In this step, you will define the color management settings, used for normalizing the input color spaces, spot color conversion, and color conversion from the normalizing color space into the printer color space.
| Available options | Description |
|---|---|
| CMYK Input Color Space |
All document color spaces will be normalized into the selected CMYK color space and then converted into the printer color space. Generally, it is advisable to choose a color space that is wide enough to minimize out-of-gamut areas, but is also still within the technical capabilities of the printer-media combination. You have the following options:
When loading a custom MX4 file, only MX4 files with the file name extension "mx4x" will be supported. |
| Use Embedded ICC Profiles | If this option is deselected, embedded ICC profiles will be ignored and the application will handle documents as if they already were in the selected CMYK Input Color Space, i. e. convert them directly to the printer color space, without normalization. RGB, Gray, and Lab elements are still normalized using embedded ICC profiles or rendering intents. |
| Convert Spot Colors to Printer Color Space | Per default, spot colors will be converted directly into the printer color space, without converting them to CMYK first. This allows you to use the extended printer color space to print bright spot colors. If this option is deselected, spots will be converted to the CMYK Input Color Space first. Thus, you will get a less accurate representation of out-of-gamut colors. On the other hand, print results might be more reproducible and comparable, especially if you are using digital printers in parallel with conventional printing methods. |
The following table lists all separation settings and delivers a short description.
| Option | Short description |
|---|---|
| TAC | (Total Area Coverage) Maximum amount of ink applied to a medium for reproducing the target color (in the darkest shadow area). The four primary colors CMYK (in percent) are summed up to compute this value. The TAC depends on the printing process and medium used. For example, a total ink application of 350% can be achieved on glossy paper. For comparison, the total ink application on newspaper is only 270%. If the TAC is exceeded, the ink spreads, resulting in dot gain and unsharpness. Please refer to the technical specification of the manufacturer of the print medium for further information. |
| Black Start | Percentage at which the K channel should start to print. For example, if this value had been set to 2% and the original color value in the document was C100, M50, Y50, K1, the 1% K would not be printed. |
| UCR Light / Midtone / Shadow | Under color removal (UCR) is a technique to reduce the amount of CMY in neutral areas while increasing the amount of Black. Thus the image areas with reduced CMY can dry faster between each printing unit on a printing press. For profiling, you can determine the Black amount in the highlights, the midtones and the shadows. |
The following table lists all rendering intents and delivers a short description.
| Rendering Intent | Short description |
|---|---|
| Automatic | This rendering intent is preselected when you select Default, EcoSave or Pure Colors as a profile variant. Keeps colors as far as possible relative and uses perceptual algorithms where necessary. Based on the data fed in to the system so far, this rendering intent is suitable for most requirements and should only be changed if necessary. |
| Best Visual Impression – Perceptual |
This rendering intent aims at preserving the visual impression of the original image, including saturation and detail, in the limited output color space. The color space is scaled to fit into the output color space, that is, all color values including in-gamut colors will be redistributed. Central colors are remapped more precisely, that is, changed less than colors at the edges of the gamut. |
| Best Color Accuracy – Relative Colorimetric |
This rendering intent aims at achieving the highest color accuracy. In-gamut colors are reproduced in a color-accurate manner in the output color space. Higher saturated (out-of-gamut) colors are clipped. Relative colorimetric aligns the white point of the input color space to the output color space, leading to a color compensation when printing on tinted paper. As a result, all in-gamut colors are modified with respect to the new white point. Apart from that, changes to in-gamut colors are kept to a minimum, so that a maximum color accuracy is achieved. |
| No Gamut Mapping (Absolute Colorimetric) |
In-gamut colors are color-accurately reproduced and out-of-gamut colors are clipped. Without gamut mapping, it might not be possible to reproduce the reference color space. |
It is highly recommended to use the option Auto Purify for CMY as it provides a good balance between preserving pure colors and preserving the color impression as intended by the designer or creator of the document.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto Purify for CMY | Automatically purifies all colors that are only slightly contaminated by other colors. |
| Pure Black | Keeps the black axis pure. 100% Black is kept at 100% Black and will not be supplemented with or replaced by CMY. |
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