Colour Management Mac vs PC
Discussion
Hi,
I'm in a print production department (50 people), for a Publisher, where we are almost exclusively PC based (use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop etc), output is printed on 4 colour presses (usually).
Another team (3 people) is moving into my department who use the same tools on Macs.
Now I want to standardise on PCs as it simplifies support, budgetting, network etc. etc. However, the Mac users insist that they cannot possibly use PCs because of Colour Management issues. (Note they don't have an issue with PCs per se).
No matter where I look, every Mac users forum say that PC Colour Management is crap. However nowhere does it say what the actual issues are!
Are there any designers/artists/graphics people on here who can give me a reason (that I could understand) why Colour Management (and a definition of that would be nice) on PCs is crap.
Many TIA
FG
I'm in a print production department (50 people), for a Publisher, where we are almost exclusively PC based (use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop etc), output is printed on 4 colour presses (usually).
Another team (3 people) is moving into my department who use the same tools on Macs.
Now I want to standardise on PCs as it simplifies support, budgetting, network etc. etc. However, the Mac users insist that they cannot possibly use PCs because of Colour Management issues. (Note they don't have an issue with PCs per se).
No matter where I look, every Mac users forum say that PC Colour Management is crap. However nowhere does it say what the actual issues are!
Are there any designers/artists/graphics people on here who can give me a reason (that I could understand) why Colour Management (and a definition of that would be nice) on PCs is crap.
Many TIA
FG
If both systems are using ColorSync then I can't see a problem as it lets you calibrate your entire worklow from scanner to monitor to printer.
However if the PC's are not using ColorSync then I would like to know what calibration system they are using. If they are not using any then WYSI-N-WYG (the N represents NOT).
Most Mac artworkers use ColorSync or similar profiles to ensure this colour accuracy. Maybe they are assuming the PC doesn't have an equivalent.
I use both at work for similar jobs (packaging & labelling for the pharma industry) and the output has to be calibrated to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. If the colours are different on two packs then a recall is issued at an average cost of £10m!
BTW I have a Mac at home so you see what I prefer though!
However if the PC's are not using ColorSync then I would like to know what calibration system they are using. If they are not using any then WYSI-N-WYG (the N represents NOT).
Most Mac artworkers use ColorSync or similar profiles to ensure this colour accuracy. Maybe they are assuming the PC doesn't have an equivalent.
I use both at work for similar jobs (packaging & labelling for the pharma industry) and the output has to be calibrated to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. If the colours are different on two packs then a recall is issued at an average cost of £10m!
BTW I have a Mac at home so you see what I prefer though!
FG,
I'm a Mac user, but not a graphics person. From my understanding there are two possible areas:
- ColorSync: Is well established, and very effective (if correctly set up) at matching scanner, display and output. I do not know how PCs now provide similar matching.
- Colour Gamut: Historically Macs have provided a greater gamut, so what you see on screen is more accurate. Now how and why this might be, I don't understand. Early Macs certainly used higher quality screens (and I still find Mac screens better).
However, this might be one of those historical differences that no longer exists, but is stuck in the psyche. The best chance of an unbiased answer will be to find a creative forum (mixed platform), and I can't even point you in the right direction. There is such a magazine (possibly 'CREATE'?), which might be worth seeking out.
I'm a Mac user, but not a graphics person. From my understanding there are two possible areas:
- ColorSync: Is well established, and very effective (if correctly set up) at matching scanner, display and output. I do not know how PCs now provide similar matching.
- Colour Gamut: Historically Macs have provided a greater gamut, so what you see on screen is more accurate. Now how and why this might be, I don't understand. Early Macs certainly used higher quality screens (and I still find Mac screens better).
However, this might be one of those historical differences that no longer exists, but is stuck in the psyche. The best chance of an unbiased answer will be to find a creative forum (mixed platform), and I can't even point you in the right direction. There is such a magazine (possibly 'CREATE'?), which might be worth seeking out.
Basicaly colour as defined in a computer is generally governed by [url]ICC|www.color.org[/url]. There are several ways of matching colour but the most common is RGB/CYMK these profiles are defined for each device (devices fall into 3 broard areas, Scanners, Monitors and Printers) basically what the colour profiles are doing is to allow the conversion of RGB (what you see on the screen) to CMYK (what is printed) and vice versa. To achive this you need a colour conversion engine. On a Mac this is generally ColorSync and on a PC its called ICM2.
If your PC's are windows 2000 and above they have ICM2 and you can achive pretty much the same effects as Mac's on the PC. In win2K all devices now have a properties tab for colour management. What needs to be done is to install the correct colour profile for the device and you should get results as good as a mac (however Mac Monitors do seem to be slightly better at displaying colour correctly).
Most manufacturers provide colour profiles for their machinery. Colour profiles are stored in System32SpoolDriversColor you should store the profiles there. They have a .icm extension and then they will be availble to your devices.
You can use the latest SRGB Colour Space. Thats what we use to achieve our colours. We have designers using macs and a printing system using PC's on to Colour Laser printers and we achieve commercial quality colour using this approach.
If your PC's are windows 2000 and above they have ICM2 and you can achive pretty much the same effects as Mac's on the PC. In win2K all devices now have a properties tab for colour management. What needs to be done is to install the correct colour profile for the device and you should get results as good as a mac (however Mac Monitors do seem to be slightly better at displaying colour correctly).
Most manufacturers provide colour profiles for their machinery. Colour profiles are stored in System32SpoolDriversColor you should store the profiles there. They have a .icm extension and then they will be availble to your devices.
You can use the latest SRGB Colour Space. Thats what we use to achieve our colours. We have designers using macs and a printing system using PC's on to Colour Laser printers and we achieve commercial quality colour using this approach.
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