Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
files are installed in the main library, all users will have access to the
profile. The reason Adobe places these profiles in an application-specific
folder is that the profiles can be grouped in a specific order in Adobe
applications. Epson places their profiles inside a package (a self-
contained group of files) found in
Main Library
Æ
Printers
Æ
Epson
Æ
SP2200.plugin
*Æ
Contents
Æ
Resources
Æ
ICC Profiles
. The profiles
are buried here to keep them contained with the rest of the Epson printer
software. This is true of most canned profiles of installed third-party man-
ufacturers. As we will see when we look at ICC profile utilities, all these
buried profiles are seen and accessed with paths to their locations
presented:
Windows98
:
C:\Windows\System\Color
Windows XP
:
C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\Color
Windows 2000, XP
:
C:WinNT\ System32\Spool\Drivers\Color
Reasonable Expectations from Color Management
Before we progress to discussing color management in Photoshop and
the process of building an ICC profile, its important to stop for a reality
check. Over the years, color management has been hyped by some and
criticized by others. Color management as we know it today is not perfect,
but the tools and solutions available are getting better, cheaper, and easier
to use. Color management helps us see, and in most cases, produce, what
we expect from our digital images. It is important to stress that ICC pro-
files, the key to our color management system, know nothing about
images, only about how a device behaves. A profile for a printer treats
an image of a white cat on a snow bank exactly as it would treat a black
dog on a pile of coal. Humans are still needed to make decisions about
images!
In addition, when multiple profile conversions are made, it is impor-
tant to understand that one profile doesn't necessarily have any idea
what occurred in the previous conversion. Another issue facing us is that
most of the underlying internal technology built for today's color man-
agement systems is based on how humans perceive solid colors. Images
are vastly more complex! The way we see color and our response to light
produces situations that can fool the eye. Any photographer who has
exposed both tungsten-balanced film and daylight-balanced transparency
film under the same light source will know that in such a situation the
tungsten film will appear very blue when exposed under daylight illu-
mination. Yet when we walk from a sunlit area to a tungsten-illuminated
scene no such effect is perceived. This is due to adaptation; how our eyes
and brain respond to light.
*Specific name of printes installed.
