Color Management
Color management keeps all your devices speaking the same language for consistent color output.
Every device in your workflow that deals with color (digital cameras, scanners, monitors, ink jet printers, and computers) captures, displays or outputs color a little differently. Each device is like a person speaking their own language. When a person speaking Chinese tries to speak with another that speaks German, there is a communication breakdown. Think of a color management system as an interpreter that communicates between devices to ensure that the intended color is communicated.
Benefits of Color Management:
- Saves time and money - Effectively managing color reduces retouching times with fewer rounds of color proofs.
- Allows you to trust your monitor with accurate softproofing - Good color management starts with good ICC profiles - which are simply a description of the color characteristics of your device. Color management allows you to reliably and consistently simulate any of the output devices in the production workflow on your monitor. Industry specified GRACoL1, SWOP3, SWOP5 press conditions can all be simulated right on your calibrated display.
- Improves color space transforms - Digital cameras have replaced the drum scanner which often performed the conversion from RGB to CMYK on the fly, under the hood. Thankfully, digital cameras do not do this same conversion to CMYK. Which means it is critical to understand how to effectively convert color from RGB to CMYK when a file is destined for print. A color management system controls the conversion based on the final media specifications and the devices used in the workflow.
- Facilitates in-house proofing - By applying ICC profiles with the right device, you can make one color output device simulate another device (within the gamut limitations of the source with predictable, consistent results. You can also create GRACoL1, SWOP3 and SWOP5 proofs.
- Create better archives - A true RGB device-independent workflow is possible with the use of ICC profiles. Keeping files in an RGB working space and converting to CMYK upon output to a specific media, allows for repurposing of a smaller archived file.
- With good ICC profiles, and consistent, calibrated devices, you can produce excellent color, on a consistent basis. And that's what color management is all about.
Want to learn more about color management? Check out the blog from Widen Color Manager, Mark Pajari: The Color Space.
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