Operation Manual

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USING ACROBAT 9 STANDARD
Color management
Last updated 9/30/2011
• Let the application determine colors.
• (Photoshop and InDesign) Do not use color management. In this workflow, no color conversion occurs. You may
also need to turn off color management in your printer driver. This method is useful primarily for printing test
targets or generating custom profiles.
Letting the printer determine colors when printing
In this workflow, the application does no color conversion, but sends all necessary conversion information to the
output device. This method is especially convenient when printing to inkjet photo printers, because each combination
of paper type, printing resolution, and additional printing parameters (such as high-speed printing) requires a
different profile. Most new inkjet photo printers come with fairly accurate profiles built into the driver, so letting the
printer select the right profile saves time and alleviates mistakes. This method is also recommended if you are not
familiar with color management.
If you choose this method, it is very important that you set up printing options and turn on color management in your
printer driver. Search Help for additional instructions.
If you select a PostScript printer, you can take advantage of PostScript color management. PostScript color
management makes it possible to perform color composite output or color separations at the raster image processor
(RIP)—a process called in-RIP separations—so that a program need only specify parameters for separation and let the
device calculate the final color values. PostScript color-managed output workflows require an output device that
supports PostScript color management using PostScript Level 2 version 2017 or later, or PostScript Lanuage Level 3.
Letting the application determine colors when printing
In this workflow, the application does all the color conversion, generating color data specific to one output device. The
application uses the assigned color profiles to convert colors to the output device’s gamut, and sends the resulting
values to the output device. The accuracy of this method depends on the accuracy of the printer profile you select. Use
this workflow when you have custom ICC profiles for each specific printer, ink, and paper combination.
If you choose this option, it is very important that you disable color management in your printer driver. Letting the
application and the printer driver simultaneously manage colors during printing results in unpredictable color. Search
Help for additional instructions.
Obtaining custom profiles for desktop printers
If the output profiles that come with your printer don’t produce satisfactory results, you obtain custom profiles in the
following ways:
• Purchase a profile for your type of printer and paper. This is usually the easiest and least expensive method.
• Purchase a profile for your specific printer and paper. This method involves printing a profiling target on your
printer and paper, and providing that target to a company that will create a specific profile. This is more expensive
than purchasing a standard profile, but can provide better results because it compensates for any manufacturing
variations in printers.
• Create your own profile using a scanner-based system. This method involves using profile-creation software and
your own flatbed scanner to scan the profiling target. It can provide excellent results for matte surface papers, but
not glossy papers. (Glossy papers tend to have fluorescent brighteners in them that look different to a scanner than
they do in room light.)
• Create your own profile using a hardware profile-creation tool. This method is expensive but can provide the best
results. A good hardware tool can create an accurate profile even with glossy papers.