[Openicc] Introduction / Gutenprint

[Bob Friesenhahn]

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005, Robert L Krawitz wrote:
>   order to meet requirements.  I expect that this interface will not
>   require more than RGB or CMYK in order to satisfy requirements.
>
> Then why is CMYK required?  I can understand RGB+K, where the K has a
> different semantic meaning than ~RGB (it means "text black" or the
> like), but CMYK is already a device-specific format.

Right.  CMYK should not be required, but it should be supported since 
it is in common use (e.g. SWOP).

> My own take is "successive disclosure of complexity" -- the driver
> should certainly offer simple RGB input -- but the other formats
> should be provided for people who really know what they're doing.
> However, I can certainly see how that's a distraction from the general
> goal of an open color management system.

The application needs to be aware of the gamut of the selected output 
device since the user may make different creative choices based on the 
abilities of the output device.  The user should be able to see 
(within the capabilities of the display) what the output will look 
like and be able to see which document colors are out of gamut.  This 
should satisfy the needs of a user who wants to target a particular 
output device.

Another type of user will not prepare the image or document for a 
particular output device.  The image may be prepared in a generic way 
with the expecation that it may be rendered on many different devices 
which are either outside the user's control, or fall into a general 
classification (e.g. sRGB or SWOP).  In fact, the user may obtain the 
image from someone else, who uses an entirely different output device. 
In this case, the printing system needs to accept the image as is and 
reproduce it as best possible according to the selected rendering 
intent.

Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
bfriesen at simple.dallas.tx.us, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer,    http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/