ColorServer with OpenColor Connection: Where do my Resources live?

This article will describe how OpenColor and ColorServer/SmartProfiler resources are organized and synchronized.

The information below applies to both Digital and Conventional OpenColor/ColorServer environments. 

Resource Handoff: OpenColor to ColorServer

All Conversion and Separation profiles ("MX profiles"), as well as Spot Color db3/Separation Rules ("Sep Rules") are calculated inside of an OpenColor Project on the Separations tab. Once Published and Saved, the Project will broadcast the available Resources, allowing ColorServer to access and download via the ColorServer Client/Resources/OpenColor Projects tab. When using the SmartProfiler Spectral wizard with a Digital press, these downloads are handled automatically as the new Project is calculated.

The act of manually downloading a Resource from OpenColor will create a local copy of the MX profile or Sep Rule inside ColorServer that can then be placed into a Conversion Resource and used in a Hotfolder. 

Order of Operations

1. OpenColor Project/Separations tab > MX profiles and Sep Rules are calculated
2. OpenColor Project > Publish and Save
   • The profiles exist in the Project and can be accessed by ColorServer
3. ColorServer Client/Resources/OpenColor Projects > user action required to download new MX profiles and Sep Rules
   • A copy of the MX profile or Sep Rule is added to the ColorServer local resource database. The MX profiles are static, the Separation Rules will synchronize (see next section). 
4. MX profiles and Separation Rules now exist as named Resources in ColorServer and can be added to a Conversion template. 
   • If you are trying to add your MX profile to a Conversion and can't find it, retrace your process back through steps 3 and 2 to ensure each was completed. 
5. Create new Hotfolder and add Conversion template
   • Drop a test file to your input folder

ColorServer Synchronization with OpenColor 

After downloading new Resources from OpenColor, there are two production tasks where ColorServer will "phone home" to the Project (and therefore must have live access to OpenColor): 

1. Digital press Recalibration (of MXN created from SmartProfiler wizard)

   OpenColor must be running and accessible and the original Project be present to recalibrate a digital press profile created in SmartProfiler.

2. Syncing new Spot Colors added to OpenColor in the Sep Rule

   For Spot Colors/Sep Rules, the local ColorServer copy of the set can be used in jobs without a call to OpenColor, but it will sync with OpenColor to check regularly for updates or new colors. This means that if you were to delete the parent Separation Rule in the OpenColor Project, the Spot Color Set in ColorServer will be orphaned but still usable in its current state, and will not be able to receive updates since the parent item no longer exists. 

   An orphaned Spot Color Set in ColorServer will be missing the "sync" icon next to the name in the Client/Resources/Spot Colors tab: 

Troubleshooting tip:

If you find that you have multiple versions of the same Spot Color set that appear as shown above, and you aren't sure which one is in active use, cross-check the exact name shown in Resources/Spot Colors above with the database linked to the Conversion in your active Hotfolder. In the example shown highlighted below you can see the Spot Database in use is the v1, which is not synchronized with OpenColor per the screenshot above. 

To correct this, you can click on the hyperlink in the right sidebar on the Hotfolders tab under the "Conversion" section and it will open your Conversion Resource to edit. Double-click the icon on the Spot Color row, delete the v1 version of the Spot Color Database and click the + button to select the synchronized v2 version, then Save and Close. You can then delete the orphaned Spot Color database from the Resources tab, as it should no longer be in use.