[CREATE] Color management under threat: all a big mistake, Adobe claims

[Chris Lilley]

Hello Create,

I'm shocked and bewildered. This just in (posted by an Adobe
representative to the CSS working group):

> Device color is exactly what most people want. Adobe promoted this
> CMS workflow in the nineties and early 2000's, but we've learned a
> lot since then. Keeping it simple is key and introducing calibrated
> color is anything but simple. In addition, it caused tons of subtle
> problems (such as losing the black channel or color fringing during
> transparency) that proved unsolvable.
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2013Sep/0685.html

I'm trying to get confirmation on whether this is a personal position
(which I suspect) or whether Adobe as a corporate position is now
arguing against color management.

At least, on the Web. No indication that it will be removed from
print-oriented Adobe products anytime soon.

Up until today, color management on the Web seemed to have a bright
future. The SVG2 spec had some clean and clear color management
extensions
http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG2/color

(I have presented on that at Libre Graphic Meetings in the last
couple of years, to generally favourable reception)

and at the most recent meeting in Paris a couple of weeks ago, it was
agreed to move these into CSS so that HTML could use them as well as
SVG.

But not, of course, if we are to regress back to the 1980's world of C
= 1.0 - R and so forth.

If you care about color management and want to see it on the Web as
well as in print, it may be timely to keep an eye on the CSS
discussion list:

www-style at w3.org
public archive at
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/




-- 
Best regards,
 Chris                          mailto:chris at w3.org