Digital Color Management: Encoding Solutions, 2nd Edition

PART I

Fundamentals

In this introductory part, some basic principles of color and color measurement will be examined in the context of color-imaging systems. This examination will provide the foundation required for later discussions on color images, color encoding, and color management.

The part begins with a review of the techniques of color measurement, which are the bases of all methods of numerically representing color. Color-imaging systems then will be described—not in terms of specific technology, but in terms of the basic functions they must perform. The focus here, and throughout the book, will be on systems for which the ultimate goal is to produce images that are high-quality color reproductions of original images.

Two very different types of original images will be dealt with in these discussions. In some cases, the original will be a live image, such as an outdoor scene being recorded with a digital still camera. In other cases, the “original” itself will be a reproduction. For example, it might be a reflection print that is to be reproduced again by an imaging system composed of a scanner and printer. As will be seen, each type of original has to be treated quite differently.

In discussing and working with color-imaging products and systems, it is easy to become so enamored with the technology that the real objective gets lost. It is important, then, not to forget that when it comes to images, a human observer—not a measuring instrument—is the ultimate judge of what ...