Colorific 4.19/Colorific.iso/mac/Installer Files/Colorific Manual/Colorific Manual (Text Only)

Text File | 1996-08-05 | 20.4 KB | 502 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

Colorific Color Matching Software

One of the problems with today’s computers and printers is that the
colors you see on your monitor often don’t match the colors you see
on the printed output. Now there’s a solution. It’s called Colorific.

Colorific software gives you accurate, predictable color matching
between your screen and printer by measuring the colors on your
monitor. Colorific constructs a precise description of how your
monitor displays color, taking into account variable viewing
conditions, monitor control settings and video card adjustments. On
the Macintosh, this description is stored in a ColorSync 2.0 profile, so
you get great color from any ColorSync-aware application or driver.

Colorific is designed for those who create or retouch their work on
screen or who download color images from commercial services or
CD-ROMs. It can be used with most color printers, and doesn’t require
a scanner or hardware calibration devices.

System Requirements

System 7.1 or above, 1 MB free space on hard disk. Printer must be
Macintosh compatible (i.e., must support ColorSync).

Printing the Read Me File and User’s Manual

Before installing Colorific, take a minute to print a copy of the Read
Me file found on the installation disk. (Use a word processing
application to open and print the file “Colorific Read Me.”) The Read
Me file contains last-minute information about your particular
version of Colorific, which is not included in this manual or in the on-
screen Help.

You can also print this user’s manual from any word processing
application. The pages are set up with standard margins and fonts to
easily print on 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper.


Installing Colorific

Insert the Colorific installation disk or CD into the appropriate drive.
Double-click on the Colorific Installer icon, then drag the Full
Installation icon to the drive on which you want to install Colorific.

What Files Are Installed

The Full Installation option installs Colorific and its documentation to
a folder called Colorific on the hard drive you select. It also installs
Apple’s ColorSync™ system extension and the LaserWriter 8 printer
driver to your System Folder. ColorSync is required by Colorific. It
includes three parts:

•    The file “ColorSync™” is installed to System Folder/Extensions.

•    The file “ColorSync™ System Profile” is installed to System
Folder/Control Panels.

•    The folder “ColorSync™ Profiles” is installed to System
Folder/Preferences. This folder contains the default (Apple)
monitor profiles included with ColorSync.

The LaserWriter 8 printer driver is installed to System
Folder/Extensions. It is a PostScript level 2 printer driver that
supports ColorSync 2, so you can use it to get great color matching
with Colorific and PostScript level 2 printers. If you have a non-
PostScript printer, you do not need the LaserWriter 8 driver.

Partial Installation Options

If you click on “Show Other Installations” in the Colorific Installer,
you can choose from a variety of partial installations and
uninstallers. You can use these options if you already have the latest
version of ColorSync on your system and only want to install the
Colorific program, or if you want to uninstall ColorSync before
upgrading to a newer release.


Before Running Colorific

To obtain the best color matching results, do the following before you
run Colorific:

o    Let your monitor warm up for at least 30 minutes to stabilize
the colors.

o    Make sure the glass faceplate on your monitor is clean and free
of dust.

o    If your monitor has a degauss button, press it.

o    If your monitor has manual R, G, B color controls or a color
temperature control, adjust them to your liking. Rerun Colorific
if you ever change these controls.

o    If your monitor has a color temperature control, you’ll get the
best results if you adjust it to 5000K or 6500K. Rerun Colorific
if you ever change this control.

On-screen Help

Colorific’s on-screen Help offers detailed calibration instructions.
When running Colorific, choose Colorific Help from the Help menu in
the upper-right corner of your screen to view the Help screen that
relates to what you’re doing.

Running Colorific

You should calibrate with Colorific before doing critical color work
and whenever you change the color settings of your monitor. To run
Colorific, double-click on the Colorific icon in the Colorific folder.

Colorific then leads you through a series of choices about what you
see on your screen. On-screen instructions make running Colorific a
simple task. However, if you’d like to know more about a particular
step, choose Colorific Help to access the Help screen that relates to
what you’re doing, or read the step-by-step instructions below.

1. Monitor Setup

Choose your monitor model. If it isn’t listed, contact the monitor
manufacturer to obtain the appropriate version of Colorific.

2. Brightness Adjustment

Adjust the brightness control on your monitor so that both black and
white boxes are crisp and don’t stray into gray. (There is no wrong
adjustment.) Once set, don’t change the setting.

3. Monitor Gamma Measurement

Pick the square that appears to blend into the background. Feel free
to pick a spot halfway between two squares if you feel that would be
more precise. For best results, try to blur your vision by squinting or
removing your glasses, if you wear them, to sense an overall tone
and not notice the colored stripes. The 12 squares are organized in
increasing brightness along an “S” shaped path.

You will perform variants of this task twice for each color—red, green
and blue. Colorific uses the information from these screens to
determine the monitor’s gamma for each primary color.

Gamma is a measure of the relationship between the brightness of
the color you see on your screen and the signal the system is sending
to the monitor.

4. Black Point Measurement

Pick the place where you feel there is just a hint of color. You must
choose a specific spot, for, unlike the gamma screen, there is no in-
between. The 12 spots are organized in increasing brightness along
an “S” shaped path.

You will perform this task once for each color—red, green, and blue.

Colorific uses the information from these screens to determine the
monitor’s black point cut-off value for each primary color.

5. Colorific Color Reference Cards

Depending on your version of Colorific, you now have to either: (1)
choose between Colorific Color Reference Cards for different types of
lighting, or (2) select a type of lighting from the menu displayed by
the Colorific program. Using your chosen light source, make your
work area as bright as possible. It doesn’t matter if you normally
work under different lighting conditions; the measurement will still
be accurate. Remove the Color Reference Card from its white
cardboard backing and apply it to the monitor in the space indicated
on the screen. (If it doesn’t stick, clean the back of the clear vinyl
Color Reference Card with alcohol and the glass of your monitor with
an appropriate glass cleaner.)

Turn the contrast control all the way down, then up slowly. Find a
setting where the brightness of both card and screen seem about the
same. (Remember, you’re matching brightness, not color.) Squint, if
that helps, and look at both edges of the card simultaneously. If the
card is too dark, bring additional lights of the appropriate type closer
to the monitor for this step.

Leave the Colorific Color Reference Card on your monitor for the next
step.

6. White Point Measurement

Choose the square where the color on the screen best matches the
color of the Colorific Color Reference Card. (Remember, now you’re
matching color, not brightness.) Choose a specific square; there is no
in-between option available. Don’t worry if your choice isn’t an exact
match. If the pointer is hard to see behind the card, use the arrow
along the side as a guide.

7. Creating Your Profile

Colorific is now creating a color correction profile for your monitor
and printer. Remove the card from the screen and adjust the contrast
control to a comfortable level. Do not change the brightness control.

8. Final Screen

Congratulations! Your Colorific profile has been successfully created.
Simply click on OK. The Colorific profile automatically becomes
ColorSync’s Active System Profile.


After Running Colorific

Colorific creates a ColorSync 2.0 monitor profile, which is used
automatically each time you print with ColorSync. (See “ColorSync-
compatible Printer Drivers” below.) Also, some desktop publishing
and high-end graphics applications, such as Photoshop, allow you to
select ColorSync profiles to improve the application’s internal color
management.

Enabling the Colorific Profile

Due to a bug in the current release of ColorSync, after running
Colorific you should:

1.    Open the ColorSync™ System Profile control panel (located in
System Folder/Control Panels, or in your Apple menu under
Control Panels). The control panel should display the name of your
monitor model as selected when running Colorific.

2.    Click on the “Set Profile” button.

3.    Select your monitor from the list.

4.    Close the ColorSync™ System Profile control panel.

This procedure ensures that ColorSync will work properly even with
applications that are only compatible with ColorSync 1, not
ColorSync 2 (the current release). Photoshop 3.0 is an example of an
application that is only compatible with ColorSync 1. If you are sure
that all of your applications and drivers support ColorSync 2, you can
skip the above procedure.

Photoshop 3.0 and Colorific

Photoshop is the most popular example of a ColorSync-aware
application. However, it is currently only compatible with
ColorSync 1. Therefore, to get the best results from Photoshop and
Colorific, follow these steps:

1.    Enable the Colorific profile as described above.

2.    Open Photoshop.

3.    Go to the File menu and choose Preferences/Monitor Setup.

4.    Choose your monitor profile from the list displayed. It will appear
at the very top of the list.

Other Applications

Other applications and drivers can also benefit from ColorSync
monitor profiles. Consult the documentation that came with your
ColorSync-aware application or driver for help.

ColorSync-compatible Printer Drivers

For screen-to-printer color matching with Colorific, you must work
with a printer that supports ColorSync and comes with a ColorSync
profile as part of its printer driver. Examples include all Apple color
printers, HP DeskWriter printers, Fargo Primera, and others. Contact
your printer vendor to obtain a ColorSync profile if you do not
already have one. Be sure to enable ColorSync in your printer driver
to achieve good color matching.

Macintosh users can also use any PostScript level 2 color printer (not
level 1 color PostScript). All PostScript level 2 printers using the
PostScript v8.1 or higher printer driver support ColorSync. Examples
of PostScript level 2 printers include the Kodak ColorEase, some Seiko
ColorPoint printers, EFI Fiery, HP 1200C/PS, and some Tektronics and
QMS printers. When using PostScript, select “Calibrated Color” in the
printer driver to ensure the use of ColorSync.


Troubleshooting

The information in this section as well as the on-screen Help
available when running Colorific should answer most questions.
Before troubleshooting, we strongly recommend that you read the
Read Me file located on the installation disk.

What to do if...

Colorific profile isn’t available in the ColorSync System
Profile control panel.

This usually indicates a conflict between the versions of Colorific and
ColorSync installed on your system. Colorific 1.x works with
ColorSync 1.0.x, and Colorific 2.0 works with ColorSync 2.0. If you
upgraded to ColorSync 2.0, you must upgrade to Colorific 2.0 as well.
Contact your monitor maker or Sonnetech to upgrade.

If you installed Apple’s System 7.5.3 updater, check to make sure
both the ColorSync system extension and the control panel are
version 2.01. If not, follow the procedure below:

1.    Run the Colorific Installer.

2.    Click on “Show Other Installations.”

3.    Drag the icon “Uninstall ColorSync” to the icon representing your
hard disk.

4.    When the uninstaller is finished, drag the “ColorSync only”
installer icon to the icon representing your hard disk. This will
reinstall ColorSync.

5.    Quit the Colorific Installer.

6.    Re-run Colorific.

7.    Open the ColorSync System Profile control panel and reselect the
Colorific profile to confirm that it was properly created and
enabled.

Photoshop displays the message “The default monitor
profile is invalid and is being ignored.”

This usually indicates a conflict between the versions of Colorific and
ColorSync installed on your system. Please follow the instructions in
the section above.

If reinstalling ColorSync and re-running Colorific does not solve the
problem, contact Sonnetech Technical Support.

Printed colors don’t match those on my monitor.

1.    Make sure you’re using the correct paper for your printer. Inkjet
printers require special coated paper. (See the Read Me file for
recommended papers.)

2.    Make sure the ink cartridges are working properly and that the
ink isn’t running low. Use a new cartridge if necessary.

3.    Make sure ColorSync is enabled in your printer driver. See the
section “ColorSync-compatible Printer Drivers” earlier in this
manual.

4.    Re-select your Colorific profile in the ColorSync System Profile
control panel. (See the section “Enabling your Colorific Profile”
earlier in this manual.)

5.    Try recalibrating by running Colorific again. At the White Point
Measurement screen, be sure to adjust your lighting as described
in this manual or on-screen Help.

6.    If the white on your printouts has a slight blue tint, look closely at
your display. You will see that the white on your monitor does
indeed have a slight blue tint and Colorific is matching accurately.
Some monitors have a color temperature control that allows you
to adjust your screen to a warmer (less blue) shade of white,
closer to the white of paper. If your monitor does not offer this
control, try re-running Colorific. Choose a square 1 to 3 places
counterclockwise from the proper choice at Colorific’s White Point
screen. Then print again.


Uninstalling Colorific

To uninstall Colorific, drag the Colorific folder to the trash. To undo
the changes Colorific made to ColorSync, open the ColorSync System
Profile control panel and select a different monitor profile. The
default is Apple 13".

Technical Support

Sonnetech, Ltd.

350 Townsend Street, Suite 409

San Francisco, CA 94107-1699

Fax-on-demand and voice support: [phone]

Voice only: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

Updated information can be obtained from Sonnetech’s 24-hour fax-
on-demand system. Call [phone] from a fax machine phone
to request a catalog of documents.

When calling for technical support, please have the following
information available: brand and model of the monitor and printer,
the version of Colorific you have installed, and a precise description
of the problem.

Corporate Users: Site licenses, other accommodations, and
additional products are available from Sonnetech.



The registered marks and trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of
their owners. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does
not represent a commitment on the part of Sonnetech, Ltd.

This manual ©1996 Sonnetech, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Windows Colorific Software ©1993-1996 Sonnetech, Ltd. and ©1992-1996 HGC Associates
and their licensors. All rights reserved.

Macintosh Colorific Software ©1993-1996 Sonnetech, Ltd. and its licensors. All rights
reserved.

Color Management Software ©1993-94 EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY. All rights reserved.


A Little Bit About Color

One of the most important things about color is that color perception
is subjective— everyone sees color somewhat differently. Even moods
can influence your perception of color. In addition, light in your
surroundings will affect how you see colors, particularly in a printed
image. Fluorescent light has a green tint and incandescent light has a
pink tinge. If the ambient light has any tint, the printed material will
reflect that bias. To view your printed output in the most neutral
light, look at it in the light from a light box like those graphics
professionals use.

In the process through which printed materials are produced with a
computer system, there are basically two kinds of color: additive
(colored light transmitted from the monitor) and subtractive (light
reflected from printed material). Both have the same effect on the
human eye, which identifies a color by the wavelength of light that it
perceives. Mixing primary colors alters the wavelength of the color
transmitted (additive) or reflected (subtractive).

Monitors, by exciting phosphors on their screens, produce red, green,
and blue (RGB) light that, in various combinations, can represent
millions of colors. If all three colors are combined in the right mix,
you will see white light. In the absence of any color, the eye
perceives black.

The inks in printed material produce color by absorbing (subtracting)
portions of the spectrum from the white light that strikes them. This
subtractive process uses cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) primary
color pigments in combination to produce the colors you specify. You
would think an equal combination of these inks should print black,
but impurities in all inks cause the result to look more like a muddy
brown. Printers typically add some black ink to produce a true black.
(This, then is known as CMYK color.)

What all of this means is that color perception is not only personally
subjective, but also subject to a number of outside influences, and
that color matching during the reproduction process is difficult.
Colorific gives you a simple means to deliver improved color
matching between your monitor and your printer.




Disclaimer/Limited Warranty

WARNING! THIS PRODUCT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR USE IN LIFE SUPPORT DEVICES AND SONNETECH AND ITS LICENSEES
MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS TO THE CONTRARY. LIFE SUPPORT DEVICES ARE THOSE DEVICES WHICH ARE USED TO
MEASURE, DIAGNOSE, OR EVALUATE THE TISSUE, SYSTEMS, OR FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY; OR OTHER DEVICES
EMPLOYED TO SUPPORT OR SUSTAIN LIFE OR GOOD HEALTH.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS A SERVICE AND IS NOT FOR SALE OR RESALE.
SONNETECH, LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS MEDIA, OR ITS QUALITY,
PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
IN NO EVENT WILL SONNETECH, LTD. OR YOUR MONITOR MAKER BE LIABLE FOR
DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE SOFTWARE, ITS MEDIA OR ITS
DOCUMENTATION.  NO PERSON IS AUTHORIZED TO MAKE ANY WARRANTY ON THIS
SOFTWARE. COLORIFIC CANNOT BE RESOLD IN ITS CURRENT OR ANY MODIFIED
FORM WITHOUT SONNETECH’S WRITTEN APPROVAL. COLORIFIC IS THE PROPERTY
OF SONNETECH, LTD. AND ITS LICENSORS AND IS PROTECTED BY ITS COPYRIGHT
NOTICE.

SONNETECH’S LICENSORS DO NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE OR MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE
SOFTWARE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY,
CURRENTNESS OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND
PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. THE EXCLUSION OF
IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME JURISDICTIONS. THE ABOVE
EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

IN NO EVENT WILL SONNETECH’S LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH THIS
AGREEMENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID TO SONNETECH BY USER OR BY THE
MONITOR MAKER ON THE USER’S BEHALF.  THIS LIMITATION APPLIES TO ALL
CAUSES OF ACTION IN THE AGGREGATE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION,
BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, SONNETECH’S NEGLIGENCE,
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INDEMNITY, STRICT LIABILITY, MISREPRESENTATION
AND OTHER TORTS.

IN NO EVENT WILL SONNETECH’S LICENSORS, AND THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS,
EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY SONNETECH’S LICENSOR) BE LIABLE TO
YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING
DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTIONS, LOSS OF
BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY
TO USE THE SOFTWARE EVEN IF SONNETECH  HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.