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A question that arises quite often is geared towards color management. Users of graphics software are frustrated that the colors they see on screen do not match the colors that come out of their printer. In short they will never match so get over it. If you need to match colors, there are a number of ways to do it and I'll cover them in this article.
To first understand the concept of color management, you have to understand why colors don't match. The screen on your computer displays colors in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colors. This is what is called an additive color model. As you add more of each color, you get closer to white. With no color, you get black. Printed colors are exactly the opposite. They use the CMYK model (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) which is a subtractive palette. The more color you add, the closer you get towards black.
Each of these colors models has a gamut or a range of colors that can be represented. There is some overlap within these palettes, but you would be surprised at how few colors are represented in both palettes. Thus the reason that the colors you see on screen don't match your printer. If the color you want isn't one of the colors that is within the gamut of both models, it won't match. Well over half the colors won't match.
If that isn't confusing enough, let's throw in some other variables that further confuse things. The colors you see on screen are dependent on the video card and monitor that you use on your system. And as monitors age, the colors change. So two separate users won't even see the same color on their respective screens unless their equipment is identical and the stars are in alignment. Then we throw in different brands of printers, different brands of ink and different kinds of paper. So many variables to consider and it all leads up to colors that just won't match.
The next step towards understanding color management is controlled by the software you use. CorelDRAW has had color management built in to the software for many versions now. But since so few users understand even the basics of color management, all those features are lost on them. By default, color management was turned off in CorelDRAW 7 and lower. It is turned on in CorelDRAW 8 and higher.
The idea is that if you understand color management, you can make the colors you see on screen more closely imitate those that come out of your printer. When it was off, few users turned it on and then complained that colors on screen weren't even close to their printer. When it was on, users complained that the colors on their screens were dull and washed out. They are dull, because that is what you will get from your printer.
By selecting Tools | Color Management in newer versions, you can change the settings for how colors look on screen and how they are printed. You'll see the resulting dialog at right. By unchecking "Calibrate colors for display", you'll get the bright pretty colors on screen like in the earlier versions. Just don't expect them to be even close to what gets printed.
The Options Color Management dialog box lets you select whether you want your display to simulate your printer. The most important setting is highlighted with a large arrow.
CorelDRAW 10 users will find that the Color Management dialog has changed drastically. You'll see the new dialog at right. The quick way to get bright pretty colors is to select the option at bottom left to Optimize Colors for the Web.
If you do plan on using the color management technology within CorelDRAW, the next step is to set up profiles for all of your devices. Look at the tree list on the left side of the dialog box and click on Profiles. This will bring up the dialog box shown at right. CorelDRAW 10 users make these in the same dialog box we showed earlier.
In the Profiles dialog box, you can select the profiles to use for each input and output device on your system.
Corel does supply a large number of profiles with CorelDRAW, but it is best if you get them directly from your hardware vendor. They are often supplied on a disk or CD that comes with the hardware. If not, you can probably get them from the vendor's Web site. For those who will be doing color separations on film, use the US Negative Proofing profiles that Corel provides.
Now we come to the part where you actually print and things can get a bit tricky. CorelDRAW has color management built in, but so do most color printers. You only want to use the color management in one of these devices. In CorelDRAW, you'll find the color management on the Misc tab of the Print dialog box as shown at right. If you plan on using the color management in your printer, uncheck this box. If you leave it checked, make sure to turn it off in your printer. I'll discuss that process next.
Color Management can be turned on and off within the Print dialog box. Note the large arrow pointing it out.
Sometimes it can be tough to find the setting in your printer driver and the method is different with each operating system and brand of printer. I have found the setting for the Epson Stylus 740 running under Windows 2000 and highlighted it at right. If you plan on using CorelDRAW's color management, you'll want ICM Disabled. If you turn it off in CorelDRAW, the printer should be set to ICM Handled by Printer. Confused yet?
The Advanced Options dialog box for an Epson Stylus 740 running under Windows 2000. Note the color management options are highlighted by a large arrow.
But there is a much easier way. Forget about all this color management stuff. Choose your colors from a printed swatch book. If you'll be printing on your own printer, use one of the palettes you can download from http://www.unleash.com/articles/colorchart. Once you've printed the palette, select the color you want from the printout and don't worry about how it looks on screen. What is important is that it will look the same when printed the next time.
For those whose jobs will go to a printing press, get either a Pantone swatchbook (available from http://www.pantone.com) or Agfa's PostScript Process Color Guide (available from http://www.agfahome.com). Again, you'll pick colors from the swatchbooks and the color you see on screen are not important.
If you follow the information provided in this article, you'll get a much better feel for how color works on your system. But really the most important thing to do is to just use a swatchbook. You already know the results of printing so you also know you can print that color the same each time.
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CorelDRAW X6 Font List · CorelDRAW X5 Font List · CorelDRAW X4 Font List · The Terms of Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT · CorelDRAW X3 Font List · Cropping and Rotating Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · The Magic of Color Styles · CorelDRAW's Find and Replace Wizard · Shorten Your Design Time with Templates · CorelDRAW's Multi-Faceted Eyedropper Tool · CorelDRAW and Special Characters · The Easy Way to Create Calendars in CorelDRAW · The Wide World of Labels in CorelDRAW · Including Variable Data with Print Merge · Resaving, Resizing & Resampling Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Creating Your Own Fonts in CorelDRAW · The Evils of Using JPEG Files · Speeding Up CorelDRAW 11 and Windows XP · Symbols and Imposition · The Easiest Way to Recreate Logos · A Few Guidelines to Follow · Square Corners Can Be Sticky -- Rounding Corners in CorelDRAW · Creating Complex Shapes Easily with CorelDRAW · Identifying the Mystery Font · Two Ways to Create a Split Front Design · Last Word in Font Management · Calibrating Your Printed Colors with a Color Chart · Graphics Computing in 2001 · Hottest R.A.V.E. In Town · Get the Red Out of Eyes · Secrets of Color Management · Dressing Up Your PDF Files · How Adobe Acrobat Can Make Life Simpler · Why You Want PDF in Your Workflow · Converting a Scanned Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Designing 360 Degrees · Customizing Your Interface in CorelDRAW 8.0 · Fitting Text to a Path · Creating Cool Graphs Without a Spreadsheet · From CorelDRAW to Macromedia Flash, A Simple Example · Getting Rid of That Darned White Box · Converting a Bitmap Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Finding Clipart with ROMCAT
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