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Inside Macintosh: Advanced Color Imaging on the Mac OS /


Chapter 3 - Introduction to the ColorSync Manager

This chapter describes the ColorSync Manager, which provides your application or color peripheral device driver with device-independent color-matching and color conversion services. The ColorSync Manager allows you to match colors accurately across different input, display, and output devices. You can also convert colors easily and exactly across color spaces belonging to the same base family. Color spaces, color matching, and color conversion are discussed throughout this chapter.

Note
See the preface for information on ColorSync Manager version numbers.
Read this chapter if your software product performs color drawing, printing, or calculation or if your peripheral device supports color. You should also read this chapter if you are creating a color management module (CMM) to use for color matching, color gamut checking, and profile management.

The ColorSync Manager provides your application, device driver, or CMM with color-matching capabilities that your users can employ without the need for a proprietary environment. The ColorSync Manager provides the first system-level implementation of an industry-standard color-matching system.

The ColorSync Manager is contained in a system extension. To provide its color-matching services, the ColorSync Manager uses one or more color management modules and profiles. A color management module (CMM) is a component that implements color-matching and gamut-checking services. Your application or driver can supply its own CMM, or you can use the robust default CMM that Apple supplies. A profile provides a means of defining the color characteristics of a given device in a particular state. A separate control panel, the ColorSync System Profile control panel, allows the user to specify the ColorSync system profile. The system profile defines the color characteristics for the system's display device. CMMs and profiles are discussed throughout this chapter.

The ColorSync Manager relies on the Component Manager for the basis of the framework that allows plug-and-play capability for third-party CMMs.

The next section, "Introduction to Color and Color Management Systems," provides a general introduction to color models and to approaches taken by the publishing and computer industries to manage color.

"About the ColorSync Manager" (page 3-18), provides a general introduction to Apple Computer's implementation of the ColorSync color management system.


Chapter Contents
Introduction to Color and Color Management Systems
Color: A Brief Overview
Color Perception
Hue, Saturation, and Brightness
Additive and Subtractive Color
Color Spaces
Gray Spaces
RGB-Based Color Spaces
RGB Spaces
HSV and HLS Color Spaces
CMY-Based Color Spaces
Device-Independent Color Spaces
XYZ Space
Yxy Space
L*u*v* Space and L*a*b* Space
Indexed Color Spaces
Named Color Spaces
Color-Component Values, Color Values, and Colors
Color Conversion and Color Matching
Color Management Systems
About the ColorSync Manager
Programming Interfaces
About the ColorSync Manager's Memory Allocation and Use
Profiles
Profile Properties
Color Management Modules
Rendering Intents
When Color Matching Occurs
QuickDraw GX and the ColorSync Manager
What Users Can Do With ColorSync-Supportive Applications
Display Matching
Gamut Checking
Soft Proofing
Device-Linked Profiles
Calibration

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© Apple Computer, Inc.
13 NOV 1996