A mongrel environment...
A mongrel environment...
- Subject: A mongrel environment...
- From: email@hidden (Scott Kilbourne)
- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 11:34:01 -0600
- Organization: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Please bear with me, I'm a relative newbie to the list and have some questions.
Been doing my homework and need some help from the wisdom of the group
. We are an inhouse graphics unit in a major medical center/university. Color
management was attempted about 5 years ago (Colortron 2 with Color Synergy v.
2.0) and abandoned because of incomplete tools and implementation. We do a wide
variety of work with scan-retouch-output color prints being very important. Some
other relevant data points:
Mostly Mac (G3/G4, OS 9.x with Colorsync 3.x) with some PC (willing to go to Win
2000 from NT)
Input devices:
Leaf scanners (35 and 4x5)
LH Saphir, Saphir Ultra and Topaz flatbeds
Agfa Duoscan
Kodak and Fuji digital cameras
Polaroid 4000 Sprintscan slide scanner
Output devices:
Fuji Pictrography 4000
HP Designjet 2500CP wide format inkjet
Management Grpahics Solitaire 8 film recorders
Xerox Docucolor 12 with Fiery RIP
Agfa Accuset imagesetter/Viper RIP
Bunch of older Apple laserwriters
HP 4050TN laser printer
4 color printing is farmed out mostly
The Fuji PG 4000 and Solitaires are RIP'd with Rasterplus 3.03
misc. Web display, etc.
We're going to try again on color management and have sent staff to a GATF
seminar as well as other training. The priority for us is in implementing color
management is something like this:
Fuji PG
HP 2500CP inkjet
a decent B&W proofing laser (suggestions? the designers don't like the HP,
they still like an Apple 16/600)
Docucolor 12/Fiery
outside 4color
other stuff
We anticipate using PhotoShop 6.0 (Mac and PC) for almost everything except
graphic design and image placement (PageMaker 6.5, Mac only). Our priority is
scan-retouch-output to color print (Fuji and HP inkjet). We anticipate archiving
the images in a standard RGB color space.
My questions: (-FINALLY!)
1.) Where does the profile finally get applied to the output file to color
correct the image? In a Postscript RIP? What level RIPs support this?
Manufacturers of our equipment seem extraordinarily uninformed about this. In
Color Synergy 2.0, we had to perform "color circuits" in PhotoShop to create
output device specific output files. This seemed cludgey (and still does), but
seems to be required sometimes, namely ______.
2.) We intend to buy a DTP41 scanning sp. for print output. Will this
properly read our halftoned color output from the Docucolor, etc? Is the UV
filter a no brainer or is there a downside?
3.) We have a Colortron II spectrophotometer ($1,000). Xrite says that the
$500 DTP 92 colorimeter does a better job of monitor calibration. This doesn't
seem right. Comments?
4.) Given all the above, does anyone have any suggestions for profiling and
editing SW?
5.) What color space should we work in for PhotoShop and archive in? I assume
it will be a variant of RGB, but which?
6.) I can't quite get my mind around emulating output devices on a monitor and
then embedding an output profile. If the profile will "corect" the output device
to produce "accurate" color, why does the monitor image need to emulate
anything? For gamut purposes and to demonstrate rendering intent?
7.) Obviously the PC's won't run Colorsync. Any impressions of how well color
management works in a 2000 OS?
Thanks for the help.
Scott Kilbourne
Assistant Director for Technology
Biomedical Communications
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC 27157