Colour experts discuss standardisation in colour management
The day-long conference hosted by NPES, ICC, and BMPA on 15 March in Mumbai saw serious deliberation on the latest trends of in colour management, standardisation, and its applications in different areas.
16 Mar 2016 | 3848 Views | By Priya Raju
Colour experts shared their first-hand knowledge and solutions to the ongoing challenges in the global print market. William Li, ICC co-chair and colour technology manager, Kodak discussed the need for standardisation in colour management to get consistent results. Li said, “Colour is the way to differentiate your printed product from the rest of the pack. Interestingly, taking the journey to improve your colour quality also improves your bottom line and your time to market.”
After which Phil Green, who has many years of experience in the field of colour imaging, and is well known for his book Colour Engineering, provided a preview of iccMax and its status in India. The iccMAX preliminary specification is almost complete, and after a review and ballot will be released shortly with a reference implementation which can be used to make and apply profiles.
Green, professor of colour imaging at the Colour and Visual Computing Laboratory explained about the working and technicalities of the latest iccMAX technology which is an upgraded version of ICC software. Whereas Steve Smiley of Smiley Color & Associates Global Brand Solutions, a G7 Expert on standards for specifying print highlighted the various standards pertaining to PDF/X like ISO 15930 and the ISO CD 20654 for spot colours and halftones.
Elie Khoury, president, Alwan Color Expertise, stressed on the need for standardisation in colour and discussed the ways to build an ISO and ICC compliant workflow. “When the workflow is as per the standards, it will enable both buyers and suppliers to arrive at a consensus pertaining to the expectations of colours.”
Discussing colour management for digital photography, Ray Cheydleur, printing and imaging portfolio manager at X-Rite, said, “White balance holds the key in a camera.” He discussed the need for profiling the camera and the targets which are used for colorimetric reproduction. Talking about profiling Cheydleur said, “In ICC for colorimetric accuracy, one has to profile every time there is a light change. Whereas in RAW files, lighting is not much of a concern.”