Product specifications

Making an Inventory of Your Profiles
With Mac OS X Panther, you can manage color well—and automatically—using default
profiles that Panther assigns. ColorSync Utility provides a central location and an intu-
itive means of managing all of your generic and custom profiles.
By clicking the Profiles icon, you can see which device profiles are installed on your
system and where they are located. You already have a wealth of profiles to help you
in your workflow.
If you don’t want to use generic color profiles or the default profiles provided by device
manufacturers, you can install custom device profiles in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles.
Then run the Profile First Aid function in ColorSync Utility. Profile First Aid verifies and
repairs the format of ICC profiles installed on your Mac, making sure they conform to
the current ICC specification.
Try clicking a profile (1). You will see summary information about it on the right (2). The three-
dimensional graphic (3) represents the profile’s gamut—a visual representation of the total color
volume that a device can reproduce or display.
You can also compare how one gamut matches up with another. For instance, you
might want to match your display to your proofer. But first you want to see how the
two devices compare in terms of color gamut—where one is more red and the other
more blue, for example. Comparing the color gamuts of different devices or color
spaces using ColorSync Utility can be quite useful. For example, for editing color, it is
best to select a working space with a gamut that overreaches or matches the gamut
of the capture (input) device (see page 12, “Converting to a Working Space,” for more
information). If you do this, the color from the original image will translate into the
new space.
5
A Technology Tour
Color Management
with Mac OS X Panther
Where are profiles located?
Because Mac OS X is based on UNIX, and
because UNIX is a multiuser operating
system, you will see that some profiles
are available to individual users; others are
available to every user on the computer.
System profiles are located in
/System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. They are
the basic, preset profiles that your system
requires for color management. You cannot
delete or modify these profiles, and it’s best
not to install profiles in this location.
Computer profiles are located in
/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. This is the
recommended place for installing new pro-
files. Once you’ve downloaded or obtained
new or custom profiles, copy them to
/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. These profiles are
available to anyone who uses the computer.
They can be modified and easily managed
using ColorSync Utility.
User profiles are located in
~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles. These profiles
are available only to the user logged in to
the computer.
Other profiles. Some applications and device
drivers install profiles. You shouldn’t move or
alter these profiles.
Open ColorSync Utility in
/Applications/Utilities. Click the Profiles
icon to view installed profiles.
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