[Openicc] What is exactly needed: Embedded Profile in CUPS raster !!

[Alastair M. Robinson]

Hi,

On 02/06/11 00:31, Graeme Gill wrote:

> Choose printer setup -> implies profile.
>
> I suspect the latter is likely to be much more user friendly, since
> creating profile is non-trivial, and covering every possible printer
> setup with a profile is likely to be impossible (combinatorial explosion),
> and unnecessary (the same profile may work OK with many similar setups).

I disagree - I'm very nervous about having any degree of confidence in a 
system choosing the *right* profile for any given set of printer 
options, since as you say, there's a combinatorial explosion and only a 
handful can possibly be covered.

Also there's a one-to-many relationship between printer settings and 
profiles which can't be taken into account by a system that 
automatically selects a profile from a bundle of settings.  (The system 
can't know which particular paper I have loaded when several different 
brands of glossy paper need the same print settings but different profiles.)

For a long time we've wanted a way of bundling up a settings blob with a 
colour profile for easy distribution. The profile meta tag gives us that 
ability if we play it right.

Having the printer settings bundled up into a single object should 
vastly reduce the number of printer options that have to be exposed to 
the user, which should please the usability-over-usefulness folks.

Finally, ICC profiles can be embedded in PDFs using OutputIntent, which 
makes it (potentially) possible to use profile/settings blobs without 
having to install anything on the server when client and server are 
different machines.

Using the Choose Profile -> Implies Printer Settings paradigm does solve 
a number of issues and I think it's pretty compelling.

All the best
--
Alastair M. Robinson