Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
ing how it's presented to the user. For example, it's worth noting that,
depending on how a user launches the ColorSync Utility, they may see
differences in the information provided. Double-clicking a profile will
open the
Profile
detail panel automatically and provide the information
about that specific profile as seen in Fig. 8-2. However, launching the
ColorSync Utility and then clicking the
Profile
pane will produce a list of
all profiles installed on the user's machine as seen in Fig. 8-1. Once a
profile has been selected from the list, double-clicking the name opens
the dialog seen in Fig. 8-2.
There are some useful capabilities in the ColorSync Utility, but it
appears that Apple is treating it like a moving target; the capabilities and
what we are told the utility is doing changes, sometimes in quite non-
subtle ways each time Apple updates Mac OS X. I will say that this utility
holds promise and at this time, I'd stick to using the
Profile First Aid
and
Profile Information
panels, carefully investigate the
Filter
panel, and leave
the
Device
pane alone.
ColorSync and AppleScript (Mac OS 9/Mac OS X)
While on the subject of free goodies for color management in Mac OS X
(and in this case OS9), there are 18 useful AppleScripts that ship with
each Macintosh. ColorSync is capable of being driven by these scripts,
which can provide some useful functionality and do so at break-neck
speeds. These scripts are much like the Photoshop droplets, whereby
a user can drag and drop images or profiles on scripts so that pro-
cessing can be conducted in a faceless, quick fashion. For many image-
processing tasks, there's little reason to open and see the image files,
which can slow down production. For example, a user could drag and
drop a large group of images on top of the AppleScript named
Embed
specific profile
, and each image would be tagged with the profile specified.
Some of these scripts are more useful than others; however in a pro-
duction environment, these scripts can really speed up the pipeline. One
script, named
Set profile
, is useful for ensuring that the internal profile
name matches the external profile name. Rename the external profile
name in the desktop and then drag and drop it over this AppleScript. The
internal name will be updated to match this external name. The
Extract
profile
script is useful when someone sends you an image with a profile
you'd like to be able to use on your system. Drag and drop the image
over the script and a copy of the profile embedded in the document is
extracted and placed in a location requested. The
Show profile
info is useful
for seeing more information about the embedded profile in a document
(see Fig. 8-9) after dragging and dropping an image over this script.
These AppleScripts can also be modified assuming a user knows a little
bit about the AppleScript commands and languages. Even a total novice
can open and make simple modifications of the scripts using the included
