Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 2
Photoshop and Color
Management
At last, we get to Adobe Photoshop and color management! Photoshop
is the hub of the digital imaging universe. Nearly every image can be
brought into Photoshop, usually for a great deal of image editing and
often for output to a printer. Photoshop has very robust color manage-
ment capabilities. After the release of version 5.0 back in 1998, ICC color
management became more recognized due to Adobe's dominance in the
imaging market. Other software vendors slowly began to implement color
management support in their products due to the color management in
Adobe Photoshop 5.0.
The most revolutionary change in Adobe Photoshop 5.0 was the com-
plete overhaul of how the application dealt with images with regard to
color management. For those who previously worked in a color-managed
application using ICC profiles, this change was significant and altered
how we thought about ICC color management. The changes Adobe made
with version 5.0 were sophisticated and complex. I had the privilege to
work with an early beta (prerelease) of Adobe Photoshop 5.0 for several
months before its release. I found that the new ways in which version
5.0 dealt with color took a great deal of rethinking on my part. Like any
complex topic, at some point in time, the light bulb goes off and dealing
with the subject seems logical and elegant.
Photoshop before ICC Color Management
It's useful to examine how Photoshop prior to version 5.0 dealt with
images with regard to color management (or lack thereof). Photoshop did
not have any meaningful way of working with ICC profiles for describ-
ing the meaning of the numbers. Color management in these early ver-
For those working on Macintosh versus PC, I have provided the two key comauds,
Macintosh first, followed by PC, such as
Command/Control S
.
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