Re: Color in Microsoft Word (2008 Mac edition)
Re: Color in Microsoft Word (2008 Mac edition)
- Subject: Re: Color in Microsoft Word (2008 Mac edition)
- From: Marco Ugolini <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:03:42 -0800
- Thread-topic: Color in Microsoft Word (2008 Mac edition)
In a message dated 2/3/10 1:04 PM, Peter Miles wrote:
>> Marco Ugolini wrote:
>> I have strong doubts that MS Word does any such thing as "convert
>> RGB images using their embedded profile".
>
> I was surprised too. But MS Word is doing a color conversion. in my
> test I converted 4 copies of "photodisctarget" test image file into
> sRGB, AdobeRGB (1998), ProPhotoRGB and Apple RGB with embedded
> profiles using photoshop. Importing these 4 RGB files into MS Word
> results in 4 identical looking images inside MS Word. The four images
> printed from MS Word look indistinguishable from each other when
> printed on our color manged printer.
Just because at this point I'm curious, I have done a little test of my own
to see whether it makes a difference to Word if I place an image file that
has an embedded profile or not.
I've put together an 8-page Word document. Each page shows one image,
inserted using Insert > Picture > From File in Word. Each image had
originally been created in Photoshop, and saved in TIFF format (with no LZW
compression). Each page carries a brief note at the top that explains what
kind of image appears in it.
Next, I printed the 8-page Word file to PDF, using settings that leave the
color numbers as they are and don't cause any further conversions.
You can see from a cursory review that the RGB image file is exactly the
same in Word whether or not a profile had been embedded in it. As a matter
of fact, the RGB color NUMBERS in each image once it's inserted into Word
remain exactly the same as those in the corresponding original RGB file (I
say that because I have checked and confirmed it).
So, one thing is certain: no ICC-compliant appearance-based conversion
whatsoever is taking place for RGB images inside Word.
As for CMYK images, the one that is TAGGED was converted by Word into an
indexed file (INDEXED? Go figure!). The UNTAGGED CMYK image, on the other
hand, was converted to a mystery-meat form of RGB, and also appears VERY
different from the tagged one. In other words, both CMYK images were
converted by MS Word to some UNDOCUMENTED form of RGB (indexed can be seen
as a subset of RGB) from some UNDOCUMENTED form of source CMYK. Are you as
charmed by all this as I am...?
In brief, a fine mess. MS Word deals with color the same way my cat deals
with algebra: not a clue, and no interest either!
See my PDF file at this URL:
<http://tinyurl.com/ybwflpx>
>> If that were the case, the question would be: "Convert from the
>> image's embedded profile to what OTHER profile?",
>
> That was my conclusion too.
> so what Destination space _is_ MS Word Using?
Word seems to convert CMYK images only, leaving RGB images as they are (no
conversion -- the numbers remain as they are).
My guess for the CMYK-to-RGB conversion would be sRGB, or some derivation
thereof. But the problem is that Word uses its own unknown procedure -- from
MysteryCMYK to MysteryRGB based on Mystery Conversion Procedure X.
The engineers at Microsoft may know more (or not!), but, based on the horrid
results, my personal interest in further details is close to zero.
Incidentally, sRGB is a standard established by Microsoft and HP in 1996 to
characterize a statistically "average" CRT display, and later used, by
extension, to indicate "average" viewing conditions on the World Wide Web.
See these URLs for more info:
<http://www.color.org/sRGB.xalter>
<http://web.archive.org/web/20030207084912/www.srgb.com/aboutsrgb.html>
Marco Ugolini
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