vision Incorporated, the world leader in flexible and roll-able display technology, will contribute critical know how to developing the first commercial products. The new EFD technology will be sold to manufacturers of electronic smart windows, components for e-readers, e-books, cell phones, car dash boards, scoreboards, large point of purchase displays and other diverse display applications. Information supplied by WhatTheyThink members.whattheythink.com

Xerox Corporation launched the ColorQube 9200 Series multifunction printer, the world's first high-speed solid ink multifunction printer, which cuts the cost of color pages by up to 62 percent compared to traditional color lasers - without compromising print quality. For more: www.office.xerox.color


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


Forum TOPICS and Random Findings:

An ethical question, what would you do?

PDN has an interesting aspect to the recent Miss California Photo controversy.
carrieprejean

Beer. There apparently is more to the color of BEER than color. We found this amazing website and enjoyed it thoroughly.
We think anyone who appreciates beer and/or color will too: www.beercolor.com

ColorForums Monitor Forum:

Black Luminance Range.. what is realistic?\
www.colorforums.com/blackluminancerange

> ========================================================

G7, GRACoL, GRACoL7 Confusing Terms explained:

It's not too often that we see something of any topic or subject matter in the realm of color management explained as concisely as this interview by Margie Dana with Randy Allen of Concord Litho in NH. www.bostonprintbuyers.com

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

TAKE Action, VOTE:

We recently saw on a forum a fellow asking Microsoft if they will please put color management into Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft has requested that this issue be "put to a vote".

www.microsoft.com/newsgroups

You might need a .NET passport user name and password to cast your vote.
Our Pat Herold went through the procedure, but there does not seem to be any feedback on results of voting. Yet.


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

This Month's Feature Article:

'Optical Brighteners Part 2 - X-Rite's OBC'

by CHROMiX's Patrick Herold

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

== X-Rite's OBC 1.0 ==

In the last edition of ColorNews, we delved into the world of Optical Brightening Agents in paper (OBAs), and how their presence can cause problems with creating accurate profiles. Today's article talks about a software module made by X-Rite called the "Optical Brightener Compensation Module" or OBC, that compensates for, and neutralizes the undesirable effects of OBAs in pressroom situations.

ColorNews articles are specifically designed to be informative rather than commercial, so we don't normally publish reviews of software or hardware here. (We publish them on the www.colorwiki.com website). However, there hasn't been very much said about this software and how it works, so we thought you'd find it interesting.
_____________

The OBC system utilizes a special measurement capability of the iSis instrument, and also make use of your eyes to take into account how *much* optical brightener is being used in the different papers and how the OBA's react in different viewing environments. Keep in mind that OBAs require ultraviolet light shining on them in order to fluoresce, so a particular paper may look brighter or not, depending on the light source. The OBC module interfaces with X-rite's ProfileMaker and Monaco Profiler software, and requires using the iSis automated high-speed chart reader.

When I first heard about this product, I had a hard time understanding what exactly it was. Is it a software program? Is it some kind of hardware? It works *with* Monaco Profiler and GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker, but how?

The package itself does not have much to it. It is essentially a software disc and a small envelope full of gray cards in various shades with a small rectangular window cut out of the middle of each of them.

When the software is installed, you'll see the OBC program, instructions on how to use it, and a collection of profiling target images. They provide a 918-patch target image for RGB profiling, and a 1734-patch target image for CMYK profiles in various paper sizes. These are adequate for most needs. If you are working with ProfileMaker, there is a way to create your own targets and have them be used in this process.

The procedure is simple:

Print the appropriate target.

Once your printed profiling target has fully dried and the inks have cured, follow four steps using the OBC software:

(Step 1) Read the target with an Isis spectrophotometer using the OBC program. The program automatically checks to see if you have a ProfileMaker or Monaco Profiler dongle attached.

The iSis will measure with both UV light included and filtered out (UVi and UVx). These two measurements are used by the software to make a preliminary correction for optical brighteners. (To fine tune things, step three has you comparing a print from your printer in your actual viewing area, in your own real-world lighting.)

(Step 2) The program creates a sheet (TIFF) of gray color bars using the measurements. Save the Tiff and print it using the same settings you used for printing the target.

The program warns that this "process may take a couple of minutes." That estimate is on the optimistic side. Depending on the speed of your computer, this can take 5 - 10 minutes or more, and during this time, there is no indication of any progress being made. You may think the software is hung. Don't get impatient and kill the program. This is a great time to go have a coffee break or discuss how Gonzaga is going to do in the tournament next year.

The sheet of gray bars is printed and cured for a reasonable period of time.

(Step 3) Bring it into your viewing area. Here's where the envelope with gray cards comes in. The window cut out of each of the gray cards is the same size as each of the gray samples on the sheet you just printed out. The idea is to hold each gray card over the corresponding column of gray samples, and slide it up and down until you find the one that matches the cover gray card. (You will take the letter that corresponds to that match and plug it back into the software.) There are light gray, medium light gray, medium dark gray and dark gray cards. There is a complete set for matte finishes and for glossy.

Depending on how much optical brightener is in your paper, you may see a big difference between the gray bars on your printed sheet, or they may look almost identical. If you can't see much of a difference, that's an indication that there's not much correction needed, so don't worry about it too much. This is especially true for the darker gray columns. It is not surprising if you can't see much of a difference with optical brighteners when the paper is mostly covered up by ink!

Take the four letters that correspond most closely to the samples, and enter those into the "Select Gray Patches" step back in the OBC program. There is also an option for "NA" if you don't see any difference.

(Step 4) The OBC program rolls this whole brightener correction into a new measurement file, which can then be plugged into your ProfileMaker or Monaco Profiler application, and the profile is built as usual.

Conclusion:

This really works! When viewing our final test images in our custom viewing environment, the X-Rite OBC prints were clearly the best match, the neutrals the more truly gray. Profiles made without a software correction to the OBA, and profiles made using UV filtering alone, did not look as good as the X-Rite OBC prints.

We tested this with RGB and CMYK profiles, matte paper and glossy, and the results were equally good with each variable. Naturally, the benefit of this module will go up with the amount of OBA in the paper.

Also keep in mind that X-Rite's OBC module is intended for press room and other color-critical environments where a light booth is used. It is not all that applicable to the average photographer printing to an inkjet sitting beside their desk. Photographers are going to want their prints to be optimized to be viewed best under normal daylight as the illuminant, rather than a specific lighting condition.

A few problems:
As with any 1.0 program, there are a few issues, but nothing that is insurmountable.

- The software has a clever knack of remembering where you were in the process the last time you used it. This is handy, since it does not allow you to save the process at certain points. However, it also means that on subsequent trips through the process, it might assume you are doing the same target as before. So, if you first made a profile for your CMYK press using a tabloid-sized target, and now you are making an RGB profile using a letter-sized target, when you open the program it will start at Step 3 of the process, still using the measurements of your tabloid, and will tell you to go on.

A little bit of back stepping through the wizard and you can get back to step one, click the Clear button to eliminate your previous measurement, and proceed with your new target. You can even override this condition by merely inserting a new target into the iSis. The bar code information on the target tells the software which target it is scanning, and you are asked to confirm this change with a dialog box.

- When using ProfileMaker, making CMYK profiles, there is a known bug that forces the total ink limit to 320. The manual offers a workaround, and there are other easy steps available to be allowed to adjust up to 400 if you wish. Not a big problem.

- The process of matching the gray printed bars with the gray standards is a bit difficult if the two paper types are significantly different. For example, I tested this process using office bond paper, and the lack of good ink coverage made the bond paper look lighter compared to the gray standards. If you stick with standard prepress media, the supplied matte and glossy cards should match well.

Finally, I have just received the results of an unscientific survey of ColorNews subscribers which shows that a significant number of you have not even tried my apple cider vinegar tip from last month. You don't know what you're missing. Just the right amount (not too much) will add zest to an otherwise boring smoothie. Good for other drinks too!

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX Tech Support / Lab Operations

Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:\

www.colorforums.com/colornews


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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - To submit questions or feedback to CHROMiX, email us at . Please include your name, email address, and phone number in all correspondence. ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: www.colorforums.com/colornews

> SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2009 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.


CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #38 - Eizo's EasyPIX

SmartNote: 50098
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: ColorForums
========================================================

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S

Issue # 38
July 14th, 2009


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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - Maxwell, ColorValet Pro & ColorWiki
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. EIZO's EasyPIX- an article by Patrick Herold
5. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
6. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


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

CHROMiX News

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


MAXWELL & ColorShuttle Update:

__________________________________________


The Pass/Fail beta testing in Maxwell (implemented via ColorShuttle software) is going well. Fixing things as we go along, we appreciate the valuable feedback from our users and beta testers.

As an overview, here are the latest features:
- Immediate print verification with Pass/Fail calculations and reporting in ColorShuttle client
- Pass/Fail Reporting and Labeling
- Customizable Labels
- Long Term Trending Reporting & Graphing
- Notification of Tolerance Failures
- Streamlined measurement process (4 clicks from measure to label)

For complete Maxwell product information, go to maxwell.com
If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1.
Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.

For users, check out the ColorForums.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle!
colorforums.com


ColorValet Pro versus ColorValet Print
__________________________________________

Both Mac and Windows versions of ColorShuttle 3.1 (the ColorValet Pro client software) are in late beta testing and going extremely well. Thanks to all our early users and beta testers.

As an overview of ColorValet Pro ($199 for 18 months):
- UNLIMITED profiles for ONE RGB-controlled printer
- Access to other profiles for your printer via ColorPool
- A free Maxwell Track for 1 paper
- A quick and easy-to-use submission target for the 'Tracked' paper
- Trending Report for the 'Tracked' paper for performance or conformance
- Email Notification of Tolerance Failure for the 'Tracked' paper

The final versions of ColorValet Pro and ColorPool access will be available very soon after this final beta testing period. However, if you buy now or before the final commercial version is released, you will receive a 10% discount (Net price $179). That's a savings of $20. Also, if you buy now, you will be able to start making profiles early by volunteering to help us finish the beta testing of ColorValet Pro and ColorPool. Your 18 month period won't begin until the final version is released.

For more information about ColorValet Pro see Ad below or go to: ColorValetPro

The website includes a comprehensive FAQ that should answer all your questions. We've also created a matrix to help differentiate between ColorValet Print and ColorValet Pro ColorValet Pro vs. Print


ColorWiki on-line encyclopedic color reference (hosted by CHROMiX):
____________________________________________________

In a recent Shutterbug blog, David B. Brooks shares a thoughtful perspective about color management and makes a kind observation about ColorWiki's usefulness... so, we thought we would modestly share it with you: shutterbug.com
Well, not so modest perhaps.

The ColorWiki website is becoming quite popular as a standard resource and reference point for many people, and CHROMiX continues to expand information that we supply to the ColorWiki, almost daily. Did you know that you too can contribute information to ColorWiki? If you see ColorWiki areas lacking information, you can contribute your knowledge and let others benefit.

Many users have found the Reserved Articles and the Glossary areas particularly useful. Check it out: colorwiki.com


CHROMiX Bench Reviews:
---------------------------------

CHROMiX has tested the new EIZO FlexScan S2242W LCD monitor (List $899). In addition to other calibration products, we tested the S2242W with EIZO's new EasyPIX calibration software bundled with EIZO's new EX-1 calibration instrument (Bundle List is $189). Our results? Wow! For the money, the S2242W will be hard to beat on many levels at this price range against any mid-range/intermediate product including Dell, Apple or HP.
The review is listed on the ColorWiki at: Eizo S2242W review


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' star burst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.


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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

July 20th-21st, Total Immersion: VDP Taking it to the Next Level, Pittsburgh, PA, 2 days hands-on training and planning strategies to take VDP to the next level. Presented by David Zwang and Julie Shaffer of Printing Industries of America. For more: Total Immersion VDP

August 6th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents NUREG, LLC: An international perspective on color, production workflows and how these affect interaction with global customers. NUREG has an interesting story to tell . Join us at this FREE event at the Lucky Lab Beer Hall by 6:30 PM, 1945 NW Quimby, Portland, OR for CMUG's annual summer event (beer involved!). RSVP at CMUG events

September 11th-16th, 2009, GASC presents PRINT 09 or myPrint 09, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. www.gasc.org

September 24th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents Tyler Boley: Bringing traditional photography standards into the digital age. Event to held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com/events
Not posted yet.

September 30th - November 1st, 2009, IDEAlliance presents the 25th Annual Conference on MarkUp & XML at the Hilton Arlington, Arlington, VA. For more information: IDEAlliance.org/conferences

October 1st-3rd, 2009, Photoshop World Conference and Expo, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. photoshopworld.com

November 18th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Seattle WA Chapter presents Barry Haynes: Photoshop with Bridge and Photoshop actions to automate color correction tasks and other Production Tips. Event to held at 6:30 PM somewhere in Seattle, WA To Be Determined. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com/events/seattle
Not posted yet.

November 19th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Portland OR Chapter presents Barry Haynes discussing Photoshop with Bridge and Photoshop actions to automate color correction tasks and other Production Tips. Event to held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com/events/portland
Not posted yet.

December 6th-8th, 2009, Printing Industries of America (PIA) presents the 11th Annual Color Management Conference, The Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Attendees include beginners to experts for this ALL color management only conference. New this year: a Full Digital Track (color management for printers) produced by the Digital Printing Council, a Pre-Conference Session focusing on color management processes for sheetfed, flexography, web printers, and finally a Pre-Conference Annual Off-Site Photo Shoot for both beginners and experts.
For more details or to register Color Management Conference

January 18th-20th, 2010, Premedia Spectrum 2.0, at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, Naples, Fla. This event is a merging of the Gravure Association of America's Premedia conference and IDEAlliance's Spectrum360 conference. This new event addresses the convergence of premedia across multichannel digital supply chains.
WhatTheyThink Article: Whattheythink.com

February 25th-27th, 2010, Graphics of the Americas, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, FL. Presented by GAIN. graphicsoftheamericas.com

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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Kodak has discontinued Kodachrome. Sad day indeed.
printceo.com
whattheythink.com
comcast.net/articles

NEC has introduced a new 43" 'Curved' viewing LCD screen. We don't know how color accurate the CRV43 model may be, but NEC seems to be targeting those who require a wider visual experience, for a mere ~$8k! Check it out: www.necdisplay.com

Microsoft is forging ahead with Windows 7 and planning a release in the near future. Its still unclear as to exactly how legacy OS's will be dealt with, however, Microsoft has high hopes for Windows 7 and seems to be pouring lots of energy and resources into it. At CHROMiX we are keeping an eye out for changes to expect regarding color management issues in the new OS. We'll keep you up to date as we learn more. To Download a Release Candidate version : microsoft.com/windows7

Google says it will rollout an open source, lightweight operating system, initially targeting netbooks or mini-notebook PCs. Possibly relating to color management, we'll watch this one with interest. A full perspective: echannelline.com

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


Forum TOPICS, Random Findings, Recommended Readings, Etc.:

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

Print CEO's comments about R.R. Donnelley's Bid for Quebecor World
Quebecor

Pantone Variation discussion on PrintPlanet:
Pantone variation

Recommended reading: A Color Management Handbook: A Practical Guide
by authors Dr. Richard M. Adams II, Dr. Abhay Sharma, Joseph J. Suffoleto
Color Management Handbook

> Designer Jinsun Park from Korea has come out with a simple *concept* tool called Color Picker PEN. This is quite innovative:
Color Picker Pen


New Graphic Arts Lighting System Introduced at Cal Poly
new graphic arts lighting

Special sensors in fibers for Clothes that could one day take pictures of everything happening around the wearer.
Take pictures with clothes


130 Megapixel digital camera? Apparently a Japanese amateur photographer created this ingenius camera out of parts from an Epson scanner and a Canon camera lens.
130 MP digital camera

Terri Stone of CreativePro found a cool website for color analysis of another website (for color blindness and other disability viewing):
creativepro.com

And here's the actual website:
checkmycolours.com


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


Technical Alert for Remote Director & Apple OS Customers:

Apple launched its 10.5.7 Mac OS X update to customers early in May. The new update is said to provide general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. Integrated Color Solutions (ICS) has now completed its compatibility assessment of this operating system update, and confirmed that Remote Director v3.6.1 operates without performance or functionality impact when installed on OS X10.5.7. As such, Remote Director users can proceed with this operating system update as needed.
However, with regard to the recently announced Snow Leopard BETA, ICS does -not- recommend upgrading to this operating system at this time. Remote Director compatibility testing will not be conducted until late 3rd Quarter 2009 i.e. just prior to the scheduled Snow Leopard release in September. If you have questions or concerns, please contact ICS Technical Support at



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

This Month's Feature Article:

EIZO's EasyPIX

Two of the most popular articles we have written recently have been ColorNews Issue 24 -How Do I Get My Printer To Match My Screen, and ColorNews Issue #31 - My Printer Is Too Dark Both of these articles deal with the issue of getting a printer's output to match what people are seeing on their display. To this day I am still referring people to these articles frequently because people continue to struggle with this issue.

With the proliferation of these new, brighter LCD displays, a lot of innocent consumers are suddenly finding that what worked on their old CRT isn't getting the results they expect. Nothing seems to look right, or their prints are come out "dark" by comparison with the screen. You can find yourself in this situation even if you are using good profiles, and following good procedures for using your profiles.

Assuming that your printer profiles are accurate, the easiest solution would lie in adjusting the monitor for color, and particularly for brightness. Numbers are thrown around in various internet forums. "If your prints are too dark, calibrate your monitor to 120." This advice might work for one person and not for another.
__________________

Joe Photographer:
Can't somebody come up with a simple way to get a printer and monitor to match? Without having to coordinate 5 different pieces of software? Without having to read a book on the subject? Or glean info from 10 different internet sites?

Really-Smart-Color-Geek:
Well, what you want is perfectly understandable but unfortunately impossible. You see, printers and monitors are very different devices and reproduce colors in different ways. Each has its own gamut and some colors reproducible on one device are not reproducible on the other and vise-versa.

Joe Photographer:
Yeah, yeah. I suppose so. But I'm not looking for scientific accuracy, I'm just looking for them to, you know, look the same. I know I used to be able to match things pretty well, so I know that such a thing is possible.

Really-Smart-Color-Geek:
Of course! Anything is possible. All you need is a 16-color Pantone press, and a $25,000 Spectroradiometer and a......

Joe Photographer:
Forget it.

In reality.....
Yes, it is possible. Considering that the canned profiles from printer manufacturers are getting better these days, the display is often the weak link. And to make a solution that is a simple, all-in-one software product, and to have it actually work - it would require a display manufacturer to come up with it.


Eizo EasyPIX

Eizo has a new software program called EasyPIX. This walks you through a simple procedure which is sort of a software version of the "white paper test" that we referred to in our articles. It is a very simple, 1 or 2-page procedure. It does not involve plugging in any numbers, your eyes are the final determiner of what looks right, and the hardware device makes sure that the scaling of color is done properly. You end up with an ICC-profiled monitor that produces accurate color and should match your prints very closely. Also, since the best conditions for matching prints is often too dark for regular internet surfing and other uses, the software has two other modes which can be switched to very easily: "Photo Viewing Mode" and "Web Viewing Mode".

This software is able to give Joe Photographer just what he needs: A simple product that is easy to use, works well, and does not cost too much. In order for this to work, you have to have some kind of human observer going through the white paper test.
In order for this to work well, you need it to interface seemlessly with an LCD monitor with built-in graphics capabilities so that any reduction in brightness will not result in color banding. In order for this to be easy, nobody should have to fiddle with OSB buttons on the front of the monitor to try to change RGB sliders or contrast or brightness. The EasyPIX does all this, and the cost including the colorimeter is less than $200.


Here's how it works.

When the program opens, click on the "Adjust your monitor" button. You have a choice between 3 purposes for adjusting your monitor:

Matching
This is for getting your monitor to look like something else, presumably a print.

In this mode, you are given a representation of a white piece of paper on the screen. Compare this screen image with a blank, white, piece of your actual printing paper. Click on the color-wheel to change the tint of the screen. Keep experimenting as needed until you get the screen image of the paper to match the color of your real paper. Do the same with the brightness slider. Adjust the brightness of the screen paper up or down until it matches the brightness of your sheet of paper. This can be a little tricky since our eyes get confused trying to compare emissive light (from the display) with reflective light (from the paper).

Once you have the adjustment looking good, click Next to proceed to the Measurement step. Attach the Eizo EX-1 colorimeter to your display and click "Next" to start the measurement. The software presents 24 different colors to the screen where the EX-1 measures them. It's getting information on what colors the monitor is capable of displaying. When through, it will roll this information into a monitor profile.

In the final step, you will give your monitor "adjustment" a name. You might make one for matching prints and call it "for Print Proofing". You might make one for browsing through your images and call it "images optimized." You have the option of saving up to 3 different viewing purposes. Once saved, you can click on any of them when you open into the first screen, and it will instantly revert your monitor to the perfect settings you have saved for your purposes.

Other modes:

Viewing Photos

This is the option to choose if you want to look at your photos on your display, in all their glory. Here, you'll want to see everything about your images that your display can show: Bright and vivid colors, subtle gradations of shadow detail. You want the pictures to look bright, but not so bright that it makes it uncomfortable to view.

In this mode you are given the ability to adjust the brightness of the display. The color tint is set to 5500 K, a common color temperature for digital cameras.

General use such as Web browsing

Here is a third option for the situation where you are just doing everyday work on your computer, such as web browsing, word processing, looking at emails, etc. You don't always want to have your screen be so bright as when you're viewing photos. Highest brightness levels tend to shorten the lifespan of an LCD, so this general purpose mode is good for conserving lamp life and power.

In this mode you are given the ability to adjust the brightness of the display and the color tint is set to 6500 K.


You can use these 3 modes to customize your 3 favorite viewing conditions, and save them so you can choose any one of them when you first open the program. That makes it very easy to pop back and forth between different viewing modes at will.


_____________________

ReallySmartColorGeek:
Don't forget to tell them that this software makes a 4kb ICC version 2.2 matrix profile, using 24 colored patches. And the computer's graphics card look-up tables become flat-lined while the monitor's internal graphics handles the change in color. Automatic DDC capabilities handle the dimming of the backlight to reach the brightness aim.
_____________________

What's the catch?
I'm sure you figured this out already, but the EasyPIX software only works with Eizo displays. All the recent CE and CG series displays work with this software as well as some of the less-expensive Flexscan models, including the new wide-gamut Flexscan S2242W, mentioned earlier in this newsletter.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX Tech Support / Lab Operations


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:
ColorForums.com

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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat! www.colorforums.com/viewforum

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title.

To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles follow this link to our ColorNews Archives:
www.chromix.com/colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2009 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX / HutchColor Announce Curve2

SmartNote: 50105
Type: PressRelease
ColorGeek factor:

Chicago IL - Print09, Sept 14, 2009 - CHROMiX and HutchColor announce Curve2(TM), successor to the highly successful IDEALink(TM) Curve software.

Curve2 makes G7 calibration easier, faster, more accurate, less error prone and less expensive.

At Print09 the team of CHROMiX Inc. and HutchColor, LLC are announcing new software called "Curve2" for calculating G7(r) calibration curves. Curve2 replaces the current IDEALink Curve software.

Like IDEALink Curve, Curve2 is primarily designed for calculating G7 calibration curves, but does so with much higher precision due to completely new core algorithms. G7 Expert and SpotOn! Press founder Bruce Bayne said "After testing the new Curve2(tm) tool I found the results to be highly accurate - especially with difficult devices."

Over 50 new functions and features have been added to Curve2, enhancing the intuitive interface of IDEAlink Curve to further simplify the G7 calibration process and improve its effectiveness. From basic pre-qualification tools that verify ink and paper colors, to conformance metrics for NPDC and gray balance, Curve2 elevates the whole process of G7 calibration and monitoring.

All aspects of a G7 calibration are contained in a new document format capable of holding a series of related press runs in one single file. Successive press runs are linked to previous runs so that Curve2 can accurately calculate new curves based on previous curves, perform run-to-run checks, and qualify how accurately a particular run or sample meets the G7 definition.

Graphing has undergone a complete redesign. Every Curve2 graph now has integrated zoom, pan and expansion tools. Users can view Curve2's corrections vs control points and optimize the control points sent to the RIP for the most effective corrections possible.

Curve2's calibration curves are now available to more users and tools. Curves can be exported as device link profiles, Photoshop(tm) curves, text files and RIP configuration files. Curve2 can also display the "Measured" percentages required by some RIPs, instead of the more common "Wanted" percentages.

As a surprise to some users, Curve2 can also calculate ISO-standard TVI curves instead of G7 curves. "We wanted Curve2 to be as flexible as possible" explained HutchColor's Don Hutcheson. "TVI calibration was the number one request from European users. Including both methods allows users to compare the TVI and G7 methods of calibration."

Also announced this week is an optional "Virtual Press Run" (VPR) module which minimizes the need for a second qualification run. By applying the calculated curves from an initial calibration run to an IT8 target measured from the same run, VPR can not only save the cost of a second press run, but also reduce errors due to variations between runs, and permit several paper types to be calibrated and profiled in one session, with just one set of plates. More details are available in a separate press release for VPR.

"Curve2 VPR is worth it's weight in gold." said Mike Graff, CEO of Sandy Alexander, Clifton NJ. "The VPR option can pay for itself in a single day."

CHROMiX / HutchColor are licensing the underlying technology of Curve2 to workflow, RIP and utility developers in an SDK called CurveCore, also announced this week.

Curve2 integrates customer feedback, feature requests and press room experiences to move G7 calibration tools to the next level. "IDEALink Curve was the first tool to make G7 calibration practical." said Hutcheson. "Curve2 refines the process with higher precision, greater efficiency and less chance for error." said Hutcheson.

Curve2 is scheduled to ship in October with a recommended retail price of 1,199 and a pre-release price of 1,099. Curve2 with VPR lists for 2,499 or 2,399 pre-release. Existing IDEAlink Curve users can upgrade for 499 pre-release (thereafter 599 to 799) or 1,798 for Curve2 with VPR.

Curve2 is being demonstrated at the Color Management Group booth (#1463D) where advance orders can be placed.


Media Contacts:

For CHROMiX:
Carolyn Boone
206-985-6837 x8
CHROMiX, Inc.
boone (at) chromix.com

For HutchColor:
Don Hutcheson
908-689-7403
HutchColor, LLC
don (at) hutchcolor.com


HutchColor Corp

In 1995 Don Hutcheson formed the first ICC color management consultancy. 15 years later, HutchColor, LLC has trained many of the world's top printers, publishers, photographers, agencies and designers and pioneered such techniques as HiFi color, digital proofing, RGB workflows and soft proofing. While chairman of the IDEAlliance GRACoL(R) committee (2004-7) Hutcheson turned a 25-year-old private trick into the IDEAlliance G7(R) method. G7 has revolutionized the printing industry and made standardized printing and proofing easier and more accessible to thousands of users worldwide.
HutchColor continues to teach G7, color management and standardized printing and proofing to a wide range of clients, and is one of the most respected sources on the subjects. For more information go to www.hutchcolor.com.

CHROMiX Inc.

CHROMiX, Inc., the creator of ColorThink, ColorThink Pro, Maxwell, the co-creator of IDEALink Curve, and the author of the 2008 SWOP Proofing Study, was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries. They dedicate their efforts to color management and image fidelity, and combine an excellent suite of tools, including its own popular ColorThink products, with years of industry experience. With customers, dealers and partners in over 85 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve the imaging industries. More information is available at www.chromix.com.


Trademarks: IDEALink, G7(R) and GRACoL(R) are registered trademarks of IDEAlliance. All other trademarks are property of their rightful owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the product development features and timelines for software and web services and our strategy. These forward-looking statements do not constitute assurances regarding our future results. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or relevant events occur in the future.

CHROMiX / HutchColor Announce Virtual Press Run (VPR)

SmartNote: 50106
Type: PressRelease
ColorGeek factor:

Chicago IL - Print09, Sept 14, 2009 - CHROMiX and HutchColor announce Virtual Press Run (VPR), a new technology that can save thousands of dollars in time and materials by eliminating one of the normal two G7(TM) press runs.

"VPR technology has been under development for more than two years so we're excited to finally reveal this powerful new tool" explained Steve Upton, president of CHROMiX. "The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job."

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs; one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press.

VPR normally eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run.

"Curve2 VPR is worth it's weight in gold." said Mike Graff, CEO of Sandy Alexander, Clifton NJ. "The VPR option can pay for itself in a single day."

"The savings are greater than you might think" continued Upton "The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers. That's a huge savings."

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2, also announced this week, which is the latest upgrade to the highly successful IDEAlink Curve(tm) software. VPR will enter beta testing with Curve2 within two weeks and is expected to ship by the end of October.

For those attending Print09 in Chicago this week, Curve2 with VPR will be shown in the Color Management booth #1463D. Discounted pre-release sales are also available.


Media Contacts:

For CHROMiX:
Carolyn Boone
206-985-6837 x8
CHROMiX, Inc.
boone (at) chromix.com

For HutchColor:
Don Hutcheson
908-689-7403
HutchColor, LLC
don (at) hutchcolor.com


HutchColor Corp

In 1995 Don Hutcheson formed the first ICC color management consultancy. 15 years later, HutchColor, LLC has trained many of the world's top printers, publishers, photographers, agencies and designers and pioneered such techniques as HiFi color, digital proofing, RGB workflows and soft proofing. While chairman of the IDEAlliance GRACoL(R) committee (2004-7) Hutcheson turned a 25-year-old private trick into the IDEAlliance G7(R) method. G7 has revolutionized the printing industry and made standardized printing and proofing easier and more accessible to thousands of users worldwide.
HutchColor continues to teach G7, color management and standardized printing and proofing to a wide range of clients, and is one of the most respected sources on the subjects. For more information go to www.hutchcolor.com.

CHROMiX Inc.

CHROMiX, Inc., the creator of ColorThink, ColorThink Pro, Maxwell, the co-creator of IDEALink Curve, and the author of the 2008 SWOP Proofing Study, was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries. They dedicate their efforts to color management and image fidelity, and combine an excellent suite of tools, including its own popular ColorThink products, with years of industry experience. With customers, dealers and partners in over 85 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve the imaging industries. More information is available at www.chromix.com.


Trademarks: IDEALink, G7(R) and GRACoL(R) are registered trademarks of IDEAlliance. All other trademarks are property of their rightful owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the product development features and timelines for software and web services and our strategy. These forward-looking statements do not constitute assurances regarding our future results. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or relevant events occur in the future.

CHROMiX / HutchColor Announce CurveCore

SmartNote: 50107
Type: PressRelease
ColorGeek factor:


Chicago IL - Print09, Sept 14, 2009 - CHROMiX and HutchColor announce CurveCore, a licensable SDK for products to integrate G7(tm) calibration technology.

The development team of CHROMiX and HutchColor today announced a new toolkit enabling developers and manufacturers to include G7 curve calculation and evaluation in their products.

"This week the IDEALink Curve(tm) software has been replaced by its successor, Curve2." explained HutchColor's Don Hutcheson. "In response to numerous requests, we are now making the core technology inside Curve2 available for integration into new and existing Graphic Arts products like RIPs, printer drivers, workflow solutions and analysis software."

To a developer, licensing CurveCore means shorter development times and virtually no research costs, because the complex gray balance and curve fitting algorithms inside the original IDEAlink Curve software have already had three years of practical field testing in hundreds of end user sites. The core algorithms have been further enhanced for even greater accuracy and functionality in Curve2.

Another benefit of licensing CurveCore is that IDEALink Curve is the defacto G7 reference implementation, so G7 conformance testing or certification should go very smoothly. "Naturally, we will ensure that Curve2 passes IDEAlliance's planned G7 conformance testing, which means any application using CurveCore should also pass," continued Hutcheson, "as long as developers follow the SDK development procedures."

Vendors are already licensing and adopting the technology:

SpotOn Press, this week, announced that their SpotOn pressroom monitoring and trending tool will include CurveCore's G7 curve calculation capabilities in a future add-on module.

"After testing the new Curve2(TM) tool powered by CurveCore," explains SpotOn! Press president and founder Bruce Bayne. "I found the results to be highly accurate and knew it was the right tool to incorporate into SpotOn!'s new Curve Module."


Media Contacts:

For CHROMiX:
Carolyn Boone
206-985-6837 x8
CHROMiX, Inc.
boone (at) chromix.com

For HutchColor:
Don Hutcheson
908-689-7403
HutchColor, LLC
don (at) hutchcolor.com


HutchColor Corp

In 1995 Don Hutcheson formed the first ICC color management consultancy. 15 years later, HutchColor, LLC has trained many of the world's top printers, publishers, photographers, agencies and designers and pioneered such techniques as HiFi color, digital proofing, RGB workflows and soft proofing. While chairman of the IDEAlliance GRACoL(R) committee (2004-7) Hutcheson turned a 25-year-old private trick into the IDEAlliance G7(R) method. G7 has revolutionized the printing industry and made standardized printing and proofing easier and more accessible to thousands of users worldwide.
HutchColor continues to teach G7, color management and standardized printing and proofing to a wide range of clients, and is one of the most respected sources on the subjects. For more information go to www.hutchcolor.com.

CHROMiX Inc.

CHROMiX, Inc., the creator of ColorThink, ColorThink Pro, Maxwell, the co-creator of IDEALink Curve, and the author of the 2008 SWOP Proofing Study, was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries. They dedicate their efforts to color management and image fidelity, and combine an excellent suite of tools, including its own popular ColorThink products, with years of industry experience. With customers, dealers and partners in over 85 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve the imaging industries. More information is available at www.chromix.com.


Trademarks: IDEALink, G7(R) and GRACoL(R) are registered trademarks of IDEAlliance. All other trademarks are property of their rightful owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the product development features and timelines for software and web services and our strategy. These forward-looking statements do not constitute assurances regarding our future results. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or relevant events occur in the future.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #39 - I wish print were more like the movies

SmartNote: 50110
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:


Welcome to ColorNews, a periodic update on things related to Color Management.
We strive for a newsletter of high value to our readers.
Please let us know your interests so we can address these concerns in future issues.
ColorForums.com hosts a discussion area for feedback as well: www.colorforums.com

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

C H R O M i X C O L O R N E W S


Issue # 39
September 15th, 2009

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

Table of Contents

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

1. CHROMiX News - Curve2! Virtual Press Run, CurveCore, Maxwell, DisplayWatch and ColorValet Pro
2. Shows and Events
3. Color Industry News
4. Forum Topics, etc.
5. Tech Notes
6. Viewpoint: Sometimes I wish print were more like the movies - an article by Steve Upton
7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale **See our USED spectrophotometer Sale**
8. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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

CHROMiX News

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


This week, CHROMiX and HutchColor made three significant announcements at the Print09 conference in Chicago:

Curve2 the new version of IDEALink Curve, Virtual Press Run an add-on module for Curve2 that eliminates entire press runs, and CurveCore the SDK for Curve2's underlying technology were introduced on Monday. If you are interested in a demo and more details, check the bottom of this article for the date & time of a webinar next Tuesday.

Now, the details:

Curve2:
___________

IDEALink Curve, a joint-development between (CHROMiX) and HutchColor, ushered in the age of G7 calibration and helped propel it into a mainstream press calibration technique that is the basis for today's North American characterization colors in GRACoL #1, SWOP #3 and SWOP #5 (and more to follow). We've been working on the underlying technology and new features for almost two years now. The results are worth the wait.

Over 50 new functions and features have been added to Curve2. A new document format holds a series of press runs in a single file, allowing Curve2 to double check run-to-run consistency, check how well a run meets G7 metrics, and base one set of curves on another. Iterative tuning becomes as simple as selecting the previous run. The accuracy of the underlying algorithms is also significantly improved.

Graphing has seen a complete redesign. Curve 1.1 users will be happy to see that all Curve2 graphs have integrated zoom, pan and expansion tools. You can view Curve2's corrections vs control points and optimize the control points sent to the RIP for the most effective corrections possible.

Curve2 can now export some important formats such a device link profiles, Photoshop(tm) curves, text files and RIP configuration files. Curve2 can also display the "Measured" percentages required by some RIPs, instead of the more common "Wanted" percentages.

As a surprise to some users, Curve2 can also calculate ISO-standard TVI curves instead of G7 curves. TVI calibration was the number one request from European users. Including both methods allows users to compare the TVI and G7 methods of calibration and makes Curve2 a more flexible tool.

Curve2 is entering beta testing next week and is expected to ship by the end of October. Special pre-release pricing on upgrades and new versions ends when Curve2 is released. Upgrades will still be available at a discount until 90 days after release. Curve2 has a recommended retail price of $1,199 and a pre-release price of $1,099. Curve2 with VPR lists for $2,499 or $2,399 pre-release. Existing IDEAlink Curve users can upgrade for $499 pre-release (thereafter $599 to $799) or $1,798 for Curve2 with VPR.

Take advantage of pre-release pricing to save on upgrades and new copies.

There are too many features to list here so please visit the new Curve2 section of our website for more information, pre-release sales and upgrade details:
www.chromix.com

Finally, at this time we're also announcing a technical forum devoted especially to Curve2 and IDEALink Curve: colorforums.com/curve
This will be the main place to get support, answers and discuss any issues for Curve or Curve2. The forum is free to all users.


Virtual Press Run (VPR):
_____________________

G7-calibrating a press requires multiple, dedicated press runs right? Not any more.

Our VPR technology has been under development for more than two years so we're excited to finally reveal this powerful new tool. The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job.

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs; one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press.


VPR typically eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run. The savings can be huge. The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers.

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2. VPR will enter beta testing with Curve2 within two weeks and is expected to ship by the end of October.
www.chromix.com/VPR


CurveCore Development Kit:
________________________

CurveCore is a new toolkit enabling developers and manufacturers to include G7 curve calculation and evaluation in their products.

In response to numerous requests, we are now making the core technology inside Curve2 available for integration into new and existing Graphic Arts products like RIPs, printer drivers, workflow solutions and analysis software. To a developer, licensing CurveCore means shorter development times and virtually no research costs, because the complex gray balance and curve fitting algorithms inside the original IDEAlink Curve software have already had three years of practical field testing in hundreds of end user sites. The core algorithms have been further enhanced for even greater accuracy and functionality in Curve2.

Another benefit of licensing CurveCore is that IDEALink Curve is the defacto G7 reference implementation, so G7 conformance testing or certification should go very smoothly. We will ensure that Curve2 passes IDEAlliance's planned G7 conformance testing, so any application using CurveCore should also pass as long as developers follow the SDK development procedures.

Our friends at SpotOn! Press have already announced support for CurveCore, announcing this week that their SpotOn pressroom monitoring and trending tool will include CurveCore's G7 curve calculation capabilities in a future add-on module.

www.chromix.com/curveCore


Full press releases:
________________

Curve2 <Curve2 press release
Virtual Press Run Virtual Press Run PR
CurveCore SDK CurveCore SDK PR

Webinar:
_______

Curve2: A webinar demonstrating Curve2 and discussing its many new features is scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 22, 2009 at 11:00 am Pacific US (First Day of Autumn). Send an email to webinars(at)chromix.com and we'll send you connection information.


2010 FOGRA Colour Management Symposium:
_____________________________________

Steve Upton of CHROMiX will be a guest speaker at the February 25th - 26th, 2010, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium in Munich, Germany. Brush up on your Deutsch Steve!


MAXWELL, ColorShuttle, and DisplayWatch:
___________________________________

Have you ever wished that you could be automatically notified when your monitor needs calibration or, more importantly, when it is out of tolerance?
Or do you need the ability to ensure users calibrate their monitor on a regular basis? Or be notified if they have not calibrated?
Or, would you like to know if your customers' Remote Proofing monitor is out of tolerance?
Then DisplayWatch is the perfect solution for you and is now in final testing.

DisplayWatch is the unique combination of Maxwell and ColorShuttle applied to a monitor instead of a printer. ColorShuttle interacts with your system and monitor to accumulate every calibration made, and automatically uploads each file into a Maxwell 'Track'. Then, notifiers (that you set) will let you know when the monitor is out of tolerance. And much more...

Overview of the latest Maxwell features:
- DisplayWatch for monitor tracking (New!)
- Immediate print verification with Pass/Fail calculations and reporting in ColorShuttle client (New!)
- Pass/Fail Reporting and Labeling (New!)
- Customizable Labels (New!)
- Long Term Trending Reporting & Graphing
- Notification of Tolerance Failures
- Streamlined measurement process (4 clicks from measure to label)

For complete Maxwell product information, go to www.mxwell.com

If you'd like to register for a free one month trial Track, email us at or call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX ext 1.
Find out for yourself how easy it is to use, and how much time and money it can save you.

For users, check out the ColorForums.com discussion area for Maxwell and ColorShuttle:

www.colorforums.com


Our top PROFILING services compared: ColorValet Pro and ColorValet Print (Which one is right for you?)
_________________________________________________________________________________

ColorValet Pro ($199 for 18 months):
- UNLIMITED profiles for ONE RGB-controlled printer
- Access to other profiles for your printer via ColorPool
- A free Maxwell Track for 1 paper
- A quick and easy-to-use submission target for the 'Tracked' paper
- Trending Report for the 'Tracked' paper for performance or conformance
- Email Notification of Tolerance Failure for the 'Tracked' paper
- Support via Email, Forum, ColorWiki
For more information about ColorValet Pro go to: www.chromix.com\colorvalet vs pro

-or-

ColorValet Print ($99 for each profile, $396 for 5-pack, $699 for 10-pack):
- RGB or CMYK profile
- Highest quality
- Money Back Guarantee
- Deep-Color measuring
- Full CHROMiX Support (Phone, Email, WebEx, Forum, ColorWiki)
For more information about ColorValet Print go to: ColorValet print

The website includes a comprehensive FAQ that should answer all your questions. We've also created a matrix to help differentiate between ColorValet Print and ColorValet Pro ColorValet Pro Matrix

PRICE MATCHING POLICY: Through the years, many people have purchased 3rd party color management products from CHROMiX because of the additional value that CHROMiX provides (pre-sales advice, post-sales help, support, and a fabulous sense of humor). In most cases, we've been able to price match (or come close) if asked. We never want price to be an issue if you want to buy from CHROMiX. In an effort to make this policy more visible, we've added a 'Price Matching Policy' star burst near the price for most 3rd party items for sale on our website. If you have any questions, call us toll free at (866) CHROMiX, ext 1.

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

SHOWS & EVENTS

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

September 11th-16th, 2009, GASC presents PRINT 09 or myPrint 09, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. www.gasc.org

September 24th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group Portland Chapter presents Tyler Boley: Bringing traditional photography standards into the digital age. Event to be held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com

September 30th - November 1st, 2009, IDEAlliance presents the 25th Annual Conference on MarkUp & XML at the Hilton Arlington, Arlington, VA. For more information: idealliance.org

October 1st-3rd, 2009, Photoshop World Conference and Expo, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, NV. photoshopworld.com

October 8th, 2009, IDEAlliance presents The Power of Print, A Print Presidents Perspective. Event starts at 4:30 PM at Time-Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas - Between 50th & 51st, NY, NY. idealliance/meetings

October 22nd - 23rd, Packaging - Print, Finishing and Functionalities, Munich, Germany. A symposium organized by The Fogra Graphic Technology Research Association. Featuring Current trends in packaging development and design, Requirements of customers and lawmaker, Practical experiences from pharmaceutical and foodstuff packaging, Materials and quality control, Print finishing, transport and printed RFID. For more: fogra.org

November 18th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Seattle WA Chapter presents Barry Haynes: Photoshop with Bridge and Photoshop actions to automate color correction tasks and other Production Tips. Event to held at 6:30 PM somewhere in Seattle, WA To Be Determined. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com/eventsseattle

November 19th, 2009, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group, Portland OR Chapter presents Barry Haynes discussing Photoshop with Bridge and Photoshop actions to automate color correction tasks and other Production Tips. Event to held at 6:30 PM at The Oregonian, Portland, OR. Members $10, non-members $20. For RSVP and more information: pnwcmug.com/events

December 6th-8th, 2009, Printing Industries of America (PIA) presents the 11th Annual Color Management Conference, The Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Attendees include beginners to experts for this ALL color management only conference. New this year: a Full Digital Track (color management for printers) produced by the Digital Printing Council, a Pre-Conference Session focusing on color management processes for sheetfed, flexography, web printers, and finally a Pre-Conference Annual Off-Site Photo Shoot for both beginners and experts. CHROMiX will be attending as both vendor and with Steve Upton as a speaker at this event. Be sure to come by and see us. For more details or to register ColorManagementConference

January 19th - 22nd, 2010, PAMEX 2010, 7th International Exhibition on Printing and Allied Machinery Industries, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India pamex.in

January 18th-20th, 2010, Premedia Spectrum 2.0, at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, Naples, Fla. This event is a merging of the Gravure Association of America's Premedia conference and IDEAlliance's Spectrum360 conference. This new event addresses the convergence of premedia across multichannel digital supply chains.
WhatTheyThink Article: premedia spectrum 2

February 25th - 26th, 2010, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium, Konferenzzentrum Sheraton Muenchen Arabellapark, Germany. Our very own Steve Upton of CHROMiX will travel to Germany to be a guest speaker at this event.
FOGRA

February 25th-27th, 2010, Graphics of the Americas, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, FL. Presented by GAIN. graphicsoftheamericas.com


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

Color, Product & Industry News

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

Apple has released 'Snow Leopard' which is version 10.6 of OS X. apple.com

SL 10.6 does offer some amazing things:
- Faster. Now 64-bit capable, with 32-bit compatible. Optimized multicore processors.
- New and improved Finder (check out the cool new 'sidebar').
- Safari 4 is better, faster.
- A new look: Both Expose' and the Dock.

In the 'Tech Notes' section below we have a list of current/known compatibilities of Snow Leopard with CHROMiX software products.
Also, we found a great website for checking applications for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard compatibility: snowleopard.wikidot.com

On September 14th Eizo Nanao Technologies (Eizo) announced their new CG243W, a new 24" IPS panel LCD monitor for $2469 MSRP. It is expected to take over the top 24" spot in their high end color accurate graphics line. The CG243W touts the new IPS panel, 10-bit DisplayPort, 98% Adobe RGB gamut, 3D-LUT and more. This is a perfect model for high-end color critical work. The CG243W provides a full DDC hardware calibration using Eizo Color Navigator calibration and profiling software (included). We are told that it should be available in mid-late September. Product page: Eizo CG243W
Purchase: Chromix/CG243W

Eizo released version 5.2.3 of Color Navigator calibration software earlier in 2009. One particular feature called Light Box Brightness Adjustment integrates an Eizo ColorEdge series model with the JUST USB Interface and allows direct control of an JUST Normlicht colorCommunicator 2 light booth. This combined technology allows for a much more accurate screen to proof color matching by closely matching the light box's brightness to the desired target value of the monitor.

Eizo is introducing the new FlexScan SX2462W. This model replaces the popular SX2461W model and is very similar is specs to the new CG243W (above). This model will appeal to those who want a high quality viewing product but don't need the full DDC hardware calibration available from the CG243W. Press Release; SX2462W

JUST Normlicht announced the JUST LED Color Viewing Light, which is the first Fogra Certified viewing booth meeting requirements of ISO 3664:2009. It uses LED generated light to simulate D50 and other light sources. JUST Normlicht will be showing this at the Print 09 in Chicago in September.

Pantone is offering a trade-in of your expired Pantone products for up to date versions, a rebate of up to $500, and will make a charitable donation to the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation from your purchase. Called the 'Chip In' program. For more: www.pantone.com

X-Rite introduced a new product at Print 09, the EasyTrax for semi-automated target scanning.
Press Teaser Release: EasyTrax
EasyTRAX measures press target sizes from 20" to 40". Its also easier to use and supposedly less expensive than the larger IntelliTrax system.
Product information: EasyTrax/info
Video of the EasyTrax: EasyTrax/video

X-Rite losses are less than last year. Good news.
X-Rite

X-Rite has streamlined and enhanced many products including the i1Pro line, ProfileMaker, Monaco Profiler and more. Many products are also discontinued. Please call CHROMiX sales if you need help or have any questions.

Kodak unveiled its long-awaited Stream four-color 20-inch wide 650 fpm inkjet web press called the Prosper S10.
Prosper/article

Prosper/blog

Dell announces its first IPS 24" LCD panel in Japan, eventually should be available in the US. The UltraSharp U2410 makes a splash at under $800:
electronista.com


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

Forum TOPICS, Random Findings, Recommended Readings, Etc.:

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

For anyone looking to better utilize their usage of ColorThink, Brian Lawler has a great perspective and some guidance in an article titled 'Why didn't my photo come out like it does on my screen?'
graphicartsonline.com

DisplayPort technology has been tossed around the industry and many forums lately and discussed as the new standard in monitor communication protocol and connectivity.
It offers speed, throughput and many new advantages. Manufacturers and market developers are also starting to get on the bandwagon. The new EIZO CG243W supports DisplayPort and takes advantage of the higher bandwidth to support 10 bits per pixel.
Here is a great site for getting yourself up to speed:
wikipedia/displayport

A look at the new MacBook Pro displays from Rob Galbraith:
rongalbraith.com/MacBookPro

...the matte option for the 15" MacBook Pro LCD screen:
electronista/matte

Mark Dubovoy describes his 'Tale of Two Displays' (Eizo CG301W vs Apple 30" Cinema) in Luminous Landscape:
Tale of two displays

And finally, under the heading "Whatever you do, DON'T match that color!"
graphicartsonline.com/beer


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

TECH Notes: SNOW LEOPARD - Apple OS X 10.6 Compatibility - with - CHROMiX software products

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

"Snow Leopard" (OS X 10.6) has just been released. This is the newest operating system from Apple for Mac computers.

Below are the initial compatibility & known problems from our tests:

Curve 1.1
--------------
- No problems in testing. Runs fine.

Curve2 (beta testing beginning soon)
--------------
- No problems in beta testing. Runs fine.

ColorThink 2.2.1b2 (latest version)
-----------------------------------------------
- No problems in testing. Runs fine.

ColorThink Pro 3.0.1b22 (latest)
--------------------------------------------
- No problems in testing, with one exception:
The first time that ColorThink Pro tries to display color (either an image in the worksheet, a list in the worksheet, a profile or list in the Grapher) it tries to retrieve the current monitor profile using AppleEvents. Unfortunately Apple removed the "ColorSyncScripting.app" application with NO warning.
The user is asked to "Choose Application" and find the scripting app, which is not possible as it no longer exists. The user simply needs to click "Cancel". They will receive a message from ColorThink that it had an "Error reading display profile" and that "sRGB will be used instead". ColorThink Pro then runs fine and without further interruption until the next time it is launched.

Note that this does not affect the functionality of the software in any way; this merely affects the appearance of colors - they will be displayed using sRGB instead of the current monitor profile.

A fix will be provided in the next release.

ColorValet Client
------------------------
- No problems in testing. Runs fine.

Maxwell
------------
- Maxwell continues to run well in Safari 4 (previously released and now included with Snow Leopard) and FireFox 3.5.2 (most recent update)

ColorShuttle
------------------
- Seems to work fine with Snow Leopard overall.
- DCC and EDIC seem to work fine. ColorShuttle acquires the serial number from EIZO displays, no problem. DisplayWatch works fine.
- Seems to pick up printers and stay "connected" to them without any issues.
- i1 Pro seems to work OK but has minor, occasional problems. We will continue testing i1Pro and iSis support.

And, as a non-related side note, i1 Share dies under Snow Leopard, X-Rite is also not likely to update i1 Share.

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

This Month's Feature Article:

VIEWPOINT: Sometimes I wish print were more like the movies

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


My wife and I really enjoy watching good movies in a theater. We're the ones who sit until all the credits have run, commenting on the names, locations, job titles and the overall effort that goes into making a good film. We enjoy the short peek behind the curtain at the industry and I guess there's a feeling of honoring all the individuals who contributed to the work of art we just enjoyed.

The other day I was looking through a beautifully produced book on fly fishing and was struck by the quality of the whole package. The paper was heavy and lusterous, the design had plenty of white space and called attention to the writing and the amazing photographs. As a color person I was conscious of the depth and detail of the images and that some of them would have been tough to reproduce so well, yet every one of them clearly communicated the intended message and entertained me at the same time. I haven't fished in years, so I was particularly struck by the ability of the book to draw me into a topic that, if asked casually, I wouldn't have said I was very interested in.

If it were a movie, I would have jumped over to IMDB.com (the most wonderful cross-referenced database of film, TV and sometimes musical works) and dug into the screenwriter, cinematographer, director of photography, colorist and other people who'd contributed to the project. I could follow any one of them through their career and might have noticed that the guy who'd done the color also did several films I really liked and a few I didn't know about... perhaps I should look into them. The screenwriter may have been married to one of my favorite directors and their kid might be starring in a film I saw with my kids last week. The browsing, learning, and discovery in IMDB is endless and I often find myself distracted for longer than I'd planned.

But not print.

I leafed to the back of the fly fishing book and found nothing. Nothing. In the movie industry it would have caused a major uproar if they'd left all the credits off the end of a film. But not in print. I wanted to know who did the color. I wanted to know who designed the layout. I wanted to know who printed and bound the book. I wanted to know more about the paper that was used.

I was immediately saddened by the whole thing. How tough would it be to dedicate a page at the end of such a great book to honor the work and talents of the people who put it together? I don't blame the people who made the book. I blame us, as an industry. I can recall a few books that have mentioned the tools used to create the book, the font, sometimes the paper. They have been rare though, and searching through my memory, many of them were produced for technical or print industry topics. Perhaps the book's creators decided that people in our industry might be curious about the work that went into them. A nice gesture, if rare.

But shouldn't credit be given regardless of whether or not the intended audience might be interested? In a movie you can always stand up and leave if you are not interested. But for those of use who are, there are long streams of names to watch scrolling by as we digest the message of the movie with our popcorn.

"But the movie industry is unionized" I hear voices in my head argue. "They probably fought tooth and nail to get credit put into films."

Perhaps. I don't know the industry that well.

I do know that they shouldn't have had to fight to get credit. I know that those who contribute to books and other publications shouldn't have to either.

When I look at printing industries today, some in decline, some holding their own, some growing, I notice that industry studies are often about "Why print is still valid" and other such self-affirming topics. Perhaps if we'd done a better job, over the years, of disclosing and recognizing the efforts and talent that go into print production we wouldn't have to be spending as much time now justifying our existence. It's amazing how much print we digest every day, completely unconscious of its presence and of its influence. When I talk to technical people outside the imaging industries (and sometimes within) I keep hearing that paper is dead, that print is dead. Yet, at least today, so much of what we buy and use has a printed component that we take for granted. A photo on a screen is nice but on paper it has a level of beauty and permanence that emissive displays can't have. They don't need to either. Each has its place and purpose.

When it comes to gift giving I still can't bring myself to give electrons rather than atoms. My daughter has an iPod and no convenient way of listening to CDs yet I prefer giving her CDs as gifts and she prefers to receive music that way. For me, an iTunes gift card is like an acknowledgement of a gift rather than a gift itself. The production of the CD, and the printed insert, has great value in this form.

Oh yeah, and the CD is full of credit for all the people who wrote, arranged, played, sang, recorded, mixed, inspired and otherwise helped bring the art to us.... but the printed insert.... nothing. Sometimes, the photo on the front, very rarely the layout or design. But the production, the layout, the color, the printing, the binding, the paper, the inks, etc, etc, etc. Nothing.

How many of our communications need battery power to exist? Or another way: which of our communications are we willing to leave to the transience of electricity and which do we want to have a more permanent life?

Don't get me wrong. I have to be completely honest about my technical leanings and how I get most of my news, do most of my research, and create and consume most of my written work these days using LCD displays.

But print has it's place. Print has permanence. Print has tactile qualities. Print *exists*.

It's time we reminded those who use and need print just how valuable it is, and just how much credit is deserved in its production.


signed
a developing curmudgeon

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com:

colorforums.com/colornews

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

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

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

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)


In a visit to CHROMiX.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.


FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat! colorforums.com/colornews


To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.


For previous ColorNews articles follow this link to our ColorNews Archives:

colornews

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2009 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #41 - G7 Myths

SmartNote: 50124
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 41 - March 11th, 2010

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News - Curve2, VPR, ... and our new Blog: ColoRants (and Raves)
  2. Shows and Events
  3. Color Industry News
  4. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  5. G7 Myths - an article by Steve Upton
  6. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  7. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants.

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Newsletter Makeover!

Obviously this is a very different look for us. Back in ColorNews Issue #3 (June 28, 2001) we asked about delivering ColorNews in plaintext format or HTML. At that time (and for good reason) we received a resounding reply in support of plaintext. Fast-forward to today, almost 9 years later, and we're in a different world. Most mail readers handle HTML-formatted email well (many are web-based). It's time we upgraded our format to take advantage of better formatting and make ColorNews more readable. We will continue to make it as light-weight as possible - there are NO images used in our formatting. As always, we welcome your feedback - either way - so please let us know what you think.

CHROMiX Blog!

Our new blog, Colorants (and raves), will be filled with short technical snippits, industry news, cool technologies, and CHROMiX announcements. You know, the usual blog fodder. Only now it's concentrated on Color Management technologies and produced by the company who brought you remote ICC profiling, 3D color gamut graphing, G7 calibration software and the producer of the most widely read color newsletter, ColorNews. But why now?..... Check it out at blog.chromix.com and feel free to add this to your RSS feeds.

Maxwell Videos

We've created some training videos for Maxwell. This first set of videos focuses on the Pass/Fail features, and gives a great overview as well: Maxwell Pass / Fail. If you've been meaning to get a good feeling for how Maxwell works for proof verification then grab a cup of coffee, settle back and check it out. This video covers: setting up Tracks in Maxwell, configuring ColorShuttle to upload measurements, configuring ColorShuttle for pass/fail, modifying the label's logo, metrics and tolerances and in depth reporting of measurements in Maxwell.

Curve2

We're pleased about the completion of Curve2. Both Mac and Win final versions are now shipping. This is an awesome product even by our own standards. Again, thanks to our invaluable beta testers. We've now begun testing v2.1 which will be a free upgrade to all Curve2 users.

Check out the new technical forum devoted especially to Curve2 and IDEALink Curve: This will be the main place to get support, answers and discuss any issues for Curve or Curve2. The forum is free to all users.

Video's! CHROMiX is now making training videos for Curve2! The first 2 are free, here are the links: 20 min Curve2 Overview
47 min Curve2 comprehensive

Virtual Press Run (VPR)

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2. VPR is NOW in beta testing! Expect public shipping with weeks.

G7-calibrating a press requires multiple, dedicated press runs right? Not any more.

VPR technology has been under development for more than two years so we're excited to finally reveal this powerful new tool. The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job.

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs; one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press.

VPR typically eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run. The savings can be huge. The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers.

2010 FOGRA Colour Management Symposium

Steve Upton, President of CHROMiX was a guest speaker at the February 25th - 26th, 2010, FOGRA Colour Management Symposium in Munich, Germany. Steve also may do a special overview of notable attractions at the FOGRA 2010 in our new blog.

Maxwell Success Stories

Maxwell has rolled out across the country and the world. As of newsletter "press time" Maxwell contains over 14 million measurements and is growing every day. Stay tuned for some success stories regarding Maxwell implementation. If you have a success story you'd like told, please contact Rick Hatmaker and we'll get it told!

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

March 16th, 2010, The Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Seattle Chapter, presents 'Inkjet Printing From Photoshop And Beyond'. The event will be from 6:00 to 9:00 PM (doors open at 5:30). Event located at Adobe campus U conference rooms Fremont. Includes pizza and socializing. The discussion will be about the Photoshop print dialog and then various printer dialogs (Epson, Canon, HP) and the recommended settings for each to get the best color possible! Soon to be posted. RSVP requested.

March 25th, 2010, PNWCMUG, Portland, OR presents: Expert Matt Beals will be presenting 'Color Management for PDF/X' on March 25th at The Oregonian Conference Center on Columbia in downtown Portland. Topics covered include: PDF/X-1a:2001/3, PDF/X-3:2003 and PDF/X-4, Preflighting PDF's - Adobe Acrobat, Callas, Enfocus, Preflighting images - Humans and Elpical Claro, Automatic image processing - Elpical Claro, Automation, tying it all together - Enfocus Switch. Soon to be posted

April 8th - 10th, 2010, ISA International Sign Expo, 2010, Orlando, FL.

May 18th - 25th, 2010, IPEX 2010 Exhibition, NEC Exhibition Center, Birmingham, UK. A Print, Publishing and Media extravaganza.

September 21st - 26th, 2010. Photokina, Cologne, Germany

October 3rd - 6th, 2010, GRAPH EXPO 2010, Chicago, IL, McCormick Place South.

October 13th - 15th, 2010, SGIA 2010, Las Vegas, NV, Las Vegas Convention Center. Early registration available.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

EIZO has introduced two new ColorEdge models CG223W and CG303W. The CG223W is similar in most specifications to the existing CG222W with the major exception that the CG223W has the new DisplayPort video ports. DisplayPort allows many benefits over traditional DVI including more devices, longer length and much more bandwidth. DisplayPort allows up to over 1.07 Billion colors to be displayed potentially. The CG303 is an IPS version of the CG301W which is a PVA-type panel. The IPS benefit is generally wider and more consistent view angle perspective. No prices available yet, and ship date unknown. CG223W info and CG303W info

EIZO has also released 'Screen Tuner' and new free Mac utility software that adjusts Brightness, Gain (Rd, Green, Blue), Gamma, and Color Gamut space on a few FlexScan and ColorEdge model LCDs. So far the models covered are: SX2461W, SX2761W, SX2462W, SX2262W, CG241W, CG301W, CG222W, CG232W, CG242W, CG243W, and CG223W, but may include other models later. Color Space options are: Native, Adobe RGB, sRGB/REC709, EBU, SMPTE-C, and DCI. The software has compatible versions for Mac OS X 10.4.11, 10.5 and 10.6. No Windows version of Screen Tuner is planned yet, but there is a somewhat comparable tool already existing for Windows from Eizo called Screen Manager Pro. Available free at Eizo.com under Software Downloads for each specific model.

IDEAlliance and IPA to merge April 1st, 2010, following final approval of both boards. This combination looks to be imminent... Merger details from IPA here. Other related links: sdgmag.com and whattheythink.com

Integrated Color Corp released ColorEyes Display Pro version 1.5.2 r32.2 for Mac which fixes many problems, including with Snow Leopard. Version 1.5.2 r32 is the latest Win version. update here

NEC is introducing a new 24" IPS panel model, the MultiSync PA241W. It touts 99.3% coverage of AdobeRGB color space, internal programmable 14-bit 3D lookup tables (LUTs) for calibration, and much more. A notable feature is that it supports 10-bit DisplayPort, a new and emerging video connection and protocol supported by the major video players. And, although it will require NEC's SpectraView calibration software and device to perform optimally, this monitor could prove to be quite popular for many budgets.

NEC will also soon be releasing 'MultiProfiler', a free utility that will give you complete control over many of the features in the MultiSync PA Series including the ability to load ICC profiles and easily configure the color space, configure the Picture in Picture, enable Color Vision Emulation and manage DisplaySync Pro settings, all in addition to the basic display configuration (e.g. brightness, etc.).

X-Rite Announced New Linux and Mac SDK for Hubble Non-contact, Laser-Guided Colorimeter and a nice review (PDF) of the Hubble.

Forum Topics and other bits  
The Making of an Eizo FlexScan monitor.
We found this article interesting and probably representing much of what occurs with a ColorEdge model as well.
  Introduction
  Product Line Characteristics
  Tour of the Product Line
... if you've ever wondered what goes into the making of a fine monitor.


G7 Myths - an article by Steve Upton

It seemed like a good time to return to our "Color Myths" series. G7 is a great calibration method for presses and other printing systems and is right up the alley of us color management types. Nonetheless, I hear different things about G7 that are unclear or simply untrue. So, please bear with me as I clear up a few misunderstandings about the G7 method:

G7 is only used in the US

Not true, G7 is in use on every continent where printing is done. In addition to the great reception it's had in North America we're seeing rapid adoption in Asia and other parts of the world.

G7 is expensive to implement

Not true. Training is a good idea and software can save a lot of work but, strictly speaking, G7 can be implemented in a printing facility for next to no capital expenditure and the primary cost would be the press run(s) that are required to sample your press.

G7 is not in compliance with international print standards

While G7 uses a different method to tone-curve a press and TVI doesn't include gray balancing steps, a G7-calibrated press can certainly operate within published ISO tolerances.

"Near Neutral Calibration" is another name for G7.

Actually, no. Near neutral calibration is just that; the gray balancing of a system. G7 has a very specific tone curve shape that ensures that G7 calibrated systems, of varying types and technologies, look very similar in their highlight grays. This "shared appearance" method is a core benefit of G7 that other calibration methods don't share. G7 is the first device-independent definition of constant grayscale appearance.

Converting through ICC profiles (especially as a device link) is an effective replacement for G7 calibration

A custom profile for a press, used in conjunction with a reference profile like GRACoL can make a press look a lot like the reference profile's printing condition. There are significant differences though. A G7-calibrated press has tone curve irregularities removed and is easier to control AND profile. A press that has smooth tone curves and full gray balance is easier to monitor and the natural variations that occur during printing don't create unpredictable or rapidly varying prints. If your press was not curved & gray balanced then what dot gain would you look for in the mid tones? What patch would you use to determine if the press was gray balanced?

G7 is primarily useful for commercial offset printing

Not so! G7 is indeed useful for commercial printing but it really shines when used for a print process like flexo or screen where smooth, predictable tone curves and gray balance are tough to achieve by other means. G7 is making great inroads into non-offset printing technologies and several new reference printing color sets are in development that are based on G7.

G7 has undergone changes since it was introduced and is not ready for prime time

Some small modifications have been made to G7 since it's initial introduction but they are evolutionary tweaks and adjustments to the process. G7 has been and will continue to be in it's prime for users to adopt today.

G7's scaling is adaptive and so checking for G7 compliance is difficult or impossible

One of the more powerful functions of G7 is it's ability to scale to the maximum density of your printing system. This does mean that there are not necessarily "fixed" colors for a typical G7-calibrated system. A system that can perform G7 curve calculations (like Curve2) can easily determine if when measurements from a printed sheet are in conformance with G7 specifications. Speaking of G7 specifications, CHROMiX is part of the group at IDEAlliance currently working on G7 compliance testing methods and tolerances. Expect to see news on this front in the near future.

G7 and GRACoL are pretty much the same thing

Definitely not. G7 is a calibration method while GRACoL is a print specification. What's the difference? Well, G7 is the calibration upon which the GRACoL press runs were done. But G7 is also the calibration one which the SWOP #3 and SWOP #5 press runs were done. GRACoL is a specific case of G7 calibration and other printing conditions for ISO colored inks on #1 paper. For more, see the next note.

G7 Proofs are what you aim for on your proofing system

Not really, no. Any proof made to hit GRACoL #1, SWOP #3 or SWOP #5 could be argued to be a G7 proof. They will have the correct tone curves and gray balance of G7 (because G7 was used as the basis calibration of the GRACoL and SWOP runs). In reality the G7 calibration process is too broad a definition to proof to. You will want to create GRACoL or SWOP proofs on your proofer - proofs whose colors match the original patch colors of the GRACoL / SWOP colors.

The TVI method of calibration is pretty much the same as G7 when people are printing properly

IF you are printing using ISO standard inks AND your system is TVI calibrated and is able to achieve gray balance then they are similar, but not the same. The TVI method ensures that each printing channel has the correct tone curve / dot gain to match idealized tone curve shapes. G7 uses a different tone curve shape that keeps the highlight portion of the curve very stable from process to process - independent of the maximum density available. Also, G7 ENSURES gray balance explicitly rather than relying on the ink colors and dot gains achieving it implicitly. It also raises the importance of tracking gray during production. In short G7 is more likely to achieve similar, gray balanced appearance between different paper types, on different presses and even on different press types (web vs sheetfed, for instance).

G7 is finger printing your press

"Finger Printing" your press involves many different measurements and the recording of all of the important consumables, settings and variables that went into its setup and use. G7 takes a quick snapshot of the color of a current printing condition. Finger Printing is a valuable process that is much more comprehensive than printing a G7 P2P target and generating curves. G7 is not intended to replace finger printing in any way.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2010 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #42 - Profiling Devices for Monitors

SmartNote: 50131
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:

  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 42 - July 7th, 2010

This Month's Contents 

  1. CHROMiX News - Curve2, VPR, Maxwell, DisplayWatch... and our latest blog entries: ColoRants (and Raves)
  2. Shows and Events
  3. Color Industry News
  4. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  5. Monitor Profiling Devices - an article by Pat Herold
  6. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  7. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog 
Colorants

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in 
ColorForums.com 

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News  What the heck have we been up to? 

Maxwell ColorShuttle Windows version in beta

We're now testing the next Windows version of ColorShuttle. Its functionality will be identical to the Mac version interfacing with an i1Pro or i1iSis, printing Pass/Fail results, accessing hot folders and more. If all goes well, we should have a final release shortly.

Maxwell has rolled out across the country and the world. As of newsletter "press time," Maxwell contains over 17.5 million measurements and is growing every day. If you have a success story you'd like to tell, please contact us at 
Maxwell Success Stories and we'll get it told!

Curve 2.0.3 released

    Curve 2.0.3 fixes a number of things:
  • fixes problems with printing reports on Windows
  • tweaks the gray balance algorithm
  • gray balancing systems that are way off balance will work much better in the first iteration
  • the Printing Guide report has some corrections
  • numerous smaller tweaks and suggestions from helpful Curve2 users

      Download Here

Curve 2.1 (with VPR) now in beta testing

Curve v2.1 has now entered beta testing. All VPR customers will receive their VPR unlock code within the next couple of days and a link to download Curve 2.1 beta. Version 2.1 will be a free upgrade to all Curve2 users. 


Check out the 
new technical forum devoted especially to Curve2 and IDEALink Curve: This will be the main place to get support, answers and discuss any issues for Curve or Curve2. The forum is free to all users. 

Video's! CHROMiX is now making training videos for Curve2! The first 2 are free, here are the links: 
20 min Curve2 Overview and 47 min Curve2 comprehensive 

Virtual Press Run (VPR)

VPR technology has been under development for more than two years so we're excited to finally reveal this powerful new tool. The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job. 

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs; one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press. 

VPR typically eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run. The savings can be huge. The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers. 

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2.
Give us a call or email us if you think this tool could be for you! Toll Free (866) CHROMiX Ext #1 or

CHROMiX acquires EIZO SDK, DisplayWatch to support new CG245W self-calibrating display

CHROMiX has recently acquired EIZO's SDK (Software Developer Kit), which is the key software technology EIZO uses for controlling and calibrating CG series monitors. CHROMiX is developing a Maxwell 'DisplayWatch' solution for the new CG245W monitor to be built into ColorShuttle. The CG245W has a built-in automated 'swing-down' calibrator. Maxwell's DisplayWatch will interface directly with this monitor for a variety of uses including: Managing calibration of local and remote monitors from anywhere, reporting & notification of tolerance failures, trending performance compared to a standard reference, and more. See "Industry News" below for more information (and links)

Colorants (and raves) the CHROMiX Blog

Here are some of the recent posts at our new blog:
Monitor Hoods are necessary. Make your own for ~$10!
Barbieri comes out with a spectro with a polarizing filter
Curve 2.0.3 update released.
iPhone 4.0 supports ICC profiles.
Want to view Lab colors in ColorThink?


Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for


September 21st - 26th, 2010. 
Photokina, Cologne, Germany 

October 3rd - 6th, 2010, 
GRAPH EXPO 2010, Chicago, IL, McCormick Place South. 

October 13th - 15th, 2010, 
SGIA 2010, Las Vegas, NV, Las Vegas Convention Center. Early registration available. 

November 8th - 10th, 2010, FFTA's 2010 Fall Conference & Tabletop Exhibition, Hyatt Regency, Louisville, KY. Presented by the Flexographic Technical Association

December 5th - 7th, 2010, Color Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ. Reservation & Location TBD. Presented by the Printing Industries of America, this is the industry?s premier educational event for companies seeking to improve their control and management of color. It is designed for those new to color management, as well as veteran practitioners looking to stay on top of technology developments and use. With a resource area featuring almost all leading software and equipment companies in the field, a state-of-the-art hands-on computer lab, and over 50 sessions, the Color Management Conference is a one-stop resource for information on color management.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.


Color Industry News   What's going on in the world of color 

X-Rite announced the imminent release date of their next generation color profiling solution i1Profiler at the IPEX 2010 show in May. X-Rite will be combining the best of i1Match, MonacoPROFILER and ProfileMaker into one comprehensive software platform and adding a more robust palette creation and color bridging tool called PANTONE Link. We're anticipating a Q4 release period. Also, any purchase of MonacoPROFILER and ProfileMaker until then will receive a free upgrade to i1Profiler as well as receive a $400 voucher towards purchase of any X-Rite or Pantone product . CHROMiX will keep you posted with any news. Press releases:  <http://www.xrite.com/i1Profiler

EIZO has announced an exciting new LCD monitor called the CG245W. Its unique distinction is that it has an embedded measurement device that will automatically calibrate the monitor! This could mean a huge benefit for many organizations that are trying to standardize, or who have had difficulties maintaining consistent calibrations. Its interesting to note that the CG245W can also be correlated to the measurement results of an external calibration sensor. There's a NEW "Correlation Utility" program included with the bundled ColorNavigator software that coordinates this aspect. Finally, the CG245W also does the calibration independent of the operating system & computer it's connected to (which can be off). That means it can work with Linux, for example.

Here's a simple demo of the CG245W self-calibrating in action.

A more comprehensive demo of the calibration.

Product and specification page.

Ship date is forecasted towards end of July. CHROMiX is taking advance orders here.

CHROMiX is also now working with EIZO's SDK and the CG245W to work seamlessly with Maxwell. See CHROMiX announcement's above.

ColorBurst released OverDrive, a new RGB RIP for Mac OS X

Unique new PostScript RIP that utilizes the Print Driver. Works with Mac OS X 10.5 & 10.6. Server and Single User versions available. Note: Only compatible with print drivers that allow you to disable color management. 15-day demo available. For more information click here.

On another ColorBurst note: Effective July 1, 2010, ColorBurst will discontinue ColorBurst X-Proof 3800 for Windows. ColorBurst X-Proof 3800 for Mac will not be discontinued.  Customers with the 3800 series printers should purchase X-Proof 17 for Windows.




Forum Topics and other bits 

Brian Lawler discusses the new iPhone4's Retina Display and its ramifications: <http://tinyurl.com/iPhone4-Retina>

Luminous Landscape had some good postings that explains the difference between 8-bit vs 16-bit profiles. There is also a discussion about differences of printing in 16-bit vs 16-bit printer profiles. FWIW, at this point in the industry, 16-bit profiles are the norm, and 8-bit profiles are not used much anymore.

<8-Bit vs 16-Bit?>

Matching sRGB and Wide Color Gamut Monitors? Here's a good white paper if you're facing this challenge and have EIZO monitors <Matching sRGB and Wide Gamut LCD's>

Fogra has a listing of Fogra Certified Softproofing Systems that meet their criteria. Here is a detailed description of Fogra's measurement procedure (pdf): 

Of the monitors listed, EIZO has 8 listings in the line up, NEC has 5 listings and Quato has 5 listings. <http://tinyurl.com/Fogra-Cert>

Fogra also has a listing of Pre-Certified Monitors that they have tested and that Conform to the Fogra standards. Of those EIZO has 11, NEC has 6 and Quato has 4. <http://tinyurl.com/Fogra-PreCert>


Profiling Devices for Monitors - an article by Pat Herold

"I don't understand the differences between the Spyder, the i1 Display2 and the Colormunki.  I have searched the Internet and I only get different opinions from different people about what works best on their own displays, or a manufacturer's claim that their puck is great.  But all this business about colorimeters and spectrophotometers is really confusing.  Can somebody explain the merits or drawbacks of each one?"

 

It wasn't too long ago that your choice of a piece of hardware for profiling your monitor was limited to two or three options, all of which would work pretty well.  You final choice might depend on how much money you had, or what brand you had heard good things about.

With the entry of a few new models in the market, and especially the introduction of wide gamut displays, this question of 'what do I get to calibrate it?' is getting more complicated.  Ideally, we like to take your emails and phone calls to the sales or technical support departments so we can give a good answer based on your individual setup.  But we thought it would help a lot of people to give an overview of the basics of this subject here. 

Calibration devices fall into two main camps:  Spectrophotometers and colorimeters. 

A spectrophotometer (i1Pro, ColorMunki) is designed to measure light energy at various frequencies across the entire spectrum of visible light.  Its measurement returns data from roughly 400nm (nanometers) to 700nm or so.  Basically, it measures many bands of light at once.  These different bands of spectral data are brought together by the profiling software to identify individual colors.  Spectrophotometers are able to measure reflective light (off of a page) as well as emissive light (off of a monitor) which is why many of these devices offer printer profiling abilities also.  So this can be another point to consider when buying a device to calibrate your monitor:  If you are interested in making your own printer profiles as well, consider a device that will do both.

A colorimeter (DTP-94, i1 Display 2, Spyder 2, Spyder 3) is a simpler device that makes use of filters to measure the intensity of red, green and blue.   Measuring these primaries is roughly similar to how our eyes work, too.  The filters reduce a broad range of light wavelengths into a few measurement values.  Therefore, the accuracy and quality of these instruments depend a lot on the filters used - how durable they are over time, what colors they are specifically created to measure, and so forth.

Because spectrophotometers read a large number of bands, instead of just a few, they are considered to be more accurate than colorimeters.  (They are also more expensive.)  However, there is a major drawback.  Because they read more bands of light, they will tend to introduce more noise into the mix.  This is not much of a problem until you get down to measuring things like shadow detail and blacks.  Imagine you're a spectrophotometer, dangling off the front of a display and you're asked to measure a black patch.  Well, there won't be much of anything there to read, but you give it your best. You gather all the data from some 36 bands of wavelengths and because of digital noise and sensor dust, that will add to your report of how bright black is.  For this reason, spectrophotometers tend to not measure shadow detail as dark as most colorimeters do.  For example, the Monaco Optix (DTP-94) is famous for getting great shadow detail.  It even has some noise-reduction circuitry built into it.

I'm starting to hear some of the gears in your mind start to work.  You're already starting to make plans for what instrument you might buy next, depending on whether color accuracy or shadow detail is important to you.  If it were only that simple!

The monkey wrench in all of this is the wide gamut display.  Suddenly, people are able to buy displays that produce much more saturated colors - in the range of the AdobeRGB gamut.  It makes sense that a colorimeter developed before these wide gamut monitors came on the scene is not intended to measure more saturated colors.   So some of these models, like the DTP-94, are not recommended for the newer displays.    Some models, like the X-Rite i1 Display 2, were developed early on, but have been tested to also work fine on the newer displays.  Some, like the Spyder 3, are newer and have been developed with the newer monitor gamuts in mind.

In many cases, a wide gamut monitor will come with a colorimeter that is a "re-branded" version of one of the models above.  It has been specially tuned to work with the display for which it is intended.  Some manufacturers believe this is the only way to ensure that accurate color is achieved without sacrificing shadow detail.  HP, NEC, LaCie and Eizo all have colorimeters that they offer that are specially tuned to work with their high end displays and their own software.

Another twist on this is the recent introduction of LED-backlit displays.  They are another flavor of wide gamut display.  In some cases, the LED's themselves can be adjusted to output specific white points.  You would just about have to calibrate with a spectrophotometer in order to be sure of accurately capturing whatever colors are being put out by those models.  On the other hand, the newest iMac uses an LED-backlit display with only a slightly larger gamut (10%)  than the sRGB gamut.  These should have no trouble being calibrated with a typical colorimeter.

If you have the more traditional monitor that resembles the sRGB spectrum, you will do fine with any of the colorimeters mentioned above.

If you are getting one of the high end displays, it is best to get the colorimeter that is made for that display.  If you have a variety of wide-gamut displays to calibrate, you should look into a spectrophotometer. If you have a wide-gamut display that does not have a custom-tuned colorimeter, then you should consider a spectrophotometer or one of the newer colorimeters.  If you already have a colorimeter, it might work quite well with a wide gamut display, so it is worth a try to test it out before throwing it in the garbage.  As I mentioned already, most colorimeters will tend to give you slightly better shadow detail than a spectrophotometer, so you have to keep that in mind while weighing your choices. 

That's about it for general recommendations.  There is a lot more that can be said for specific displays and profiling systems.  CHROMiX sales and tech support personnel are familiar with all of these issues and can make more informed recommendations for your individual setup.  Feel free to contact us for a no-obligation discussion of your profiling needs.


Thanks for reading,

Pat Herold


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com 

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of 
www.colorwiki.com for more information.


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CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #43 - The Why and How of G7 Calibration

SmartNote: 50132
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 43 - September 29th, 2010

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News - Curve2.1, VPR, and Introducing OneRun !  
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. The Why and How of G7 Calibration - an article by Steve Upton & Pat Herold
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)
CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

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Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

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CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

CHROMiX will be at GraphExpo, Chicago, Oct 3rd to 6th.

CHROMiX will be in the Color Management booth # 4049, which is near the G7 Learning Lab areas. We will be talking about G7 and showing off the latest versions Curve2, VPR (Virtual Press Run), and Maxwell. Steve Upton will be speaking at two events. See details under Shows and Events.

Also look for us in various PR circulated during the show.

Introducing: OneRun

The OneRun target, in combination with Curve2's VPR (Virtual Press Run) module, makes it possible to calibrate a printer to G7, using multiple papers, and make profiles for the printer - all in one press run.  The beauty here is that you only have to print one target, on one press run to do all this.  Press calibration and profiling can't get much easier than this!

This is how it works:  To save on space, time and reduce measurement error we've created new, hybrid targets that combine the P2P target with IT8 and other profiling targets. Redundant patches have been removed and the resulting target is smaller and easier to place on a variety of printing forms. Your measurements of this single target, printed on all your papers, are fed into Curve2.1.  The software extracts the individual targets from the OneRun target using the P2P patches for curve calculation and the IT8 patches for VPR curving. All of your papers + one target = OneRun.  Other OneRun targets incorporating alternate profiling targets will also be available.

Curve 2.1 (with VPR! see below) in beta -

This is a free upgrade to all Curve2 users. New Features include:

  • A new gray balance option that can be used to smooth curves with dramatic 'spikes.'
  • Ability to export curves as single-channel files with control point / value pairs for some RIPs.
  • Virtual Press Run (VPR) module enabled for those who purchase it.
  • Esko ArtWorks PressSync code support
  • OneRun color target support


Did you know that there are Curve2 Training & Overview VIDEOS available?!? The first 2 are free, here are the links: 20 min Curve2 Overview and 47 min Curve2 comprehensive

Check these out!

ColorShuttle Windows version 3.5 in beta

For Maxwell and ColorValet Pro Windows users, the Windows version of ColorShuttle is almost here! It's functionality is identical to the Mac version. It will interface with an i1Pro or i1iSis, print Pass/Fail results, and will access hot folders. Some new features were also added to both versions as well. For Maxwell users, you can always download the latest version of ColorShuttle by signing into Maxwell, and then look for the "About Maxwell" in the left side menu. For ColorValet Pro users, ColorShuttle will automatically update for you.....

Maxwell has rolled out across the country and the world. As of newsletter "press time," Maxwell contains over twenty million (20,000,000) measurements from Iceland to Japan and is growing every day. If you have a success story you'd like to tell, please contact us at Maxwell Success Stories and we'll get it told!

Virtual Press Run (VPR) IN CURVE2.1

VPR technology has been under development for more than two years, so we're excited to reveal this powerful new tool. The environmental and financial impact will benefit small and large printers alike and we expect the ROI to be realized on the very first job. YOU MUST SEE THIS PRODUCT!

Without VPR, obtaining a press profile from a G7-calibrated press requires at least two press runs - one with null plate curves to calculate the G7 calibration curves, and a second to print the profiling target through the resulting plate curves to profile the press.

VPR typically eliminates the need for the second press run. The G7 curves calculated from the first run are applied mathematically to the profiling target measurements of the first run, producing measurements that appear as if they were produced on a second "virtual" run. Those measurements are then used to create your press profiles.  The savings can be huge. The first press run can be used to print on a number of different paper types. If VPR eliminates the second runs for each paper, one press run might be all that's needed to G7-calibrate a group of papers.

Virtual Press Run is an add-on module to Curve2.

Give us a call or email us if you think this tool could be for you! Toll Free (866) CHROMiX Ext #1 or email sales.

CHROMiX acquires EIZO Color Navigator SDK and develops DisplayWatch to support new CG245W self-calibrating display:

CHROMiX has acquired EIZO's SDK (Software Developer Kit), which is the key software technology EIZO uses for controlling and calibrating CG series monitors. We are developing a Maxwell 'DisplayWatch' solution for the new CG245W monitor to be built into ColorShuttle. The CG245W has a built-in automated swing-down calibrator. Maxwell's DisplayWatch will interface directly with this monitor for a variety of uses, including managing calibration of local and remote monitors from anywhere, reporting & notification of tolerance failures, trending performance compared to a standard reference, and more. See "Industry News" below for more information (and links).

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

October 3rd - 6th, 2010, GRAPH EXPO 2010, Chicago, IL, McCormick Place South. The popular G7 Summit conference will also be held at Graph Expo this year (details below).

Come by booth # 4049 and find Rick Hatmaker for a demo of Curve2, VPR or Maxwell.

October 3rd - 6th, 2010 G7 Summit, sponsored by IDEAlliance at GraphExpo 2010. The first G7 Summit was a resounding success, so its no surprise that the 2010 G7 Summit will also generate lots of interest. Just 2 booths over from our booth # 4049, these exceptional 30-minute Learning Labs will prove to be a popular highlight if you're in Chicago for the show! Be sure to RSVP to get a seat, as seating is limited. Steve Upton of CHROMiX will be speaking in the 'Instrument Measurement Analysis' session Monday @ 9:00am and the CHROMiX / HutchColor Curve2 Learning Lab Tuesday @ 3:30pm.

October 4th - 6th, 2010, IFRA EXPO 2010, Hamburg, Germany. A leading event of the newspaper and media industry.

October 13th - 15th, 2010, SGIA 2010, Las Vegas, NV, Las Vegas Convention Center. Early registration available.

November 8th - 10th, 2010, FFTA's 2010 Fall Conference & Tabletop Exhibition, Hyatt Regency, Louisville, KY. Presented by the Flexographic Technical Association

December 5th - 7th, 2010, Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Presented by the Printing Industries of America, this is the industry's premier educational event for companies seeking to improve their control and management of color. This conference is designed for those new to color management, as well as veteran practitioners looking to stay on top of technology developments and uses. With a resource area featuring almost all leading software and equipment companies in the field, a state-of-the-art hands-on computer lab, and over 50 sessions, the Color Management Conference is a one-stop resource for information on color management. CHROMiX will be there, speaking and with a vendor table. Please come on by and say hello or ask for a demo of any of our products. For more information or to Register.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

basICColor

The clever folks at basICColor have just introduced basICColor Discus colorimeter and calibration solution which is FOGRA compliant. DISCUS is a highly precise device for today's higher grade LCD monitors used in prepress, labs, and soft / remote proofing. Unfortunately this new product is only presented on their 'German' basICColor website. So its possibly a bit premature for English. However, its nice to see something new and exciting these days. We anxiously await a more formal update from Karl Koch and gang.

EIZO

EIZO will be showing and demonstrating the new CG245W at GraphExpo in Chicago. It's unique distinction is that it has an embedded measurement device that will automatically calibrate the monitor! This could mean a huge benefit for many organizations that are trying to standardize, or who have had difficulties maintaining consistent calibrations. It's interesting to note that the CG245W can also be correlated to the measurement results of an external calibration sensor. There's a NEW Correlation Utility program included with the bundled ColorNavigator software that allows you to match the calibration of other screens which do not have this measurement device. Finally, the CG245W also performs this calibration independent of the operating system and computer it's connected to (which can be off). That means it can work with Linux, for example.

Here's a simple demo of the CG245W self-calibrating in action.

A more comprehensive demo of the calibration.

Product and specification page.

The CG245W is shipping! To place your order go here.

IDEAlliance

IDEAlliance has a new document called "Procedures for IDEAlliance G7 Master Qualification Submission". It explains the new instructions and requirements on how to prepare and submit your  G7 Master Qualification data and prints. It also includes the new shipping address for shipping completed press sheets to RIT. To download the new document link here.

IDEAlliance also has a new and simpler Qualification Kit that has been merged and reduced to one PDF file and includes all checklists. To download the new document link here.

X-Rite

X-Rite will be showing and demonstrating i1Profiler at GraphExpo. After the announcement at at the IPEX 2010 show in May, X-Rite generated much excitement and interest. i1Profiler encompasses the best attributes of i1Match, MonacoPROFILER and ProfileMaker into one comprehensive software platform, and adds a more robust palette creation and color bridging tool called PANTONE Link. We're anticipating a Q4 release period. Also, any purchase of MonacoPROFILER and ProfileMaker until then will receive a free upgrade to i1Profiler as well as receive a $400 voucher towards purchase of any X-Rite or Pantone product . CHROMiX will keep you posted with any news. Press releases:  <http://www.xrite.com/i1Profiler>

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com

    ColorThink Pro:   Target Marquee Tool

    ColorValet:   Epson 3800 and Fine Art Papers Settings

    Monitor Calibration:   Do I need an AdobeRGB-capable Display?

    ColorScience:   How can I simulate the colors on one display on another?




The Why and How of G7 Calibration - an article by Steve Upton & Pat Herold

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

We gray balance cameras, we gray balance monitors, and we gray balance images. Our own human vision is very sensitive to subtle changes in grays.  If gray balance is so important in every other stage of imaging, and in color perception, it should be one of the most important things to aim for, and monitor, on press. To put it simply, G7 is a method for press-friendly printing curves that are gray balanced.

There is one massive side benefit of using this technique - press to press consistency. It turns out that gray balance and consistent tone curving is so important to image perception that a print job separated for one printing condition (say SWOP) will look VERY SIMILAR when printed using a different printing system (such as sheet fed GRACoL) when both presses have been gray balanced and toned using G7. This is huge. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard printers say that profiles and color management can't help them with one of their everyday problems - that of CMYK being created before the paper, press, and even printing company has been chosen. A great reason for calibrating to G7 is to get your different presses looking as similar as possible so that you can survive the last minute decisions your clients continue to throw at you.

Sound good so far? Here's a quick overview of what is involved with implementing G7.

Preparation

First of all, you want your press to be in good working order, in control and stable.  G7 calibration is not fingerprinting but it is a snapshot of your press and you always want to look your best for snapshots right?

The press form

Laying out a press form is an exercise in frustration sometimes. Everyone in your organization wants something different on the page. The good folks at IDEAlliance have put together several forms that include the P2P and IT8-7/4 targets as well as some ISO images. Unfortunately, most of the items on the page (except the P2P) are useless from the first press run. The first run is typically performed with 'flat' curves so images look odd and the IT8 can't be used for profiles because the press isn't in a condition you want to proof or separate for. (in reality this doesn't have to be true, read on for more information)

Choose the 'P2P' calibration target that is designed for your measurement instrument.  This is a 300 patch target which contains some basic CMYK and RGB ramps, and has a specific assortment of near-neutrals.   If you lay out your own form, position the targets one after the other (relative to press feed direction) and rotated 180 degrees from each other. It's next to impossible to imitate the ink use of 'normal' press jobs but you can at least try to even things out, and the rotated targets can be used to average data in case the press prints unevenly.  For profiling the printer, also include a profiling target such as IT8-7/4. Again, read on for a technique that only requires one target and saves space.

Ink and Paper

Your inks and paper are important as well. Multiple paper types can be sent through the first run so select a good representative paper for each paper type on which you regularly print. For inks, work with your ink supplier to obtain ISO standard colors (see 12647-2) and spend some time working on press setup, chemistry and ink tack so your RGB overprints are as close as possible to the color reference you've selected as your aim point (GRACoL, SWOP, etc). Note that G7 calibration does not affect the 100% value of any channel, so 200% and 300% are out of its control as well. An application like Curve2 will allow you to import any set of measurements for a quick check of solids, overprints, paper color and other patches to see if you are in the neighborhood of your color aims.

All that remains is to create plates with flat curves for your first run. Calibrating your plate setter is wise at this stage so you have something you can return to in the future. Recalibrate your plate setter regularly but not too often. The errors introduced in plate recalibration can be worse than drift. If you're not sure how often to recalibrate, measure them regularly and track the behavior over time. When you start to see it drift in a certain direction (rather than bouncing around), then recalibration is warranted.

Run #1

For the first run, get your press up to color (solids & overprints) and then run a stack of each paper type. When you change paper types, bring your press back up to color for your color aim. Other than hitting solids and overprints there's not much else you need to do.... OK, that's an understatement, but it's also outside the scope of this article. We're not going to tell you how to print, that's your business.

After printing, allow time for dryback, so the inks can fully cure before measuring.  Choose sheets from near the beginning, the middle and near the end of the run for measuring.  Accuracy and smoothness of the resulting calibration curves is usually proportional to the number of samples used. The idea is to get a proper cross section of the behavior of the press.  Reject any targets that have printing defects in them.  Number the sheets so you can know where in the run each target came from.  

Measure the P2P targets. If performing VPR (Virtual Press Run), measure the IT8 targets as well. Once the targets have been measured, you can either average them in a program like MeasureTool, or bring them into the software for averaging.  Curve2 will color-code each measurement according to how much it differs from the average of all the files in the list.  This makes it easier to discard the outliers - samples that are far out compared to the rest.

Curve Calculation

Load the measurement files into Curve2 and it will calculate your RIP curves automatically. If, for some reason, you feel that the measured white point of your paper is not correct (instruments may be fooled by paper whiteners, etc) it can be overridden. It is possible to add or subtract points in the curves to either match the specific requirements of a RIP (Some RIPs have hard coded control points) - or to fine-tune the curves, adding points precisely where an irregularity occurs. Try to strike a balance between the amount of control required to create the tone curves & gray balance that G7 demands - and the smoothness your imagery requires. Curve2 can show you the full-resolution curve it has calculated to aid you in selecting optimal control points. Other applications may have this ability as well.

Apply to RIP

The software produces a list of CMYK percentage values that can be exported as a text file or printed directly. You then enter these values into the calibration tables (the curves) in your RIP or software drivers. Some RIPs do not have provisions for 'wanted' curve input. For these RIPs you can calculate 'measured' curves which invert the curve calculations to fool the RIP into producing the desired curve corrections.

Confirmation

If you want, you can do a second press run dedicated to checking the quality of calibration and to generating IT8 targets for profiling. To save time and money you can skip the verification run and use color bar readings from a production run to verify your results. Either way, apps like Curve2 can import a variety of target types to verify G7 tone and gray balance.

Make sure you run to the same target densities & color values as your initial run. I can't tell you how many times we've had tech support calls with IDEALink Curve or Curve2 where the underlying problem was that the second run had significantly different solid color values from the first.

New metric

If you calculate the delta-a/b value (the 'horizontal' distance between the a & b values of two points in L*a*b) you have a good number for measuring the gray balance of a gray scale. The name delta-F* has been chosen to represent this gray-balance indicator as it is simple, memorable, and unique in the world of color. Curve2 calculates both the L* match to the idealized G7 curve as well as the delta-F* value.

Create Proofing / Separation profiles

As mentioned above, a second press run using your new G7 curves will provide you with color targets for making ICC profiles of your press. Curve2.1 has a new function which simulates the second press run. VPR (Virtual Press Run) applies the calculated curves to a profiling target like the IT8 that was printed in the first run. Measurement data is returned that behaves as if the second run had been performed and measured. The benefits are numerous: obviously the cost of a second run is avoided, and the variation between runs is also removed - something which is significant in flexo and other less-repeatable printing methods.  

One target, OneRun

To save on space, time and reduce error we've created new, hybrid targets that combine the P2P target with IT8 and other profiling targets. Redundant patches have been removed and the resulting target is smaller and easier to place on a variety of printing forms. Combined with VPR, the OneRun target makes it a simple process to G7-calibrate and create profiling targets for multiple papers from one single press run. Curve2.1 will extract the individual targets from the OneRun target using the P2P patches for curve calculation and the IT8 patches for VPR curving. Other OneRun targets incorporating alternate profiling targets will also be available.

Implementation: Manual charting or software?

IDEAlliance supplies a "How To" kit which tells you everything you need to know to implement G7.  It's even free.  This is written from a scientific, proof-of-concept point of view, rather than a practical, I-have-a-business-to-run point of view.  For example, you chart your Neutral Print Density Curves by hand on FanGraph paper in order to come up with the output values.  If this is the first time you are attempting this, the FanGraph method can take a lot of time.  Using a software method has several advantages:

  1. It's easy.  Click and drag measurement files into the app and the calculations happen automatically.
  2. Accuracy is better.  While the FanGraph method has you looking for the nearest curve which represents your press, the software scales everything exactly to the G7 curve using the measurements from instrument readings.  
  3. It's fast.  Keep in mind the multiple times you need to do this process. To properly G7 a press you are supposed to take samples from multiple places in the press run and then average them all.  Multiply that by how many printers you want to have G7 calibrated.  And then think about how often you will want to check periodically to make sure they are still close to the specification.  A good software process will automatically average the measurements entered into it, calculate multiple runs, enable you to specify the standard you want to hit, and provide a quick and easy way to verify the results using a small control strip.

G7 is proven and effective

Use G7 to help hit GRACoL and SWOP color BUT remember, G7 is great for more than trying to hit industry standards. The gray balance and toning that G7 provides makes for more stable printing and better ICC profiles on ANY printing system. Having all your print systems calibrated to the same set of visually neutral aims helps your entire plant to have consistent color, from device to device.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton & Pat Herold


Don't forget, you can discuss this article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

There is much more information on these subjects in our ColorNews archives in previous articles and color management myths, so check out the Reserved Articles section of www.colorwiki.com for more information.

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2010 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #44 - Digital Projector Calibration & Profiling

SmartNote: 50139
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 44 - January 27, 2011

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Digital Projector Calibration & Profiling
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

  CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

CHROMiX at the PIA Color Management Conference in Phoenix Dec. 5th-7th.

Considered the most "color management" focused conference in North America, CHROMiX had a dual presence at the recent PIA conference. Steve Upton spoke at several events, highlighting ColorThink Pro, Curve2 + VPR, Maxwell and more. Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker demonstrated CHROMiX software including the new Maxwell MeasureWatch service by offering a free instrument "Health Check" for anyone who brought their spectrophotometer by the booth. We used the new COLORef target and loaded the data into Maxwell for an instrument accuracy check. We saw many X-Rite i1Pros, a few Techkon Spectro Dens, a couple of X-Rite 500 series and a couple of X-Rite DTP-70s (although we weren't able to measure the COLORef target with the 70s). Each individual received a Pass/Fail type of label and will also receive a group summary report comparing their instrument to the groups performance. We are publishing the final results for participants, and then will provide this publicly or by request.

And speaking of MeasureWatch... announcing MeasureWatch!

MeasureWatch is a new service of Maxwell specifically for tracking spectrophotometer instrument accuracy, performance and conformance to a standard or with other instruments. MeasureWatch performs Pass/Fail reporting, custom label printing, Trend Analysis and other strong reporting and analysis. MeasureWatch combined with a reference Color Reference Material (CRM) is a perfect solution to measure, manage, track and analyze any spectrophotometer within your workflow or enterprise. As mentioned above, the Vogelsong COLORef (See Color Industry News item below) is the first CRM compatible with MeasureWatch. We expect to introduce other compatible CRM product with MeasureWatch at later dates. For more information, contact CHROMiX ColorGear Sales at 866-CHROMiX x1 or email sales@chromix.com

Curve 2 awarded 'IDEAlliance G7 Certified System' status!

At the recent PIA Color Management Conference in Phoenix, Curve2 was awarded the new IDEAlliance G7 Certified System status. "The G7 System Certification Program is designed to evaluate the ability of a candidate system to calibrate a printing device to meet the G7 gray scale definition using four 1-D Curves." noted Joe Fazzi, VP of Media Production Technologies and Training with IDEAlliance. CHROMiX and HutchColor co-developed IDEALink Curve and its successor, Curve2. Congratulations... Don and Steve!

Curve 2.1 (and VPR) shipping!

  • Esko ArtWorks PressSync curves are built into v2.1.
  • A new gray balance option that can be used to smooth curves with dramatic spikes.
  • Ability to export curves as single-channel files with control point / value pairs for some RIPs.
  • Virtual Press Run is a Curve2 add-on module to eliminate the 2nd G7 press run.
  • OneRun targets (hybrid targets containing multiple targets) are now supported. The current target supported is for P2P25x & IT8.7-4. We'll be adding more targets in the future and by request.
  • Curve2.1 now allows scrambled P2P25x targets.
Curve2.1: Download Here Purchase NEW or UPGRADE

Did you know that there are Curve2 Training VIDEOS available! now? The first 2 are FREE, here are the links: 20 min Curve2 Overview and 47 min Curve2 comprehensive

ColorThink v2.3 Released

ColorThink v2.3 (non-Pro) for Mac and Windows is now available. A series of updates brings full Windows 7 compatibility (32 and 64 bit) , corrected rotation animation in the Grapher, and numerous other tweaks and fixes. Download here

 

  CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

  Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

January 25th - 28th, 2011 - Graphic Communication - The Production of Knowledge as part of International Printing Week 2011. Hosted by Cal Poly's Graphic Communication Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Sponsored by EFI, EskoArtwork, Kodak, Ricoh and RR Donnelley. For more on the event:

March 8th - 10th, 2011 - ATC Global 2011 Exhibition and Conference - RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

March 22nd - 24th, 2011 - The Publishing Xchange Conference and ON DEMAND 2011 Exposition and Conference - will be help simultaneously this year at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington DC. Hosted by Questex Media. The conference is aimed at publishers, marketers, printers and digital service providers.

September 11th - 14th, 2011 - Graph Expo 2011 - McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL.

September 22nd - 29th, 2011 - ITMA 2011 - Barcelona, Spain

November 10th - 12th, 2011 - Graphics Canada, Toronto, ON.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

  Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

InT'Hutch Ltd & FineEye Color introduce the Vogelsong COLORef

COLORef is a new and affordable CRM (Color Reference Material) that =is compliant with ISO 15790-2004 and similar to much more expensive BCRA Ceramic Tile Sets. COLORef provides a NIST-traceable, durable and inexpensive CRM. As a stand-alone product, the COLORef is a good indicator product and allows you to compare the measurements you get with the reference values (included). Simply used, you can see at any point in time how close your instrument compares to any standard. Add Maxwell MeasureWatch to the equation and it is a greatly enhanced and powerful tool (see above CHROMiX News item). Vogelsong COLORef MSRP is $300. For more information: Click Here

Adobe Releases "No Color Management" Tool

Have you been frustrated that there has been no way to turn off color management in the Color Handling pop-up menu in the Photoshop CS5 Print dialog? Well, there now is a utility from Adobe:
Adobe Color Printer Utility application

X-Rite i1Profiler "Publish"

i1Profiler encompasses the best attributes of i1Match, MonacoPROFILER and ProfileMaker into one comprehensive software platform, and adds a more robust palette creation and color bridging tool called PANTONE Link. The originally anticipated release for Q4 2010, has been slightly delayed until end of January 2011, but may get pushed to the first part of February. Also, any purchase of MonacoPROFILER or ProfileMaker until then will receive a free upgrade to i1Profiler as well as receive a $400 voucher towards purchase of any X-Rite or Pantone product. More information: X-Rite i1Profiler

EFI ships Version 4.5 of EFI Colorproof XF and EFI Fiery XF

XF 4.5 boasts native Windows 64-bit OS support and multi-threaded halftoning, a new Cut Marks Option, new Job Merge function that handles variable content, new & improved Dynamic Rendering Intent, and more. XF 4.5 is ISO 12647-7 / 8 compliant. EFI XF 4.5

  Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com

    On the ColorSync: Fogra Monitor Visual Assessment:   Fogra has some nifty test images to help visually assess monitor quality. Fogra Monitor Visual Assessment Images

Thanks to Peter Karp and the people at Fogra for translating the documentation for the test pictures into English, which is now included in the download: Fogra Monitor Visual Assessment English Documentation

    Luscious video:   This is a lot of fun to watch (from a color management geek's point of view). Do you know any printers that have been through this? OffRegister - Luscious!

    How Well Is Your Business Positioned for the Future?:   Its a new year and we're all trying to find ways to focus on business. This short article from WhatTheyThink's Bob Lieber is succinct and to the point: How well positioned are you?


  Digital Projector Calibration & Profiling - an article by Pat Herold

Among the many interesting projects to come through the offices of CHROMiX in recent years has been the testing, analysis and comparison between different brands and models of digital projectors. We've tested and reviewed over two dozen different models and have learned quite a bit about color on a projector. Now don't go emailing us to give you a recommendation - we are under a non-disclosure agreement for most of this information - but I can give you a few things to look for.
 
This article will cover the basics of how to get a decent profile of a projector using any of the common display profiling packages. It is possible to get a more accurate profile by using a more advanced system designed for the video world, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

LCD or DLP?

If you are looking to purchase a digital projector, we recommend a model that utilizes the LCD chip technology over the DLP technology. DLP projectors may have a number of advantages (and disadvantages) that have nothing to do with color, but we have found a couple of issues that should put these off your list if you are a color geek:
  • With true DLP projectors, you can see a "rainbow effect" when images move across the screen rapidly. You can observe this just waving your hand across the screen.
  • DLP projectors have a huge trade-off between broad color gamut and brightness. (More on this below.)

Calibration

Several software packages allow you to calibrate a projector. The ColorMunki Photo and Design are relatively affordable and easy to use. The i1Beamer is a module that is available for the i1Pro spectrophotometer. By itself, it would be a rather expensive solution, but if you already have the i1Pro device, it is not much to add the Beamer upgrade. Before the Munki came along, it was about the only way to profile a projector. Some monitor profiling software packages like the Spyder 3 Elite have a procedure for using a colorimeter to measure color off of a projected screen. ColorEyes Display Pro provides a checkbox that allows the measurement window to expand to full screen, making a bigger target to aim your colorimeter to. There's no real procedure for how to do this though - and you're on your own for figuring out how to arrange your instrument to pick up the color off your screen. Still, we've had customers use colorimeters effectively to profile projectors.
 
Before profiling, allow the projector to warm up for at least 10 minutes. Ideally you will do your profiling on the same screen as you'll be using for presenting, since the screen color is a part of the overall color of the system. While it's warming up, check to see if your projector has preset "color" modes in the setup menus. Common names for these are "Presentation," "Theater" or "PC". The "Movie", "Theater", "Cinema" or "Film" mode will give you the maximum color saturation (maximum gamut), while settings like "PC", "Gaming", or "sRGB" will tend to give you less saturation, but oftentimes be brighter. With some technologies, like DLP projectors, this trade-off can be quite extreme: The highest-gamut Movie setting will project a rather dark image, while the 'bright' settings will be washed out - devoid of saturation in the colors. By our calculations, the gamut volume of the projector can drop by as much as 70% depending on these settings. If you are reading CHROMiX ColorNews, and wanting to calibrate a projector, my guess is that color is a big part of your life or work and you will want to use one of these "movie" modes to get a good range of colors on the screen. Use that setting as you profile the projector.
 
For an illustration of the gamut volume of two projectors, follow this link The inner gamut is a DLP projector and the much larger outer gamut is a 3 LCD projector. It's such a huge difference that it's a bit hard to believe.

Profiling steps

In the profiling software, choose similar parameters you would choose when making a good monitor profile. For example, choose a white point of D65 (or 6500K), gamma of 2.2. The actual white point chosen might not be that important. (More on this later.) Set the brightness aim to maximum.
 
The Spyder 3 and the i1Pro Beamer has a tabletop stand that adjusts so you can aim the measurement head toward the screen. The ColorMunki will set directly on a table top. You align it so that it is pointed at the screen, and adjust the measurement head up and down so that it is aimed at the center of the screen. If you are using a colorimeter that does not have a stand, you will need a way to hold the colorimeter fairly close to the screen and point the sensor toward the screen so that the sensor can pick up the colors off of the screen. At the same time, you usually don't want a shadow to be in the field of view of the sensor unless the software calls for that. If you are using the i1Pro Beamer, and have a glass bead screen, you might find your aiming circle bouncing around the screen, making it hard to know where to aim. You can solve this by putting the lens slightly out of focus while calibrating.
 
Run through the rest of the profiling procedure as usual and create the profile. The resulting profile can be put in place in your system as your "monitor" profile when you are outputting to the projector through a computer. Mac computers will assign an individual profile for each display that is connected. Windows systems will usually be limited to only one profile being used at a time - even though you have two or more displays connected. Make sure the projector profile you created is actually the one being used. You can experiment by substituting one of our stunt profiles and see if there's a difference. With Windows, after changing profiles, you will need to restart the computer or run a LUT loader program to actually load the profile information into the graphics card so you can see it.

Adaptation

When profiling monitors, we pay close attention to the ambient lighting situation in the room surrounding the display. Ambient lighting illuminating other colors in your field of vision will have an effect on your perception of colors on the monitor. Also, room lighting is critical for people trying to match their display to what they see coming off their printer in the same room. However, with projectors, this is a horse of a different color. If we are making any effort at all to optimize the viewing experience, we are going to turn off all the lights so that the room is as dark as possible. In this case, there is no "ambient" light to speak of - besides that which is produced by the projector itself.
 
Because of adaptation - our eyes' natural ability to adapt to whatever light source we're looking at - our eyes will do a remarkable job of adjusting to whatever white point the projector is throwing up there. So whatever white you choose will look normal after awhile. At least in comparing colors - "it's all relative" to the white point. However, profiling is still very important; it makes possible the scaling of all the colors to the white and black points.

DVI makes interchange possible

If you profile your projector on a specific screen using a DVI signal, you can then copy that profile and use it on every laptop or computer that will be used to run that projector and screen. The profile will remain valid and produce identical color on different video cards, even on different operating systems. You need to use a DVI cable (Digital Visual Interface - usually a video cable with white ends) and ports for this rather than an analog cable (blue ends) and ports, since the analog signal is more likely to be colored by signals from the computer's video card.
 
So how does it look? Don't forget that if the screen is different than before - that does not necessarily mean it is bad. It might take a while for your eyes to get used to the new look. If you are used to the projector blasting out such high contrast that highlights are blown out and shadows are lost in the murky darkness, then a well-profiled projector might look rather "flat" to your eyes to begin with. Give it some time.

Thanks for reading,

Pat Herold


 
We hope this helps. If you have found your own successful techniques, feel free to respond or post it on our ColorNews discussion forum: here

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

  ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com=2E Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2011 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #45 - The New basICColor DISCUS

SmartNote: 50154
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 45 - June 8, 2011



  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - The New basICColor DISCUS
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
end of this newsletter.

  CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Mac OS X Lion Color Management Migration Tool

Apple announced this week that OS X Lion will ship in July. Mac OS X Lion does not include the "Rosetta" technology that emulates the PowerPC (PPC) processor. Without Rosetta, any Mac OS X applications which only have PPC code will not run! If you are unsure which applications are PPC only, either find the application on your hard disk and "Get Info" (command-I) or run the application and then open the Activity Monitor to see the application type.

Many common Color Management tools and utilities are PPC only and will not be available to users running OS X Lion. This includes: ProfileMaker (including ColorPicker, Editor, MeasureTool), Monaco Profiler (including GamutWorks), MonacoQCcolor, Eye-One Share, Eye-One Match, ColorShop, ColorLab, Pulse ColorElite, MonacoOptix and numerous others. X-Rite, CHROMiX and other companies offer tools that have been updated to run on Lion and will perform many similar tasks as the older PPC software you may be accustomed to using.

CHROMiX is creating the Mac OS X Lion Color Management Migration Tool which is a reference table to help determine if there are alternatives for your tools and needs. It will be available this week and we'll update it regularly as needed.

basICColor DISCUS Review

Pat Herold reviews the NEW basICColor DISCUS a high lab-grade colorimeter for measuring LCD monitors. We believe that the DISCUS will set the high bar for reference devices. See Pat's article below.

ONYX Directly Supporting Curve2

Curve2 was fully integrated into the new ONYX X10.1 RIP software! CHROMiX, HutchColor and ONYX Graphics coordinated together to make this happen. See Color Industry News below.

CHROMiX is now officially the US Reseller for basICColor products.

CHROMiX will be the US resource for basICColor product, information and support. We are updating our website and will reflect updated basICColor information Lets discuss (no pun intended!) basICColor options for you! more

ColorThink v2.3 final versions for Mac & Win

ColorThink v2.3 final versions for Mac & Win....... are ready! This locks down a final version compatible with all new OSs including Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit), Mac OS X 10.6X (Snow Leopard). If you are a ColorThink v2 user, download here:

Mac ColorThink v2.3
or
Win ColorThink v2.3

Maxwell Growth Continues

Maxwell has rolled out across the country and the world. As of newsletter "press time," Maxwell contains over thirty six million (36,000,000) measurements from the UK to China and is growing every day. If you have a success story you'd like to tell, please contact us at Maxwell Success Stories and we'll get it told!

 

  CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

  Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

June 15th, 2011, 6:30 PM - at the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne in Portland, OR.
Pacific Northwest Color Management Users Group - Portland Chapter - Invites you to 'CMUG Forum Live'. We will be chatting about all things color and having a Q&A driven by attendees. CMUG's new focus is a changed format oriented towards discussions of real problems people face (regarding color management) and real world solutions for these problems. Color experts and CMUG Advisors will be present. No cost (except for your own beverages). Food provided. Plenty of free parking. Come join us!

June 14th - 16th, 2011 - G7 Offset and Digital - A Unique Opportunity at PIA's world class facility in SEWICKLEY, PA. Presented and hosted by IDEAlliance and Printing Industries of America, this event will include lab instruction and hands-on training. Don Hutcheson will be the Training Program Lead. G7 Expert & G7 Professional Certifications earned for coursework. For more and Registration Contact Nanette Nathan 703-837-1093 or nnathan@idealliance.org

September 11th - 14th, 2011 - Graph Expo 2011, McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL

September 22nd - 29th, 2011 - ITMA 2011, Barcelona, Spain

November 10th - 12th, 2011 - Graphics Canada, Toronto, ON

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

  Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Apple's OS X Lion to ship in July for $29.99

However, OS X Lion is a significant departure and will break any application not built for the Intel processor (which is a lot of apps). CHROMiX announced this week the Mac OS X Lion Color Management Migration Tool (announced in this newsletter) to aid color people with the transition.

Barbieri SpectroPad

Barbieri announced what we consider one of the most exciting Spectrophotometer instruments in years... the new SpectroPad. The SpectroPad is a portable, non-tethered solution for those who need accuracy and mobility. **CHROMIX will incorporate the SpectroPad SDK and support it in Maxwell**, when available. more...

basICColor DISCUS

gets rated an "Outstanding!" by Dry Creek Photo in a monitor calibrator shootout. Check out Ethan Hansen's article and review of the new basICColor DISCUS

GMG acquires Aurelon

This is a very interesting (and strategic) move for GMG into the large format print production market. more...

ONYX Graphics Incorporates Curve2 G7 Support

(announced officially at the ISA 2011 Conference) has partnered with CHROMiX and HutchColor and has integrated Curve2 functionality into their latest RIP version! This makes ONYX Graphics the first RIP software company to integrate Curve2 software into the profiling process.The new ONYX G7 support tool in version X10.1 helps sign and print shops achieve gray and color consistency across all wide and grand format printers driven by ONYX RIP software. Curve2 software is used to generate the G7 calibration targets; ONYX PosterShop and ONYX ProductionHouse software import the calculated data and automatically set the calibration targets. This makes it much easier for print shops to achieve G7. more...

X-Rite Amends i1Profiler EULA

The licensing agreement that had many industry users (and potential users) of their software "up in arms" has been updated. Essentially most users are OK, but special case users (profiling services that use X-Rite i1Profiler software, OEM profiles made with i1Profiler, etc) will need to negotiate a special license directly with X-Rite now. more...

   Popular topics from ColorForums.com

    Barry Wheeler of the US Library of Congress:   has posted a paper after the IS&T Conference of their findings related to color space specification i.e.: sRGB and AdobeRGB(98) when imaging cultural heritage materials from their collections. Interesting read:

    Terrie Barbera:   pointed out a fascinating PDF piece from Eizo on the subject of color wheels.



  The New basICColor DISCUS - an article by Pat Herold

Just last July, I wrote an article explaining the current state of affairs in the area of monitor calibration, specifically explaining the different hardware devices out there that are used to calibrate and profile monitors. (ColorWiki: Profiling Devices for Monitors) At that time there was a noticeable gap between the need to profile certain high-end, wide-gamut monitors and finding a device that will profile them to their maximum potential. To over-simplify things a bit, we usually recommend people use a spectrophotometer to accurately measure their extremely saturated colors. But the common spectrophotometers don't measure blacks very well and some shadow detail is lost as a result. Colorimeters on the other hand, can measure blacks well, but might not be so good at measuring these saturated colors. At that time all I could do was to tell you the way things were and leave it up to you to decide between accurate color or good shadow detail.

Well now we have a new player in town, and it promises to fill this gap nicely, if a bit expensively. The DISCUS is a colorimeter, made by basICColor in Germany, that has all the elements we are looking for, and retails for about $1200. As a colorimeter, it has a limited number of bands that it measures, and therefore can measure good, dark blacks with very little noise (see my previous article for more information about why). But unlike other colorimeters, this one has been designed to be a lab-grade instrument of the highest quality. It was made for the express purpose of accurately calibrating these wide-gamut displays with no compromises. It has thermal compensating circuitry that will ensure that changes in the physical temperature around the device will not influence measurement results. The case and the optics are made of high-quality materials, and are sealed to preserve them and make the device long-lasting. This is the first colorimeter I have ever seen with a built-in laser pointer. This allows you to actually see where the instrument is pointing if you are calibrating a projector screen or some other non-contact display surface. But let's get to the heart of why one would spend this much for a colorimeter:

ACCURACY

I'm going to let you in on a little known, color management dark secret. It is quietly acknowledged among those in the field that the typical monitor calibrating device is not designed for or is capable of giving you 100% accurate measurements. These devices are designed to give you good, repeatable results - which allow you to bring your display back to a calibrated state - that is reasonably close to what you're aiming for. If you stop to think about it, there's really no way for a $200 instrument to give laboratory-precision results. (For that kind of accuracy, people normally pay upwards of $16 - $20,0000 for a research-quality spectroradiometer like a Photo Research device, for example this) But our little pucks hanging on the front of our monitors do a fine job for us just the same. They are a lot more accurate than our eyes, they bring our displays around pretty close to the colors we're aiming for, and they repeatedly give us these results month after month, so that we can count on the color of our monitor not changing. This allows the photographer and graphic artist to do their viewing with a degree of confidence and get their color managed workflow moving smoothly with no surprises.

For some reading this, that last paragraph was interesting but not all that alarming. For others, this claim is probably rather jarring. Not 100% accurate!? That's intolerable! In the line of work I do, I've GOT to have accurate color! It is for this latter group that the DISCUS was made.

Our DISCUS has been independently tested to determine its color measurement accuracy compared to a Lab-grade spectroradiometer. It was found to come to about a 2 delta E difference when measuring both standard gamut (sRGB)and wide-gamut (adobeRGB+) displays. This is a very low color difference, and represents just about the best accuracy a colorimeter can get. For CCFL-backlit wide-gamut monitors (which represent most wide gamut monitors) the results were even closer. For more information on delta E, see this. Details on this evaluation are here

CONSISTENCY

All this accuracy does not help you much if your readings fluctuate from measurement to measurement. Most of the common monitor-calibrating devices have the potential to vary quite a bit from one reading to the next - especially when there is a change in physical temperature of the device or the ambient heat. You can see this when you perform a "validation" procedure on your profile at the end of your profiling procedure. Many software programs offer this option at the end of the profiling workflow, so you can check out how your profile is performing immediately after you have created it. Well, immediately after you have created it, your profile should be perfect, right?! Instead, you'll find that there are always some delta E variations, and this is a good indicator of the range of how variable your particular instrument is. It is not unusual to see single color delta E variations of 1.0 or more within the same instrument. The problem with this is that it is possible that you could see changes in color on your display after calibrating that are due to the inconsistency of the measurement device rather than the display itself.

Now, I don't want to over-state this and bring everybody into a panic. For the most part, your i1Display, or Spyder, or ColorMunki, or i1Pro will probably work fine, and give you very accurate profiles from month to month. But you can see where, for those who really depend on quality at this caliber, there has been a need for an instrument with better repeatability.

Temperature Compensation

At the same time we went to check consistency, we wanted to see how well this much-vaunted "temperature compensation" would work. Some of the variability of different instruments has been attributed to how warm the instrument is when it is being used, or how it warms up AS it is being used - and the DISCUS is said to compensate for changes in the ambient temperature around the instrument.

To see if this thing worked, I took a wide gamut monitor, a Discus, and an i1Pro into the back hallway of the CHROMiX headquarters on a chilly day in April. We've been getting far too many of those this Spring, so it was nice to actually have a good use for it. Once the display and the measurement devices acclimatized for over an hour, I made multiple measurements and profiles using the basICColor software since that was the only program that could drive both instruments.

Afterwards, I carefully replicated the same profiling procedures back in our normal, 72-degree office environment. I also repeated these tests using a more typical "sRGB" gamut LCD display.

From the profiles that were created, I extracted the actual measurements that were used to make the profile, so we could compare the actual measured values of these identical color sets.

The difference between the Discus and an i1Pro were dramatic.
The average dE was .23 for the Discus, and .92 for the i1Pro. However, the Max dE (the difference for the worst patch) was .60 for the Discus and 9.62 for the i1Pro! The patch responsible for this huge difference with the i1Pro was the black patch, which measured at a lighter luminance with the 72-degree, "warmer" environment. But it wasn't just the black: Saturated primary colors had high differences well over 1 and 2 dE. (See Diagram) By contrast, the Discus seemed to just cruise along regardless of temperature changes. Imagine measuring 2 weeks apart, 14-degree change in temperature, a slightly different placement on the screen, and the largest difference I measured out of all the Discus tests was a .31 Ave dE and a .86 Max dE. Numbers that low can be attributed to changes in the display over that time.

Now you may not have occasion to calibrate your monitor next to a hockey rink, but this test does demonstrate how big a change is possible, and how precise a good colorimeter can be. It makes you wonder how much the environment affects your profiles. Do you profile first thing in the morning after the furnace/AC comes on? Was your colorimeter sitting next to the heat register before you picked it up to profile your monitor? Did you handle your i1Pro for several minutes scanning a printer target, before calibrating the monitor? Are your employees doing any of these things? The nice thing about the DISCUS is that none of these everyday temperature changes will have a significant affect on your measurements.

BLACK CALIBRATION

As mentioned in the previous article, an instrument needs the ability to measure a very dark black in order to provide you with deep blacks and detail in the shadow areas. The DISCUS does very well here, too. For a long time, the benchmark instrument for this kind of test has been the DTP94 colorimeter (also known as the Optix) because it has extra noise reduction circuitry built in. Using a DTP94, our CG245W measured a very dark .18 cd/m2 for maximum black. Both the DISCUS and the Eizo swing sensor measured .17 - just a little bit better (darker). (By comparison, an i1Pro come up with a .45, while other instruments generally fall somewhere in-between.) (See Diagram)

DURABILITY

I don't know which contributes more to the durability of this product: The heavy metal construction of the casing - or the knowledge that this colorimeter costs over $1000? Somehow the price tag kept me from experimenting with any durability tests. It certainly looks, feels and handles like an armor-plated tank, and according to the company literature, they made it to be long-lasting.

CONS

While the on-screen measurements are very accurate, Ethan Hansen at Dry Creek Photo reports that the ambient light measurement of the DISCUS is consistently about 600 Kelvin too low. So if you were to use the DISCUS to give you a reading of the color of the ambient light in your room, it will report that it is warmer in color than it really is. Perhaps this will be dealt with in further upgrades to the software.

basICColor Display software

While this article mainly concerns the DISCUS device, I'll say a few words about the basICColor Display software since (at the moment) it is the only software that works with the DISCUS. There are reports that Eizo is looking into supporting it in the near future in their ColorNavigator profiling software.

There are a few glitches in basICColor Display that indicate they have not got all their wires hooked up. The basICColor software does not seem to be able to connect to an i1Display2 device. Other users have found that some NEC displays will only calibrate to a D50 white point when calibrating using DDC communication. I find it surprising that the software is limited to its pallet of 45 colors, and does not provide a means of using a larger set of patches. None of these are really deal-breakers if you want to look more into the DISCUS. The current version (v. 4.2.4) is the first to support the DISCUS, and they are looking to come out with an entirely new version 5 soon.

The DISCUS fits the bill for everything a high end user needs in a display calibration device. I can almost say that I have not found anything better. The only instrument that rivals the DISCUS for these superior results in accuracy and shadow detail is the built-in swing sensor that comes with the Eizo CG245W and CG275W. These sensors also do a great job calibrating their own wide gamut displays and still provide excellent black readings for fine shadow detail. For any other displays, the DISCUS is the only way I know of to get this kind of precision in an instrument at a fraction of the cost of a spectroradiometer. Despite its hefty price tag, I expect that the DISCUS is destined to be a common tool in the arsenal of color management professionals in the years to come.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

  ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

In a visit to CHROMiX.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.

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2011 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse a ny content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #46 - Making a Better Printer Profile

SmartNote: 50160
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 46 - October 5, 2011

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Making a better printer profile
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Announcing... Digital PressWatch

CHROMiX is proud to announce Digital PressWatch, a new Maxwell-powered service. Digital PressWatch was designed within the capable Maxwell cloud service to provide digital printers the kind of QA controls traditional web and sheet-fed printers take for granted. And then go much further. Digital PressWatch provides tools for viewing, monitoring and reporting the performance of each and every digital press.... from a web browser. Essential tasks like verification, pass/fail reporting and trending relative to a print standard are core to its functionality.

Furthermore.... Digital PressWatch also has some unique aspects:

  • Full sheet analysis
  • Meta data gathering
  • Auto target scanning
  • Auto target routing
  • Real-time feedback & clear reports
  • Longer term trending & analysis
And.... very exciting to many users, Digital PressWatch has a visual detection "heat map" where a press operator can immediately see if a press has problems and (in most cases) what the problems is! This heat map can be viewed on a monitor or printed.

Supporting its value, in a 2008 study, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) did a comprehensive study of digital printing, and discovered that the top 3 problems customers complained about concerned print uniformity. Digital PressWatch solves the problem of detecting these issues early in the process. Digital PressWatch is the only early detection system of its kind.

CHROMiX announced and demonstrated Digital PressWatch at GraphExpo Chicago 2011 in September. Steve Upton and Rick Hatmaker were in the X-Rite Booth 3448 presenting to show goers. CHROMiX release

Digital PressWatch is priced at $999 for a single digital press per year, or $2499 for 3 presses per year. Pricing for other press quantities available. Great i1iSis+Digital PressWatch bundles are also available (See Ad below). Call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX, (866) 247-6649 or go here

You are invited to join us for a free Webex seminar covering Digital PressWatch capabilities. Details:

  • Date: October 26th, 2011
  • Time: 11:00 AM Pacific (2:00 PM Eastern)
  • RSVP: sales@chromix.com

ColorThink Pro v3.0.3 Released

This is a non-beta Universal Binary version. Win 7, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion compatible. Loves i1Profiler profiles and data. more

ColorThink v2.3 Released

This is a non-beta Universal Binary version. Win 7, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion compatible. Loves i1Profiler profiles and data. more...

Curve2.2 Released

Curve v2.2 includes VPR, PressSync Curve support, OneRun target support, updated G7 tolerancing and numerous fixes. New Features include:

  • G7 tolerance calculations based on latest IDEAlliance tolerances and weighting methods
  • Updated UI to reflect the dF* terminology & reflect weighted calculations (eg wdF*)
  • "Recent items" menu item added to the File menu
  • Updated the Gray Balance control UI, removing the need for a separate window
  • Added PressSync curve alpha-numeric reporting to the Run Report, replacing the "measured/wanted/ values when PressSync curves are specified for output
  • Corrected some UI updating issues when selecting measurement files, etc.
Curve2 v2.2 is Universal Binary / Mac OS X Lion compatible and Win 7 compatible. Our tests have proven it to be very stable under the new roaring king.

Curve2 was represented both at the G7 Summit at GraphExpo and at The Color Management Booth near the IDEAlliance booth and G7 Pavilion area.

Go get it!

Maxwell update

ColorShuttle (Maxwell's client software) latest versions:

  • Mac 3.5b20
  • Win 3.2b7
Version 4 is due out soon and will change things a bit. Look forward to much simpler setup as we move towards our ultimate goal of zero config on the client.

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

October 10th - 12th, 2011 - IFRA Expo 2011 - 'Passion For Publishing', Vienna, Austria

October 10th - 12th, 2011 - FTA Fall Conference, Color in Focus, Marriott Union Station, St. Louis, MO
**Steve Upton will be speaking at this event**

October 19th - 21st, 2011 - SGIA Expo, New Orleans, LA
**Rick Hatmaker will be at this event**

October 26th - 27th, 2011 - Print & Publishing Switzerland, Zurich

November 10th - 12th, 2011 - Graphics Canada, Toronto, ON

December 3rd - 6th, 2011 - PIA Color Management Conference, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix
**Steve Upton, Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker will be at this event**

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

basICColor Display v5

basICColor will release and ship a public beta of basICColor Display v5 next week. Version 5 specifically supports the new i1DisplayPro, and is the first official version to fully support the DISCUS device (although v4 was compatible). As soon as available, CHROMiX will have updated information pertaining to basICColor Display v5 posted to the product webpage here

basICColor has improved accuracy, repeatibility and inter-instrument agreement of their DISCUS colorimeter device by using advanced calibration methods (a robot that positions each instrument at the exact same place on the reference monitor/light source) plus other improvements.

myPANTONE 2.0

myPANTONE 2.0 from X-Rite allows users to calibrate the iPhone display to view color-corrected PANTONE Colors within the application. An X-Rite calibration device is required for calibration, such as ColorMunki Photo, Design or Create, or the new ColorMunki Display, i1Pro or i1Display 2. more...

X-Rite Rebate on i1Profiler

X-Rite is offering a $150 cash back mail-in rebate for customers who purchased i1Profiler Upgrade A or B between August 10, 2011 and September 30, 2011. You'll need to mail in a completed Rebate Form, Copy of your Sales Receipt and the UPS code from the i1Profiler Upgrade A or B packaging. You MUST also post mark before October 15, 2011 more...

i1Display2 and i1Display LT free Lion upgrade

X-Rite is offering i1Display2 and i1Display LT owners a free upgrade to the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion version called i1Profiler D2LionEdition which is compatible only with Apple OSX 10.7. This special edition software has a comparable feature set previously offered in i1Match monitor profiling software. This software will now be available FREE of charge to ALL registered owners, not just to those that purchased in 2011. There was a nominal fee, but is now waived if your device is registered.
To register your device
The Public Beta version is now available here

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

Printing Industries of America (PIA) :   has a very good, succinct description and explanation of Device Link Profiles (often referred to as DLP's). Check it out

3D Printing?:   This one may may surprise you!

basICColor has a website:   that summarizes OS X Lion compatibility with their products.

Documentary:   Glenn Andrews notes a preview of a not-yet-released documentary on the nature of color perception and subjective factors (including language) that influence how we see things.
In the second half of this clip Himba tribsemen from Namibia are tested for color perception. They can easily see insignificant differences between shades of green, but can't see an (to us) obvious difference between green and blue.
Thanks to Glenn Andrews for this addition.




Making a better printer profile - an article by Pat Herold, CHROMiX Technical Support

The science of color management has matured to the point where a novice user can make a dependably good printer profile using any of the software packages available today. But in many cases you have more choices than ever, which can make things confusing if you don't know which options to choose. This article will provide some perspective on what target options are useful and when to use them, tips and tricks to optimize your profile, and we'll watch out for a few pitfalls that still remain in the path to building an accurate printer profile.

Number of patches

Some profiling programs in the past were limited to a few sets of targets. You could either use a "small" set of patches or a "large" one. Most programs you will use today allow you to dial in exactly how many colored patches you want on the target image. It is tempting to think that the more patches you have the better your final profile will be. Like we say in the color world, "Well, it all depends?." Consider the following:
  • Say you have an old Epson Rp1280 or some obscure "toner-based-fusion-onto-tile using non-standard colors" printer - or anything that is non-linear and puts out sudden changes in color in an unusual direction. A large patch set is necessary to "capture" the effect of that erratic color blending.
  • Some printers (like modern inkjets) have better native printing, are more linear even before profiling, than they were years ago. It really is not necessary to throw 4000 patches at a device that is well-behaved and already reproduces color smoothly. These printers will not benefit from more patches, and instead might suffer from a lack of smoothness if profiled with a large patch set.
  • Smoothness vs. accuracy. While we may think we want the most accurate profile, sometimes what we really want is the most pleasing profile. A smaller patch set requires the profile building engine to interpolate more data in-between the measured colors. This will result in smoother transitions. Smoother is better when we want colors in an image to blend smoothly throughout a gradient, from one subtle color to another, without noticeable transitions.
I recommend using between 1000 - 2000 patches for most circumstances. If a program makes use of iterative profile tuning, go ahead and follow the recommendations of the software and use fewer patches. However, even the iterative programs I've used seldom improve things if you are using a reasonably large patch set to begin with.

Scrambled or visual

Profiling targets can either be arranged so the colored patches are in a kind of progressive order, from one shade to the next - or scrambled (some use the term "chaotified") so that the patches are in a random arrangement. If your printing process has any trouble maintaining consistency across a sheet, then using a randomized target can help you get a more representative profile. An offset press would fall into this category. Any inconsistency in the printing across the page will not end up skewing one color group that happens to be in that location on the page. Instead, that inconsistency is spread randomly through the various colors. Spreading fluctuating colors around may not sound like a great idea, but the profile's main purpose is to capture the behavior of the press, and this inconsistent printing is a valid aspect of how the press works. Incidentally, this is also why we like to average several profiling targets throughout a run in order to make a press profile.

A visual target has the advantage of being laid out in a visually organized manner. You can see the progression from one color to another. If you get familiar with the visual layout of your target, you can immediately recognize whether the linearity of the printer is smooth or erratic, if a particular ink is not printing, and where key color patches are located (CMYK, max black and paper white.) These can help you spot errors in printing very quickly and easily (and before you waste more time building a profile.) A visual target is generally used only when the printing consistency is very dependable, such as with inkjet printers, silver halide printing and the like.

Including neutrals

Since our eyes are so discerning when distinguishing between subtle shades of gray, the ability of a profile to accurately reproduce neutrals and near-neutrals is highly valued. In the past, programs like GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker used targets that specifically included columns of near-neutral patches in order to 'over-sample' this very important part of the color spectrum. Monaco Profiler targets were laid out in a perfectly uniform grid and seemed to manage neutral rendering very well without these extra patches, perhaps because most users used targets that had a higher density of patches overall.

The newest entry into this field, X-Rite's i1Profiler, uses a combination of these other two tactics. The target generator in i1Profiler creates colors in an evenly-spaced grid. And it will add near-neutral patches into the target as "filler" patches, depending on the exact patch count of the target. If neutral rendering is particularly important in your work, it would be worthwhile to know this formula and choose the patch count of your targets to make the most of this feature. For example, a 1006-patch RGB target made by i1Profiler has no near-neutral patches, while a 1005-patch target has 99 near neutral patches in three columns surrounding the neutral axis. Ironically, if you are wanting to over-sample these near neutrals, you might end up actually choosing a lower patch total in order for the target generator to create more of them.

Confirm no color management

In order to make a good profile, we want the profiling target to capture the 'raw' state of your printing process. In your RIP, you still need to have your ink limiting and linearization turned on of course (in the RGB world this is handled by choosing your media/paper setting) - but any use of ICC profiles (any color management) must be disabled all along the printing path.

This is old news to veterans of color management, but if you are a novice or have inexperienced people printing targets and creating profiles in your organization, it pays to have an easy means to confirm that no color management is left on when printing your profiling targets. If you print with a profile made from a target with color management on, you are basically "double-profiling" and your prints will be desaturated with perhaps a brown or bluish cast - not a good profile at all.

The recent advances in color management have done nothing to make it easier to do this - and some have made it harder. For example, the newest version of Photoshop (CS5) no longer has an option to turn off color management in the printing dialog. So in order to print a target properly you need to use a different program, or a method to work around this limitation. (See here)

There are a couple of easy ways to check your target to verify that color management was indeed turned off when it was printed. With RGB targets, check the 100% yellow patch to see that it contains only yellow ink. If there are droplets of any other inks in there, then that is a clue that something is getting in the printing path and making color decisions. With CMYK prints, find a patch that is supposed to be composed of K (black)-only ink, and check to see that it indeed has only black ink there. (See sidebar) This is another incidence where a visual target comes in handy. But you can also find these patches on a scrambled target by bringing the reference file into Photoshop and using the eyedropper to check the color build of the patches. If you have ColorThink Pro, this task is even easier since you can order the colors in the reference file by color and quickly isolate the strongest yellow, the K-only patches, etc.

Size of profile (Grid size/ file size)

Some profile building programs offer an option for "size" of profile.
No, sorry - this is not a magic button that will make your printer capable of reproducing all the colors of the rainbow. This option is not referring to an increase in the color gamut of your printer, but rather how detailed that profile will be. A larger size might have something like a 33 x 33 x 33 grid so that any sudden transitions or irregular gamuts can be accurately reflected in the profile with more detail. But be careful - a bigger profile size results in a larger file size, and with this setting profiles can be made as large as 10 MB or more. (Try embedding THAT into a jpeg you email to your Uncle Lance.) In general, the normal sized profile will work fine for most uses. And besides the larger file size, there is nothing wrong with making a larger profile.

It's great to be part of an industry as it's coming into its maturity. The software that didn't work well is gone and the good software that is still here is still getting better. There are different ways to design a profiling target and more options when building a profile. If we know more about what these choices are intended for, we can make wise decisions which will save us time and effort, and at the same time create profiles in which we can have great confidence.

Thanks for reading,

Pat Herold

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2011 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #47 - I LUV UV

SmartNote: 50166
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 47 - February 28, 2012

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - I LUV UV
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

The new Maxwell DashBoard

CHROMiX announced and showed previews of the new Maxwell DashBoard at the PIA 2011 Color Management Conference in December. The best word to describe this is WAY COOL !! Essentially DashBoard is a convenient and visual 'central console' to watch your Maxwell assets. And, the DashBoard is user customizable so you can choose to see only see those services that you want, from micro to macro elements. Anyone who is currently using Maxwell will want this tool.... Not to mention, that this is one sexy dashboard. And guess what? DashBoard is free to all Maxwell users.

CHROMiX will be provide a free public webinar in the next month showing the DashBoard. If you are interested in receiving an invite to this event, please RSVP email , or if you want to discuss a private showing, call us at (866) CHROMiX Extension 7.

Digital PressWatch is a new Maxwell-focused service for digital presses

CHROMiX announced and demonstrated Digital PressWatch at both GraphExpo 2011 and PIA 2011 Color Management Conference in December. Digital PressWatch was designed within the capable Maxwell 'Cloud' service to allow digital printers the kind of QA controls inherent with traditional web and sheet-fed printing. Digital PressWatch provides tools for viewing, monitoring and reporting the performance of each and every digital press.... from a web browser. Essential tasks like verification, pass/fail reporting and trending relative to a print standard are core to its functionality.

Furthermore.... Digital PressWatch also has some unique aspects:

Full sheet analysis
Meta data gathering
Auto target scanning
Auto target routing
Real-time feedback & clear reports
Longer term trending & analysis

And.... very exciting to many users, Digital PressWatch has a visual detection 'heat map' whereby a press operator can immediately see if a press has problems and (in most cases) what the problem is! This heat map can be viewed on a monitor or printed. Many of our existing customers print this map and affix it to the side of the press, so that other operators and floor managers can also instantly see the state of the press.

Supporting its value, in a 2008 study, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) did a comprehensive study of digital presses, and discovered that the top 3 problems customers complained about were press 'uniformity'. Digital PressWatch solves the problem of detecting these issues early in the process. Digital PressWatch is the only early detection system of its kind.

Below is a link to the Digital PressWatch overview and demonstration webinar held on October 26th. Steve Upton hosts this three-part YouTube video. Click here for the 'playlist'


Digital PressWatch is priced at $999 for a single digital press per year, or $2499 for 3 presses per year. Pricing for other press quantities available. Great i1iSis+Digital PressWatch bundles are also available.
(See Ad below). Call CHROMiX Sales at (866) CHROMiX, (866) 247-6649 or go here

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

March 13 - 14th, 2012 - TechConference - 'Disruptive Workflow Startegies', Embassy Suites O'Hare, Rosemont, IL, an IDEAllince Educational seminar

March 19th - 20th, 2012 - Info*Flex 2012, Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, San Antonio, TX

March 22nd - 24th, 2012 - ISA International Sign Expo, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL

April 17th - 18th and June 14th - 15th, 2012 - G7 Digital Operator Training Program, Pittsburg, PA, sponsored by Printing Industries of America

May 3rd - 16th, 2012 - DRUPA 2012, Duesseldorf Messe, Duesseldorf Germany

June 11th - 13th, 2012 - G7 Expert/Professional Training, Pittsburg, PA, sponsored by Printing Industries of America. Call Joe Marin at 800-910-4283, ext. 731 or email

June 12th - 14th, 2012 - OnDemand Expo & Conference, Javits Center, New York, NY

October 7th - 10th, 2012 - GRAPH Expo 2012, McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL

October 18th - 20th, 2012 - SGIA Expo 21012, Las Vegas, NV

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Adobe has a public beta of LightRoom v4 available.

There are many new features and capabilities, but to us, and the world of color management, none are more relevant that the 'SOFT-PROOFING' capability
Here is a good article and review of LightRoom v4 from Amadou Diallo on DP Review. There is a fully functioning beta version download of v4 from Adobe Labs

basICColor Display v5 is finally shipping

UPGRADES and NEW versions available. Version 5 has the pro-level controls that version 4 had plus many new additional features and controls. basICColor 5 also has improved the graphics and visuals and has a more intuitive interface. New compatibilities include the new X-Rite i1DisplayPro, Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and more. Questions... let us know. CHROMIX is your basICColor USA supplier and support provider

ColorBurst Overdrive 2

ColorBurst has announced a new 64 bit - Mac RIP called Overdrive 2. Besides being fast, there are some great features: Overdrive 2 uses the exact same formula as PhotoShop for Black Point Comp. It's great for Photo printing and it uses the Advanced B&W modes of the Driver. Overdrive 2 uses the printer's internal calibration for accurate gray balance (only available through the driver). It also uses generic and custom RGB ICC profiles. And much more.
Also, until March 31st, 2012, get an additional 15% to 20% off the already discounted CHROMiX price. For more

GMG ColorProof 5.3

GMG has introduced ColorProof version 5.3. With v5.3, GMG is also introducing new features and packages including WebClient, Remote and Production. Upgrades are available for existing customers and past versions. For pricing contact CHROMiX Sales. For a features overview, check out these YouTube videos:
WebClient Remote Proofing Production Printing Miscellaneous

Spyder4 Released

Spyder4 is able to calibrate iPhone-iPad-LCDs wide gamut displays. Includes: 7-channel sensor and new filter design. New features for control and fine-tuning. On the surface, this looks like a great device.
We're curious about your Spyder4 experiences. Please post to our blog so others can learn

i1Display Pro drives EIZO CG series directly

The new X-Rite i1Display Pro now embeds the Eizo Color Navigator SDK in i1Profiler software. That means that you can hardware-calibrate a ColorEdge Eizo without Color Navigator software. This may be a convenience for those with mixed monitors in the environment.
more here

X-Rite Deals

X-Rite is taking off the gloves with some great deals for end users. The first deal includes free i1Profiler profiling software with any iSis purchase. That's a $999 value. Either the Standard size or XL size i1 iSis spectrophotometer qualify. Free i1Profiler deal

The second deal is cash back (from X-Rite) for purchase of i1Profiler software (new or upgrades). For New i1Profiler you get $300, Upgrade A you get $150, for Upgrade B you get $270. And... this cash back is in addition to savings you enjoy from CHROMiX's aggressively discounted prices. Offer expires March 31st, 2012. Cash Back deal

ColorEyes and Lion Compatibility

The folks from Integrated Color have posted a note about OS X 10.7 Lion compatibility, Apple displays and ColorEyes Display Pro calibration software. Apparently there is a significant incompatibility with the Apple Brightness Monitor Driver, OS X 10.7 Lion and ColorEyes Display Pro software. More.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

According to Steve Upton:   "Well worth the read. A well reasoned argument and a rant at the same time!". thoughts on interaction design




I LUV UV - an article by Pat Herold, CHROMiX Technical Support

As Tom Lianza of X-Rite says, "the whole UV issue is like a wound that won't stop itching." A couple of new standards have come on the scene which can change our viewing environment and give us more options when saving measurements. We wrote an article on optical brighteners in issue 36 of the CHROMiX ColorNews. We hope that this new article will provide a kind of Calomine lotion as we forage through these new UV developments.

Some history

If you recall, when we last looked at Optical Brightening Agents (OBA's), we saw that they can be present in many of the papers (and some of the inks) we use for printing. These OBA's are also known as Fluorescent Whitening Agents (FWA's). I don't know which term I like better. I might decide to use them interchangeably in this article just to confuse you, so you'd better read carefully.

FWA's are great in that they make our paper "whiter" - but they do cause problems since that brightening will change depending on our viewing environment and our eyes see this white differently than do the measuring instruments we use to measure color.

If you are printing on paper that has a lot of OBA's in it, the profiles you build will likely make your prints a bit warmer in the brighter parts of the picture - unless you employ some means of correction. This can be a big issue for those who require great accuracy in printed color. The other half of the issue is that lighting conditions affect how much OBA's are detected. In other words, different amounts of UV in the light source will determine how much the OBA's in the paper are excited in the visible spectrum.

How to get it (or not)

In order for fluorescing to happen, you need to have a light source that contains UltraViolet light shining onto a material that has FWA's in it - to make the material "fluoresce". There are several different situations you could find yourself in:

  • There may or may not be FWA's in the paper you print on or in the inks you use.
  • In addition, there may or may not be UV light in the actual light you are using to view your prints.
  • Your measurement instrument might be filtering out the UV light before it measures the color, (eg: a UV-cut i1Pro, a DTP70 with UV filter on, etc)
  • or your instrument might be using an illumination lamp in its measurement process that has no UV light in it - and is effectively doing the same thing as "filtering out" the UV light. (iSis)
Your measuring instrument might be doing absolutely nothing about filtering out any UV light. This can be perfectly fine if:
  • Your paper / ink does not have any OBA's
  • Your software is making a correction for OBA's (i1Profiler, i1Match)
  • Your prints will be viewed in such a way (under non-UV light for example) that it will not affect the viewing experience, or
  • You just don't care.
Back before we started using more paper with FWA's, we could get away with not caring most of the time. But a new viewing standard was recently implemented that affects how you'll be viewing prints in a viewing booth.

Paper and Proofing

In the world of large volume printing, you have your printing press which is a big beast of a machine that is rather costly to run, considering the paper, ink and other consumables. So when someone wants to know what an image will look like when it's printed on a press, they use a proofing printer - a printer capable of producing single prints at a fraction of the cost of firing up the whole press. This proofer is specially tweaked to look just like the press, so you can print your image on this "proofer" and get a "hard proof" that is supposed to match the press reasonably well. These proofers, whether they be a Kodak Approval or a high quality inkjet printer, make use of "proofing paper" to accomplish this feat.

Due to the fact that a printing press is a much different machine than a proofing printer - different inks, different printing technology - you usually can't print on the proofer with the same paper you'll use on the press. So you use proofing paper that is specialized to work on that printer and closely simulates the color and texture of the paper that will be run on the press. These high quality proofing papers are traditionally made specifically without optical brighteners. This is to increase the permanence of the image as well as taking the erratic UV issue out of the picture. (Regardless of whether the light in which you're viewing this proof has UV in it or not, the print will look the same. ) Okay, here comes the funny part: Proofing papers typically do not have OBA's in them but press stock frequently does. Hah!

Not to worry, say the pre-press guys. Our viewing booths have lamps that are specially made to not emit light from the ultraviolet spectrum. So the press paper (with FWA's) will look the same as the proofing paper in our light booths. Hah! Right back at you!

(This reminds me of the old joke about the guy selling an African Elephant charm. He said it was guaranteed to repel elephants in case of a stampede. When his customer protested, "there aren't any elephants within 30 miles of here," he replied, "See how well it works!" It is rather hard to fault his logic, but it somehow did not seem to be a fair test.)

Add ISO3664 excitement

While this worked out well for the press side of things, someone realized that these viewing booths did not match normal, in-the-world, daylight viewing conditions. Once the image got out "into the sun" the optical brighteners would be excited and you'd have a brighter, bluer image than was expected.

ISO3664 is the international color viewing standard for the graphic technology and photography industry. It was updated in 2009 to have more stringent requirements, so the light source would more accurately simulate the CIE D50 (daylight) illuminant in the UV range. The old standard was loose enough to allow for little or no UV light. Basically, because sunlight has UV light in it, this new standard requires a certain amount of UV to be included in these new lamps. This new standard does a better job of giving you viewing light that is more realistic.

Since the new update, lamp manufacturers have been busy reformulating lamps in order to match this standard which was implemented on January 1, 2012. As of now, all viewing booths professing to be compatible with the ISO 3664 standard will have these new UV-using lamps included, including these from GTI and Just Normlicht.

In other words...

The situation as it was:
Proofers would use proofing paper with no OBA's in it. They would print onto press paper that oftentimes had OBA's in it. Viewing these two in a press-side viewing booth would allow these two images to appear the same. This also made it easier to have proof-to-proof matching.

The situation now (as of January 1, 2012):
Proofers are still using proofing paper with no OBA's in it. The press is still printing onto paper with OBA's in it. The viewing booths have more realistic UV-including lamps. These prints are no longer matching in viewing booths. Customers are getting more realistic views of what their prints look like under normal daylight. Proofers are having a harder time getting their proofs to match the press. They are getting frustrated when their clients perceive their proofs as being "less accurate."

If you happen to be in the client role in this scenario, you might cut your printer some slack. There are some changes in the industry and it will take a while to find the best path forward. The easy solution for proofers is to use the same stock that is used on the press. But that can be harder than it sounds since there are different inks and different printing processes involved. A second option is to find proofing paper with a similar level of OBA's in it. Finally, some profiling software allows one to dial in a profile so that it visually matches what you see on the press. (See our article on X-Rite's OBC module.)

ISO measurement modes

Part of the reason why the industry has taken this step toward requiring more realistic UV in our light sources, is because we now have more instruments that can measure UV and more ways to deal with it in creating profiles.

2009 also saw the revision of the standard which deals with how to take measurements of color in the graphic arts industry (must have been a good year for standards). ISO 13655-2009 introduces four measurement conditions which you might start seeing cropping up in your newer measuring software.

"M0"
M0 delineates that the measurement was made using "illuminant A" which is the traditional tungsten lamp. Most of your older instruments would have this kind of lamp (ie: i1Pro, DTP41, DTP70, Spectrolino). M0 does not define UV content. As a result, M0 can be thought of as the fall-back condition for instruments not conforming to M1 through M3 - including older UV-cut instruments that don't conform to the specific UV filtering of M2.

"M1"
M1 specifies the measurement light as being D50, that is - normal daylight. This would include a specific amount of UV light, and not be polarized. As of now, there are very few instruments that conform to this measurement condition (the D50 spectral curve is difficult to produce). Two that do are the BARBIERI Spectropad and the Konica Minolta FD-7.

"M2"
M2 describes any non-polarized light that has UV filtered out. This includes measurements made by XRGA-compatible instruments in UV-cut mode but NOT older instruments. The UV filter is carefully defined and most older UV-cut instruments are not compliant.

"M3"
M3 is for measurements that are polarized (and are assumed to have the same UV filtering as M2). Polarizing the light as it is measured can be used to reduce the way the surface of the media bounces light back up to the sensor, and can draw more shadow detail from some difficult media substrates like canvas and matte papers. It also almost eliminates the difference between wet and dry measurements and is useful for those who need consistency between on-press and older work.

The new i1Profiler software has the ability to save its measurement files in these four different "measurement modes." You will most likely see M0 and M2 used, depending on what instrument you are measuring with of course.

These new modes show up when you save a measurement. The label for each mode is included in the name of the measurement as well as in the header information in the measurement file itself. While it's still too early to tell what impact these modes will have on the industry, the intention here is that they will do a better job of communicating the purpose for which the measurement was taken.

It's tempting to see change as a threat, and it's certainly possible that devious minds will mask subversive plots by appealing to change. But I don't think anything so sinister is happening in the color world. Ideally change happens because of a sincere desire to improve things or react better to changes that have already taken place. At CHROMiX, we are devoted to bringing you information on the noteworthy changes that are happening in the industry in a truthful and easy-to-digest manner.

Thanks for reading,

Pat Herold

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2012 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #48 - Print Verification

SmartNote: 50187
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 48 - May 16, 2012

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Print Verification - Are your Proofs Bona Fide?
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Curve2 VERIFY Module and DEMO mode

To address the growing need for a stand-alone G7 verification tool, CHROMiX and HutchColor have developed Curve2 'Verify' mode. This is the same great verification feature that Curve2 has always had but now can be licensed separately for customers who simply want to verify a sample print for G7 Grayscale or G7 Targeted compliance.

Curve2 Verify only mode is $99. Verify users can upgrade to Curve2 for $1100 unlocking full Curve2 goodness.

Also, as a side announcement and by popular request, there is a new 'Demo' mode for Curve2. Demo mode allows users to test the interface as well as the main calibration and verification functionalities of Curve2 (including Verify mode) without a serial number. Sample files are included and are used for Demo mode.

So, download Curve2.3 for the new modes as well as updated OneRun targets and apogee and Konica Minolta native output files.

For more please contact CHROMIX Sales at 877-ColorGear or sales@chromix.com or to order here

ColorThink Pro Tips & Tricks

CHROMiX has been adding videos on Tips and Tricks with ColorThink Pro. We now have two videos (and growing), narrated by our own comedic technician, Pat Herold. The first is about using ColorThink Pro for Linearization and Optimization, and the second contains a few examples and some good advice on how to spot a bad profile using ColorThink Pro.

Stay tuned for more soon. And feel free to comment on the humor!

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

May 3rd - 16th, 2012 - DRUPA 2012, Duesseldorf Messe, Duesseldorf Germany

June 11th - 13th, 2012 - G7 Expert/Professional Training, Pittsburg, PA, sponsored by Printing Industries of America. Call Joe Marin at 800-910-4283, ext. 731 or email jmarin@printing.org

June 12th - 14th, 2012 - OnDemand Expo & Conference, Javits Center, New York, NY

June 24th - June 28th, 2012 - IPMA In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association, Kansas City, MO

October 7th - 10th, 2012 - GRAPH Expo 2012, McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL

October 18th - 20th, 2012 - SGIA Expo 21012, Las Vegas, NV

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

ColorEyes Display Pro v1.6 Update (Mac only)

Integrated Color Corp. has released version 1.6 of their ColorEyes Display Pro monitor calibration and profiling software for Mac. Its a paid upgrade for existing v1.5 customers ($49). It contains support for new instruments (i1DisplayPro, Spyder4 and ColorMunki) and the latest OS's. It also provides DDC support for the NEC PA series and Wacom Cintique tablets. (Again, Mac only). Here are some important notes and for now, the upgrade must be purchased direct through Integrated Color.

New EIZO Features

Eizo has introduced three interesting new features in their latest ColorNavigator calibration software version update 6.1.1: 1) Mobile Device color emulation for tablets and smartphones, 2) Film Emulation via the ability to apply 3D LUT's, and finally 3) Support for the new Spyder 4.

NEC latest SpectraView II calibration software now supports the DISCUS

more

X-Rite acquired by Danaher Corporation

X-Rite and industry people we've spoken to are positive about this acquisition

X-Rite ships the new generation i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer

The new i1Pro '2' is the heir replacement to the legendary handheld spectrophotometer, the i1Pro. The i1Pro 2 will replace all i1Pro bundles moving forward (i1Basic, i1Photo, i1Publish, etc.). The i1Pro 2 has a new design, look and feel, and in fact won the recentRed Dot Award Probably the most important new addition is of different illuminants in one device. The i1Pro 2 includes illuminant conditions: M0 (Standard Illuminant A), the emerging M1 (illuminant D50) and M2 (known as UV-cut). The i1Pro 2 also has a new status LED, new diagnostics and self-correction features plus a new self-cleanable aperture protection glass and white tile cover, and more.

i1Basic Pro 2 bundle,i1Photo Pro 2 bundle, i1Publish Pro 2 bundle

X-Rite released i1Profiler version 1.3.1 software update

Version 1.3's main functionality includes compatibility with the new i1Pro 2 device in M0 and M1 measurement conditions. It also includes the ability for smaller patch sizes (to 7mm), white point editing(!), improved CGATS reading, two chart measurement workflows added, CMYK+4 is corrected, and more. i1Publish software...

X-Rite has upgraded ColorPort to 2.0.5

to support the new i1Pro 2 device, i1Profiler 1.3.1 software and most known issues with MacOS 10.5, 10.6 32/64, 10.7 32/64 and Windows XP 32, Vista 32/64, Win7 32/64. Available free here.

2nd Generation iO Table from X-Rite

for the new i1Pro 2...

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

Andrew Rodney has a video overview of soft proofing in Lightroom 4:    In short, he likes it. LR has quite a few features that make it better than Photoshop. It has a histogram of the image that updates with the profile being used. Simulate paper is handled better, more subtly. LR has the ability to save a "virtual copy" based on a soft proof that leaves the original alone. Finally, LR has out of gamut warnings for both the monitor profile and the output profile, and more.

We think anyone associated with the Graphic Arts industry:   will enjoy this WhatTheyThink.com article from Cary Sherbourne. She looks back at the story of DX Imaging (a joint effort from Xerox and DuPont) in what could have fundamentally changed the printing industry.

A sad note for those who use and love the Spectrolino/Spectroscan:   Parts, technical support and recalibration for the Spectrolino line will be discontinued by X-Rite December 2013. It is expected that no other company will be licensed or authorized to support it further

Moving outside of our profession (a bit):   here are two fun video's you might enjoy. These are about 6-7 minutes each, but we're confident the geek side of you will benefit. Higgs Boson and Dark Matter explained through animation.




Print Verification - Are your Proofs Bona Fide? An article by CHROMiX field specialist Terry Wyse

(All about print verification and what it may mean....or not) With proofing being a large percentage of my color management business, the topic of proof verification comes up quite often. I thought an article covering proof and print verification and what it means.....and what it DOESN'T NECESSARILY mean would be valuable. This article is intended both for those in print and proof production but also for those receiving proofs from outside vendors. If you're receiving a proof and it has some sort of "pass/fail" label on the proof, it's critical to know what EXACTLY that pass/fail label means to you as the person accepting the proof.

I'll break things down into three categories of verification:

  • Proof verification (external)
  • Proof verification (internal)
  • Calibration verification

Proof Verification (external)

Let's talk about "external" proof verification first since this is probably the easiest one to define and likely what most people understand the term "proof verification" to mean when someone is handing them a verified proof.

Generally, a "verified proof" is meant to convey to the party receiving the proof that this proof has passed some sort of quality assurance test (measured with a spectrophotometer such as an i1Pro) with the implication that the proof you received was compared to some "standard" and was deemed acceptable to within some tolerance, usually a "delta e" tolerance (I'll refer to "delta e" as simply "dE" from now on). What's usually measured in this case is a small color bar that's included on the proof, usually something like the IDEAlliance 12647-7 Control Strip (see graphic) but other types of control strips can be used as well such as the FOGRA Media Wedge or similar. The point here is that the control strip should include, at minimum, both primary (CMYK) and secondary (RGB) colors plus tints. Most control strips will also include a selection of "memory colors" such as skin tones plus several steps of CMY neutrals and similar steps of K only....all-in-all a couple dozen patches of colors.

IDEAlliance 12647-7 Control Strip:

The first thing that's critical here is WHAT standard is being used to compare against? If the proofing is targeted to a standard print specification such as GRACoL, SWOP or one of the many FOGRA specifications, then the logical thing would be to compare the control strip colors against the standard colorimetric (L*a*b*) values specified by that standard. If you don't know what they are, you can visit the various "owners" of these specifications and usually they will publish exactly what the L*a*b* values should be for the control strip they support. If they don't, the values can usually be derived either from their standard characterization data set (ECI2002 or IT8.7/4 data sets) or via an ICC profile made from their standard data set (this is easy to do in ColorThink Pro via a Worksheet). It's generally understood in this scenario that you'll be using some form of "absolute colorimetric" rendering since you're comparing directly to an external standard which, by definition, would include the paper white point of that standard.

So the proof is printed, including the control strip, and then measured/compared either in software made specifically for proof verification or you can even do it by hand in an Excel spreadsheet (this is rather clumsy and some of the dE formulae used for comparing are not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach!). Once verified, typically a small adhesive "pass/fail" label is printed and affixed to the proof to show the person receiving the proof that it's "all good" and can be trusted to represent the final printed job, assuming the press run is targeted to that same printing specification (it doesn't do anyone any good if you produce the perfect GRACoL proof only to have the job printed via web offset on a #5 press stock...they won't match!).

Proof Verification (internal)

So far so good......but let's say you're really not interested in comparing your proof to some "absolute" external standard but are more interested in proof consistency as opposed to accuracy. If that's your goal (and it's equally valid in my opinion), then your "standard" becomes the proof that you agreed was a good visual match to your reference when the proofing system was first installed and profiled. I call this "internal" proof verification. The simulation in your proofing system could still be based on a specification such as GRACoL, but you simply want to verify against your proofing system's interpretation of that specification and monitor your proofing system's consistency.

Print your "stake in the ground" proof (include a control strip) that everybody agrees is a good proof and then measure the control strip, the same one you'll use later for verification. This measurement is established as the standard that all subsequent proofs will be compared against. Usually the verification software you're using will accommodate custom standards or at least will give you a way of manually entering the L*a*b* values from your "golden" proof into the software.

Calibration Verification

A third option is similar to the internal verification above. I call it calibration verification. In this case, instead of verifying against your proof's color-managed interpretation of a standard specification, you want to verify that your proofing system's calibration (ink limiting and linearization generally) is consistent. The major difference here is that you print a control strip with color management DISabled but with calibration (linearization) ENabled. Again, if you're primarily interested in consistency from proof-to-proof, this method has several advantages:

You're verifying proof consistency using the entire color gamut of the printer, not just a dumbed-down version that's been run through a profile conversion ("color-managed"). By testing/comparing using the entire color gamut of the printer, your proof verification should pick up on proof consistency issues sooner than a color-managed verification would (a color-managed verification could actually "mask" or hide proof consistency problems).

Since a printer's calibration is generally common for all color-managed conversions on that media, you only need to perform a single proof verification. On the other hand, if you verify to a proof standard and use several production proofing simulations (GRACoL, SWOP, Uncoated, etc.), you may need to establish proof verification parameters for all those proofing simulations....even though they all use the same basic calibration parameters. "Calibration" verification eliminates the need for separate verification of each standard, assuming your production proof standards share the same media calibration.

Disadvantages to this method? Yes, a couple:

  • Some proofing systems require that the same color management applied to the images be applied to the control strip. Only a few of the high-end systems allow you to include a control strip on the proof and print it without color management.
  • It's possibly overly-sensitive to proof inconsistency...you may be lead to overreact to a calibration issue when it may not show up visually on a proof.

No matter which of these methodologies you employ, you'll likely be setting a tolerance based on dE....but it's important to know WHAT dE formula is appropriate (there are several) for these different scenarios. Since a thorough discussion of the different dE calculation methods is really beyond the scope of this article, I'll focus on the methods most commonly employed and how they differ.

The first and most common dE calculation is called dE 1976 or simply dE76 for short. dE76 is a very simple calculation and simply gives you the mathematical distance of one color from another using L*a*b* colorimetry (show formula here?). It's important to note that the mathematical difference between two colors is not the same as the visual difference. In other words, a dE76 difference of "2" between two yellow colors would not illicit the same visual response as that same difference between two blue colors.....you would likely see a visual difference between the two blues but perhaps not perceive any difference at all between the two yellows, even though they both had the same dE76 color difference.

Fortunately, we have another dE calculation that is more relevant to visual differences, not just mathematical ones. That formula is called dE 2000 or simply dE00. The beauty of this formula is that it more accurately accounts for how we humans respond visually to various colors across the spectrum. With dE00, a difference of, say, "2" elicits roughly the same visual response no matter what color pairs you're comparing. In colorimetric terms, dE00 is more "sensitive" to hue and lightness differences as opposed to chroma or "saturation" differences. These explanations oversimplify the differences between these two dE calculation methods but I think you get the idea.

(For more information on deltaE, see ColorNews #17: The Color Difference)

What's important here is that when exchanging "verified" proofs and using dE criteria as the tolerance, you need to know WHAT dE calculation is being employed. From the discussion above, it would seem obvious that if we're interested in comparing visual differences between proofs and press sheets that dE00 would likely make the most sense. Wish it were that simple! Unfortunately, there's a long history of using dE76 as the color difference metric for legacy reasons as well as because it's the simpler formula to use. If you see any dE tolerance specifications for print standards and specifications, you can almost be assured that they are using dE76 as the calculation method.

Here's where I come down on what dE method should be used for these different types of proof verification:

If you're using the "external" proof verification method and you're being asked to use the same dE tolerances as established by the standards bodies (IDEAlliance, Fogra), then you're pretty much stuck with using the "straight" dE76 method. But as the standards bodies transition from dE76 to more modern "visual" difference calculations such as dE00, by all means use these newer methods instead. If it's an "internal" or closed proof verification you're doing, I would suggest you use dE00 since this will alert you to any real visual differences that may be happening.

For "calibration" verification, I would likely stick to using dE76 since this tends to be the more sensitive method......I would rather have my calibration verification routine alert me to color problem before it actually becomes an issue on my production proofs. The dE76 method may be overly-sensitive where visual differences are concerned but when it comes to checking calibration, I would want to run a fairly tight ship. If you feel it's too sensitive, then simply adjust your dE tolerance criteria upwards a bit to give yourself a bit more calibration slack.

Summary:
If you take only one thing away from all this verification and dE talk, it's that you need to communicate with your proof-provider and 1) insist on some sort of proof verification and 2) understand exactly how they are verifying the proofs you receive and what standard (if any) they're being compared against....and understand what dE method they are employing. It would also behoove you to be able to verify the proofs you're receiving for yourself. The investment in hardware and software to do this yourself is minimal. CHROMiX plug: Talk to someone at CHROMiX about their excellent Maxwell system. With Maxwell, not only can you verify and share your proof/press verification data, the entry fee is extremely inexpensive compared to other stand-alone solutions. I've started using it myself with some of my customers to monitor their proofing systems remotely and it's been extremely helpful.

(Terry Wyse is a well known and recognized industry expert of color management. Terry is a G7 Certified Expert and provides press profiling and press optimization services. He also provides knowledge and services for pre-press, proofing and other related areas. Terry has a wide range of product familiarity too long to list here. Finally, Terry is a valued partner of CHROMiX and is much appreciated.)

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2012 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #49 - Tab Delimited Text Files

SmartNote: 50192
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 49 - August 28, 2012

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - CGATS and Tab-delimited Text files
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

ColorThink Pro - a new Tips and Tricks video

Interested in learning more about ColorThink Pro? Check out Pat Herold's absorbing new Tips and Tricks training video, "Viewing a Rendered gamut in Colorthink Pro".

Curve2 Verify - now for sale

CHROMiX and HutchColor have recently released an updated version of Curve2 (v2.3) for those customers who simply want to verify a sample print (such as G7 Grayscale or G7 Targeted compliance). Curve2 Verify mode is the same exceptional verification feature as in the full version of Curve2, but can now be licensed separately. Users can buy a "Verify-only" mode of Curve2 for only $99. For those customers who wish to unlock all Curve2 features, you can upgrade to Curve2 for $1100. Version 2.3 of Curve2 also includes a new Demo mode allowing users to try out the interface and the main calibration and verification functions of Curve2 without a serial number. Sample files are included and must be used in Demo mode.

New OneRun Targets

Curve2 version 2.3, now supports two different "OneRun" targets. In any color list you drop into Curve2, it will automatically identify the patches that belong to a P2P target, an IT8 target or now an HC2052 target. The idea is you only need one collection of patches in order to do both the G7 Curve linearization and the profiling of the press. This is particularly useful when used with our VPR (Virtual Press Run) module. We make available a few samples of these OneRun targets at CHROMiX, but anyone can create their own if you know a few basics about manipulating tab-delimited text files. For example, you may want to re-arrange the patches so they fit the dimensions you need for your sheet or measurement instrument. Read this month's article on Tab-Delimited Text Files for more hints on how to do this.

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

September 10th - 12th, 2012 - SPECTRUM 2012 - Arizona Grand Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Spectrum is an IDEAlliance annual conference designed to integrate and engage all media professionals and the associations leadership councils and working groups.

September 18th - 23rd, 2012 - Photokina 'World of Imaging' - Cologne, Germany. Premiere event for photography and imaging of all kinds.

October 7th - 10th, 2012 - GRAPH Expo 2012, McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL. The grandaddy of US-based print and graphics shows and conferences. CHROMiX will be there. HereÕs a great overview of GraphExpo:

October 18th - 20th, 2012 - SGIA Expo 2012, Las Vegas, NV.

November 12th, 2012 - ICC DevCon 2012 Conference hosted by the ICC, plus the IS&T/SID 20th Annual Color Imaging Conference - Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown, 711 South Hope Street. A conference for users and product developers of ICC based color management.

December 1st - 4th, 2012 - Color Management Conference presented by the Printing Industries of America - Hotel Valley Ho, 6850 E. Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Exclusively focused on color management only. CHROMiX will be there.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Barbieri SpectroPad EDP Award

The European Digital Press Association (EDP) awarded Barbieri the 2012 EDP Technical Committee Award for the SpectroPad. The SpectroPad boasts a few unique and innovative features: WiFi capable, battery-powered, 6 mm aperature, support for M0-M1-M2 Illuminant conditions and more.

basICColor gHOST v2

basICColor released gHOST version 2 color server. gHOST manages PDF/X to PDF/5n files, TIFF, JPEG and PSD pixel files. With options, gHOST handles standard and MultiColor ICC and DeviceLink profiles and fully automatic conversions via hotfolder or drag&drop. And more. gHOST supports Mac OS X Mountain Lion and Windows 7.

ColorBurst PLUS Promo

ColorBurst is kicking in the $300 'Plus' portion of the X-Proof RIP for FREE until October 31st. The 'Plus' version does everything the X-Proof standard does, plus adds the ability to automatically print standard or custom color bars, PrintCertification targets, and job titles with each print. Plus also allows you to define custom spot colors. Plus includes the full licensed PANTONE color library and ColorBursts AutoSpot technology which improves the accuracy of Pantone colors. X-Proof Plus version 7 available for Mac OS X only. *Promo excludes X-Proof 3800/3880 version. FREE PLUS PROMO

New Eizo ColorEdge models

Eizo has announced two new ColorEdge models in their top-end graphics category: the CG276W and the CG246W. Both have the new built-in SelfCorrection sensor and have all of the attributes of a top-end ColorEdge. The CG246W will be Eizo's first LED monitor at this level

Eizo Introduces 2 new series

Eizo has also announced two new monitor series (CX and CS) well in advance of their expected arrival. The CX is a mid-range series targeted at design and photography prosumers and professionals. The CX series includes a new built-in SelfCorrection sensor. Models will initially be the CX240 (24.1') and the CX270 (27'). The CS is a entry-level series targeted at at design and photography and also includes the built-in SelfCorrection sensor. The first CS model will be the CS230 (23'). Expect to see the first new CG, CX and CS models at Photokina in September, and despite what is on Eizo's PR, don't expect these to ship in the USA until end of the year. No pricing available yet. Eizo's NEW ColorEdge Models

X-Rite's new eXact

X-Rite is rumoured to be shipping the new eXact sensor within a month. The eXact spectrophotometer was introduced this year at DRUPA. The eXact will have OBA detection/compensation capabilities and support the new M0, M1, M2 illuminant standards. eXact will have XRGA (X-Rite Graphic Arts Standard) embedded to simplify other X-Rite instrument agreement. The eXact is targeted at the pressroom and prepress as well to connect supply chains communicating with the new cloud-based PantoneLIVE color service. No pricing available yet.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

Windows 7 Monitor Profile Problems:   CHROMiX Tech Support is getting more questions lately from Windows 7 users having difficulties with monitor profiles. Here is a great link from X-Rite that should help: Win7VideoSetup

I1Display2 and Mountain Lion:   It appears (at this point) that X-Rite may not support i1Display2 in Max OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion any further.

i1Pro 2 '2nd' Tag:   i1Pro 2: CHROMiX Tech Support is getting a few calls about this one... Many people are buying the new and popular i1Pro 2 (the latest spectrophotometer from X-Rite), and not realizing that there is a second "tag"" on the bottom of the unit covering a sensor that MUST be removed."

iO Table Gen 2 Recall:   Last ColorNews issue 48 we mentioned the new 2nd Generation iO Table from X-Rite: NEW Generation-2 iO Table However, there has been a recall because of an electrical short (apparently not dangerous to users). The product affected is specifically the i1iO Rev 3, Part Number 42.62.59, Model: eye-one iO. You can find this information on the product sticker. X-Rite will contact affected users. As of 8/14/12 X-Rite apparently has corrected the problem (base plate implement) and is now shipping i1iO Table Gen 2 product again. Should you have any questions, please contact supporttech@xrite.com.

Curiosity's Cameras:   NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover has kicked up a lot of interest lately. This short article describes the 17 cameras Curiosity has onboard. There's a bit about the camera's calibration plaque as well. The Photo-Geeks Guide to Curiosity Rover's 17 Caneras

Curiosity and NASA Video Spoof:   Puget Sound Business Journal posted a video spoof about NASA that has gone virtually viral... it'll have you smiling. NASA & Curiosity Video Spoof


UPGRADE GUIDE for i1Publish and i1Pro 2:    Many people are confused with the plethora of current i1Publish and i1Pro 2 upgrade options from X-Rite. Add to that the myriad of legacy X-Rite and GretagMacbeth products, and you have compounded confusion. We took to task to make things simpler for our customers and in the process discovered that we actually offer something unique and likely unbeatable. So, we negotiated with X-Rite some exclusive i1Pro 2 upgrades for our past CHROMiX customers who had purchased an i1Pro product since 2001. If you have been wondering how you can upgrade your older i1Pro (see lists below) to the new i1Pro 2... This is the upgrade program you have been waiting for. The savings from these offers will most likely surpass anything that you may have seen from any reseller or X-Rite. And, it's only available from CHROMiX for a limited time. These offers are effective immediately. THREE ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS: i1Basic Pro 2 Includes the NEW i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer (measurement device), calibration plate, ambient light measurement head, monitor holder, positioning target, scanning ruler, backup board, USB cable, i1Profiler v1.x software for monitors, PANTONE Color Manager software and soft-sided storage case. i1Photo Pro 2 Includes all items from above plus i1Profiler v1.x software for projectors and RGB printers, ColorChecker Camera Calibration software, ColorChecker Classic target (mini), ColorChecker Proof target. i1Publish Pro 2 Includes all items above plus i1Profiler v1.x software for CMYK+ printers. UPGRADES (6 Options): See Ad below this Guide for pricing (1) i1Basic Pro 2

Qualifying i1Pro product: *Any* i1Pro device
(2) i1Photo Pro 2
Qualifying i1Pro product: OEM i1Pro (i.e.: EFI ES-1000. Call CHROMiX Sales if unsure) i1Photo i1Photo SG Any i1Pro device plus i1Match RGB Module added
The next two upgrade options are for i1Publish Pro 2, depending on which i1Pro you have: (3) i1Publish Pro 2 UPGRADE 'A'
Qualifying i1Pro product: i1Basic plus an i1Match module added later i1Design LT plus an i1Match module added later i1Photo LT plus an i1Match module added later i1Photo i1Photo SG i1Proof i1XT i1XTreme ProfileMaker v5 profiling software Monaco Profiler v4 profiling software
(4) i1Publish Pro 2 UPGRADE 'B'
Qualifying i1Pro product: OEM i1Pro (Call CHROMiX Sales if unsure) i1Basic (if i1Match added, see Upgrade A) i1Design LT (if i1Match added, see Upgrade A) i1Photo LT (if i1Match added, see Upgrade A)
The above (4) Upgrade Offers are EXCLUSIVE FOR CHROMiX Customers. The sale ends, October 31, 2012. For PO's, all orders must be placed by November 30, 2012. This is NOT a public offering and is posted to a private website explicitly for this promo. The pricing listed here is not available through any other reseller and is below X-Rites MAP pricing. This website will cease once the promo period is over, October 31, 2012.
(5) i1Pro 2 'Device Only' upgrade for i1Profiler owners:
Qualifying i1Profiler product: Note: This adds the new i1Pro2 hardware to your prior i1Profiler purchase. i1Photo Pro or UV version bundle (EOPHO or EOPHUV) i1Publish Pro or UV version bundle (EOPUB or EOPUBUV) i1Publish software (EOPROF) i1Publish Upgrade A (EOPROF-UPGA) i1Publish Upgrade B (EOPROF-UPGB) Details: You must have bought an 'i1Profiler' solution listed above after April 2011. When you upgrade from an i1Pro legacy solution, all i1Profiler functionality will transfer to the new i1Pro2 device, otherwise it stays on your dongle. You will keep your old i1Pro which will retain monitor, projector and QA functions. This offer #5 ends December 31, 2012
(6) i1Publish Pro 2 $600 TRADE-UP Program:
Qualifying Trade-up devices: Pulse (DTP20) DTP-41 (any variety) Details: Trade-up your DTP-41 or DTP-20 and receive $600 cash back rebate after you purchase an i1Publish Pro 2. This program will be effective starting September 1 and will end December 31, 2012. More details and Pricing to be posted to CHROMiX website as they become available.
Full Upgrade Guide Details




CGATS and Tab-delimited Text files an article from Pat Herold

I hail from back in the day when building a profiling target from scratch was a laborious task, involving entering RGB or CMYK numbers by hand into a spreadsheet. When ProfileMaker 5 came out with its own target generator, I thought, "There's a skill set I'll never be called on to use again." Little did I know! There has been and still continues to be a need for manipulating these text-delimited "CGATS-style" text files and getting into the guts of them to see what's going on. Popular profiling software, like basICColor Print imports and exports these files. The long-awaited flagship product from X-Rite, i1Profiler, allows for several different file types to be used to save and load color lists as needed. Fortunately they have provided support for the more common text files to allow the average person to create and edit their own lists of colors and use them in their software.

In this article, I want to present you with a starting primer for how to build and work with color lists in the form of tab-delimited text files. This is not as daunting as it sounds. Even if you have never done any computer programing, I'll try to make this fairly easy to pick up and understand.

I suppose if I'm going to ask you to wade through a more technical article that you're used to with the CHROMiX ColorNews, I had better start out with a compelling list of benefits for you to do so! Once you know your way around how these color files are put together, you can:

- Create a list of Lab spot colors that you want to compare and analyze to see how they work in your printing system. These could be Pantone colors or other spot colors that you or your client are particularly interested in. A color list brought into a program like ColorThink will tell you quickly whether the colors are in or out of gamut for your printer.

- Go beyond the limits of the target generator in your profiling software to make a profiling target with *fewer* patches. Why? Perhaps you don't need a profiling target, but a customized "quality verification" target which contains the key colors that your company is interested in keeping an eye on. This would never be used to create a profile, but is a great way to fit the patches you want into a small space that you can print out once in a while to verify that your colors are consistent. I have used this with great benefit in a company that mostly produced 4x6 RGB prints and needed a daily "control strip" of specific colors that fit onto this small space.

- Move patches around in a target. It might be very useful to have a row of your primary colors in a certain place on your profiling target. Having a few K-only patches down in a corner makes it easy to verify whether color management was left on when printing the target. Just knowing how to do simple edits like this is very useful.

- Become a better troubleshooter. Say you are trying to re-generate a profile with an older measurement file, and your profiling software gives you a message that says "invalid file." Once you get to a certain point in your knowledge of color management, you're going to want to do more than merely fire off a tech support email to the software manufacturer and wait for an answer. A better solution is to find a workaround quickly to allow you to get your job done. Many error messages are attributed to problems in measurement files which are tab-delimited text files.

- Create unusually shaped targets. If you wanted to profile the face of a CD or DVD for example, you would need a round target with a hole in the middle rather than the usual rectangular target. It is possible to do this if you know how to edit reference and measurement files.

So what's a "CGATS tab-delimited text file"?

This is a simple text file (with a .txt extension) which contains table-based information that uses tabs to separate the different columns of information. You can create and use these files with a simple text editor (like Notepad in Windows or TextEdit in Mac) - but it sometimes turns out to be easier to work these tables out in a spreadsheet program like Excel, and then output them as tab-delimited text.

CGATS is the organization that rolled this exchange format into a standard (CGATS.17-2009) which has been widely adopted in the color industry. Sometimes people refer to any tab-delimited text files as CGATS files, but doing so could be a bit confusing, for the CGATS.17 standard also covers .xml files. CGATS.17 text

All CGATS-style tab-delimited text files will start at the top with a few rows of "header" information: Explanatory information defining the terms that will be used, and other necessary information. The last line of the header information is: "BEGIN_DATA" (minus the quotes). The only "footer" required is a final line at the bottom which reads "END_DATA".

In between BEGIN_DATA and END_DATA is the table containing all of your patch color information. For a reference file, you would see RGB data if this were an RGB color list (used for monitor profiles or driver-based printing) with numbers between 0 and 255. A CMYK reference will contain CMYK columns running from 0 to 100.

A measurement file will contain columns of Lab, XYZ or other flavors of information. It might also contain 32 to 36 bands of spectral information - which represent the actual bands of light reflectance that was measured by the spectrophotometer. These days, measurement files generally contain the reference information columns too, so that the same file can act as both the reference and the measurement.

But let's start it out nice and simple. Here's a small color list of Lab values that you could type out in about a minute. Just remember to separate the different "words" by hitting the tab key, not the spacebar.

BEGIN_DATA_FORMAT
Lab_L Lab_a Lab_b
END_DATA_FORMAT
BEGIN_DATA
91 -2 96
44 -29 2
END_DATA
click to download this file

This will give you a 2-patch color list containing a yellow and a green patch. This is easily imported into ColorThink 2 or ColorThink Pro, where you can, for example, transform these values through a profile or view them in the Grapher. Of course, you can take this as a template and substitute your own Lab values and make the list as long as you like.

Oftentimes, color lists contain a leftmost column which numbers the items in the list, and also a column next to it which represents the name of the patch.

Some software have different requirements in the header that they are looking for in order to accept a file. You can easily figure out what's needed by saving out a sample file from the software and opening it in a text editor to see what they like to put in the header.

For example, here's a file that would work as a basic RGB reference file for i1Profiler. Type - or copy and paste the following:

KEYWORD "SampleID"
KEYWORD "SAMPLE_NAME"
NUMBER_OF_FIELDS 5
BEGIN_DATA_FORMAT
SampleID SAMPLE_NAME RGB_R RGB_G RGB_B
END_DATA_FORMAT
NUMBER_OF_SETS 3
BEGIN_DATA
1 red 250 50 50
2 white 251 252 253
3 blue 30 30 180
END_DATA

click to download this file

You will have the start of an RGB reference list which can easily import into ColorThink 2 or Pro, or into i1Profiler as an RGB patch set.

Excel
A text editor is easily managed, but does not allow you to add/delete entire columns or sort data. So a spreadsheet program like Excel is a much better way to sort columns of data, rearrange data from one part of the color list to another, or eliminate or add entire rows. Don't have Excel? Google docs offers a simple spreadsheet program as well, and it's free.

Sometimes, you can open a text file directly into Excel and it will automatically walk you through a few questions relating to how you want the data parsed out into columns and rows. If you find that Excel does not accept a color list file directly, open a blank worksheet and, from the menu bar, choose: Data -> Get external data... Here you can browse to and select the text file you want to get - and Excel will open it into your worksheet.

Some of the useful functions of Excel would be: Using the sort function to identify the location of specific patches in a long color list. If you decide you don't need XYZ data in a measurement file, you can easily delete those columns and edit the header information accordingly. Bringing a file into Excel will strip away any quotation marks that surround the color name, and then you can save this cleaner version out of Excel again. (Some programs won't accept a tab-delimited file that contains quotation marks.)

To save the file out of Excel back into the tab-delimited file that will open properly in all these programs, choose:

- File > Save As..., - Give the file a name, and choose the Format as "Text (Tab delimited)", - Choose Save. If you wish to immediately open this color list into another program, you will need to close out of the file in Excel, in order to allow it to be available to other programs.

Measurement files
So far I have been talking about reference files, required for creating targets. If you're also involved in measuring colors, you'll find that measurement files take different forms depending on what application you are using.

ColorPort
- is a free program by X-Rite which allows you to create, measure and save targets. Since X-Rite's MeasureTool app is being phased out, ColorPort is the recommended free, universal app going forward. ColorPort creates targets using the .xml format (another variant of the CGATS.17 format.) which is not quite so simple to read and edit as the ASCII format. But that's okay, because what you're really needing to know is how to save your data out of ColorPort. When saving a measurement, you get a dialog box with several options. The default format is "CGATS". Using either the default or the "ProfileMaker 5" option will get you files that you can bring into ColorThink, i1Profiler, Curve2, and others. You can also choose the "Tab Delimited" option which allows you to customize what information is included in the saved file.

MeasureTool
- from the ProfileMaker suite, still has a large following of users. MeasureTool outputs its measurements as tab-delimited text files (there are no other options.) These are generally acceptable by most profile-building apps.

basICColor print
basICColor is a very popular profiling software in Europe. It is designed to work with CGATS tab delimited files, and accepts them easily.

i1Profiler
If you have an i1Pro or an iSis chart reader, i1Profiler is the software you will likely be using to make profiles going forward. It can be a bit fussy about the flavor of text-delimited format that you import into it. It will accept fully compliant CGATS.17- formatted files, and some of the latest updates make it easier to accept older files and save out to various flavors of output format. If you have any trouble getting files into i1Profiler, use the examples in this article as a place to start troubleshooting. When saving your files out of i1Profiler, take advantage of one of the "ProfileMaker5 CGATS" options in order to view your files in ColorThink or import them into Curve2.

Curve2
Curve software was developed before i1Profiler was released, so it was designed to accept ProfileMaker flavor of text-delimited files. When you read your P2P target using ColorPort for example, choose the ProfileMaker5 option for the output format to be compatible with Curve2. Curve2 also has the ability to export the P2P measurements that have been dropped into it. When exported, Curve strips off the original header and puts a simplified text-delimited header in place. These files can be brought into programs like ColorThink for diagnosis. ColorThink Pro
ColorThink 2 and ColorThink Pro like to receive data in the ProfileMaker flavor of files. So choose this option when saving measurement files if you'd like to bring them into ColorThink for analysis. ColorThink can also export color lists created in its Worksheet. These have a simplified text-delimited header and the files containing reference information (device values) can be imported into Curve2, ColorPort, i1Profiler and basICColor Print.

Well, I'm at the bottom of the page, so I'm going to have to wrap this up. I'm sure what you're read so far has created more questions than I've answered, and I'm sorry about that. (I did tell you this was just a primer, didn't I?)

Let me suggest that any readers that would like to take a crack at some of this should send questions to the ColorNews section of our ColorForums. ColorNews Discussions I wrote this article because there is a dearth of information online about how to do this. With this article as a starting point and several discussions that might follow, my hope is that this will provide useful information about this neglected aspect of target manipulation and editing.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2012 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX / HutchColor Announce Curve+

SmartNote: 50392
Type: PrePressRelease
ColorGeek factor:

For Immediate Release:
January 18, 2024 - CHROMiX and HutchColor Announce Curve+, an upgrade to Curve4 that fully supports the new G7+ specification.

Today, PRINTING United Alliance announced G7+ (separate release, see this link and their G7+ site printing.org/G7plus), a groundbreaking upgrade to the G7 calibration specification.

CHROMiX and HutchColor are excited to announce Curve+, the first tool to fully support G7+.

Don Hutcheson, inventor of G7 and leader of the G7+ development team said "After an amazing 19 years without change, G7 is still as popular as ever, but as technologies and markets evolved, it was time for G7 to evolve too. Steve and I are proud that Curve4 was chosen as a test bench for developing the next generation of G7."

Curve+ builds on Curve4's Verify, Calibrate and Blend tools with full G7+ calibration and verification functions including the new High Density Smoothing (HDS) feature. It also retains the ability to perform its original G7 functions. A number of other new features for Curve+ will be announced at a later date.

Curve+ will be offered as an upgrade to Curve4 users and is planned to release immediately before the PRINTING United Technical Event Series (which includes Color2024 and TAGA2024) this March 12-14 in Dallas, Texas. Existing Curve4 users with valid licenses will be able to upgrade to Curve+ for an upgrade fee. Curve4 users who purchased a license after October 1, 2023 will only need to pay the price difference between their Curve4 license and the appropriate Curve+ license.



This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect HutchColor and CHROMiX views on software products and release dates. Such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties and product availability and features may change.


HutchColor, LLC.

In 1995 Don Hutcheson formed the first ICC color management consultancy, HutchColor, LLC. Since then he has trained many of the world’s top printers, publishers, photographers, agencies and designers and pioneered such techniques as HiFi color, digital proofing, RGB workflows and soft proofing.  While chairman of the IDEAlliance GRACoL® committee (2004-7), Don invented the IDEAlliance G7® method.  G7 has revolutionized the printing industry and made standardized printing and proofing easier and more accessible to many thousands of users worldwide.  Don continues to teach G7 and color management to a wide range of clients, and is active in ISO standards work. For more information go to www.hutchcolor.com.


CHROMiX Inc.

CHROMiX, Inc. the creator of ColorThink, ColorThink Pro, Maxwell, the co-creator of IDEALink Curve, Curve2, Curve3 and Curve4, was founded in 1998 to provide technical services and products to businesses in content-production industries. CHROMiX dedicates years of industry experience to improving color management and image fidelity, and combines an excellent suite of tools, including its own popular ColorThink products. With customers, dealers and partners in over 90 countries, CHROMiX is uniquely qualified to serve the imaging industries. More information is available at www.chromix.com.


Trademarks: G7+, G7® and GRACoL® are registered trademarks of Idealliance and PUA. All other trademarks are property of their rightful owners.


CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #50 - Curve3, the Evolution of G7 Calibration

SmartNote: 50213
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 50 - November 28, 2012

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Curve3 - The Evolution of G7 Calibration
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Curve3 - New!

At the recent GraphExpo CHROMiX and HutchColor announced Curve3, the industries best G7 tool yet. We demonstrated Curve3 from multiple points on the vendor exhibition show floor. For a thorough explanation of these new features, please read this month's ColorNews article below by Steve Upton.

Here is some helpful information about pricing and availability:

Curve3 Arrival: We hope to release and ship in December

Grace Period: Any purchase of Curve2, Verify or Virtual Press Run (VPR) after September 1st, 2012 is eligible for a free upgrade to the equivalent Curve3 product when it ships. But don't worry, we'll send all existing Curve2 owners ample opportunities to upgrade.

New Pricing:
$1199 for new Curve3 (same as Curve2)
$2499 for new Curve3+VPR (same as Curve2+VPR)
$99 for new Curve3 VERIFY (same as Curve2 Verify)

Upgrade Pricing:
$599 for upgrading Curve2 to Curve3
$1099 for upgrading IDEALink Curve to Curve3
$749 for upgrading VPR (only) to Curve3 VPR version
$0 for upgrading Verify to Curve3 Verify version

Also, as a side announcement and by popular request, there is a new 'Demo' mode for Curve3. Demo mode allows users to test the interface as well as the main calibration and verification functionalities of Curve3 (including Verify mode) without a serial number. Sample files are included and must be used for Demo mode.

Maxwell News

Maxwell's desktop software client is now called 'Maxwell Client' to make things clearer and simpler.

PLUS... iO Measurement Table Support is here! Maxwell Client beta version 3.5b27 (Mac only), now supports X-Rite's iO Measurement table (Gen 1 or Gen2). So far, testing is going extremely well and we expect to make a formal non-beta release soon. Also, the Win version should be available by the end of year as well.

FWIW.... Maxwell is growing strong and now has over 70 million measurement colors to date!

Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look today? Maxwell is the most innovative cloud-based system in the printing industry today.

Maxwell can remotely supervise the performance of almost any device from your web browser. You can track, trend, verify and analyze workflow devices ranging from spectrophotometers, LCD monitors, printers, proofers and presses. Plus, Maxwell will help you determine the performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances for every device. Maxwell includes strong Pass/Fail features and custom label printing. Maxwell also has a strong 'layered' notification system and can alert any person(s) or group(s) involved in the chain of information.

CHROMiX Sightings

GraphExpo 2012: CHROMiX and HutchColor were honored to work with Konica Minolta in their booth at this year's GraphExpo in Chicago. Featured was our Software Developer Kit (SDK) for G7 calibrations called CurveCore SDK. Konica Minolta has now embedded CurveCore technology into their Color Care package available for many KM printers and presses. Here's a YouTube video of the great Don Hutcheson giving a quick overview of Color Care. What a showman!

PIA Color Management Conference 2012: CHROMiX will have a vendor booth presenting Curve3, Maxwell, ColorThink, etc.
-plus-
Steve Upton will be presenting at these times:
Monday 12/3 11am-12noon Vendor Session: Curve3 and Maxwell update
Monday 12/3 2:15-4:30pm Computer Lab: Profile Verification and Assessment
Tuesday 12/4 10:45-11:45am General Session: Future Trends for Color Management in the new Communication space (he is co-presenting with Julie Shaffer of PIA) -plus-
Pat Herold will be presenting at this time:
Sunday 12/2 1:15-2:15pm 'Color Managing Wide-Color-Gamut devices', Challenges and Opportunities

The Print Industries of America (PIA) Color Management conference runs from December 1st through 4th and is in in Scottsdale, AZ at the Valley Ho. For more conference info: http://www.printing.org/node/10571

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

December 1st - 4th, 2012 - Color Management Conference presented by the Printing Industries of America Hotel Valley Ho, 6850 E. Main Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. CHROMiX will be there in force... so please look us up.

February 3rd-6th, 2013 - TAGA 65th Annual Technical Conference Portland Marriott Downtown, 1401 SW Naito Parkway, Portland, OR. This year s TAGA conference features a complimentary walk-through tour of NORPAC, one of the Pacific Northwest's premier paper manufacturing plants

February 21st-23rd, 2013 - DSCOOP8 Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center Nashville, Tennessee, USA. DSCOOP is a COOPerative of HP Graphic Arts Users to collaborate and share information. CHROMIX plans on being there promoting Curve3, Maxwell and Digital PressWatch.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Nano technology

Benny Landa, visionary and inventor of the HP Indigo, discussed his new Nano technology at GraphExpo 2012 in Chicago. He promises Nano technology will cause a new printing revolution. He also goes on to say that books and newspapers may vanish eventually, but packaging will remain a huge industry.

v4 ICC Profiles

Tom Lianza (in the ColorSync Forum), just recently pointed out an update to the International Color Consortium's messaging about version 4 ICC profiles. There is a great resource tab at the top right corner that outlines v4 topic parameters. Its worth a visit if you haven't been there recently.

12th Edition of Printing Guidelines Publication

IDEAlliance released the 12th Edition of Printing Guidelines Publication, which is a 44 page guide with the latest Best Practices and Specifications for Printing.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

Gen 1 iO Table Note for Upgrading:   Generation '1' i1iO Table will NOT support the new i1Pro 2 device without an upgrade. The cost is ~$400 plus shipping to X-Rite. The upgrade is only handled by X-Rite Technical Support. Phone: 888-826-3059 Ext#3 or support@xrite.com

Color as a defense mechanism?:   We found the following color-related story on the NPR iPhone App 'A Berry So Shiny, It's Irresistible (And Inedible)' by Christopher Joyce. Another interesting color phenomenon....

ISO 13655 'M' title designations:   A quick overview summary of the ISO 13655 'M' title designations for measuring. Just because.

M0 Standard Illuminant A (Most historical instruments will fall into this category)
M1 Standard Illuminant D50
M2 Uses any Standard Illuminant and a defined means of UV exclusion (UV-Cut)
M3 Uses any Standard Illuminant and a defined polarization filter




Curve3 - The Evolution of G7 Calibration article by Steve Upton

In 2006 Don Hutcheson and I began work on our first version of G7 calibration software, IDEALink Curve. Since then the software, and G7, have come a long way. In late 2009 and 2010 we released Curve2, separating the branding from IDEAlliance and updating the software in numerous ways. Besides our continuous improvement to the underlying engine, we introduced a multiple-run document format and radically upgraded the graphing and visualization tools.

For Curve3 we wanted to address user requests, offer improvements for specific printing technologies and also improve the underlying engine and tools so all users would get better results.

Smoothing

Without a doubt, the thing that affects G7 calibration and the output of Curve most is the behavior of the printing device, and to a lesser extent, the behavior of the measurement device. When our users have issues with calibration we usually ask for data and the files we receive are almost always borked in some way (not to put too fine a point on it).

It's a natural thing for the variation and idiosyncrasies of printing processes to appear in their measurements. It's also an interesting struggle to "idealize" the measurements - to reduce the effect of transient problems while trying hard to avoid removing the essence of the process itself. We want to get a good representation of the printing device, but we don't want individual printing blemishes or other defects skewing the overall results. We are usually faced with producing a set of curves from a very small set of data that will be used over months of production. Determining which data to keep, which to throw away and which to bend into conformance, is a critical balancing act.

One area of improvement we've considered is smoothing. There are a number of methods of smoothing printing measurements and the first one we implemented was averaging, built into Curve since version 1.0. Averaging is OK at reducing the effect of errors or outliers occurring on single sheets but it relies on the user printing and measuring multiple sheets - the more the better. In some cases multiple sheets are not available and even when they are its effect is still limited.

Another method of smoothing input and output data is to fit equations to curves. This has limitations as well, and doesn't take into consideration many of the patches you bothered to print and measure.

For Curve3 we set out to apply a smoothing method that was comprehensive. We implemented a multi-dimensional smoothing algorithm that can use all the printed patches if required. The more measured sheets you throw at it the better but it actually does quite a good job with a single sheet. That's still no excuse to not measure multiple sheets. Really.

From a user perspective it's as simple as checking a box to turn smoothing on. We've found it makes an amazing difference on rough, difficult measurements from flexo printing, digital printing and other ill-behaved printing systems. Many instruments struggle with noise in dark colors and this can create significant problems with toning and grey balancing darker colors. Curve3's smoothing makes great strides in damping this noise.

Special Inks

G7 is all about near neutral colors and they are typically made up of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black inks, even if other ink colors are used in the printing process. Due to G7's concentration on CMYK, the toning of additional channels has been left out - until now. Curve3 now has a "Special Ink" mode in addition to the existing G7 and TVI modes.

But how do we calibrate these alternate inks, you may ask?

We can't use standard filtered density or even the popular colorimetric dot gain calculations as the color filters don't line up with the alternate ink colors. Instead we consulted Mark Samworth of ESKO / Artworks who has many years of experience with calibrating packaging systems. His technique is to use the "percent delta-E" method. %DE calculates the delta-E between paper white and the maximum ink value and then linearizes to that value. For example the 50% tint is calibrated to be at 50% of the maximum delta-E value. It's simple, straight-forward, and field tested in hundreds of installs. It's also now part of Curve3.

Spectral VPR

Curve2's Virtual Press Run (VPR) module has received rave reviews from happy users. By reading in a full IT8 target (or other profiling target if desired) along with your P2P target, VPR curves the IT8's color values, saving you the extra press run. In Curve2 VPR curves the Lab values to simulate the curved press run. In Curve3 VPR curves the full spectral values. Now you have the full complement of measurement information with which to build profiles, determine density values, etc.

New Black Point Options

Curve2 follows the G7 specification for gray balance aiming. Think of it as a straight line from the measured paper color (or a user specified paper white) down to "absolute black". This works well for a printing system where the 300% CMY patch is dark and somewhere near neutral.

For those printing systems that produce non-neutral CMY patches and don't have much control over the color of that patch (like digital) Curve3 allows the black end of the gray aim to be set to the CMY patch color. There's the possibility that a system calibrated in this manner might fail G7 tolerances. But for those not attempting to be within tolerance, it can create smoother grays with less abrupt transitions as each channel reaches 100%

Until now Curve has held 100% values steady; all curving happens between 0 and 100%. Curve3 allows the option of changing the maximum channel values in order to gray balance the maximum CMY patch. For inkjet systems and anything else that can afford to reduce the gamut slightly, this can greatly simplify gray balance and take care of ink limiting in one step.

Improved Error Reporting

Sometimes Curve would let you get away with bad reversals or other data problems. Curve3 is better at providing errors when you need to know your data is outside the range of useable.

User-Specified Starting Calibration

If your initial press run was made with non-flat curves either accidentally or due to printing necessity, Curve3 can now accommodate. The initial curves used in your RIP can be entered into Curve for curve calculating. Easy peasy.

We're proud of how far G7 has come and how Curve has helped facilitate its adoption across multiple industries and across the globe. In Curve3 we're confident we've moved things forward and have created an even better tool for anyone striving to achieve G7 with a minimum of expense and effort. Curve 3 is expected to ship before the end of 2012 and will be entering beta testing soon.

If you want to be included in an overview webinar, please send us your email address to sales (at) chromix.com and we'll let you know when it's held.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Upton

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here.

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2012 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #60 - New G7 Master Certification Levels Explained

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Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
CHROMiX ColorNews
Issue # 60 - September 20th, 2016

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - New G7 Master Certification Levels Explained
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Long silence from CHROMiX

You may have noticed that there has been a long gap between this issue and the last one. Not to worry! We're still here doing all the things we're known for including building better software. As Steve describes it, we've been in development hibernation for a long period.

The benefits of course are our customers. If you're a Maxwell user, version 5.5 of the client is a significantly more enhanced tool (explained below). If you're a full Curve user, get ready for the new versions coming this Fall. Right now, we'd like to introduce you to Curve4 Verify, explained below. Thanks for reading!

Curve4 VERIFY is here!

CHROMiX and HutchColor are proud to announce the first release of Curve4 which will be the VERIFY tool. And as the name implies, it verifies!

The additional Calibration and other tools will be available later this year. They will ultimately be all together in the same application just like in Curve3. We decided to release Curve4 in two phases as we wanted to meet the market need for a G7 Master-level verification tool as soon as possible. So to be clear, there won't be a "Verify" version and a "Calibration" version, but rather an initial Verify release and then a larger update later this year that includes the rest of the toolset.

First, a summary of the features of Curve4 VERIFY release:

1) Integrated measurement. This has been our #1 user request and we listened. Curve4 will directly drive i1Pro, iO, iSis, Barbieri LFP and Konica Minolta FD-9 instruments. You can load target data files created by MeasureTool, ColorPort, i1Profiler and Barbieri Chart Generator and use them for any instrument (with certain limitations like iSis)

2) Full G7 Master-level Verification. Grayscale, Targeted and ColorSpace levels are all available and the results are clearly and graphically communicated.

3) Mix-and-Match targets. Combine multiple targets in the Verify Tool's measurement list to create the required set of patches. For example, if you printed a P2P51 and an IT8 target on press, load both sets of measurements and Curve4 will extract the combined patches required for G7 Master verification.

4) Simple Proof Verification. For those who just want a simple proof verification, without the stringent G7 Master requirements for targets, load/read any target and get proof pass/fail results.

5) Verifications are auto-saved into files and previous verifications easily accessed. Curve4 introduces a new file type: .VerifyC4, and creates one each time a new verification is requested. Less technical users don't need to deal with them but more expericed users can rename them, arrange them, send them to others or submit them for technical support.

6) Create References for easy, stable configurations and set one as the default. The combinations of G7 compliance levels, tolerances, SCCA selection, gray balance methods and Color References is mind boggling. Curve4 makes it easy to bundle each combination you use into a Reference, give it a name you like, and select it from a popup when creating a verification. Setting one Reference as the default means less-technical (or just busy) users just click "new" and start measuring and you'll have confidence they are getting the right results.


The measurement tools are inherited from our years of development on Maxwell so they are stable and have some great features. One great feature is the newly-introduced MemoryScan function that stores the position of a target (for iO, LFP and KM FD-9) and quickly scans other targets placed in the same position. Read below in Maxwell Client v5.5 for more on this functionality.

Is that all?

Actually, for the Verify release, that's about it. We purposely kept the user interface as clean and straight-forward as possible. This is the tool that your customers can easily use to do periodic verifications.

For more about Curve4 Verify.

CHROMiX released Maxwell Client v5.5

Released this last June, v5.5 of the Maxwell Client (MXC) is significant. Features include:

Fully supports the Barbieri LFP:
We take full advantage of this great instrument and it's fully integrated into our MeasureWatch Control system so reflective/transmissive, filtration (M0, M2, M3), aperture, speed, etc are all controllable and tracked. MXC 5.5 supports Barbieri's auto-positioning targets and we also added MemoryScan to make it faster and work with targets lacking auto-positioning markers. More on MemoryScan, below.

Fully supports the Konica Minolta FD-9
We also take full advantage of this great new instrument with full M0, M1, M2 filtering and 1x, 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4 virtual aperture support. Plus, we've enabled Manual and Memory positioning for the FD-9.
Manual Positioning will display a grayscale image of your target on screen with un-scannable margins marked in blue.
Memory Positioning - use the Manual Positioning method to set the memory. Then for any measurements of that target, just insert the page and it will quickly find the target in the same position on the page.

MemoryScan (LFP, iO and FD-9):
With MemoryScan, a target's position on the scanning table/page can be memorized for rapid reuse. A separate memory is available for each target definition. Position a target on scanning table in the same position as before - heavy tape or markers are helpful to ensure target position is repeatable - then 1-click measuring saves tons of time. We've used this so much in testing that we're wondering how we lived without it before.

An iO with MemoryScan makes a compelling proof verification tool. For busy groups, this could literally save hours per week in proof verification scans. That pays for an iO almost immediately.

Click here for more information about MemoryScan.

Automatic Instrument Registration and MeasureWatch Verify support:
Plug an instrument into Maxwell Client and an instrument record is automatically created in Maxwell. All measurements by the instruments are tied to it in Maxwell. So if you're wondering if a failed print might be caused by the instrument you can link right to the instrument and then list all the measurements it's taken to see if the instrument might be at fault, verify it, and be sure.

If you have the MeasureWatch Verify service for an instrument, Maxwell Client will automatically configure itself for verification measurements. One more step toward zero config!

Customers who have already purchased MeasureWatch Verify for their instruments and are using it will find it pre-configured for this new version. Plug your instrument into any copy of 5.5 or later and you'll be ready to verify.

Click here for more information about Automatic Instrument Handling.

Multi-Page Targets and Large-Format HeatMap support:
Need to see if your extra-wide digital press (we're looking at you, Indigo 10000 and 12000 models) is consistent across the sheet? Until they make an instrument as wide, we need multi-sheet targets that stitch together after measurement to form one contiguous HeatMap. MXC 5.5 can handle it. Work with us to create targets for such a job.

If you are using AutoScan with barcodes on the iSis or FD-9, barcodes can now contain the page number allowing multi-page targets to be inserted in any order.

Click here for more information about Measuring Multi-page Targets.

i1Profiler and Barbieri Gateway target format support:

MXC 5.0 supported MeasureTool (CGATS), ColorPort (xml) targets
MXC 5.5 now supports i1Profiler (txf, pwxf), Barbieri Gateway (zip) targets

Importing targets from a variety of sources and using them for other instrument types is now available. Certain combinations won't work, such as a Barbieri target for an iSis (it won't have the bars and diamonds or any of the target dimensions required) and the Spectropad still needs a Barbieri target. But measuring an iSis target on the LFP? no problemo. Got a Barbieri target to measure with an iO? We've got you covered.

Pass/Fail evaluation for Hot Folders:
Measurements gathered from external instruments through the MXC Hot Folder mechanism can now be evaluated for pass/fail reporting just like direct-connect measurements.


And there's more, including a new Target Import Tool and tons of fixes and changes. All in all, this is the largest update we've ever done for the Maxwell Client.

Give us a call and see how we can help you with Maxwell!

CHROMiX in Idealliance video

Earlier this year, Idealliance featured Steve Upton (President of CHROMiX) in a video about the Importance of Process Control in a G7 Workflow. In 55 seconds, Steve shares the importance of using process control to manage errors in substrates and inks to save time and resources.
Watch the video

CHROMiX Sightings this Fall

GraphExpo 2016 Orlando - During the last week in September (25th to 28th) Steve Upton will be there for the duration. Easiest place to locate him would be Monday the 26th at the G7 Summit. Don Hutcheson, Ron Ellis and other friends will be there too. Come by and chat about G7, or whatever is on your color mind.

Color Conference (PIA) Phoenix - December 4th through 6th. probably our favorite conference as it is so focused on color. Steve, Pat and Rick should all be there espousing color, our tools and our services. Do come by our booth or catch one of our presentations.

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

September 25th - 28th, 2016 - Graph Expo 2016 is in Orlando Florida this year at the Orange County Convention Center, North Hall. Steve Upton will be there giving private demo's of Curve4 Verify, and glimpses of Calibrate and Complete. You're sure to find him hanging with Don Hutcheson at the G7 Summit Monday, September 26; 1:00-5:00pm, North Hall; N320BC.

September 26th, 2016 - G7 Summit, and Solutions Theater Presentations. Hosted by IDEAlliance and Co-Located with GraphExpo at the the Orange County Convention Center, North Hall, Room N320BC from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. Don Hutcheson will be presenting 'The Industry's Gray Matter: How G7 is becoming the Brains of Print Production' on Sunday September 25th, from 3:30 to 4:00 pm. Our friend Ron Ellis is also there presenting 'Getting the Brand Back Together: What Every Print Buyer Needs to Know' at 11:00 am Sunday. And yes, Steve Upton will also be in the audience, so be sure to stop by and say hello to these guys.

October 18th - 21st, 2016 - IFAI Expo 2016, in Charlotte, NC focuses on the textile industry.

October 19th - 22nd, 2016 - PhotoPlus 2016 Conference and Expo at the Javits Convention Center in New York.

December 4th - 6th, 2016 - The 2016 Color Conference, presented by the PIA, at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak, Phoenix, AZ. One of our favorite shows and places to meet our industry friends and customers.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

basICColor Input v5

basICColor input 5 was released late Spring, and added a few new things:
- Creates DCP and ICC-profiles
- Scanner and digital camera profiling
- Multi-target profiling
- 4 types of profiles: Art Repro / Archival; Photography; Capture One; Scanner
- Spot Color Correction
- Supports all common targets
- Supports individual targets.
Download a demo or purchase here

ColorLogic ZePrA 4.7.2 released

Significant update. The bug fixes are explained in the Online Help at ColorLogic. Order here..

ColorLogic ColorAnt 3.2.1 released

ColorAnt, one of the best data tuning tools we've found. Several bug fixes included with this release.

Idealliance Posts PQX Spec for Public Comment.

Good article explaining Print Quality eXchange (PQX) and the initiative.

Forum Topics and other bits Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

How Scientists Invented A New Blue (And Other Colors Created In A Lab) A good read.

5 insane facts about color: We found this interesting, and bizarre at the same time.

Soft-Proofing: Benefits for the Graphic Designer: This is a great article from Martha DiMeo for a perspective that reflects Designers. We like seeing our tools mentioned too!

Ew! Ick! The worlds ugliest color is...:




New G7 Master Certification Levels Explained from Pat Herold

One of my early jobs at a large photo lab was to go out and take test pictures that we would use to compare printers. A fun assignment to be sure - but ironically these were not very exciting photos for most of what I shot were pictures of concrete and driveways, gray barns, that sort of thing. That gray helped us to hone into subtle differences between machines like no bright subjects could. Some find that a knowledge of film scanners is helpful in seeing the value of gray balancing. It's sometimes easier for a drum scanner operator to understand and embrace G7 than for an old-time press operator who is still steeped in density and TVI curves.

But embrace they did, judging by the massive interest and adoption of G7 in recent years. This methodology has been taken on whole-heartedly by printing industry giants, as well as small print shops who know enough to take advantage of modern innovations. As the co-producers of IDEAlliance Curve, the very first implementation of G7 software in 2008, we have ridden the wave of adoption throughout North America and the rest of the world. It has been gratifying to see that we have been instrumental in helping so many printers make their lives better while coming into the modern age.

The original software was written primarily to provide a standardized means of calibrating printing presses, but as it has found a wider circle of adoption, we have added more features that make the software popular for digital press, inkjet printers, special ink printers, dye sub printers, and the list keeps growing.

The industry has embraced G7 so thoroughly that it's no longer enough to just say "Yeah, my printer has been G7ed." Now there are three levels of compliance with the G7 specification depending on the kind of printing that is done.

G7 Grayscale

This is the level that we are used to seeing, found in the IDEALink Curve, Curve2 and Curve3 applications. A 300-patch P2P target print is printed on a stable printing system, and the measurements of that target are used to correct the ink curves to bring the printing system into alignment with the G7 ideal neutral density curve.

This is the fundamental magic of G7: regardless of the printing technology, if we can ensure that a printer or press prints the neutral tone ramp well, then all the other colors will tend to fall into line more easily.

Aligning the printing of the various different printing methods in a plant to this same neutral aim point is a tremendous step forward in getting these disparate printers to match. While achieving this G7 level will naturally help all the colors to be consistent, the only thing that's required at this level is for the K and CMY neutrals to be aligned to the G7 tone curve and the CMY neutrals gray balanced.

While very helpful in many ways there are obvious limits to what this grayscale method can do alone. If a customer were to wander into any old print shop that is proudly "G7 Compliant", he may be surprised that his saturated art work is not matching his expectations, even while the work is G7 compliant.

G7 Targeted

Somebody had the good idea that you can do a lot more than just match an ideal gray curve. You can also get your primary and secondary solid inks to match some industry-standard spec at the same time. This is where G7 Targeted comes in.

G7 Targeted is achieved when G7 Grayscale is achieved, plus the solid ink measurements for primaries and secondaries (CMY and RGB) and the substrate color are also within spec to one of the G7-based targeted color spaces.

This can be done according to the absolute white point, or using a substrate-relative condition.

One item that's not well known is that G7 Targeted compliance is not limited to only the reference print conditions in ISO 12647-2 or in ISO 15339. Any G7-calibrated data set can be used as a G7 reference print condition.

Those who want to can use their own color reference in place of the standard CPRC's but their files must be verified as being compliant with G7 grayscale. In the future, the full release of Curve4 will provide a means of utilizing user-imported references and ensuring they're G7 compliant before doing so.

Now, a printer can let customers know that they not only can hit G7 grayscale, but they can also achieve a higher level of compliance - and their strongest colors can hit, for example, the specific Lab values for "GRACoL 2013".

There is still a more stringent level of compliance that can be reached however.

G7 ColorSpace

G7 ColorSpace includes all the requirements of the G7 Targeted level (and therefore the G7 Grayscale level) and adds the matching to an entire reference print condition. This level shows that you are maintaining tight tolerances throughout the whole color space. An entire IT8.7/4 target is compared against the targeted color space and the average of all 1617 patches needs to be within a narrow range of tolerances. This assures that the printing system can indeed reproduce the entire color space, and not just the primaries & secondaries.

Again, like G7 Targeted, the tolerances for G7 ColorSpace can be relative to either the absolute white point or the substrate-relative aim values.

The G7 ColorSpace level is further divided into two separate purposes, for Sheetfed Offset printing, or for Proofing. There are slightly more stringent requirements for proofing. One requirement at the ColorSpace level for proofing is that all patches of the IT8.7/4 be within an average dE2000 of 2.

Obviously, everyone wants to aim for the highest compliance level that they can, but the level you'll be aiming for will largely be dependent on the kind of printing that's being done. For example, someone printing onto ceramic tile with an electrophotographic process, using non-standard toner colors will likely be aiming for G7 grayscale. Almost every kind of CMYK printing can be calibrated using G7, but this kind of process will not be capable of matching the standard CMYK process colorants, which are more likely to be used with G7 Targeted or G7 ColorSpace.

One might aim for G7 Targeted if printing with a offset press, and G7 ColorSpace might even be achievable by using good equipment and careful process control.

For more details concerning the actual tolerances for the three levels, see the IDEAlliance document.


To see at what level your shop will pass, get Curve4 Verify!

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

To view this article in the ColorWiki with images, Click here for ColorWiki article

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2016 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #51 - Scanner Profiling

SmartNote: 50223
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 51 - May 1st, 2013

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Scanner Profiling
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
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CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Curve3... It's here!

Curve3 shipped April 30th!

Already the standard for G7 calibration, Curve3 will be the best, most modern and technically functional G7 tool yet! Curve3 will raise the bar significantly. Most users will see improvements and benefits immediately. This will be the version to have if you have been sitting on the fence.

CHROMiX and HutchColor have poured hundreds of hours into developing features for Curve3 based on what end users actually want. We also improved many existing functionalities.

Take a look at some of these new features:
- 4D data smoothing cleans up challenged systems
- Special Ink calibration for additional inks (CMYK+)
- Spectral VPR now applies curves to full-spectral data
- Enhanced Black-point options for ink-jet and digital
- Normalizing Curves to improve shadow smoothness
- Custom TVI calibration (mostly for European users)
- Intelligent error-reporting and resolution
- User-specified starting-point calibration
- User-defined Control Point lists
- Expanded graphs and reports

And like Curve2, Curve3 supports:
- OneRun targets
- Esko's PressSync calibration
- AGFA :Apogee output format support
- Konica Minolta output format support

Curve3 also has a new 'Demo' mode which allows users to test the interface as well as the main calibration and verification functionalities of Curve3 (including Verify mode) without a serial number. Sample files are included and must be used for Demo mode.

For more details of these features, read our article about Curve3 from last ColorNews Issue #50.

PRICING:
For Curve3 new and upgrade pricing, see Ad below titled 'Curve3 Customer Loyalty UPGRADE SALE'

Curve3 WEBINAR:
Finally, to help introduce users to Curve3 and some of its new features, CHROMiX and HutchColor will host a public webinar FRIDAY May 17th at 2:00 PM Eastern/11:00 AM Pacific.

See and hear about everything new for Curve3 firsthand from Don Hutcheson and Steve Upton.

To receive an invite, just send an email to sales@chromix.com with "C3 WEBINAR on 5/17" in the Subject field. We look forward to having you join us!

Maxwell News

Maxwell now has over 85 million measurements to date!

It's now official from this point forward: The software client will be called Maxwell Client (Mac and Win). It will no longer be called ColorShuttle. We're readying the new Client and will let you know when it's available.

The new Maxwell Client brings:

- faster setup for Tracks - no hot folders required
- i1iO support
- integrated Help from ColorWiki
- integration discussions from ColorForums
- other great features

Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look today? Maxwell is the most innovative cloud-based Verification, QA/QC system in the printing industry today.

Maxwell can remotely supervise the performance of almost any device from your web browser. You can track, trend, verify and analyze workflow devices ranging from spectrophotometers, LCD monitors, printers, proofers and presses. Plus, Maxwell will help you determine the performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances for every device. Maxwell includes strong Pass/Fail features and custom label printing. Maxwell also has a strong 'layered' notification system and can alert any person(s) or group(s) involved in the chain of information.

CHROMiX reviews Konica Minolta FD-7

Pat Herold recently did a bench review and testing of Konica Minolta's FD-7 spectrophotometer. Overall, its a very nice device with some great capabilities. Read it in the ColorWiki.

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

April 28th - May 1st, 2013 - INFO*FLEX by FTA, San Diego, CA

May 19th - 21st, 2013 - Surtex 2013, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. Surtex is new trade show for Design creatives and artists focusing on selling/licensing their art. Someone in this crowd probably needs color correction?

September 8th - 12th, 2013 - PRINT 13, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

ColorEyes Display New versions

Integrated Color Corp, makers of ColorEyes Display Pro calibration software, has updated its ColorEyes Display pro v1.6 versions for Mac and Windows. CDP now supports all current Mac and Win OS's for 32/64 bit.
Instruments now supported: i1Display Pro (Retail not OEM version), Eizo swing sensor, ColorMunki original Mac only (not ColorMunkiDisplay), Spyder4, Spyder3, DTP-94 (excluding Windows 8), i1Pro/Photo/Monitor. Support for the Spyder2 and the Eye One display 2 have been discontinued.
V1.6 also has improved DDC support for the NEC PA and P series, Eizo SX, EV series monitors, Cintiq tablets and some Dell displays.

ColorEyes Display Pro Server

Integrated Color is now offering Coloreyes Display Pro in a server version for customers with 25+ monitors to calibrate that are all connected on the same network. Ease of activation and replacement of machines is a substantial benefit for large scale users. Contact Sales(at)CHROMiX.com for information or pricing.

EIZO adds DISCUS, changes name

EIZO added basICColor DISCUS support to Color Navigator v6.4.2, their proprietary calibration software for ColorEdge-level monitors.
On another note: EIZO Nanao has formally changed their name to simply the 'EIZO Corporation'. Also, EIZO USA is now EIZO Inc.

NEC firmware update for PA & P series

This Firmware update adds support for MAC OS10.7. Added support of the MultiSync P241W/P241W-BK. Improved 6-Axis hue control function. And more. Thanks Will!

X-Rite i1Profiler updated version

X-Rite released version 1.4.2 of i1Profiler (i1Publish) profiling software. One notable feature is the newly added scanner profiling capability, which supports iT8 targets, but interestingly not HutchColor HCT targets... yet.
Also, the new upcoming i1Profiler version 1.5 (due this Summer) is supposed to include Device Linking capabilities.

X-Rite discontinues many devices

X-Rite has begun discontinuing many older measurement devices in an effort to streamline their products. The new EXact is replacing some of these and some legacy devices will have trade-in value for upgrades. Already discontinued as of March 30, 2013: 518, 528, DensiEye 700 (most models), SpectroEye LT. Discontinued June 30, 20103 will be: 530, 530+IntelliTrax bundles, 939, 939M, SpectroEye, SpectroEye+IntelliTrax bundles. X-Rite will provide service for 7 years of discontinuation date. Although not complete, here is the link to X-Rites discontinued list of products.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

How Paper For iPad Reinvented Digital Color Mixing:   We found THIS interesting...

Purer Color viewing with Quantum Dot nanoscale particles?!:   Will this be the next LCD backlight technology?

Is paper DEAD?:   A YouTube video we're sure you've already seen, but just in case... Dead or Alive?

XRGA propaganda:   For those who are confused by XRGA, this white paper does a good job of explaining X-Rite's XRGA perspective...

A new and fun way to measure with an iO Table:   Aloha!




Scanner Profiling by Pat Herold

Scanner profiling

As digital cameras started to develop larger CCD chips, somebody pointed out that cameras were capable of the higher resolutions like flatbed scanners, and scanning was on its way out. There certainly didn't seem to be much of a future in scanning. Scanner profiling targets have been getting harder to find. Two years ago when X-Rite released i1Profiler, their long awaited replacement to their professional profiling engines, it did not even include a module for making scanner profiles. Heck - even CHROMiX doesn't bother to advertise our scanner profiling service on our website.

But, to borrow the colloquialism: the "reports of the death of scanning were greatly exaggerated." Like a lot of predictions about the future, this one has not materialized as anticipated. While high-end digital cameras can capture something like 20 megapixels these days, the ubiquitous cameras that most people use are not up to the quality that we color geeks are expecting.

There is also a great bevy of enthusiasts who continue to shoot medium and large format film. Even in this digital age, large format film can contain the equivalent of hundreds of megapixels. So it is still popular to shoot large format film and scan the film digitally. An 8x10" slide can be scanned and the detail available is astounding. Depending on the use of the final output, these images are oftentimes down-sampled before being printed. Devotes of this workflow enjoy smooth images that are sharp and clear:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

Then again, nowadays it's dead easy to pick up an inexpensive flatbed scanner that just plugs in to a USB port and does what you need without a lot of fuss.

And what do you know? X-Rite's latest update to i1Profiler introduces a new scanner profiling feature.

Long ago, we published an article on Input Profiles and Working Spaces: http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/ColorNews_No._8_-_Input_Profiles_and_Working_Spaces, which briefly touched on scanners. But it's high time we come around again and take another look at scanning from a color perspective. I see this article as a useful companion if you are going to try the i1P scanning module for the first time (to complement the sometimes modest help menus there.) Or for anyone who has a scanner and would like to try getting good, dependable color out of it.

Which target to use
There are many scanning targets available for sale, including these: http://www2.chromix.com/ColorGear/Shop/ProductList.cxsa?refcode=cmptarget It's always best to choose a target that is made from the same film type as you'll be scanning most of the time. Different films will have different characteristics, so using the same material will get you more accurate results. For example, if you mainly use Kodak Ektachrome in your large format camera, then try to find a profiling target printed on Kodak Ektachrome.

Reflective and Transmissive
Reflective targets are for those who want to scan a physical print or perhaps an original artwork; something that requires you to scan the face of the media. Reflective scanning targets are usually a 5 x 7 inch layout onto high quality silver halide photographic paper.

If you are scanning transparencies, otherwise known as slide film, or positives, where it is viewed by having light shone through it, or backlit - then you would require a transparency target. For large format you can order a 4x5 inch trans target, or in many cases a 35mm slide version of the target will work. While it is possible to scan negatives, people generally don't pursue profiling for this, because it is inherently very difficult to get consistent color results from the various colors of that dark orange base material from which negatives are made.

Patch arrangement
The most common targets are some flavor of the IT8 patch set. An example is here: http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/IT8 This target contains up to 286 colors that do a pretty good job of sampling the entire color range, including neutrals.

For those who want something better, Hutchcolor provides the HCT targets which contain 528 patches including more saturated colors, more grays and more shadow patches.

All these targets are designed to have very stable color for a long time. Naturally the accuracy depends on the reference data matching the color of the targets. When you first buy a scanning target, it was hopefully not long after the target was measured to create the corresponding reference. Naturally as time goes on the dyes in the target will change - usually not much, but you know - nothing lasts forever. It's a good idea to keep these targets in a cool, dry place (like a refrigerator) and not keep them out in the light any longer than necessary. It is possible for some targets (5x7's and 4x5's) to be remeasured in the future to ensure an accurate and up-to-date reference file.

Note also, that some manufacturers will "batch" measure their targets. They will provide you with a reference file that is a good average for all the targets in a certain batch. In this case you're not getting a reference that goes specifically with your particular target, but one that is "close". The Kodak IT8's (recently discontinued) are among this group.

The more premium targets (such as the custom-measured reflective targets by CHROMIX, and most of the HCT targets) are custom measured, so there is a reference file directly associated with your target.

Software Compatibility
You must also choose a target that will work with your profiling software. Some scanners come with their own profiling targets & software. If you happen to have a scanning target lying around, check to see if it is compatible with your scanning software. Interestingly, while the HCT targets are of the highest quality, they are currently not supported in the most recent version of X-Rite's i1Profiler. I understand that there are discussions between X-Rite and Hutchcolor concerning this, so maybe we'll see the software support these targets in the near future.

Custom-made reflective targets
If you are scanning reflective material (rather than transparency material), and if you have software that allows for customized targets, you can create your own reflective target just by printing a series of patches on high quality paper. I know we used to do this using the ProfileMaker software by X-Rite.

Here's what you need:
- high quality printer
- a target containing patches that can be read by a spectrophotometer, and will fit on the scanner.
- spectrophotometer that can read the patches,
- software that allows for the use of customized targets

This printed target is scanned by the scanner, and is also read by the spectrophotometer. This measurement will become the reference for the scanner target. The scanned image along with the custom-measured reference is used to make the scanner profile.

Note that this method has the benefit of being custom-measured, so the reference data should be very accurate. On the other hand, this kind of profile will be somewhat limited by the gamut of the printer you've printed the target on. This is not generally a problem, but it is something to be aware of.

Scanning the target on your scanner
Once you have a target, it's time to create the actual scan. The scanner settings must be set so that any automatic image adjustment is off, any color management (any use of profiles) in the scanner is off, sharpening is off, and the scanner must be clean, warmed up and in good working order.

Since the scanner profile will handle all the color correcting, you want to bypass all of the extra color correction bells and whistles that the scanner is capable of. Adjust the gamma, white point and black point settings in the scanning software so that it will scan the target in a well-rounded way. Specifically, you would want the middle 50% gray patch of the target to be scanned at as close to 127 127 127 gray as is reasonable (as sampled in Photoshop in RGB mode). Also, the white patch of the target should read about 240-250 or so leaving room above the maximum. Similarly, the black point should scan at about 5-15... not all the way to zero. You might very well someday be scanning something lighter or darker than the extremes of your scanning target, so you want to "leave room" so that your scanner can define those colors too. The scanned image does not have to be particularly large. We're just interested in color here, and a great big megapixel file is not going to tell us anything more about the color, or make the colors more accurate.

Check the scan
If your scanned target image has any blotches due to dirt or dust spots, you can clean them up with a clone tool in Photoshop. Naturally, be very careful with this and do not copy color from a neighboring patch!


Create the profile
Once the image has been scanned, bring it along with your reference file into your profiling software to make a profile. The software allows you to precisely crop and line up the scanned target so that it can identify the patches.

The actual creation of the profile is very simple, and only takes a few seconds. In fact, this kind of service can be done remotely. Once you have a scanned target, that image file can be sent to anyone who has the software, and the completed profile can be simply emailed back. There's no need to ship a hardcopy print or anything. For example, it just takes a few minutes for us to create a scanner profile for customers anywhere in the world.

Scanner profiles have a different shape than printer profiles or monitor profiles. They are usually a lot larger when you view them in a 3D Grapher like ColorThink. In fact, a scanner profile will generally to be larger and more encompassing than the colors of the actual target that was used to make it. How can this be? When the profile is created, the profiling software will extrapolate beyond the target image colors and make a profile that sort of "guesses" how to handle those extra-saturated colors. This makes sense when you realize that you will potentially be scanning all different colors from different materials, and will want the profile to be able to handle colors that are beyond those few represented in the target image.

Note that all settings in the scanner must remain the way they were when the target image was created. If anything is changed that can affect color, the profile will become obsolete and will likely give you wrong colors.

Using the profile
Once you have the scanner profile, install it in your system where your imaging programs can access it.

To use the scanner profile, you would leave your scanner exactly as it was when you scanned the target. Scan your images on the scanner, bring your scanned files into Photoshop and assign this new scanner profile to these images. Assigning the profile will "correct" the color of the image back to what it should look like. When you go to save this image, the profile will be embedded into it as you save. If you are going to print this image, the profile will be converted to the profile of the printer automatically, the corrected image will print with the proper colors, and everything will look great!

There is much more information that can be learned about this whole topic, that we just don't have the space for here. The Hutchcolor.com website has extensive instructions for setting up scanners and how to make the most of a scanner profile.


Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX


(Thanks to Makoto Takada for inspiration for this topic, and to Ken Lee for his help.)

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2013 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #52 - Color Management Myths 35-39

SmartNote: 50225
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 52 - August 20th, 2013

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Color Management Myths #35 - #39
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Curve3... new Update 3.1.X

Curve3 v3.1.1 will be available soon for download. Updates include Verify tool improvements for low density measurements, some small UI improvements and the EFI Fiery DLP curve save selection. Expect to see it just before Print 2013.

Curve3 - Helpful Information

Demo Mode:
-----------
Curve3 has a demo mode that allows users to test the interface as well as main calibration and verification functionalities without a serial number. Sample files are included. Just download and test at the above link for the latest 3.1.X version.

User's Manual:
------------
The Curve3 User's manual is very good and will be the primary source of information for most people. It accompanies the initial download of Curve3, but it is separate. We wrote the manual deliberately as a training guide, while (of course) showing all relevant functions in Curve3. Download and at the above link for v3.1.X.

YouTube Video Overview and Training:
---------------------------------
For those who missed it, here is a link to the Curve3 YouTube video recording from our webinar conducted May 17th, 2013. Steve Upton hosts and Don Hutcheson does most of the presentation. It has been edited and is about an hour long. It's a great way to get an overview perspective of it's capabilities and probably pick up a tip or two.. .or three.

Maxwell News

New version:
Maxwell Client 4.1.1 is now available.

There are many new features of 4.1.1 including:
- Mac/Win versions synched to same version moving forward
- Supports new i1Pro2 device from X-Rite (M0 for now)
- Supports bi-directional reading by an i1Pro/2
- Split patch measurement view including warning and failure markers for each patch.
- Ability to filter track list by Device in operator mode. (helps with many devices / tracks)
- New metrics: dL, da, db.

A Reporting note for Maxwell users:

For a while we have promoted the benefits and power of Multi-Dimensional Reporting. Here is a ColorWiki page that describes the general functionality of Multi-Dimensional Reporting in Maxwell. It reads much like a Users Guide and provides excellent visuals (including a YouTube video overview).


Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look? Maxwell is the most innovative cloud-based Verification, QA/QC system in the printing industry today.

Maxwell can remotely supervise the performance of almost any device from your web browser. You can track, trend, verify and analyze workflow devices ranging from spectrophotometers, LCD monitors, printers, proofers and presses. Plus, Maxwell will help you determine the performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances for every device. Maxwell includes strong Pass/Fail features and custom label printing. Maxwell also has a strong 'layered' notification system and can alert any person(s) or group(s) involved in the chain of information.

For more information, to receive a demo or to discuss your company's Printing Verification/QA/QC needs, please contact CHROMiX Sales Toll Free at (866) CHROMiX (866-247-6649) extension #1, or email at sales@chromix.com.

CHROMiX at PRINT13 Chicago

CHROMiX will be in Chicago at the Print13 Conference from Sunday, September 8th through the show's duration Thursday, September 12th (5 days). We'll be showing and discussing Curve3, Konica Minolta's Color Care product, and other related things in the Color Management section of the Konica Minolta booth #518.

Last year at GraphExpo 2012, Konica Minolta announced it had embedded CurveCore technology, via our Software Developer Kit (SDK), into their Color Care package available for many KM printers and presses. Here's a quick YouTube video overview Don Hutcheson gave then about Color Care.

Come by and see us this year at Booth 518!

CHROMiX at 2013 PIA Color Management Conference

Steve Upton, Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker will be in Phoenix at the PIA Color Management Conference with multiple appearances. Steve and Pat will both be involved with speaking and/or labs (stay tuned to topics, dates and times), and Rick will be fielding questions and providing demo's in the Vendor area.

Come by and see us!

CHROMiX Reviews Eizo CG246W

Pat Herold recently did a bench review and testing of Eizo's spectacular CG246W 24" LED model, which has the automatic self-calibrator built-in. Basically, you set it and forever forget about calibrating again... Read it in the ColorWiki.

CHROMiX Reviews NEC PA242W

Pat Herold just did a bench review and testing of NEC's new PA242W 24" LED monitor with the latest SpectraView calibration software. Read his review here .

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

September 8th - 12th, 2013 - PRINT 13, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. CHROMiX will be there at booth 518, so come by and see us!

September 10th, 2013 - SPECTRUM - Content Integration:
Bridging Print & Digital. At PRINT 13, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

October 23rd - 25th, 2013 - Specialty Printing and Imaging Technology Expo 2013 (SGIA), Orlando, FL, Orange County Convention Center.

December 7th - 10th, 2013 - 2013 PIA Color Management Conference, in Phoenix at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. CHROMiX will be there!

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

basICColor released v5.1.1 Display calibration software

If you already own Display v5, it has a useful new automatic updater under the Help/Check for Updates menu.

There are several new features and further stability:
- RemindMe, a new utility to remind you when to calibrate next
- Spyder4 connectivity improvements
- i1Display Pro connectivity improvements
- Eizo CG246 and CG276 are hardware calibratable
- NEC SpectraView 232 is hardware calibratable
- Color Space Emulation for certain Eizo and NEC models with 3D-LUTs
... and more. basICColor Display 5.1.1 Features Overview

Color Management Handbook version 3

Eizo released version 3 of their FREE Color Management Handbook. Past 'printed' versions, although beautiful, had to be bought. If you haven't seen one of these handbooks, you are in for a surprise. Many in the industry have acclaimed these as the best in their class. The handbook includes tons of very useful color management information. Enjoy!

EFI Fiery Color Profiler Suite 4.5 adds support for Curve3 DLP's

EFI has been busy implementing G7 capabilities for toner-based Fiery RIPs. Fiery systems, version 8r2 or newer, now support Device Link Profiles (DLP) created by Curve3 to implement true curve-based G7 calibration. With a properly-serviced Fiery print engine, G7 compliance can now be achieved by merging a Curve3 DLP with input and output profiles generated with EFI's Color Profiler Suite

eXact Manager Software available

X-Rite released a free Windows utility for the eXact spectrophotometer. eXact Manager v1.1 includes: Job Template Builder, Color Library Builder, New Job Templates for G7 (v2), Black Backing templates for PSO, Import Data through CxF3, Windows 8 support.

X-Rite releases i1Profiler version 1.5

The i1Profiler version 1.5 download is available now.
New features include: Device Link Profiling, i1iO Dual Spot Mode (M0,M1 and M2), Supports the Hutch Color (HCT) targets for scanner profiling, Supports the Ugra/Fogra Media Wedge CMYK for large format printing, Enhanced display (Plasma) and projector profiling.
Note that there are a few things to be aware of for Installation and Registration:
Administrative rights are required to install and uninstall the software.
Do not connect measurement devices until the software installation is complete and the system has restarted.
The i1Display Pro or the i1Pro 2 must be connected in order to register your i1Profiler solution.

X-Rite raises i1Profiler prices by $200

On August 12, 2013 X-Rite raised i1Profiler software prices by $200 for all stand-alone and i1Pro2 bundled versions. The justification for the increased price is the newly added Device Link Profiling capability. Affected products are:
- i1Publish Software (only) (EOPROF): New MSRP is $1,199 (was $999)
- i1Publish Pro 2 (EO2PUB): New MSRP is $2,298 (was $2,098)
- i1Publish Upgrade A (EOPROF-UPGA): New MSRP is $799 (was $599)
- i1Publish Pro 2 Upgrade A (EO2BAS-UPGA): New MSRP is $1,699 (was $1,499).

However... CHROMiX will continue to have competitive aggressive prices on i1Profiler NEW and UPGRADE products, so don't hesitate to ask us beat or match any US price.

Techkon offering $1k for trade-in

For the month of August, Techkon is offering up to $1000 for trade in of ANY spectrophotometer towards the purchase of a new SpectroDens. Just contact CHROMiX sales with any questions: sales@chromix.com

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

That Sunflower Image - ColorThink 2.3 to the Rescue:   Here's a great example of ColorThink v2 in action: Comparing Image Color Gamuts

Why Change your ISO Standards?:   This is simply good advice about ISO lighting perspectives

BEER Tones:   Finally! For the color geek that loves beer, a visual fan guide for beer color to stimulate happy hour conversations, or just to dazzle your friends at parties! Not that you don't already...




Color Management Myths #35 - #39 by Pat Herold

It's been a while since we added to our collection of color management myths. Here we take on some of the common misperceptions that we hear from various sources & explain what the truth is and why. A little advice: Having some foreknowledge from the mistakes that other people make is a particularly easy way to learn valuable information in a short amount of time. Find an extensive list of our previous myths gleaned from our newsletters here.

Myth #35: Wide gamut monitors are the best! Everybody should have one.

Modern backlighting and LCD panel technology has made it possible to make displays that can produce much more saturated colors, that have a larger gamut than the typical displays we're used to. Obviously it's great to have a display that is capable of producing more colors in order to view what you're sending to a printer that also has an enlarged gamut.

So they really are marvels of modern science, but they are not for everyone. If you work only in web design, then you will want to keep to the sRGB gamut which is the standard for internet images. You'll have no use for all that added saturation. It could naturally even give you a false sense of how colorful your images are. Most of these wide gamut displays can also be "dumbed down, " can be calibrated to emulate sRGB, but then the question is why get one if you're not going to take advantage of the benefits of a wide gamut?

Wide gamut displays also carry the possibility for banding because with the common 8-bit workflow most of us are working with, there's only barely enough steps to smoothly define all the colors in a normal display. So that adding a whole extra range of colors to define makes it more likely that some banding might occur. This is generally not a big problem for displays with built-in graphics capabilities like Eizo and NEC, but the possibility is something to be aware of. More information on banding is here.

Myth #36: A wide gamut monitor will show me all the colors my printer can print.

I know what you're thinking... Finally! Now that I have a wide gamut display, something that can display 98% of the AdobeRGB gamut, I can finally truly soft-proof all the colors that my printer can print!

Hey, I don't blame you for falling for this myth. The size of these gamuts are breathtaking. AdobeRGB is a large color space and these displays get you almost all of it. But printers have been gaining ground in developing new ink sets and they have been producing more saturation in recent years too.

Keep in mind also the fundamental nature of these two coloring systems. A printers's gamut is shaped something like a round hole and a monitor's gamut is shaped like a 3 cornered peg. And you know what they say about putting an odd-shapped peg in a round hole.

Like most things in the world of color management, it all depends. In this case, your printer gamut will depend on your printer, your inks and especially your paper. And we often find that a modern inkjet printing onto good quality glossy paper can produce an abundance of cyans and yellows that are well outside the gamut of your AdobeRGB display.

Myth #37: Lab is perceptually uniform

When you open up the ColorThink Grapher and view a gamut of a profile, you're viewing it in a representation of CIE L*a*b space. Lab is supposed to be perceptually uniform, so that a distance between any two colors in one part of the color space, gives the same basic difference as the same distance in another part of the color space. For most purposes, it works well for what it is, but there are times when it is good to keep in mind that this Lab space has a subtle warp to it. You'll see this in action any time you bring a printer profile into the ColorThink Grapher and observe how the blue end of the spectrum twists around in a slight counter-clockwise direction. In most cases, it's not that your printer's behavior is skewed, it's that a good profile will have this "twist" in the shape in order to give you good color in a twisted Lab space. This is sometimes the reason that older profile building software would give you blues that turned slightly purple, yellows that were green and reds that were orange.

Myth #38: Delta E 2000 is not a good equation to choose; I've heard that xxx is better.

Delta E is a unit of measure that indicates how far apart two colors are. A delta E of 1 is the smallest change between two colors that the trained human eye can see. Delta E values are thrown around a lot in the industry when you're talking about how far off a colors is. We have a little history of the development of delta E in this ColorNews article.

DeltaE 76 was the first method of calculation developed soon after the CIE created the L*a*b* space in 1976.

It was a simple formula and it turns out that it was not consistent in all areas of Lab space. (See the myth "Lab is perceptually uniform" above.) A solution to this was published soon after 1994 called delta E 94. Many people still swear by dE 94, but it has the drawback of not being symmetric in its calculations. It does not work the same way both ways. Using dE 94 you can get a different results when you compare color A with color B - than you get when you compare color B with color A. Occasionally we hear from people who have connections with the garment industry that they like to use a calculation called CMC.

With delta E 2000 (developed around the year 2000), the general structure of dE 94 was taken and improved. It is the latest thing in color distance calculation. This is a well-proven formula and the official word from the CIE (the official body that make rules about these things) is that CIE2000 is officially the recommended color-difference equation. It has been shown to be more accurate than dE94 and CMC.

see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.1049/abstract
and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15603061

Myth #39: Curve3 will make my printer print GRACoL

We have touched on this in our series on G7 Myths, But this issue comes up often enough that it is worth clarifying. Curve3 (as well as Curve2 and the original IDEAlink Curve) has some very useful functions besides just giving you G7 output curves. The "Analyze" tab will allow you to compare your press with the actual ink requirements for specifications like GRACoL and SWOP.

You can look at the "spidergraph" and see how your ink colors lay out. The shape of the "arms" of the graph give you an idea of how smooth your ink curves are, as they stretch out in the direction of the bullseye circles that represent where your color should end up according to the specification that is selected.

Curve3 is fundamentally a linearization tool. It helps you define your curves from 0 to 100. But note that you always start at 0 and end up at 100.

People get into trouble when they look at the 100% target bullseye in the spider graph and somehow expect the Curve software to yank the solid ink color over to where the bullseye specification is. There is no amount of curve adjustment that can ever make an ink solid change its color. (That would literally be like a leopard changing its spots.) The color of an ink solid is determined primarily by the color of the ink itself, as well as your choice of ink limits, with a little influence by the color and nature of the paper or substrate and how it reacts with the ink.

So Curve3 will do a fabulous G7 linearization for you, and it will tell you how close you are to GRACoL, but you have to take care of some of the basics if you are aiming for a specification like GRACoL.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2013 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #53 - How to Check for Optical Brighteners

SmartNote: 50233
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 53 - October 23rd, 2013

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - How to Check for Optical Brighteners
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Curve3... v3.0.1 released

Curve3 v3.0.1 is now available for download. Updates include Verify tool improvements for low density measurements, plus some UI improvements.
Especially notable is the new EFI Fiery DLP curve save selection function, which allows Fiery systems, version 8r2 or newer, to support Device Link Profiles (DLP) created by Curve3. This allows EFI users to implement a true curve-based G7 calibration in their workflow for the first time.
Also, we've added a new function to export the 4-curve file set required by HP Indigo presses.

And here is what users are saying about Curve3:

"The new 'smoothing' algorithm in Curve3 has improved our results for variant devices, and I strongly recommend Curve3 for anyone wanting to conform to G7" Rich Cline, Hammer Packaging

"Curve3 is by far the best version of Curve to date. A user friendly interface and relevant data that is easy to understand. Curve3 is a must have, and essential for any G7 workflow."
Todd Miller, Electronic Prepress Color Specialist, Independent Printing Company, Inc.

"Curve 3 has simplified my G7 calibrations to half the time." Chris Norman, Diocesan Publications

"Having the functionality to load in any custom set of curves as a basis run makes updating older calibrations, that weren't done with Curve software, easier than ever." Scott Vanden Boom, Menasha Packaging

"With Curve3 we can calibrate to GRACoL in just a few simple steps. A tool that is a must for anyone who is in the printing trade." Also, "With Curve3 added Esko's PressSync feature, makes building workflows a snap." Kerry Thonen, The ALC Group


Isn't it time you upgrade to Curve3 also?

Maxwell News

Maxwell Client 4.1.4 (new version) is now available:
- fixed issue in Maxwell which stopped Maxwell Client (MXC) from getting proper information regarding track parameter updates (metrics, etc). Not part of this version but originally thought to be a MXC issue. (fixed 9/22/13)
- added thread-based updating of track name / status and device name updates from Maxwell. Color Tracks in UI will now get name updated periodically to reflect changes in Maxwell or will be unbonded from MXC if track or track's device is deleted in Maxwell. Updates occur 1) at launch 2) within 24 hours of last successful update if still running or 3) reattempts will occur at 15 min intervals if unsuccessful.
- added advanced menu and menu items for clearing the DB cache and forcing track name update.

A Reporting note for Maxwell users:

For a while we have promoted the benefits and power of Multi-Dimensional Reporting. Here is a ColorWiki page that describes the general functionality of Multi-Dimensional Reporting in Maxwell. It reads much like a Users Guide and provides excellent visuals (including a YouTube video overview).


Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look? Maxwell is the most innovative cloud-based Verification, QA/QC system in the printing industry today.

Maxwell can remotely supervise the performance of almost any device from your web browser. You can track, trend, verify and analyze workflow devices ranging from spectrophotometers, LCD monitors, printers, proofers and presses. Plus, Maxwell will help you determine the performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances for every device. Maxwell includes strong Pass/Fail features and custom label printing. Maxwell also has a strong 'layered' notification system and can alert any person(s) or group(s) involved in the chain of information.

For more information, to receive a demo or to discuss your company's Printing Verification/QA/QC needs, please contact CHROMiX Sales Toll Free at (866) CHROMiX (866-247-6649) extension #1, or email at sales@chromix.com.
CXnewsItem_linkURL

Maxwell Customer Quote

"We absolutely could not do without Maxwell. I have no other way to manage 17 digital presses on 3 different platforms and have them match. We can also match color globally using Maxwell's scientific approach. This could not be done using traditional methods." Henry Anderson, Technology and Color Specialist, CDS Publications, A Consolidated Graphics Company

CHROMiX at 2013 PIA Color Management Conference

Steve Upton, Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker will be in Phoenix at the PIA Color Management Conference with multiple appearances. Steve and Pat will both be involved with speaking and/or labs (stay tuned to topics, dates and times), and Rick will be fielding questions and providing demo's in the Vendor area.

Come by and see us!

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

October 23rd - 26th, 2013 - PhotoPlus Conference + Expo, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY

October 23rd - 25th, 2013 - Specialty Printing and Imaging Technology Expo 2013 (SGIA), Orlando, FL, Orange County Convention Center.

December 7th - 10th, 2013 - 2013 PIA Color Management Conference, in Phoenix at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. CHROMiX will be there!

March 6th - 8th, 2014 - Dscoop 9th Annual Conference 2014 - Orlando, FL, USA. Dscoop is an acronym for 'Digital Solutions Cooperative of HP Graphic Art Users' and the single largest Indigo User Group in the world.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Adobe Print Engine 3

Adobe's recently launched PDF Print Engine 3 (APPE3) has the potential to significantly evolve the print industry. As you would expect, there is a lot of information and hype floating around about APPE3 and the Mercury RIP Architecture. This clarifying commentary and analysis titled Adobe PDF Print Engine 3: The Next Step in Digital Printing Efficiency by Cary Sherburne and David Zwang (WhatTheyThink?) is a MUST read for everyone.

GTi's new Soft View SOFv-1xiQ

At Print13 in Chicago CHROMiX saw the new Soft View SOFv-1xiQ and talk with Bob McCurdy about this new product. Featuring the new iQ sensor, this desktop soft-proofing system facilitates matching between hard proofs and computer monitor. The Soft View SOFv-1xiQ also won a Must See 'Em award at Print13.

IDEAlliance new Diagnostic/Verification Target

IDEAlliance announced a Verification Test Target for measuring instruments. The target is an easy to use diagnostic tool designed to verify the stability of spectrophotometer devices over time. The Verification Test Target was conceived by the IDEAlliance Print Properties and Colorimetric Council and was developed by the Munsell Color Lab at X-Rite.

Non-member price is $300 and member price is $270 after November 1st (10% discount until Oct. 31). Rumored to be shipping by 4th quarter 2013.

COMMENTARY:
We think this is a good move for the industry and have advocated instrument integrity for a long time. In fact, CHROMiX conducted the 2008 SWOP Proofing study for IDEAlliance which contributed to the SWOP and GRACoL specification tolerances. Maxwell was the back-end system for this study which also included a section on measurement instrument accuracy and consistency. Today, we call this service simply 'MeasureWatch'.

So, back to the NEWS.... CHROMiX will be a reseller of the IDEAlliance Verification Test Target, CHROMiX will bundle it with MeasureWatch, PLUS, any current IDEAlliance members buying the Verification Test Target (from any source) will get a free 1 year subscription of MeasureWatch from CHROMiX. See ad below.

X-Rite's new scanning 'trolley' for the eXact

CHROMiX was able to demo the upcoming scanning 'trolley' accessory at Print13. This accessory will enable target scanning for the eXact instrument and will be an important capability (especially for G7) for overall market adoption. We were sufficiently impressed with the trolleys performance and versatility. Those who need to use the eXact for target scanning should love this. No word yet on pricing or availability, although rumor is it should be released by early 2014.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

The Color... RUN:   Finally, a 5k run for our industry! The Color Run is touted as the 'Happiest 5k on the planet'. How could it not be?

HDMI 2.0 is here!:   Check out the potential bandwidth of HDMI 2.0!

Hue Connected Light bulbs?:   Controlled from your Smartphone via WiFi. We wonder how close these can get to D50?

Spectral Composition of Sun Light:   Have you ever wondered about this aspect of SUN LIGHT?

Sun Light... as plotted in Maxwell:   Relating to the Forum Topic above this one... While it might be interesting to the average person, this sort of spectrum is nothing new to viewers of spectral data in Maxwell.

WiFi's new capability:   Up to a one mile range for WiFi... seriously?!




How to Check for Optical Brighteners by Pat Herold

Printing papers, scorpions and counterfeit wine bottles. Optical brighteners have been popping up in more places in recent years. It's a very exciting topic in more ways than one.

Presses are running more media containing optical brighteners than ever before. The ISO 3664 standard just last year required viewing booths to have more ultraviolet light in their lamps, which will bring out more whiteners in the papers. Photographers are choosing to print onto media with more optical brighteners despite the availability of papers without them. Just this week I got a call from a wine merchant who is using ultraviolet lights to look for optical brightening agents in counterfeit wine labels.

With so much activity around this subject, it's useful to know what they are and how to detect them.
This article will present a few practical ways to determine when optical brightening agents are present in your media as well as some suggestions about how to determine how much is present.

Optical brightening agents (OBA's) are additives that paper manufacturers put into paper in order to help a paper look "whiter." These artificial whiteners are chemicals which can take invisible ultraviolet light and cause it to re-emit - or fluoresce - in the nearby blue spectrum, at a wavelength that is just barely within our ability to see, around 430-460 nanometers. While our eyes see this as a brighter, blue-ish white - a light measuring instrument will only see this as a different form of blue. That is why printer profiles made with paper using a lot of optical brighteners can end up printing out images that have a yellow tint to them. The profile is trying to correct for what it sees as too much blue in the paper.
If a paper visually appears to be a bright white, it will likely have some OBA's in it. This is not true in every case. Paper without OBA's (or very little) include "silver halide" RA-4 process photographic paper, certain press proofing papers, and specific fine art papers marketed as having a "warm tone".

Especially in the area of inkjet media, a number of high quality art papers look fairly bright to the eye, but actually have no OBA's in them. This is part of what makes these papers high quality and appreciated for the longevity of any image you put on them - and more expensive, since the manufacturers have to come up with other ways to achieve this brightness. Just a few examples are Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, Canson Fine Art Watercolor, and Crane Museo papers. Popular papers like Epson Ultra Premium Photo Luster and Red River Ultra Pro Satin show a very strong white, but have very few OBA's in them.


In a high volume environment, when you are wanting to make quick decisions about a large variety of papers, a simple black light comes in very handy. It used to be hard to find a small, handheld fluorescent fixture that contained a black light tube. Nowadays, it's easy to pick up flashlights that contain ultraviolet LED's. The lamps are made to produce ultraviolet light while blocking most of the visible light. When this light source comes in close proximity to optical brightening agents, the light will "excite" the OBA's in the paper, and the surface will fluoresce with a bright blue glow. When first trying this, have a sample of known OBA-free paper on hand to compare to some everyday bond copy paper. The copy paper will show the tell-tale glow while the "natural" paper will hardly react at all.

These lights can be readily purchased online. For a local source, try your neighborhood pet supply store. These are often sold as pet urine detectors. Or if you live in Arizona, UV flashlights are sold to hunt down scorpions in the dark, as they fluoresce under UV light. (I'm going to have to try this when I get to Phoenix this December!)


A more quantifiable method for determining how much OBA's you have is to look at the L*a*b value of the paper white of your stock. It is frequently true that the higher the negative "b" value of your Lab measurement, the higher the amount of OBA's in your paper. This will be true as long as your paper visually looks to be fairly neutral in color, and when you are using a measurement device that uses the full spectrum of light (without a UV-cut filter).

For example, if your paper white measurement returns a Lab value of 97, 1,-1 then you probably don't have OBA's or very few (if your paper looks white and you're not using a UV-cut instrument). If your Lab value is 97, 0, -6 then your measurement instrument is likely picking up the fluorescing of your OBA's and giving you a high -b value.


A number of instruments can measure with UV light included as well as UV excluded. Among these are the X-Rite iSis, eXact, i1Pro 2, and the Konica Minolta FD-7. Using one of these instruments, measure the paper white both ways, and then compare the two measurements. A paper with no OBA's will have a very similar result regardless of which filter is used. (Some difference will be expected due to normal instrument variation.) For papers with a large delta E difference - especially in the whites, this will be directly related to how much the OBA's have been excited by the UV light.


Finally, a sure indicator of the presence of OBA's can be gleaned from spectral analysis of a paper white measurement. Remarkably, paper that has OBA's will show over 100% of the light's reflectance in the blue spectrum. This means the instrument is capturing more light returning from the paper than is being delivered to (shone on) the paper! This is a demonstration of what I mentioned earlier. Light below this wavelength is being converted to a wavelength that we can see, is re-emitting and adding to the light. The online color repository, Maxwell, provides a histogram like this, as well as the discontinued MeasureTool program. Note that the measurement must contain spectral values rather than Lab-only values. Bring up a histogram of the paper white patch, and check out the wavelength at about 440nm. If there is an obvious blue hump there, and especially if it is reporting more than 100% of the reflectance, then you know that white is getting a little extra help.

Whether you need to quickly determine which paper stocks have OBA's in them, or if you want to find out which stock in the past had been printed with OBA's, there are several methods here that will fit your needs in an "exciting" way.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2013 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #54 - Anatomy of a Profile

SmartNote: 50246
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 54 - February 27th, 2014

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Anatomy of a Profile
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Maxwell Milestones

Maxwell reaches two significant milestones!

1. Maxwell exceeded 100 Million measurements last November. Yes, really!!

2. CHROMiX announced Maxwell 7 years ago at the GATF Color Management Conference in Phoenix (Now the PIA Conference).

To celebrate it all, CHROMiX provided fancy cake for attendees at the 2013 PIA Color Management Conference (in Phoenix, AZ on December 8th). It was fun! Lots of people came by, had some cake and took a look at Maxwell.

We are extremely proud of these milestones. Not a company to sit on our laurels, we have completed a comprehensive upgrade to the Maxwell database system preparing it for the next 500 million.

As of this ColorNews publish date, Maxwell has now surpassed 111 Million measurements!


CHROMiX also showed off Maxwell's DASHBOARD at the PIA Conference. The Dashboard works as a visual command console to monitor devices, facilities, assets or anything connected with Maxwell 'live' as it happens. Maxwell customers can take advantage of this free function by contacting CHROMiX for initial configuring and testing.

Maxwell Client Update

The latest Maxwell v 4.1.5 new features:
- new metrics
- bi-directional scanning with an i1Pro*
- device-then-track selection for operator mode selection
- split patch display of measurements
- bad measurements (over 24 dE) produce a dialog for re-measuring or submitting measurements
- global track changes & defaults are now available
- and a few other nifty features you may notice (all good!)

Changes and Fixes in 4.1.5:
- calculation differences between Maxwell Client and Maxwell online have been eliminated


*All recent Maxwell Client versions 4.x should work fine with an i1Pro 2 in its backwards-compatible mode. It measures like an i1Pro (Gen 1). CHROMiX will be incorporating the new i1Pro 2 drivers into the Client sometime this year.

Maxwell Customer Response

"We use Maxwell daily for Process Control on our wide format machines and our presses. I love the flexibility of color targets and standards that I can use. Everything we do is non-standard, so that flexibility is vital to our success. We had a case where we had to print the same print on 6 different printers and 2 different ink sets. They were an excellent match to each other. We couldn't maintain that level of consistency without Maxwell. The powerful tools and the great price make it the best value for the money of any software of its kind."

Michael Todryk
Chief Color Expert
Avid Ink
-~-~-~

Maxwell remotely supervises the performance of almost any production device from a web browser. Users track, trend, analyze and report on spectrophotometers, printers, proofers, presses and monitor displays - plus their performance or conformance to industry standards or in-house tolerances.

Isn't it time you gave Maxwell a look?

For more information, to receive a demo or to discuss your company's Printing Verification/QA/QC needs, please contact CHROMiX Sales Toll Free at (866) CHROMiX (866-247-6649) extension #1, or email at sales@chromix.com.

Curve3 Feedback

"We use Curve3-based G7 calibrations for our sublimation printing processes to improve predictability. It improves the linearity and smoothness of profiling targets which helps in matching, especially with difficult colors. It also improves and makes CMYK photographic output (especially gray scale images) more acceptable now."

"Printing gurus may say that G7 is for offset printing only, but since Curve3 was introduced, I would advocate that G7 is now very applicable to non-traditional and specialty printing. For example: sublimation inks traditionally tend to limit gamut. Introducing an icc profile can introduce too many impurities. Curve3 G7 calibrations help to maintain a general gray balance integrity while striving for more 'popping' colors."

Bartosz Walczak
API.PL Ltd
Poland

~-~-

"The new 'smoothing' algorithm in Curve3 has improved our results for variant devices, and I strongly recommend Curve3 for anyone wanting to conform to G7"

Rich Cline, Hammer Packaging

~-~-

"Curve3 is by far the best version of Curve to date. A user friendly interface and relevant data that is easy to understand. Curve3 is a must have, and essential for any G7 workflow."

Todd Miller, Electronic Prepress Color Specialist, Independent Printing Company, Inc.

Isn't it time you upgrade to Curve3 also?

CHROMiX is 15 years old!

We suppose this is another milestone, eh?

CHROMiX sightings

Steve Upton will be speaking on a panel at the 2014 FTA Annual Forum 'Breaking New Ground' on Sunday April 27th in Baltimore. His session is at 12:30 PM and is titled 'Expanded Gamut - A Color Geek's View'. Steve will present a fun view 'inside the black box' of ICC profiles. If you're at the conference be sure to come by and say hello.

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

March 2nd - 4th, 2014 - Print UV 2014 at the Wynn properties in Las Vegas, NV has become the most UV focused niche show of its kind in the printing industry.

March 6th - 8th, 2014 - Dscoop 9th Annual Conference 2014 - Orlando, FL, USA. Dscoop is an acronym for 'Digital Solutions Cooperative of HP Graphic Art Users' and the single largest Indigo User Group in the world.

March 24th - 29th, 2014 - 2014 IPEX Conference and Expo, London.

April 27th - 30th, 2014 - FTA's 2014 Annual Forum: Breaking New Ground
April 27th - 30th in Baltimore, MD. Our own Steve Upton will be present (panel speaker Sunday 27th 12:30 for the Expanded Gamut session). Come by and say hello to Steve!

June 23rd-25th, 2014 - ICC Meeting, Heidelberg, Germany

September 28th - October 1st, 2014 - GraphExpo '14 and CPP Expo 2014, Chicago.

October 22nd - 24th, 2014 - 2014 SGIA Expo in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. All about Specialty Graphics.. and more.

October 30th - November 1st, 2014 - ICC Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

November 3rd, 2014 - ICC DevCom (Developer Conference), Boston, Massachusetts

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Eizo's new 27" LED ColorEdge CG277

Eizo has announced (and is shipping) the new ColorEdge CG277. The CG277 is the high-end replacement to the CG276, which has been considered the best 27" color critical viewing monitor in the world. The CG277 includes the internal built-in auto calibration sensor, will be LED backlit and touts 99% AdobeRGB. For more information use one of the links above or call CHROMiX sales at (866) 247-6649 ext#1.

IDEAlliances new 12647-7 Control Wedge

IDEAlliance has issued a new ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Wedge 2013 target. This enhanced and improved version of the 12647-7 control wedge target, has 3 rows and 84 patches vs the 2-row 54 patches in the original. It has many of the original patches (some with improved values), plus several new patches. To learn more and download it, click this link: ISO 12647-7 3-Row target

NEC releases new PA models

NEC has released new versions of their PA series: The PA242 a 24", the PA272 a 27" and the PA302 a 30". All models are the newer LED product and all are heir replacements to the PA241, PA271 and PA301 respectively. CHROMiX is testing and will have bench reviews for the PA272 and PA302 models very soon. Our early observations reveal that the new PAxx2 series is a significant evolution on several counts.

X-Rite XRD Update 2.3.2 for Mac

X-Rite has updated X-Rite Device services (XRD) for i1Profiler with Mavericks.

X-Rite new DNG ProfileManager

X-Rite has released DNG ProfileManager, which is a new DNG tool to augment and manage your DNG workflow.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

DNG profile usage tutorial:   On the ColorSync in January, the Digital Dog, Andrew Rodney shared lots of helpful information about DNG profiles. He also shared a great Hi-Def video about DNG profiles that you can download or view at lower Rez on YouTube at http://youtu.be/_fikTm8XIt4

GDP over inflated?:   Dr Joe Webb, of WhatTheyThink, is a highly regarded economist and financial guru in our graphics industry, so when he says something, we listen... and try not to cry:
GDP over-inflated

White vs Black border:   Ken Fleisher reminded us of an older (but still very relevant) article from Eric Chan about using white and black borders when viewing and proofing our images.
White vs. Black borders




Anatomy of a Profile By Pat Herold

Here's a basic primer for those wanting to know just what an ICC profile is. I've tried to tuck in all the basic little tidbits of information and color management axioms that may be useful in your color management workflows. See Steve Upton's article on The Color of Toast to see a light-hearted analogy for understanding color management. http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/The_Color_of_Toast


It's a computer file

An ICC profile is a file that resides on your computer, much as other files do. One thing to keep in mind is that every profile has an internal name as well as an external name. The file name is what you will see when looking through your files on your computer using Windows Explorer, or a Finder window on a Mac. You can rename this file as you would any other file on your computer. Watch out though! The internal file name is the name that is listed when you are viewing a list of profiles from inside an app like Photoshop or Lightroom. When the ICC profile format was created in the olden days, some operating systems had a limit to how many characters a file had. So the internal file name allowed for more characters in order to describe a profile better. While it's a generally accepted practice to keep these external and internal names identical, it's important to recognize that these can be different. This might explain your confusion one day, when you have renamed your output profile to something like "My favorite profile.icc" and then go looking for it in your profile drop-down box. You won't find it there because it will still be named "Ep3880 Premium Luster.icc" - the internal file name. If you are on a Mac, the ColorSync Utility will allow you to change the internal profile name. Windows has no built-in program that can do this, so you would need a 3rd-party program like ColorThink v2 or ColorThink Pro to change the internal name.


It's a snapshot in time

When a device profile is created, it has captured the device's behavior at a certain point in time. With a printer profile this was done using certain inks, paper and printer - and certain settings in the software such as media type, linearization and ink limiting. It's always good to keep in mind that if any of these processes change in any way, the profile become invalid or obsolete. It no longer reflects accurately the state of that process. If you're suddenly getting different color, check to see what's changed.


It connects between color spaces

CIE Lab is a universally recognized 3D space for defining a color precisely. If you're looking at a Lab value, then you have there an actual defined color. You can think of Lab as a sort of universal translator for color. A profile figures out how best to translate your device's numbers into the "universal color language": Lab - and also how to go the other direction from Lab into device space. So if you are printing to your printer out of Photoshop, a simplified way to visualize this is: Your image starts out in your AdobeRGB working space numbers, > then the AdobeRGB profile transforms it into Lab space, > your Premium Luster profile picks it up in Lab space, > and transforms the image into Epson3880 printer space numbers.

Notice that this involves two profiles. Profiles are almost always used in pairs. You're converting out of a device's space into the universal translator, and then out of the universal translator into the new device's space.

It goes in two directions

A printer profile will work in two directions. A typical use for a profile is in sending an image to the printer. This is called the rendering direction or the B to A direction. It handles the job of taking color numbers from the Lab space and converting them to numbers that the output device (the printer) will use to put the appropriate amount of ink onto the paper. This is Lab to Printer. A profile can also be used in the opposite direction, from Printer to Lab. This is the direction that will be used when you use a profile to soft-proof in Photoshop. When soft-proofing, you are asking the profile to convert from the printer space into Lab space so that you can see the results on the screen in Photoshop. This is called the proofing direction or the A to B direction. You can think of this as using the profile to "print" to your monitor. These two directions are saved in different tags inside the profile. These tags are also called tables or LUTs (Look-Up-Tables).

Some profile creation software like X-Rite's i1Profiler allow you to choose different sizes for these separate sets of tables. This might be useful if you are primarily concerned with printing and not with proofing. Choosing a smaller table size for the A to B direction will allow your profile file size to be smaller without sacrificing any quality in your printing.

It's possible to swap these tables around between profiles. If you like the printing result of one profile, but prefer the soft-proofing behavior of a different profile, some programs like ColorThink will allow you to put a table from one profile into another.


Tag table

Embedded in a profile is a tag table that contains the rendering intent tag tables (more on those below), a copyright tag (so you can find out who made the profile), tags that define the white point, black point and primary colors of the profile, and sometimes even the measurement data and parameters that were used to construct the profile originally.


An intense look at Intents

Also included in the guts of a profile are four different rendering intents. The program you're printing from will allow you to choose one of these intents, and you can choose according to your intentions for how you want your colors handled. Your rendering intent choice will affect in a big way how any out of gamut colors will be handled.

Perceptual:
Some people will want to preserve the relationship between colors that are close to each other, so any color changing will appear more "natural." or evenly spaced. This is great for portrait work. Facial colors will tend to have smooth gradients from one shade to another. Perceptual will tend to de-saturate colors though, so this is not so good for vivid scenery images. Perceptual will also tend to give you more shadow detail. Rel Col. and Abs. Col. are constructed along more or less mathematical lines. But creating good Perceptual and Saturation rendering intents is almost an art form. It's a bit tricky to preserve the differences between colors in a natural way and at the same time try to not de-saturate the colors too much when brought into gamut. You get different results with different profile-building software.

Relative Colorimetric:
For your eye-popping, maximum saturation images, you will want to use Rel Col. It will preserve as much gamut as it can, and it will only desaturate your out-of-gamut colors to just within your printer's ability to print. This will also mean that there might not be much difference between various shades of saturated pixels. A red fire engine will tend to blend into one blob of the same maximum red. In Photoshop, you can select "Black Point Compensation" in order to get the same preservation of shadow detail in Rel. Col. that you can get with Perceptual. Rel. Col. is a good choice for Fine Art reproduction work, as it will give you the most accuracy for colors that are already in-gamut for your printer. This is also a good all-around rendering intent for a printer with a wide gamut, which is expected to contain most of the colors of your images.

Absolute Colorimetric:
This is rarely used unless someone wants to maintain the same whiteness on the new print as you had on the profile you're converting from. If you're printing a hard proof to simulate what a newspaper print will look like, you can use Abs Col while converting from a newsprint profile to an inkjet profile, and your inkjet print will have all the gray whites that a newsprint paper would have.

Saturation:
This is very similar to Perceptual, but is intended to offer slightly more saturation than Perceptual normally offers. This is rarely used, but read this note for some inspiration to try this rendering intent more often:
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Color_Management_Myths_6-10#Myth_.239:_The_Saturation_rendering_intent_sucks


It is important to note that all ICC printer profiles have these four rendering intents built into them. It's part of the ICC specification. There is apparently a myth floating around out there that there is only one rendering intent, say perceptual, in the profile - or that the profile when it was made, was intended for only a certain rendering intent. Not true! I'll say it again: All ICC printer profiles have these four rendering intents built into them. People do have different goals in mind when printing, and all four of these are very valid on different occasions. A profile is not made for "one" rendering intent. You usually just need to click a drop down box and choose a different one if you wish.

Sometimes a paper manufacturer's instructions about how to print will include generic recommendations, and may suggest you use the Perceptual rendering intent. This intent is sometimes considered the "safest" rendering intent to recommend because this allows our perception of the differences between colors to continue to look natural, even if the overall impression may be a bit "flat". If I had no idea what your images were like, and no idea of what printer you were using, I guess I'd recommend Perceptual too. When a profile is created, it is required to have a "default rendering intent". This is just an information field in the header of the file, and has no effect on the creation or function of the profile. (It's not even picked up or used by most programs.) This is often set at Perceptual, but that does not mean this was the rendering intent the profile was "made for". It is understandable why Perceptual is recommended as a place to start. But don't let that stop you from trying out the others!


More ideas

If you ever have any doubt that a profile is doing its job, or to put it another way - if you ever want to test your workflow to see if it is applying your profiles correctly, check out our article on Stunt Profiles. These are artificially constructed profiles that will help you test whether rendering intents are being used correctly, or if your monitor profile is actually being picked up and used, or if you just like printing strange pictures. http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Stunt_Profiles


I have mainly concentrated on the use of the typical output profile for use when printing. For information on the other types of profiles, see this newsletter article:
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/ColorNews_No._22_-_The_7_ICC_profile_types

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2014 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #55 - Troubleshooting Color - Displays

SmartNote: 50251
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 55 - June 26th, 2014

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Troubleshooting Color - Part One (Displays)
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Maxwell new Certification Program

With Maxwell's increasing popularity, consultants and resellers are getting involved with Maxwell solutions for their customers. Therefore, CHROMiX has recently created a special Certified Status category for Maxwell expertise. This designation assures that a certified reseller or consultant has a strong knowledge of Maxwell and has more than adequately passed CHROMiX's required qualifications.

An important benefit of this status is that CHROMiX will also directly support those resellers and consultants who are Maxwell certified, an assurance to customers.

There are several who have met and exceeded the requirements and qualified for Certified Status. We will introduce these partners soon in an upcoming public release as well as post their information on a special section of our website associated with Maxwell.

Maxwell Customer feedback

We read this customer quote for Digital PressWatch and loved it! We hope you do too:


"When exact color is critical, there are many factors to consider including the operator and software, paper, toner, atmosphere, the client, and the printer. While a color issue may be software or *cough* operator error, it can often be something else. Since not all color issues are easy to spot, DPW (Digital PressWatch) has been exceptionally useful for us to do a quick system check. It can quickly take a lot of the guess work out of what, if any, changes have occurred, and in a fraction of the time that a critical eye will.

In the past, running out of toner mid-job or switching to a new case of paper purchased at a different time could easily require re-profiling to be safe. With DPW we print the simple test chart out after a change (or possible change) and it instantly compares that to our daily chart and past charts allowing any changes to be easily spotted (with hard numbers and graphs rather than just visual checks).

With subtle changes like temperature or humidity, or just a customer complaining about how something looks, we can easily ensure we are still hitting the delta e targets we have without having to second guess the output.

Finally, when something has gone wrong, DPW has often helped us to identify what changed (the medium, something with the printer, a specific toner set, etc.), which saved us time and energy.

At the end of the day DPW is a fairly small monthly investment to have a constant watchdog on your print process."

Shawn Payne - Store Manager
Duvall Print and Post
WA


If you have a digital press, you owe it to yourself to take a look at Maxwell Digital PressWatch, or talk to a CHROMiX expert about your digital needs at 206-985-6837 extension #1.

Curve3 Customer feedback


"We are testing Curve3 for digital dye sublimation using a variety of inks and profilers with the goal of building a standard set of procedures. So far we have found that printer-to-printer consistency is significantly better when Curve3 is used to augment the linearization. Depending on the profiler, VPR (Curve3's Virtual Press Run module) is increasing profile volumes by at least 25% as measured by ColorThink Pro."

Perry Schwartz
VistaLogics


"The new 'smoothing' algorithm in Curve3 has improved our results for variant devices, and I strongly recommend Curve3 for anyone wanting to conform to G7"

Rich Cline, Hammer Packaging


Isn't it time you upgrade your old version of IDEALink or Curve2 to Curve3?

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

June 23rd-25th, 2014 - ICC Meeting, Heidelberg, Germany

September 28th - October 1st, 2014 - GraphExpo '14 and CPP Expo 2014, Chicago.

October 22nd - 24th, 2014 - 2014 SGIA Expo in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. All about Specialty Graphics.. and more.

October 30th - November 1st, 2014 - ICC Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

November 3rd, 2014 - ICC DevCom (Developer Conference), Boston, Massachusetts

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Adobe Creative Cloud updates

Barbieri announces the new SpectroPad 2

At FESPA Digital 2014 in Munich, Barbieri announced the new SpectroPad 2 which has several enhancements and new features. The SpectroPad 2 has a locking mechanism in order to lock the measuring cube and head when not in use or when transporting. A humidity and temperature sensor has also been added in order to check variations in environmental conditions. The SpectroPad Series 2 supports Fogra M-Score evaluation for homogeneity (uniformity). The WiFi interface was enhanced. And more.

Maxwell note: CHROMiX has a SpectroPad 2 and has plans to incorporate it into Maxwell. Stay tuned.

Here's a YouTube video of the SpectroPad 2.

Barbieri creates direct North American company

To better service and support the North American market, Barbieri (Global headquarters Italy) has established Barbieri North America, which will be headquartered in New York.
Barbieri North American Markets

Calumet Photo US goes bankrupt

Apparently this happened abruptly and with no employee notice.
Calumet Declares Bankruptcy

Digital Print Survey

In March this year, WhatTheyThink and Unisource released an informal survey called The Digital Print Survey. As the title suggests, the survey asks several questions about digital print quality from 400 print provider shops. With the rise and popularity of digital, many answers were obvious:

86% of respondents said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the image quality coming off of their presses.
67% were satisfied or very satisfied with color matching.
63% were satisfied or very satisfied with color consistency.
43% were satisfied with color matching.

However, some answers were surprising. For example, when asked, "In your opinion, in general, how does the output quality of your digital color production presses (HP Indigo, Xerox iGen, Xeikon, Nexpress) compare to the output quality of offset presses?"

53% of respondents said about as good as offset
8% of respondents said slightly better than offset
2% of respondents said is much better than offset

By providing Name, Email, and Company, Unisource is providing a FREE DOWNLOAD of the Digital Print Survey data, plus audio commentary from Dr. Joe Webb.

We highly recommend reading this survey.

*Promotional Plug* Maxwell 'Digital PressWatch' is uniquely positioned to monitor digital printing quality and has proven its strength of value to customers for many years. See above CHROMiX News section for information about Maxwell or contact CHROMiX at (206) 388-2559.

HP's new DreamColor displays

At NAB this Spring, HP announced updates to their DreamColor series monitors. The DreamColor Z724 is a 24" ($599) and the Z27x at 27" ($1499). The Z727x features an IPS panel, 100% aRGB 10-bit color, 2560 x 1440 resolution anti-glare screen, and presets for seven common color space settings. It can accept 4K input, which it displays either scaled to fit the screen or natively, allowing you to scroll around the larger image. New to the Z27x is the ability to connect hardware calibration devices directly to the display and to calibrate without the need to have software running on the host computer.

X-Rites new eXact 'Scan' Option

The new eXact Scan option supports measurement scanning of continuous and non-continuous color bars up to 112 cm or 44" long. This long awaited functionality should easily extend the usefulness of the eXact. The eXact Scan Option is priced around $1500 separately.

Maxwell users have been asking for this for some time, and will be happy to know that CHROMiX will begin development for compatibility now that the eXact Scan capability is finally here.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

ColorForums is a safe place to ask questions:   
Recent forum posts provide testimony that people are nice and don't bite in the CHROMiX hosted ColorForums!

Try it out! It's FREE.

And painless.

ColorThink Pro Tips & Tricks keeps growing...:   and growing.
ColorThink Pro Tips and Tricks

Machine augmented color perception = cyborg color?:   An interesting and provocative read.
An interview with a color cyborg

RIP (as in dead) the Server?:   This is not what you think. RIP servers for graphics are not dead, but instead are still thriving. RIPs are probably not ideal for cloud computing... yet.
However, many other software products and services (for production and/or business), like CHROMiX Maxwell, ARE in fact ideally suited for cloud operation.
Enjoyable article. We loved the concept of tank breathing. Perhaps you will too.
Time to breath the air of cloud connection




Troubleshooting Color - Part One (Displays) By Pat Herold

Here's one of those articles that may not have relevance for you now, but it's good to tuck it away for when you need it. This is a compilation of tips for how to diagnose the more common causes of color problems.

If you're just about to file this article away for the day when you actually DO have a color problem, read the next few paragraphs at least. Some of this you should do now.

One of the best things you can do to prepare for the eventuality of a color problem is to take note of what you're doing while everything is working great. Having the files and the settings to duplicate what you're doing now, and some samples to confirm what it is that you like, is enough to solve half the problems you are likely to run into.

Backup your computer files regularly


Yes, I know half of my readers are already saying "Yeah I really need to figure out how to do backups someday" and they'll never get around to it. For you who are too busy, I have the next points of advice:

At least make backup copies of your profiles and other vital files
Most RIPs will have a way to save your settings in configuration files or "environment" files or something of the sort. Locate where they are on your hard drive and copy them off to someplace safe on a different computer in another building at least. Printer drivers have presets which save the printer settings. The file location of presets are not so easy to locate on your computer, but give it a try or follow the next step:

Record your settings


Besides backups of your important files, it's good to have a record of the actual settings you're using. This does not have to be as tedious as it might have been back in the days of notepads and pencils. Today there are several screenshot capturing programs available, or even screen recording programs that can make it very easy and quick to capture the settings in your color programs. A video of you browsing through all the tabs in your RIP may not garner a lot of "Likes" on YouTube, but will be invaluable if your color suddenly starts going south. It does not have to be fancy or long. You just have to be able to look back and see what your settings were.

Save sample prints


When everything is looking good and you're happy, print some of your favorite test images and squirrel them away in a refrigerator or freezer somewhere. If you don't have any favorites, grab some common industry test images. You can start by looking here: ColorWiki Test Images Storing them in a cool, dark place will ensure that they will look the same several years in the future.

Without a hard copy example of what your printing should look like, it's easy to be fooled by poor memory. Humans are not very good at remembering specific shades of color. You could find yourself faced with a change of color, but you don't have any samples of what you printed before, so you don't really know if you're truly "off" or what things should look like when you are "back to normal" again. I have seen people try to solve an *apparent* image quality problem by comparing against some ethereal memory of what they used to print before they replaced the (fill in the blank). For all they know their discernment may have gotten sharper with more experience over time, and the work they printed before wasn't so good after all.

Now that you have some settings and sample prints to fall back on, let's tackle the diagnosis of the color problem you're facing today.

Displays


On the one hand, there seems like only one thing you can do to help the color on a monitor, and that is to calibrate and profile it. If that does not work, there's not much more you can do.
On the other hand, the *accuracy* of a display's calibration is always open for dispute. The next question to ask after someone claims their monitor is producing bad color is "compared to what?" Our eyes will tend to "auto white balance" to whatever scene they are looking at, including the display you're staring at 8 hours a day. So a monitor can be off-color and still appear correct to the eyes if you're used to what it looks like. That's why it's good to have an instrument reading, or a physical image, or something solid to compare to.

It is known that most monitor calibrating colorimeters are designed for consistency, not for true color accuracy. You'd have to spend between $1000 for a DISCUS colorimeter and $10,000 for a Photo Research device to get true accuracy. Still, your average Spyder or i1 Display Pro will do a pretty good job of getting you consistent color you can depend on.

When it comes to solving your color problem, start by checking the settings you're using when profiling. Display calibration should be set to reasonable values, as discussed in other newsletters: ColorWiki Monitors Part Two. If you are trying to get a printer to match your screen, try the options in this article on Print to Screen matching. Printer to Match my Screen

The above article describes the importance of setting the white point correctly. Both in color and in brightness, the white point of your monitor should match the white point of the paper you are trying match. If an image of a white house with snow in the foreground is coming out "too dark" when printed, well there's just not much you could expect a printer to do to make that white paper any whiter. Instead it's probably your monitor that is too bright.

If you have calibrated and profiled your monitor, and your settings are correct for your situation and are still getting bad color, try this:


  • Calibrate a different monitor. If you get different results on a different display, this might be an indication that there is something wrong with your original monitor.
  • Calibrate on a different computer. If you get success with a different computer, there might be something wrong with the setup of the software on your first computer, or the graphics card on the first computer may have some limitations.
  • Problems with two displays? Macs can deal with the profiles of two or more displays effortlessly. Some WIndows operating systems are not able to store separate profiles for separate displays on the same video card. You might need to get a separate video card for the other display.
  • It is sometimes helpful to be able to look at the color correction curves in your computer's graphics card. This is not always possible. Profiling software like ColorEyes Display Pro will present you with a graphic. Some graphic card manufacturers may show this to you. If it is available to view, it's a good idea to check these curves to see if they are looking erratic or strange in other ways. In most cases, you're going to want to see red, green and blue lines that travel from the bottom left to the top right of the graph.
  • If your display is old and you're thinking it's nearing the end of its life, browse through the menu buttons on the front of the monitor and choose the "factory reset" or "reset all" button. Then re-profile the display. Sometimes, setting it back to the factory settings will breathe some new life into an old display.
  • Are the cables plugged in? Don't laugh! People have called me up complaining about bad monitor color, and we have found out that the cause was a video cable that was not securely fastened to the back of the display.

One secret to troubleshooting anything is to swap out components one at a time to see which one changes things, makes them worse or better. Fortunately most of us have ready access to alternate monitors, cables and even a friend's laptop if we ask nicely. See which switch gives you a change in the right direction and that will be a good clue to figuring out where the problem lies.

Next time I'll cover some ideas about troubleshooting color on a printer.


Thanks for reading.


Patrick Herold
CHROMiX

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2014 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #56 - Troubleshooting Color - Printers

SmartNote: 50258
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 56 - October 15th, 2014

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Troubleshooting Color - Part Two (Printers)
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

CHROMiX becomes a Barbieri Partner

CHROMiX has become a direct Barbieri Partner recently, and Barbieri North America will soon be launching the 'Barbieri Technology Center' concept. The enabled partner will offer and demonstrate to customers their unique value-added software and/or service solutions combined with Barbieri products. To that end, CHROMiX will soon release Maxwell Client v5 software and will be able to drive the LFP and SpectroPad2 directly for Maxwell data acquisition. We are excited to be working with Barbieri closely and look forward to bringing compelling solutions forward to our customers.

CHROMiX on NEC Google+ hangout panel

Our own Rick Hatmaker was a panelist on an NEC sponsored LIVE Google+ hangout on Tuesday October 14th at 2:00 pm Central. He was joined by other panelists for the discussion topic 'Getting Started with Color Management'. Art Marshall, NEC Professional and Medical Displays Product Manager, was the host and moderator.

There is a 1 hour YouTube video recording available here of the entire discussion.

CHROMiX Sightings

GraphExpo 2014 - Chicago - September 28th to October 1st. Steve Upton and Rick Hatmaker walked the show floor and had several meetings with key customers and partners. Overall, the 2014 GraphExpo was good, slightly smaller, but still with good energy. The highlight (show-wise) for us was the G7 Summit. It had double the size of attendees as last year and was held in a private meeting hall (much better). Topics were focused and informative. A plethora of who's who in G7, including Don Hutcheson, were available to attendees.

SGIA 2014 - Las Vegas - October 22nd to 24th. Steve Upton and Rick Hatmaker will be walking the show floor and engaged in meetings with key partners and customers. CHROMiX is also a sponsor of the Color Management Group vendor booth (# 4570) and will have product and banner presence at the booth for Curve3, ColorThink and Maxwell. Ask us about the Maxwell Certification program if you are a consultant partner. If you're a customer or partner at the show and would like to chat or say hello, drop a quick email to Rick (at) chromix.com and we'll set something up.

Color Management Conference 2014 (CMC) - Scottsdale - December 6th to 9th and presented by Printing Industries of America. The CMC is always a favorite stop for CHROMiX. It ends the year of color with some very good focus. Steve Upton, Pat Herold and Rick Hatmaker will be at this years CMC. CHROMiX will be a Vendor Sponsor and have a vendor booth represented. Both Steve and Pat are presenting sessions as well. Steve is presenting 'Visualizing Color Graphically' on Monday 12/8 at 11:40 am, plus 'Best Practices in Dealing with Instrumentation Differences' on Monday 12/8 at 1:40 pm. Pat is presenting 'Color Management Myths (and How to Bust Them!)' on Sunday 12/7 at 11:40 am, plus 'How to Create and Verify Profiles' on Monday 12/8 at 2:50 pm. Please come by and see us at any time!

Maxwell Client v5

Maxwell Client v5 is being released in the coming few weeks. One of the most important upgrades in a while for Maxwell users, version 5 Client incorporates the new ISO M-series designations for measuring. Version 5 will be completely compatible with the i1Pro2 (and its capabilities), but also including compatibility with M0, M1, M2 and M3 measurements. Maxwell Client v5 will also introduce the first compatibilities with the Barbieri LFP and SpectroPad2 devices with a subsequent release.

Maxwell customers can acquire the latest version 5 by requesting it from CHROMiX. Some minimal setup is likely required so CHROMIX will help customers adapt.

Maxwell Customer Quote

"We absolutely could not do without Maxwell. I have no other way to manage 17 digital presses on 3 different platforms and have them match. We can also match color globally using Maxwell's scientific approach. This could not be done using traditional methods." Henry Anderson, Technology and Color Specialist, CDS Publications, A Consolidated Graphics Company

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

October 20th - 22nd, 2014 - FTA Fall Conference and Tabletop Exhibit - Doubletree HIlton, Minneapolis, MN. Mike Ferrari, Founder/President, Ferrari Innovation Solutions will be speaking, plus many other influential and inspirational speakers at this popular flexographic trade meeting.

October 22nd - 24th, 2014 - SGIA Expo 2014 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This one is all about Specialty Graphics, Wide/Grand Format.. and more. CHROMiX will have product presence at booth # 4570 for Curve3, ColorThink Pro and Maxwell. Steve Upton and Rick Hatmaker will also be on the show floor, so if you'd like to meet, drop Rick a line at Rick (at) chromix.com

October 29th - November 1st, 2014 - PDN PhotoPLUS International Expo and Conference 2014 - Javits Center, New York City, NY. Most everything photography for pro's and amateurs.

November 3rd, 2014 - DevCon 2014 - ICC Developers Conference titled 'iccMAX' @ the Joseph B Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

November 18th - 21st, 2014 - Gravure Publishing and Premedia Conference at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club, Naples, FL.

December 6th - 9th, 2014 - The 2014 Color Management Conference (CMC) presented by the Printing Industries of America, the CMC will be at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas, Scottsdale, AZ and is always a favorite stop for CHROMiX to end the year colorfully. Please come on by our booth and say hello to Rick, or attend one of Steve's or Pat's sessions. We'll look forward to seeing you there!

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

AOC to protect against blue light in monitors

Fascinating, is all we came up with for this one.... well, that and really?

EnChroma intros color blindness correction eyewear

These nifty glasses are a little pricey, but it could help someone with color blindness deficiency. Maybe someone who's color blind from the field can let us know if they work, or not. There's a color blindness test on the EnChroma website to help indicate a possible color blindness problem.

Barbieri announces Technology Centers and QBQC Tech program

At SGIA 2014 in Las Vegas, Barbieri Electronics will announce and launch a new Technology Centers concept and a QBQC Tech program to illustrate new initiatives with OEM's and Partners. This initiative will benefit customers directly in North America by providing better access to information, solutions and Barbieri product. Note: CHROMiX is a new Barbieri Partner and is aligned well with this initiative. CHROMiX will be providing direct device connectivity soon for the LFP and SpectroPad2 with Maxwell via Maxwell Client v5.

Barbieri will be showing the LFP and SpectroPad2 extensively at their booth # 3171 at SGIA. CHROMiX probably won't be too far from there if you need to talk about any solution.

X-Rite updates i1Profiler to v1.5.6

X-Rite released a new version of i1Profiler this last Summer that fixed a bug in the i1Pro SDK that caused slightly false measurement errors when calculating M1 (D50) and M2 (UVCut) spectral values. It is important to note that this issue did not affect M0 (tungsten only) measurements. Version 1.5.6 also addressed the latest OS and other compatibilities and issues.

X-Rite product discontinuances

Many X-Rite products end: PlateScope, ICPLate2, 369, 369X, EasyTrax 20", 26" and 32" models, 890U, 890UX, 891U, D19C Cards, SP52, SP60, SP61, SP62, SP64, CGS57, ColorEye XTH, IQC Basic, 552 and PD+. For the full list, use this link: discontinued X-Rite products.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

Color Mananagement Blog based in the UK:   CHROMiX has been keeping a eye on this blog based in the UK. It's quite good. It frequently has up-to-date, accurate and useful information relating to products and mainstream topics. We encourage you to check it out.

ColorPort Users Manual:   Many people use X-Rite's free ColorPort software for measurement data manipulation, but have no idea there is a Users Manual. In case you missed it, here it is.




Troubleshooting Color - Part Two (Printers) By Pat Herold

In our last newsletter we looked at how to track down the source of color problems on displays. We also looked at some good general advice for what to do now, that can aid you down the road when color problems happen. Some of that advice is good for print problems too, so you can review those tips from last time here.

Printers

A profile will last forever if the conditions that existed when it was created continue with no change. If your printing workflow is producing a different color, consider that one of the following has changed:

The media


Different papers will absorb ink differently. A high quality matte art paper may look identical to another matte paper, but the way the coating on the paper absorbs the ink can be completely different. Unless you have established that two different papers will print identically, you should plan on a different profile for each paper type.

The ink


The first place to check when you see color problems in an inkjet printer is to print a nozzle check pattern to make sure there are no clogged ink heads. Keep in mind that it is essential that your profiling target was printed correctly too. If it had clogged ink nozzles when printing the target and you did not know about it, no software is going to make a good profile out of that target. You would need to start all over again with a new target to be sure. Has there been any recent change in the ink lately? Check to see if the wrong cartridge is in place (like a light cyan cartridge in the location for a regular cyan). Ink that has been sitting on a shelf (or sitting in your printer) for six months or more may have pigments settling unevenly. Check the expiration dates on the ink. Once in awhile we hear about a bad batch of ink. The color snapped back into place after replacing the old cartridge with a new one, and purging the old ink through the system.

The settings


Last time we discussed the need to document your settings. Make sure you're using the right configuration or environment settings for your RIP. Usually a different resolution or a different setting between high speed/ low speed does not make a big difference in color, but it can make a small difference.

If you are printing through a printer driver, you really want to save a preset for each paper type you print onto. For example, use the "luster-1440" preset you saved every time you print with that paper. It is essential for color consistency that you use the same settings every time.

Are you using the right rendering intent for what you need? Different rendering intents will give a more subtle change in color. For example, the perceptual rendering intent will tend you give you less saturation overall, while the relative colorimetric intent will give you more saturated colors. More on rendering intents is here.

Check to see that you are not applying a printer profile in more than one place. This is a common problem for RGB workflows printed through printer drivers. It is possible to have a profile in place in Photoshop for example, and then also to have the operating system use another profile deep in the bowels of the driver settings. A printer profile must be used in one place or the other, not both.

Has the printer driver version changed? Any time we upgrade to a new version of the driver, there is a possibility that the algorithms behind the media settings have changed. This is true for operating system updates as well if they involve printer drivers. Most of the time your color will stay the same. But if you upgrade to a new driver and your color changes, even though you're using the same media settings, then that is probably the cause. It is time to get a new profile or revert back to the old driver.


The hardware


This is a long shot, but sometimes a print head will gradually change the way it prints over time. If you have already verified that your media, ink and settings have not changed - sometimes the only thing left to do is to create a new profile and chalk it up to some mysterious hardware glitch. It drives some people nuts to not know why the color went bad, but if you have to get the work out, then you do what you have to do. Making a new profile will at least fix the color. You will be wise to keep a close eye on things to see if the color changes again though. One unexplained change in color can easily lead to another unexplained change, and you can end up chasing your tail as it were.

If you are working with a traditional or digital press, you have another set of variables to deal with in print variation. It could be beginning of run vs. end of run, cross-sheet variation or a host of hardware-related issues that will affect the consistency of color on the sheet. It's beyond the scope of this article to walk you through troubleshooting a press, but I will say that it pays to keep this variability in mind. Don't make decisions based on one or two samples. It's wise to get an average. Smoothing measurement data will do a lot to curb some of the extreme outlier measurements that don't truly represent the normal functioning of the press. For example, our Curve3 software has a very good smoothing algorithm that can be called into service to smooth any measurement data. A good press profile will average the measurements from several samples throughout the run. Our Digital PressWatch service in Maxwell helps to visually see where cross-sheet variation is happening.

There are some cases where a single image was used to verify the testing of a profile, so the entire capability of the profile/device was never tested. A similar thing can occur when, for example, a CMYK profile is successfully used for proofing, and months later when the profile is used for separations, a problem shows up. In both of these cases the flaw was always present in the profile, and incomplete testing lead the user to believe it was a good profile when in fact it was not.

It's always good to consider that maybe your original color was wrong to begin with - and your color now, while "different," is correct. Maybe you have been running all these years with a generic profile, and now that you have just started making custom profiles, you suspect the color is bad because it is different from what you have gotten used to? Perhaps your original profiling target had some print defect, or something went wrong with the profile building years ago when it was originally done? You may never find out what happened, but if things are looking good now, then go with it.


Diagnostic software


Is your measurement instrument reliable?
X-Rite makes available a program called i1Diagnostics that will walk an X-Rite instrument through its paces and give a verdict on whether it is good or bad. At the conclusion of this process, you get a rudimentary result as to whether your instrument passed the tests or not. It is sometimes quite useful, but be cautious about putting too much weight on the results. It is especially good to run this test and save the results so that you have something to compare the numbers to if your device actually does go bad someday.

Control Tools


You can get a genuine, quantified judgment on the quality of your measurement device if you compare its measurements to a control tool that was measured at the factory. These come in the form of small control strips that are specially made of long-lasting material and have been pre-measured with a high quality spectrodensitometer. You can compare how your measurement compares to the factory measurement of the exact same strip of colored patches.

Maxwell has a service called MeasureWatch where a control tool is bundled with our Maxwell tracking services to provide an easy way to track the accuracy of a measurement device over time. It is one more way to eliminate another variable when trying to track down the cause of a color problem.

Environmental factors


Remember the auto-white balancing feature in our eyes? Lighting conditions can affect how you perceive color, so be aware of your ambient lighting. Unless you have great confidence in your viewing booth, take the print outside and view it in natural daylight on occasions. Printers are profiled so their prints look proper in true daylight. There is a problem called metamerism which is related to this and can be caused by the inks used, or by lighting. Here is an article on Metamerism.

Surrounding colors


Even the color of the walls in your room will affect how you perceive color in a display or a print that you are viewing. That beautiful western view out your studio provides great inspiration for your design work, but as the sun sets and the room is bathed in a golden glow, the prints off your printer will look more warm, and the images on your display will look increasingly colder by comparison. A neutral visual environment that does not change is preferred. People in the know actually buy paint that is specifically formulated to be perfectly neutral gray.

Image background


If your printed image has a white border around it, it will appear significantly darker than if it is cut out of the surrounding white or if it has a black border. The same thing is true for an image on a display. An image with a white background on screen will look a lot darker. When you switched to that newer version of Photoshop or Lightroom with a dark surround, did you notice your images all looked a little lighter? This white border business makes a big difference, and if you have never actually experienced this perception change, you should take a few moments to try this for yourself.

I spent a little time at the end here to present some perceptual problems with color. When something does not look right, it might not always be about hardware or software. The way our brains interpret the signals they get from our eyes can have a bigger effect than most people realize, so it's good to keep in mind the possibility of an optical illusion of some kind as you track down that elusive cause of your color problem.

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
CHROMiX Tech Support

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2014 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #57 - I Used To Do This In MeasureTool

SmartNote: 50264
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 57 - March 17th, 2015

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - I Used to Do This In MeasureTool
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Maxwell MeasureWatch Control

Maxwell has been fully upgraded to support not only the ISO-13655 M-Series of measurement filtration but also scan mode, aperture, measurements-per-patch, measurement speed and contact, backing, instrument calibration standard, instrument make & model, environment sensors (when available) and more.

Implementing support for M-series measurements within a facility can be tricky.

As we add support for capable instruments like the X-Rite eXact and the Barbieri Spectro LFP and Spectropad our customers need to control the aperture, reflective / transmissive scan mode, M-series filtration and other features to ensure each measurement is gathered and recorded correctly. Control features range from intelligent default behaviors - like ensuring that production measurements automatically configure the instrument to match reference colors - to powerful management control - such as locking out instruments that don't provide the required M-series measurements

The new MeasureWatch Control features are free, included with current Maxwell subscription rates. We felt these control capabilities were too important to leave to chance so they're built into every measurement Maxwell makes.

MeasureWatch Control joins MeasureWatch Verify, Maxwell's instrument verification function launched in December 2011. MeasureWatch Verify enables instrument verification and trending by measuring a Color Reference Material target. CRMs including reference measurements can conform to ISO-9001 and reduce the need for expensive instrument re-certification.

Webinar:

CHROMiX will be holding a webinar about MeasureWatch Control and new wireless, seamless Barbieri Spectropad support on April 2nd at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern. Contact Rick Hatmaker at (206) 985-6837 x7 or hatmaker(at)CHROMiX.com to register.

Maxwell Client software v5 is required to take advantage of MeasureWatch Control, is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released this week.

Maxwell Support for Barbieri Spectropad

CHROMiX Maxwell integrates Barbieri Spectropad into the cloud for wireless, seamless color verification & reporting.

The Spectropad is a flexible and innovative instrument which allows untethered strip reading and on-instrument pass/fail reporting. We're excited to integrate it into Maxwell's cloud services and offer Spectropad owners unprecedented flexibility with very little setup. Basically, they just check a box and the Spectropad joins the cloud.

Color administrator's requirements automatically configure the Spectropad for online or offline measurements. Once re-connected to wifi or via USB, measurements are harvested and integrated into the Maxwell cloud automatically.

Best of both worlds:

Un-tethered measurements within the facility or off-site at customer locations have immediate pass/fail feedback, then full reporting and notification services from the Maxwell cloud when automatically synced.

Full integration with Maxwell's powerful services:

Integration is enhanced by Maxwell's new MeasureWatch Control features, allowing unprecedented management of the color measurement process.

MeasureWatch Control records and controls 16 important measurement parameters including ISO-13655 M-series filtration, scan mode, aperture and backing. It even records the temperature and humidity samples from the Spectropad at the time of measurement, which is useful for troubleshooting.

Maxwell's notification and reporting features are employed when measurements are synced from the Spectropad. Additional metrics can be evaluated and Maxwell will even print a label if desired.

Wireless, Seamless

Great for wide and grand format production facilities. Confidence of press-side verification and the flexibility to take measurements anywhere, even while the work is still in the press.

Webinar:

CHROMiX will be holding a webinar about wireless, seamless Barbieri Spectropad support and new MeasureWatch Control on April 2nd at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern. Contact Rick Hatmaker at (206) 985-6837 x7 or hatmaker(at)CHROMiX.com to register.

Maxwell Client software v5 is required to take advantage of Spectropad Autosync, is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released this week. Spectropads must have DOC functionality to take advantage of on-device pass/fail reporting.

CHROMiX launches Maxwell Certified Technician Program

The new certification program strengthens field support and provides new resources for Maxwell customers. CHROMIX would like to recognize the first 11 consultants who completed certification:


Dan Reid - RPImaging
Greg Irving - Prepress Consultants
Earl McGhee - McGhee Consulting
Lee Nelson - Full Gamut Consulting
Michael Neumann - Neugamut Consulting
Terry Wyse - Wyse Consulting
Thomas Holm - Pixl Aps
Eric Magnusson - Left Dakota
Dan Gillespie - CMG
Jim Memije - ColorHQ
Fritz Mahnke - Shutterfly

Press Release

CHROMiX Recognized by RIT

In early February, Rochester Institute of Technology recognized CHROMiX for donating ColorThink Pro and CHROMiX and HutchColor were recognized for donating Curve3 and Virtual Press Run (VPR) to the School of Media Sciences (SMS). These donations are used to train RIT students with real world tools. We're glad to help our good friends at RIT.

Press Release

Curve3 VPR (Virtual Press Run) Customer quotes

"VPR is a Critical part of Curve3 and has saved me MANY hours applying curves to data sets compared to earlier methods." Mike Rodriguez

"I use VPR to add curves to datasets for proofing, and dataset creation." Steve Smiley, SmileyColor & Associates

ColorValet Transmissive Profiles with LFP

CHROMIX has been making backlit/transmissive profiles for quite a while using a Barbieri LFP RT. For some reason we have not made this public knowledge. Our apologies! Many customers specifically request profiles made with this device. We feel that the LFP RT is the benchmark spectrophotometer for measuring backlit/transmissive materials. Excellent measurements plus CHROMiX profiling expertise produce GREAT backlit/transmissive profiles.

Try ColorValet Profiling Service and see for yourself!

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

March 12th - 15th, 2015 - TAGA, 67 Annual Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) Conference, Albuquerque, NM.

April 2nd, 2015 - CHROMiX will be holding a webinar about wireless, seamless Barbieri Spectropad support and new MeasureWatch Control on April 2nd at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern. Contact Rick Hatmaker at (206) 985-6837 x7 or hatmaker(at)CHROMiX.com to register.

April 8th - 11th, 2015 - ISA International Sign Expo 2015, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV.

CHROMiX is excited to be at the ISA Expo this year showing off the NEW seamless and wireless functionality between the Barbieri SpectroPad and Maxwell.

Of course we'll also also be promoting Maxwell, Curve3 and ColorThink Pro, plus getting together with key partners.

To see a demo or schedule a meeting, contact Rick Hatmaker at (206) 985-6837

April 11th - 16th, 2015 - NAB Show 2015, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

April 16th - 18th, 2015 - Graphics Canada 2015, Toronto International Centre.

May 3rd - 6th, 2015 - FTA FORUM 2015, OMNI Nashville, TN.

September 13th - 16th, 2015 - Graph Expo and CPP Conference 2015, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

November 4th - 6th, 2015 - SGIA Expo 2015. Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta GA.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Konica Minolta FD-9 the worlds fastest spectrophotometer?

Speed is usually a welcome thing if it leads to more productivity while being accurate too. The new Konica Minolta FD-9 promises to be very fast. Due this summer. CHROMiX will be watching closely and report back.

Diet Coke Packaging Genius?!

Adweek raves about Cokes unique individualized design and printing. Very cool! And, quite a feat.

Windows 10

First peak at Microsofts upcoming version 10 OS

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

The worlds BLACKEST material:   now has a name: 'Vantablack. This material is actually grown, not manufactured apparently. Quite simply fascinating. It certainly could have impact in our industry some day.

How many D65's are there in a 2 degree observer?:   This is a very entertaining blog post about how the eye works in relation to color, science and CIELab. From our friend John Seymour.

Now you can TOAST a SELFIE!:   Think breakfast fun.
If you've ever read Steve Uptons' concept article 'The Color of Toast' (linked below), you'll know why we are amused with this one.

The Color of Toast:   FREE Article download
This is a must read for anyone involved with color.

Love Pantone?:   The Pantone Hotel in Brussels seems to be a Pantone lovers dream apparently. Process that.

What color is THAT Dress?:   In this case, a Scottish wedding dress causes significant public controversy amongst non-color internet folks. A neuroscientist explains: What your brain really sees.
The fact that you're a ColorNews reader, means you probably are familiar with this phenomena already.




I Used to Do This In MeasureTool

Once a year they let me out of my tech support cage at CHROMiX and I get to travel to the PIA color management conference in Arizona. Its great to get out and shake hands with people with whom I have traded emails or talked with on the phone.

This year someone on our team commented about how surprising it is that we still find folks who are still bemoaning the loss of MeasureTool software. This was the measuring module component of the ProfileMaker suite from X-Rite, but which has been discontinued. Sure, X-Rite has a replacement in the form of i1Profiler, but many of the functions of MeasureTool that people relied on for evaluating measurements are no longer available. Or are they?

Did you know that you can do many of these same functions using ColorThink Pro?

Below are a few of the tasks that color geeks like to do, and ways to make each happen with CHROMiX's ColorThink Pro software.

Example 1: I used to like to just drop a measurement file or even a reference file into MeasureTool to see visually what it would look like:

This you can do in ColorThink Pro. Drag a CGATS file onto the ColorThink Pro dock icon (Mac), or the Worksheet icon (Windows) and the file will automatically open in the Worksheet, showing you a visual layout of the colored patches defined in the text file. Click "I" to expand the Images section of the Worksheet and a preview appears. This preview is color-accurate, meaning that the colors you see are actual representations of the RGB, CMYK or Lab values processed through the monitor profile of your display, just as Photoshop would do.

Example 2: I used to compare two measurements in MeasureTool:

You can do this in the Worksheet in ColorThink Pro. Open a measurement into the Worksheet as described above. Drag and drop a second measurement onto the "Images" or "Colors" section of the first measurement, and a new Workflow containing the second measurements will be added next to the first measurement. Click the dE button and a third column will be added showing dE differences between the two measurements. Open the Images section and see a heat map showing all the differences between the two measurements as they appear on the layout of the sheet. (More details on this is here)

While MeasureTool used to identify the worst patch with red and others with yellow, the ColorThink Worksheet gives you the ability to change a wide range of colors on the heat map. For example, a delta E window with adjustable sliding buttons allows you to dial in your shops tolerances so that a red on the heatmap shows up when a difference falls outside of a max dE of 5. Comparisons can be done between color lists or you can compare how an image is affected by different profiles. (More help is here in ColorWiki)

Of course, any of these 3 columns can be graphed, including the dE numbers. Viewing the dE differences as vectors in the 3D Grapher can be very useful in diagnosing problems. (And it looks cool too!)

Example 3: What if I want to compare using a different dE formula?

By default, ColorThink uses dE 2000 in its calculations (as does MeasureTool). You can change this to any of the other common calculation methods by clicking the box in the upper right corner of the Worksheet. Delta E 76, Delta E 94, Delta E 2000, CMC1:1, CMC 2:1 are all available - as well as delta Lab and delta LCH which allow you to see the differences between Lab elements or lightness, chroma, and hue. For example, you can use this feature to see if the difference between 2 measurements is mainly due to a change in lightness or a change in hue.

Example 4: What about specific patches? I used to be able to hover over a patch and see the Ref vs. Sample values:

Ditto for the Worksheet. Click the eyedropper tool in the Images section and hover over any patch. The values will be displayed across the Worksheet.

The illuminant and standard observer angles can be changed like in MeasureTool. The Color Setup dialog is found by clicking any of the headings in the Colors section.

Example 5: Can I create a report like in MeasureTool?

Yes. There is a "rpt" button in the Colors section of the Worksheet which lays out a dE report in text format. If you want to save this report as a file, it is an easy matter to copy and paste this text data into a text editor for saving.

ProfileMaker profiles used to have the reference and measurement data embedded in tags in the profile. I wish there were a way to extract that data now:

Keep in mind that any profile created using i1Profiler can be loaded into i1Profiler again, and it will automatically repopulate each portion of the workflow. This enables you to save out reference data and measurement data if you wish.

For those profiles not made by ProfileMaker or i1Profiler, you can do what we call "pushing numbers through a profile." A reference list is brought into the ColorThink Pro Worksheet, a profile is dropped on top of it, and ColorThink automatically adds the profile to the list, presenting you with the resulting list of Lab values. You can see how it affects the colors visually, you can view them in the Grapher or save the list out as a CGATS text file. This is incredibly useful for simulating what printing will do before you actually print, or capturing a set of ideal aim values for your favorite in-house target.

There is a description of this in the ColorWiki

More improvements and upgrades are coming to our flagship ColorThink software in the coming year. If you have some features you would like to see, drop us an email, or post a topic in the ColorForums.


Thanks for reading,

Patrick Herold
Tech Support
CHROMiX, Inc.

To view this article in the ColorWiki, click here:

ColorWiki: I Used To Do This In MeasureTool

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

FEEDBACK and FAQs - ColorNews (this publication) has its own forum on ColorForums.com. Each issue of this newsletter tends to prompt responses from our readers and we often don't have enough time to respond to everyone (sorry!). So we created a discussion area on ColorForums.com so anyone can ask questions, make suggestions, take issue with our prognostications or whatever. Come on by and have a chat!

SUBSCRIPTIONS - To unsubscribe from CHROMiX ColorNews, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" in the subject title. To subscribe, simply reply with "subscribe" in the subject title.

For previous ColorNews articles head to our ColorNews Archives

Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2015 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.

CHROMiX ColorNews Issue #58 - Soft Proofing

SmartNote: 50274
Type: ColorNews
ColorGeek factor:
  CHROMiX ColorNews
   Issue # 58 - June 22nd, 2015

This Month's Contents

  1. CHROMiX News
  2. Latest blog entries in ColoRants (and Raves)
  3. Shows and Events
  4. Color Industry News
  5. Forum Topics, Random Bits, etc.
  6. Article - Article - Soft Proofing
  7. CHROMiX Open Box items for sale
  8. ColorNews Admin (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

CHROMiX Blog
For the very freshest color updates, check out our new blog Colorants (and raves).

Respond & Discuss
Don't forget, you can discuss this month's article and anything else from this newsletter in ColorForums.com

Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Find full details about subscriptions, etc at the end of this newsletter.

CHROMiX News What the heck have we been up to?

Maxwell supports the new iSis2 series

Not sitting on our heels, CHROMiX was quick to adapt the new iSis2 series with full Maxwell compatibility.

The AUTO-ROUTING feature in Maxwell Digital PressWatch (DPW) is one of the only practical market applications that take advantage of truly automating the sheet fed barcode function of the iSis. An operator simply feeds their target into the iSis and walks away knowing that Maxwell will automatically complete the processing. If ever there was a reason to buy an iSis, Maxwell is it.

Since the iSis (series 1) is no longer available, Maxwell AUTO-ROUTING customers will be faced with adding the new iSis2 device instead. Rest assured, it will be no problem in Maxwell Client v5.

Give us a call to talk about your options and/or concerns. We'll help you find the correct solution.

You can talk with a friendly Maxwell specialist, at: (206) 985-6837 extension #1.

Maxwell Client software v5 adoption is going well

Many customers have upgraded to Maxwell Client v5. Most to take advantage of MeasureWatch Control, which utilizes the ISO-13655 M-Series of measurement filtration and gathers 15 other measurement parameters. Others have upgraded to use the Barbieri SpectroPad for wireless and seamless measurements anywhere there is a wifi network and a Maxwell Client workstation. Yet others have upgraded to benefit from the faster speeds. Whatever the reason, CHROMiX is here to help make your migration to v5 easy and painless. Just give us a call.

CHROMiX encourages most customers to upgrade to v5 Client, and strongly recommends it before end of 2015. Support for versions before v5 will diminish over time.

Talk with a Maxwell specialist, at: (206) 985-6837 extension #1.

Maxwell now supports Environmental sensing with Maxwell Client version 5

Maxwell customers can now record Temperature, Humidity and Barometric information while connected to a Maxwell Client v5 measuring-workstation. And, it's a simple process: Anytime a target is measured via Maxwell Client (intended for a Maxwell Track), and an approved USB Vernier sensor is attached, environmental readings are automatically stored in each related measurement.

These environmental readings are displayed near the lower third of each related ColorSet pane window. As we continue to develop the functionality further, environmental information will behave more like standard Maxwell device data (i.e.: Maxwell measurement data from printers, presses, spectrophotometers, monitors, etc.) and will eventually have similar track and reporting capabilities.

Furthermore, specific Vernier sensors have been tested and approved for Temperature, Humidity and Barometric measuring within Maxwell.

Just think what this environmental information can do to help you troubleshoot and correlate related print production issues!

If you have any questions or want to talk with a Maxwell specialist, call us at: (206) 985-6837 extension #1.

CHROMiX consolidates corporate address

Starting immediately, for all customers, vendors and partners, CHROMiX is consolidating it's main address to the following:

CHROMiX, Inc.
8320 5th Ave NE, Suite B
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 985-6837 Main
(206) 526-8278 Fax

From this point forward, please change all of your CHROMiX information to this address.

 

CHROMiX Blog Here are some of the recent posts to our blog: Colorants (and raves)

Shows and Events Color-relevant gatherings to plan for

September 13th - 16th, 2015 - Graph Expo and CPP Conference 2015, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. CHROMiX will be at this event. Details TBA September ColorNews.

November 2nd - 4th, 2015 - FTA Fall Technical Conference in Columbus OH. CHROMiX's Steve Upton will be speaking in the Keynote panel. More information to follow.

November 4th - 6th, 2015 - SGIA Expo 2015. Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta GA. CHROMiX will be at this event. Details TBA September ColorNews.

December 5th - 8th, 2015 - This years '2015 Color Management Conference' provided by Printing Industries of America is at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, Phoenix, AZ. Start planning now! CHROMiX will be at this event. Details TBA September ColorNews.

Events Calendar: For all current and future events, bookmark this calendar.

Color Industry News What's going on in the world of color

Color Blindness: Surprising news

More than 10 million Americans have trouble distinguishing Red and Green or Blue with Yellow, and yet there's no treatment for colorblindness....or is there?

CxF3 approved as new global standard

The ISO TC130 committee has adopted the X-Rite Color Exchange Format CxF3 (v3) as the new standard for color data exchange and verification. ISO 17972-1:2015 provides the graphic arts industry with an accurate, efficient way to communicate color information across any supply chain. Note: The ISO TC130 committee sets global standards for the Graphic Arts Industry.

Forum Topics and other bits  Popular topics from ColorForums.com and other things we've found along the way.

The current State of Color Management:   An interesting article about Best Practices for Color Management with US-based Print Service Providers.

i1Profiler CGATS output problem:   CHROMiX became aware of this problem while trying to help troubleshoot the problem with Curve3 customers.

The latest version of i1Profiler (v1.6.1) no longer accepts the CGATS output saved out of Curve3. i1Profiler gives a message about an 'invalid file format'. This kind of measurement output is mainly used in saving out OneRun target info and VPR target info.

One work around is to use the previous version of i1Profiler (v1.5.6) which is still available for download from X-Rite. That version seems to work fine.

No word yet from X-Rite when this will be fixed.




Article - Soft Proofing

All right, let's see some hands. How many of you bother to soft-proof your print work?

I have seen industry surveys and observed this question at color management trade shows. A good 50% or more of people involved in color-critical printing do not make use of soft-proofing in their workflow. There are always reasons behind stats like this. I'm sure if you're working in the high volume, consumer end of printing, like a drug store or a consumer photo lab, there is no need to soft proof since the customer is expected to do this sort of thing ahead of time. But the rest of the world really needs to get on the stick!

Soft-proofing is the viewing on a display what a printed image will look like ahead of time, so that you can make changes or approve the image before it gets printed. This is an incredibly useful feature that most people have access to, so it is rather mystifying why so many people decide to skip this step.

There are big advantages to making use of this feature. This enables you to:


  • Take the guesswork out of printing. You know what your image will look like before it gets printed (for better or for worse) and correct it if necessary.
  • Save money on expensive paper and ink, by fixing color problems before they print, and printing only what you need.
  • Have realistic expectations about what your printer / ink / paper combination can do.

For many of us, the first view of an image is that which we see when we bring it up on our monitors. Because we are in front of those screens all day, we start to assume that what we see there is WHAT IT IS. (We think it actually represents the totality of that image.) In reality it is helpful to keep in mind that what we see is merely what that monitor can show us of that image. Dedicated readers of the CHROMiX ColorNews will recognize these two color management truisms:

* There are colors you can print, that you can't see on your monitor. This explains why higher-end wide-gamut monitors have become popular.

* There are colors on your monitor that can't be printed by your printer. This is the subject we'll be looking at today. What do we do when these vivid colors on a monitor come out looking flat or dark when they get printed? Part of the answer is to use soft-proofing.

Some of the programs that have the ability to soft-proof are Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Lightroom, Quark. Qimage is a popular program for Windows only. Photoline is one we like that runs on Mac and Windows. Not all apps have the bi-directional soft-proofing capability built in, so check with the publisher to find out for sure. Did you know that ColorThink Pro can be used to soft-proof? Also, accurate soft-proofing is usually limited to RGB or CMYK color modes only. But ColorThink Pro can create ColorCast profiles that can be used in these other programs to soft-proof multi-channel profiles.

Here is the procedure for soft-proofing in Photoshop. Other software will be similar.


  • Start with a well-calibrated display. See this ColorWiki article for more information.
  • Go to View > Proof Setup > Custom, to get the Customize Proof Condition dialog.
  • For Device to Simulate, choose your printer profile,
  • For Rendering Intent, choose Relative Colorimetric or read here for more information.
  • Turn on Black Point Compensation (check the box)
  • For Preserve RGB (or CMYK) Numbers, Simulate Paper Color, and Simulate Black Ink - leave these unchecked.
  • Turn on Preview (check the box).

What this does is send your image through the same profile that will be used to print the image. The image you see on the monitor is filtered or dumbed-down to the color gamut of your printer. This is important. If you know that different papers give you different printed results, then how can you view an image on your screen and expect it to look like your prints without something in the process that takes your paper into the equation?

It's somewhere around this point where some users say "Ugh! That preview box just makes my image look dull and muddy. Forget it." Actually it is showing you a more accurate preview of what your printer will do to your image. Use it. If you really don't like what you see in the soft-proof, then this is the time to boost the saturation or think about trying a different paper and so forth. It's telling you the hard truth - but you know... truth is a good thing.

If you are printing to a premium luster paper on an inkjet, you may not see a big difference. If your paper is a matte-surfaced media such as a watercolor paper, you can expect to see some desaturation of the image when you check the preview box. Matte papers are not going to be capable of delivering the same color richness as a gloss or semi gloss paper.

Once you see how to arrange a soft-proof viewing setup, It is quite easy to save that setting as a preset so you can get back to it. Create several presets for your favorite papers.

I hope this short article has whetted your interest to try soft-proofing. There is more to be learned than I have time for here. Other checkboxes that we skipped over have their uses for different purposes. It is also possible to go all out and use a service like Remote Director to replace hard proofs with color-accurate online proofs.

Soft-proofing is easy, fast and powerful - and it can save you money and frustration as well. Embrace the truth! Use it and make your life better.


Thanks for reading,


Patrick Herold
CHROMiX Tech Support

   To read this article with images in ColorWiki, click here

ColorNews Administration (feedback, subscriptions, etc.)

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Entire Contents of CHROMiX ColorNews (c)2015 CHROMiX, Inc. CHROMiX, Maxwell, ColorThink, ColorNews, ColorSmarts, ColorGear, ColorForums, DisplayWatch and ProfileCentral.com are trademarks of CHROMiX Inc. 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. You may not copy or reuse any content from this newsletter without written permission from CHROMiX, Inc.