Re: synchronizing color

Subject: Re: synchronizing color
From: David Neeley <dbneeley -at- oddpost -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:02:02 -0700 (PDT)


I think the advice of others has been very good. However, I think you should also understand that color output from your monitor can vary quite often--and it changes as the monitor ages.

In most techwriting jobs, I believe the overwhelming majority are "spot color" uses--line art, headlines, and the like in specific colors. This is fortunate, for the methods of solving it are relatively simple...use specific, named colors. In addition to Pantone, there are other color systems that work similarly--if your books are to be offset printed, you should coordinate with your pre-press people regarding what system to use (Pantone is most likely, although that may also depend upon where you are!).

Your templates and standards should not simply use a color indiscriminately--they should specify the exact color to be used for these accents. You should be aware that if you want consistency between your Web look and your printed docs, you should also stick with the "Websafe" palettes for such spot colors. One print job I just designed and had done for a group in Dallas used two Pantone Websafe colors as specified by the logo designer--and the two-color brochure I wrote and designed used those same colors. There was no question as to the accuracy of the printed piece regarding color--but *every* computer screen it has been on has varied slightly.

Professional designers often have color calibration devices for their monitors and for matching printed pieces (colorimeters). In addition, the Mac has long used the CMYK color space--making it much simpler to do four-color print design. The newest Adobe software for the PC also uses its own color engine--InDesign 2 does, for instance.

However, since by far the overwhelming number of people viewing the Web use RGB color on Windows machines, the result is always subtly different than a four-color model will create.

I completely agree with the idea of printing a full-color image and a color wheel on each device you print from. Adjusting your screen to match as closely as possible the output of the print device you use most often is a rough but often surprisingly effective technique that can save you time, money, and aggravation.

David

-----Original Message from Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com>-----

I wonder if anyone out there solved this annoying problem: the color on the screen is different than the color of the ouput from our office printer (Tektronix laser) and the output from a digital printer (we use a few). There should be an app for it. Before my graphic designer goes mad...
TIA
Erika

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