Operation Manual

318
USING ACROBAT X STANDARD
Color management
Last updated 10/11/2011
A color management system translates colors with the help of color profiles. A profile is a mathematical description of
a device’s color space. For example, a scanner profile tells a color management system how your scanner “sees” colors.
Adobe color management uses ICC profiles, a format defined by the International Color Consortium (ICC) as a cross-
platform standard.
Because no single color-translation method is ideal for all types of graphics, a color management system provides a
choice of rendering intents, or translation methods, so that you can apply a method appropriate to a particular graphics
element. For example, a color translation method that preserves correct relationships among colors in a wildlife
photograph may alter the colors in a logo containing flat tints of color.
Note: Don’t confuse color management with color correction. A color management system won’t correct an image that
was saved with tonal or color balance problems. It provides an environment where you can evaluate images reliably in
the context of your final output.
More Help topics
“About color profiles” on page 325
“About rendering intents” on page 330
Do you need color management?
Without a color management system, your color specifications are device-dependent. You might not need color
management if your production process is tightly controlled for one medium only. For example, you or your print
service provider can tailor CMYK images and specify color values for a known, specific set of printing conditions.
The value of color management increases when you have more variables in your production process. Color
management is recommended if you anticipate reusing color graphics for print and online media, using various kinds
of devices within a single medium (such as different printing presses), or if you manage multiple workstations.
You will benefit from a color management system if you need to accomplish any of the following:
• Get predictable and consistent color output on multiple output devices including color separations, your desktop
printer, and your monitor. Color management is especially useful for adjusting color for devices with a relatively
limited gamut, such as a four-color process printing press.
• Accurately soft-proof (preview) a color document on your monitor by making it simulate a specific output device.
(Soft-proofing is subject to the limitations of monitor display, and other factors such as room lighting conditions.)
• Accurately evaluate and consistently incorporate color graphics from many different sources if they also use color
management, and even in some cases if they don’t.
• Send color documents to different output devices and media without having to manually adjust colors in
documents or original graphics. This is valuable when creating images that will eventually be used both in print and
online.
• Print color correctly to an unknown color output device; for example, you could store a document online for
consistently reproducible on-demand color printing anywhere in the world.