Page 73 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 3 #4

Above: This is the interface. Instructions are clearly laid out.

Even before the digital age changed the way ingly, unless every digital tool we use is calibrated it
we do most every task we perform as well as how still wouldn't matter.
we interact with the world, a graphic designer had to So, there are many reasons why color man-
make sure that the colors he or she selected for a lay- agement is important. First and foremost, color
out had to be accurately matched by the printer. The management is the only way to guarantee that the
color represented in a photograph had to be accu- color you see on your monitor is in fact the "real col-
rately rendered when printed. The solution was the or" of every object in your image. We assume that
Pantone color system. The designer or artist need- what we see is the "true color" but it rarely is even
ed only specify the Pantone number and he or she close. Nothing is worse than spending hours work-
would be assured that the final printed image would ing on an image only to print it or have it printed
be exactly as specified. and have all the colors skewed. Unfortunately, been
Except now in the digital age, we think that there, done that. Second, color management is the
what we see is in fact what we will get. Nothing is fur- only way to guarantee that the output – whether
ther from the truth and while Pantone color match- printed or for the web or for some other purpose –
ing is embedded in Photoshop and similar products will in fact match what the camera “saw” and what
most of us are oblivious to its existence. Even if we you experienced. Third, there is a growing tenden-
were aware of Pantone and specified colors accord- cy in the digital world to think that whatever comes

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