[Openicc] [Gimp-print-devel] [Printing-architecture] Colour

[Robert Krawitz]

   From: Michael Sweet <msweet at apple.com>
   Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:37:34 -0800

   On Nov 13, 2009, at 5:07 AM, edmund ronald wrote:
   > Actually, the only color mode I cannot live without is "No Color
   > Management", which can also be called "Application Color Management"

   Keep in mind that many printers do not offer a "no color
   management" mode. For example, all but a few of HP's inkjet
   printers only support printing with sRGB (there is no DeviceN
   path), and both Canon and Epson are moving to sRGB command sets as
   well.  Even for printers that *do* support DeviceN paths, none of
   the available drivers (not even Gutenprint) provides a true DeviceN
   color path, so your "Application Color Management" path is less
   useful than you think.

Gutenprint absolutely provides a true DeviceN color path (for Epson
printers, at any rate).  We just don't have a reasonable vehicle for
exposing it to end users.  But the API is there and is stable, and
it's implemented for all supported Epson inkjets.  Actually, there are
multiple DeviceN paths available, everything from gamma and density
corrected to just density corrected to no correction at all, all the
way to full control over ink drop size, but it's all with the same
API.  Someone could certainly write an application that uses it (I'd
suggest extending PhotoPrint, for starters).

I'm dubious of sRGB-only command sets for inkjet printers.  It
artificially restricts the available gamut, and doesn't work if you
use a medium other than that specified by the manufacturer.

-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk at alum.mit.edu>

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom  --  http://ProgFree.org
Project lead for Gutenprint   --    http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net

"Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works."
--Eric Crampton