Inside Macintosh: Advanced Color Imaging on the Mac OS /

Chapter 3 - Introduction to the ColorSync Manager

Introduction to Color and Color Management Systems

Different types of color peripheral devices (such as displays, scanners, and printers) use different methods for representing color information and are capable of producing different ranges of colors. As a result, colors do not match consistently when scanned or drawn to many different imaging devices. To address this problem, the ColorSync Manager allows users to transparently move color images from one device to another and from one operating system to another. But before learning about the ColorSync Manager, it is necessary to have a basic knowledge of color.

This chapter provides a general introduction to the basics of color and color management systems. Read this chapter to learn about color perception, additive and subtractive color systems, how different peripheral devices represent color, and how color management systems maintain consistent color among devices.

For more information on color theory and color spaces, you may also want to read other books such as these:

• Fred W. Billmeyer, Jr., and Max Saltzman. Principles of Color Technology, second edition. Wiley, 1981.
• James D. Foley. Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, second edition. Addison-Wesley, 1990.
• Roy Hall. Illumination and Color in Computer Generated Imagery. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988.
• R.W.G. Hunt. Measuring Colour, second edition. Prentice-Hall, 1991.

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Subtopics

Color: A Brief Overview

Color Spaces

Color-Component Values, Color Values, and Colors

Color Conversion and Color Matching

Color Management Systems