Mac OS

In the past, PostScript printers handled color space conversions. Now with Mac OS X Tiger, you can choose to have your Mac handle color conversions rather than using the PostScript printer for processing, which can dramatically accelerate color conversions. In your printer driver, choose ColorSync from the pop-up menu as shown in the figure below. If the driver can use this feature, you’ll see two options in the Color Conversion pop-up menu: Standard and In Printer. If the Standard option is selected, your Mac will process the data, taking advantage of the power of its processor. For example, ColorSync can use the power of a Power Mac G5 to greatly speed up the color space conversions, as compared with In Printer, which uses the printer hardware. Setting In Printer option for PostScript in Mac OS X.

ColorSync Utility can also be used as a tool for color space conversions on images. When you open an image in ColorSync Utility, you see the image along with additional options at the bottom of the screen. For example, to apply a sepia-tone profile to the image, choose Apply Profile from the left pop-up menu, Abstract from the middle pop- up menu, then select Sepia Tone. You can also convert an image for an output device by selecting the Output menu and the appropriate printer profile. When converting to an output color space, you can choose a rendering intent for the color space conversion using the Intent pop-up menu. Click Apply to see a soft proof of how the image will appear after conversion. Choose the rendering intent that produces your preferred color appearance based on the image and the profiles being used. Choose Save As from the File menu to apply the conversion and save the new file to your hard drive, ready for output to that particular output device

ColorSync Utility lets you view and edit ICC profiles and view specific details integral/Network/Library/ColorSync/Profiles to managing professional workflows. Click the triangle in the top corner of the profile list to choose how the profiles are sorted—by location, class, or color space. Click the disclosure triangles in the profile list to show or hide profiles based on the current sorting. You can also select a profile in the list to display its name, location, origin, creation date, and more. You’ll notice that every profile has an internal name that describes the device and its utilization, in addition to filenames determined by the operating system that created them. For example, the file might be named “pcdcnycc.pf,” but its internal descriptive name is more complete: “KODAK Photo CD Color Negative V3.0.” ColorSync Utility lets you inspect detailed information about each profile, including headers, tags, and color gamuts. You can even plot the gamut as a 3D shape—making it easy to compare the relative color spaces of different devices. Because color spaces are three-dimensional, you can drag the gamut map to rotate it. You can also compare the color gamut of two profiles using ColorSync Utility; for example, the gamut of your desktop printer compared with the gamut of a commercial printer. Ideally, you want the printer that proofs color to have a gamut at least as large as that of the final output device, or you will not be able to print the full color gamut.