Optimum results for plug and play printing will be obtained through good color management practices. Color management controls and standardizes the characterization of colors across multiple devices, applications, and operating systems. The process of color management as it relates to printing at Bergman Photographic comes down to understanding and implementing monitor calibration, profiling, color spaces, and soft proofing.

Monitor calibration returns the most immediately perceptible results. Even expensive displays need calibration to achieve standardized color. Calibration requires a colorimeter or spectrophotometer to measure the color emitted from a monitor. These measurements are then interpreted by software to profile the color to a standardized light source, we use 6500K with a gamma of 2.2 . This profile is then used by the operating system to modify the monitor's display to more closely match this standard. There are several good hardware and software options available in a range of prices. Colorimeters allow for profiling monitors only, and are less accurate though less expensive than spectrophotometers. Spectrophotometers have greater functionality, such as the ability to profile a wider range of devices like scanners, printers, and cameras as well as greater accuracy.

Use color spaces. A file without an embedded color space will be interpreted as though its color levels match those of the working space of a device or application to which it is submitted, altering the file's appearance in the process. Working in a color space such as Adobe 1998 or SRGB and embedding the file with the color space profile when it is saved, will ensure proper interpretation of color levels. Alternative needs can be met on an individual basis. Contact us if you want to submit a target-file to create your own profile of our machine, or discuss other color management options.

Like the profile created in monitor calibration, we have generated a printer profile which characterizes the color range our Chromira will print. This profile is downloadable here. When this profile is placed in the color settings folder of an operating system, for example C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color, or MacHD\Library\Colorsync\Profiles, it can be accessed by Photoshop or other image editing software and used to “soft proof” the image prior to printing. In Photoshop soft proofing is enabled by navigating to view/proof setup/custom and then entering the profile in the device to simulate field. We advise enabling black point compensation, which adjusts for differences between the maximum black levels between a files color space and the printing device's maximum black, as well as a rendering intent of perceptual or relative colormetric. The choice between these two rendering intents is somewhat subjective and case sensitive. A good description of rendering intents can be found here. Saving separate custom proof setups for both rendering intents allows for checking one against the other. To toggle the view from your working color space to the proofing space, click on view\proof colors, or cmnd-Y on a Mac or ctrl-Y in Windows. This simulates how the file will look when printed using our color profile.

Mastery of the subject is not required to improve image fidelity from camera (or scanner) to monitor to print. The simple step of calibrating and profiling a monitor will enhance results considerably. Using soft proofing in photoshop or other image editing software and embedding a color space profile in the file to be printed are the easy next steps to better results.

There are many sources of good information on color management in print or online.

Here are some links to get started:
• http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/color-management1.htm
• href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_management
• href=http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_management.htm
• http://books.google.com/books?id=5lCJpzkwvhIC&q=color+management&dq=color+management&pgis=1