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Taking the pulse of your colours - part 2 of 1 2 3

by Mike McNamee Published 01/02/2005

Examining and Adjusting profiles

The Monaco software with the Pulse enables the user to examine their profiles and gamuts in detail and compare one with another. Profiles may also be adjusted to give you an extra little precision (or preference - remember the print that looks best is the best!).This is one area where the Pulse software is cut down from the high-end siblings from Monaco, you have slightly less capable adjustment facilities. However with the ability to adjust for red, green, blue, lightness or saturation curves, the professional user is unlikely to find themselves short of control. Only pre-press professionals on high value work would have the time to tweak more than this and even then only if they were experts.

Input profiling

Input profiles are made for cameras and scanners. The concept is the same as that for printer profiles, you compare a scan or camera image against a known, standard target and the profile forces your image to be like the standard.There are a number of standard targets, the best known of which are the Macbeth 24 Swatch Color Checker and the IT8 (reflective). The Pulse is supplied with an IT8 target, for our own scanner work we prefer the more accurate IT8 version available from Nova Darkrooms which is created and measured to a higher standard. For camera work we use the 24 Swatch Color Checker. Pulse is able to work with the Colour Checker, the Color Checker DC and the Color Checker SG - the last two are more complex and more expensive. Although the IT8 reflective target may be used to profile cameras we do not like its reflective properties for use in the studio. The simpler, 24 Swatch Color Checker has acquired a reputation for producing more accurate profiles than its more expensive cousins!

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1st Published 01/02/2005
last update 09/12/2022 14:59:32

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