How to Create Color Profiles

for ColorSync 2.0

®
ColorSync 2.0

Masters of Media
©1996 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights
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illustrated by Brian P. Lawler with
The Case for Network Color
in Electronic Publishing
®
ColorSync 2.0

A situation out of control

The typical production
scenario creates color
variables that must be
controlled to make computer
design effective. Our “original”
® is represented at top.
ColorSync 2.0 software, part of the
Macintosh® operating system, is an industry
standard color management technology that
delivers consistent and reliable color rendering
To the right, the image as
on the monitor, the proof and the printed piece.
seen on the monitor shows
Even color monitors in client offices can be made
a part of the process for remote viewing, on-line a reddish cast introduced
conferences, and remote client approval. by that device.
This is the definition of Network Color.
ColorSync software creates an environment
where Network Color is not only possible, but
The proof from a composite
reliable and affordable. As we move further into
proof printer (bottom right)
publishing by print and electronic means, the
reliability of color is essential. ColorSync 2.0 displays a yellowish cast.
makes color management consistent, What is needed is a corrective
predictable, and effective. path between the original and
Based on the concept of device-independent the printed sheet. Apple’s
color management, ColorSync 2.0 allows images ColorSync software, developed
and complete documents to be managed inside
jointly by Apple Computer
color systems for publishing – in 4, 6, and up to
and Linotype-Hell, provides
8 colors for high-fidelity printing, direct-to-plate,
such a path.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 1

 The Macintosh Advantage:
®
ColorSync 2.0
Network Color with ColorSync 2.0
Other computer systems may offer color
management for image-to-monitor control, or
balancing tools for proof printers. Only Macintosh
supports Network Color management for every
computer environment – from the designer’s
computer, to the prepress professional’s worksta-
tion, to the commercial printer’s system.
Apple’s development tools make it easy for soft-
ware developers to create ColorSync-compatible
applications, which is why over 100 firms are offering
software and hardware that support the ColorSync
2.0 standard. This means that you can get off-the-
shelf color publishing systems that really work.
With ColorSync 2.0, the Macintosh system software extensions provide
monitor, the proof and the the “engine” for color management, while applica-
printed product are all tion-level controls are used to select color profiles
that fine-tune the color management process to
represented similarly.
individual monitors, proof printers and printing
The printable or displayable
processes including industry standards like SWOP,
gamut of each device is taken SNAP, Eurostandard and Japan Standard.
into account, and the best For professionals with an eye toward perfect-
possible image is made on ing their color management, a number of tools
each device. Electronic exist that make the process of profiling easy.
transmission of the same These include software applications and instru-
ments for measuring the performance of comput-
image is also reliable if
er monitors, for measuring the performance of
ColorSync 2.0 profiles are
reflective and film scanners, and for measuring the
available for the receiving output of printers and printing presses.
computer’s monitor. The graphic arts industry has standardized
on Macintosh computers, and ColorSync 2.0
provides a powerful extension to that standard,
delivering the tools and power to control color at
every step of production – from conception to
retail kiosk display to the printed page. For every
color application there is now a color solution
using ColorSync 2.0 as its core technology. The
steps to Network Color management are
described in detail in the pages that follow. We
have featured a variety of software and hardware
products that are effective for creating a color-
managed environment.

2 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 C O L O R T R O N

1
Step Monitor Characterization

1
The Colortron™ Calibrator
software resides in the
Control Panels folder.
To activate the Colortron
instrument as a screen
calibration tool, invoke this
control panel tool.
The Colortron is a versatile
tool, also working as a
transmission and reflective
densitometer and
spectrophotometer.

2
Immediately after confirming that the
Colortron instrument has been calibrated
recently, the monitor brightness and contrast
window appears on-screen. Since most
monitors are analog devices, this window
prompts the user to adjust brightness and Toolbox:
contrast controls until two sets of gray Light Source
steps – one very light and one very Colortron™ II instrument
dark – can be seen in the window. Light Source Colortron
Calibrator software

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 3

 Colortron’s software marks

3 the screen for the calibrator

instrument, and prompts for
the operator to mount the
device and begin. (Licking the
suction cups helps!)

With the instrument affixed to

the monitor, the software
drives the guns for red,

4 green and blue through all

of their values, gathering
information on color and
brightness as it does.

When the process is

5 complete, Colortron prompts

for a profile name, and saves
the resulting file as a
ColorSync-compatible
monitor profile.

4 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 C O L O R B L I N D

2
Step Scanner Characterization

1
Scan either the reflective
Q-60 or transmission Q-60
Kodak™ target provided with the
software, and save the file in
TIFF format on the Macintosh
with no modification.
It’s important that the scanner’s
Q-60
EKTAEC3 KODAK
Profes HROME

IT8.7/1
1994:0
3
sional

-1992
Film

35-8

controls be set to repeatable

positions for this scan.

ColorBlind™ ICC Print software

has facilities for creating
profiles for scanners, monitors
and printers. It also features
powerful mathematical
comparison tools for analyzing
the results of profiling efforts.

Toolbox:

2
To create a scanner profile,
Color Solutions ColorBlind
profiling software
or
Linotype-Hell ScanOpen™
open the source scan.
profiling software
A reference file provided with
or
ColorBlind must then be
Logo ProfileMaker
loaded as a comparative file Professional
for profile creation. profiling software
and
Linotype-Hell Saphir
desktop scanner
or other scanners

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 5

 After identifying the source

3 scan, ColorBlind needs to

know where the corners of
the target are located.
Using the Crop Image window,
shown at right, corner crop
marks are placed for
profile building.

When complete, the scanner profile is saved in the

4 ColorSync 2.0 Profiles folder (inside the Preferences

folder in the System folder). This profile is now
available to any application that accepts
ColorSync-compliant profiles.

5
Analyzing a scanner profile
entails the use of a ColorBlind
function called Statistics. This
compares the scanner profile
with the reference file, and
plots deviation. This example
shows a scanner profile that
is not acceptable, since its
average Delta-E (difference
between the target and the
reference file) is 8.115
(indicated by red arrow).
Acceptable scanner profiles
typically have Delta-E values
less than 2.0.

6 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 S C A N O P E N

1
After scanning and cropping
a provided target,
Linotype-Hell ScanOpen
displays the target to ensure
alignment of the image to
its calculation grid.

In the Calibration window you

designate the scan target data
file (provided on disk with the
target), the scanned file, and
2
a destination ColorSync 2.0
(ICC) profile. Clicking on
Calculate will actually
create the profile.

As the profile is built, the Progress window will

indicate the calculation run, the average error and
the standard deviation. Linotype-Hell recommends
that these deviation values be 1.0 or less to
create a highly accurate scanner profile, but
some scanners – particularly flat-bed reflective
scanners – cannot achieve this goal. By clicking
on the Continue calc button, the software will

3
make an additional process calculation, tightening
the ColorSync 2.0 profile’s corrections, and
reducing the standard deviation values.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 7

 L O G O P R O F I L E M A K E R

Logo ProfileMaker software will create and

modify ColorSync 2.0 profiles for printers, for
monitors and for scanners.

2
Similar to other Profile Builders, Logo’s
product requires that a scan of a target
transparency or print be compared to
supplied reference data to create a
ColorSync 2.0 profile for the scanner.

8 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 C O L O R S Y N E R G Y

3
Step Printer Characterization

To create a printer pattern in ColorSynergy,™ choose

1
Make Pattern and then one of the three color models. In this
example, the target printer is a Kodak XL7700, which converts
RGB files into CMY internally (if you use a CMYK printer, you
would use a CMYK pattern). ColorSynergy will create TIFF
patterns according to the page size capability of the printer
and settings in following windows.

2
Toolbox:
Candela ColorSynergy
profiling software
The dimensions of the target are set in pixels by pixels or
size in the menu shown above here. Immediately Color Solutions ColorBlind
following to the right is a menu for TIFF options, profiling software
or
including resolution and byte order. The last of these
Linotype-Hell PrintOpen™
windows is the Save dialog box where the filename is
profiling software
assigned. Typically, ColorSynergy saves two or three
•
separate files comprised of strips of colored patches ®
X-Rite DTP-51
which become the measure of the printer’s capabilities.
Auto Scan Colorimeter
or
Light Source
Colortron II instrument

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 9

 ColorSynergy generates strips

3 of color patches like these

when the software is set up
for the X-Rite DTP51 Auto
Scan Colorimeter. In this
example, three pages of strips
were generated (a total of 270
patches) and printed on the
Kodak XL7700 printer for
evaluation. The columns of
color patches are numbered
for sequential insert into the
DTP51 colorimeter.

X - R I T E D T P - 5 1

With the X-Rite DTP-51 Auto Scan Colorimeter,

the readings take about ten minutes because the
machine reads in strips of ten or more patches
per row. The X-Rite instrument can be connected
through either the serial or printer receptacles
in the Macintosh. ColorSynergy allows you to
suspend a reading session and return later to
complete the task. These readings can be
composed for any RGB, CMY, CMYK or grayscale
printing device – including printing presses. The
resulting profiles become printer profiles for use
in applications that are ColorSync 2.0 compatible.

10 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

4

After the test patterns are

printed, they are read into
the ColorSynergy program
either individually or with a
strip-reading instrument.

C O L O R T R O N I I

Reading the 270 patches

with Colortron II took 51
minutes (exactly the length
of Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony – Ode to
Spectrophotometry).
It’s important with the
Colortron II that all readings
be made in the same
fashion, eliminating
variables that could result
in incorrect readings.
For the best results, face
the Colortron II the same
direction for all readings.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 11

 After completing the 270

5 patch readings, ColorSynergy

creates an output profile. The
calculations it makes are
based on comparison of the
values requested for the
patches versus the color
actually printed by the
device. The profile, then, is a
corrective device that adjusts
subsequent output for the
measured response of the
test patterns.

When complete, ColorSynergy

includes a check profile feature,
which indicates the greatest
deviation from the target
patches in a graphical
window pictured here.
Combined with accurate values
for Delta-E deviations, the
program allows identification
of potential problem areas in
output. This sample shows a
modest Delta-E deviation
from the proof on the Kodak
XL7700 printer.

12 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 P R I N T O P E N

To create a test patch

document in Linotype-Hell
PrintOpen software, use the
Testform settings window.
1
Here, one designates the
screen frequency and angles,
the type of file (TIFF or
PostScript), and whether the
file should be made up of
three (CMY) or four (CMYK)
colors for printing, or RGB
for film recorders and similar
display devices. When Create
file is clicked, a Save Dialog
box comes up, asking
for a file name and
destination folder.

2
After creating the testform
document and printing it on a
proof printer or printing press,
the color patches are read with
an instrument and then imported
into PrintOpen for further
analysis. In the example shown,
the 210 patches were read with
a Colortron II instrument, and the
results of these readings were
copied through the Clipboard as
ASCII text into PrintOpen.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 13

 Once the 210-patch scale is

3 imported into PrintOpen, a

color analysis is made to
prepare a color table in the
application. That table can
be used to produce an ICC
color profile (which is a
ColorSync 2.0 profile).

After the color table calculation is complete,

4 you may view the color curve of the analysis.

A second window, Modify, will then allow
changes to be made to the table.

The Modify window allows a calculated table to

be modified before being converted into a
ColorSync 2.0 profile. These controls give
prepress professionals the ability to adjust the
performance of any color table, and thus,
create ColorSync 2.0 profiles that are correct
for any printing process.

14 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 C O L O R D R I V E

4
Step Utilities

1
Pantone ColorDrive™
allows any of the Pantone
color libraries to be opened
for selection or analysis.
From these libraries a
custom color palette is built.

2
Using a colorimeter, new
colors can be measured and
added to color palettes. In this
example the Colortron II
instrument is used to bring a
new color into the palette.
Once there, colors can be
modified, compared to any
color library for closest match,
and viewed in simulation Toolbox:
using ColorSync 2.0 monitor, Pantone ColorDrive
proof and printer profiles. software

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 15

 The real strength of ColorDrive

3 is its ability to simulate the

color performance of any
device using ColorSync 2.0
profiles. Monitor, proof and
printer profiles can be loaded,
and viewing methods can be
set for each. Perceptual
viewing is recommended for
photographic images, while
Absolute Colorimetric is useful
for accurate color matches,
and Saturation is
recommended for graphics
like bar charts and graphs.

4 Once a color palette is built, it can be exported in a

number of formats, making it readily available to most
popular Macintosh graphic arts applications such as
Adobe® Photoshop™ and Illustrator™, Macromedia®
FreeHand™, and numerous others.

16 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 S A M P L E P A L E T T E S

This custom palette was

created in ColorDrive from
color measurements of
printed samples. The colors
In programs like Adobe Illustrator 6.0, it is possible to and names were adjusted
import ColorDrive palettes. Shown here is the method in ColorDrive to please
for importing a custom palette of colors into an the designer by viewing
Illustrator 6.0 document. in Simulation mode for
a preview of their
printed qualities.

Illustrator 6.0 and other

applications allow the
ColorDrive color palette to be
imported as colors into its
custom colors menu.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 17

 L O G O P R O F I L E M A K E R

1
Logo ProfileMaker software will edit
any existing ColorSync 2.0 profile,
modifying the performance of that
profile in its designated task.

2
Further adjustments to
profiles can be made visually
with the Curve adjustment
window. Here, curve
modifications can be applied
to any ColorSync 2.0 profile.

Toolbox:
Logo ProfileMaker
Professional

18 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

5
Step Putting ColorSync 2.0
to Work in Production

A D O B E P H O T O S H O P
®
ColorSync 2.0

Apple Computer provides,

free of charge, ColorSync 2.0
Plug-Ins for Adobe Photoshop.
These software tools allow
Photoshop to import images
using ColorSync 2.0 profiles,
to export images with profiles
applied, or to apply profiles to
an image already on-screen in
Photoshop.

Once the profiles have been

created, they may be applied
to an image as it is imported
Toolbox:
into Adobe Photoshop.
Apple ColorSync 2.0
Using the Acquire command,
Plug-Ins
the image can be selected,
for Adobe Photoshop
and both source and output
or
profiles applied to that Helios ColorSync XTension
image as it is imported. The for QuarkXPress®
ColorSync 2.0 Plug-Ins also or
allow the export of images ColorSync Additions
already in Photoshop through for Adobe PageMaker™ 6.0
both input and output profiles. or
Live Picture™ 2.5

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 19

 Q U A R K X P R E S S

The Helios XTension for

QuarkXPress allows
ColorSync 2.0 profiles to be
applied to imported images
and to colors created within
QuarkXPress. The ability to
create and manage colors in
CIELAB color space assures
that a minimum of gamut
compression will take place
at the time of output, as the
colors are always managed
in LAB color by ColorSync 2.0.

A D O B E P A G E M A K E R

New additions to Adobe

PageMaker 6.0 allow the
selection of a color manage-
ment system, including Apple
ColorSync 2.0. Once the
ColorSync 2.0 selection is
made, profiles for source,
output and proofing can be
specified, as well as choices
for rendering, giving the
designer control over the
“weighting” of images – for
perceptual, or exact
match rendering.

20 How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0

 L I V E P I C T U R E

Live Picture 2.5 offers

support for ColorSync 2.0
profiles, accessed through
the program’s ColorSync 2.0
Preferences menu.
By selecting a monitor
profile, an output profile,
and a reference profile,
images processed through
this application can be
color-managed from
acquisition through output.
Live Picture’s support of
ColorSync 2.0 allows
complete control over color
management for images
destined for the printed
page in CMYK, as well as
those destined for film
recorders or multimedia
presentations in RGB.
Consult the user manual for
each of these applications
for more details
on the application
of ColorSync 2.0 profiles.

How to Create Color Profiles for ColorSync 2.0 21

L I S T O F S U P P L I E R S
ColorSync 2.0 Logo is distributed in the U.S. by:
ColorSync Plug-Ins for Adobe Photoshop Gretag Color Control Systems
Apple Computer, Inc. 4501 Clausen
1 Infinite Loop Western Springs, Illinois 60558 USA
Cupertino, California 95014 USA Telephone: 708 784-0524
Telephone: 408 996-1010 Fax: 708 784-0522
ColorSync info on the World Wide Web:
www.apple.com and by:
Pantone, Inc.

Colortron II Instrument 590 Commerce Boulevard

Light Source Carlstadt, New Jersey 07072 USA

17 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Telephone: 800 888-PANTONE

Larkspur, California 94939 USA Telephone: 201 935-5500

Telephone: 800 994-2656 Fax: 201 896-0242

Fax: 415 461-8011

Helios ColorSync 2 Extension for QuarkXPress

PrintOpen ICC Helios Software GmbH

ScanOpen ICC Lavestrasse 80

ScanOpen Lite D-30159 Hannover, Germany

Linotype-Hell Company Telephone: 49 511 36482-0

425 Oser Avenue Fax: 49 511 36482-69

Hauppauge, New York 11788 USA

Telephone: 800 842-9721 Pantone ColorDrive

Fax: 516 434-2720 ColorDrive XTension for QuarkXPress

Pantone, Inc.

ColorSynergy 590 Commerce Boulevard

The Color Partnership Carlstadt, New Jersey 07072 USA

2002 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Suite 315 Telephone: 800 888-PANTONE

Del Mar, California 92014 USA Telephone: 201 935-5500

Telephone: 800 554-8688 Fax: 201 896-0242

Telephone: 619 259-8688

Fax: 619 259-8709 X-Rite DTP51 Auto Scan Colorimeter
X-Rite DTP92 Monitor Calibration Instrument

ColorBlind X-Rite Digital Swatchbook Colorimeter

ColorBlind ICC Print X-Rite Incorporated

ColorBlind Edit 3100 44th Street SW

Color Solutions, Inc. Grandville, Michigan 49418 USA

120 Birmingham Drive, Suite 210 Telephone: 800 248-9748

Cardiff by the Sea, California 92007 USA Telephone: 616 534-7663

Telephone: 619 436-6593 Fax: 616 534-7722

Fax: 619 436-6594

Live Picture

Logo ProfileMaker Professional Live Picture, Inc.

Logo Kommunikations und Drucktechnik GmbH 2425 Porter Street, Suite 13

Wilhelmsplatz 1 Soquel, California 95073 USA

D-48565 Steinfurt, Germany Telephone: 408 464-4200

Telephone: 49 5519351-0 Fax: 408 464-4202

Fax: 49 5519351-99