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Tell me about Color Management--settings

 

Settings for jobs and virtual printers in the Color Management panel

This section describes the individual settings that can be made in the Color Management for print jobs and virtual printers. The options available depend on the type of output selected.

Profiles

The profile set as the default profile in the ICC profile list is selected by default (see Tell me about ICC profiles). To use profiles other than the default profiles defined in the profile management, you must explicitly specify and enable them for the respective transformation.

CMYK: Input or Source Profiles for CMYK Data

Here you make settings for the color space transformation of graphics and image types that are already available in the CMYK format.

This conversion has the task of using an ICC profile to transfer your original data to the device-independent Lab color space where a true-color reproduction to the printer can be calculated. When the option is disabled, the CMYK data will be directly transferred without adaptation.

CMYK conversion normally is used when the input data were created for a specific printing process and must be converted for a different target process. In this case, the original printer profile will be used as the source profile and Perceptual will be set as the rendering intent (exception: when simulating a print process on the HP Designjet 50ps printer, a colorimetric rendering intent will be set). CMYK conversion must be disabled when test forms are to be printed for calibration purposes.

RGB: Input or Source Profiles for RGB Data

Using ICC profiles, you make settings for the color space transformation of graphics and image types that are already available in the CMYK format. This conversion has the task of transferring your original data to the device-independent Lab color space, where a true-color reproduction to the printer can be calculated.

Target profile(s)

The target profiles are the ICC profiles for the conversion of the device-independent Lab data to the target color space.

  • The Output Profile ensures that the color data are matched to the HP Designjet 50ps printer in the best possible manner. When you select Automatic, the profile is set according to the print quality and the paper type.
  • To get exact results, we recommend however that you create your own profiles for your printer regularly using a spectrophotometer and a suitable software, integrate them with the profile management and then use them here (see also Tell me about ICC profiles).

  • The Printer Profile is used for final print process conversion to simulate the final output and should therefore be selected according to the prospective target device. Therefore, it should only be set for Color Management for Proof and, if necessary, for remote processes.
  • When Proofer Profile is selected (only available for remote printers), the remote data are directly optimized for the "other" HP Designjet 50ps printer on which the final output will take place.

See also Tell me about color management--special issues with remote printers.

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Rendering intent

You can also set the representation method (also referred to as the rendering intent). The rendering intent defines how colors which are to be found outside the intersection of both color spaces are matched during color space conversion. With Perceptual and Saturation enabled, this also affects the conversion of the other colors.

Four different rendering intents are available for different areas of application:

  • Saturation
  • Perceptual (photographic)
  • Absolute (absolute colorimetric representation)
  • Relative (relative colorimetric representation)

Note: The rendering intent is a table defining the color conversion within a certain profile for every reproduction method. For some profiles, the table might be the same for two different methods. For example, the alteration of the rendering intent from Perceptual to Saturation might lead to a similar result instead of the expected different representation.

The methods are based on two basic approaches:

  • The color space is "upset" to the target color space for Perceptual and Saturation. As a result, each color is shifted slightly.
  • For colorimetric representation, only the area outside the target color space is trimmed while the colors within the target color space remain unchanged.

The method to be selected depends on the desired result. Perceptual or photographic reproduction is the default setting, as the results come nearest to the restricted perception of the human eye.

More detailed information on this topic is available in the Color Management Tutorial.

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Pure black for black objects

This option allows vector objects in the print job (e.g. text in PostScript® data) that are defined as 100% black (or 100% CMY or 0% RGB respectively) in the original to be also printed with 100% black ink (without the option, the values for 100% black in certain cases may be generated again from CMYK during the color data conversion for the printer and, as a result, may not be reproduced as neutral black).

For further information on the topic of color management, refer to

and to the Color Management Tutorial.

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