Section 4 | Page 2

Color Gamuts

Color gamut is another term for ôrange of colors.ö Each color reproduction system has its own color gamut. For example, the gamut of colors that can be reproduced on photographic film is greater than the gamut of colors that can be produced with process color inks on paper using the offset printing process. Computer screens display moreùand differentùcolors than can be produced on color film or most color printing devices. Each color reproduction system is capable of producing a certain range of colors, or color gamut. Color gamuts for different systems may overlap, but do not match. No printing device or color monitor can produce the range of colors our eyes can detect.

 This illustration shows color gamuts mapped for several color reproduction systems on a horseshoe-shaped slice of three-dimensional color space.

Because the printing process cannot reproduce the range of colors the eye can see, the colors in this illustration are approximate.