HP Color LaserJet 4550 printer family - Software Technical Reference

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HP Color LaserJet 4550 Software Technical Reference 222
3.5 ENABLING CMS SUPPORT IN SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS
Color profile filename conventions
The printer supports both RGB and CMYK color input paths. The RGB path is based on sRGB (Standard RGB)
and is the preferred path for the HP Color LaserJet 4550. To enable color management, an ICC-compliant color
profile for the data type must be installed. The convention used to distinguish between CMYK and sRGB color
profiles is HP4550c.icm for CMYK and HP4550r.icm for sRGB.
Since the Windows graphics design interface (GDI) is sRGB compliant, the HP4550r.icm color profile is
recommended for most color management tasks. When using the PCL printer drivers, the HP4550r.icm color
profile is recommended for best performance, since the data is converted to sRGB.
Many applications that use ICC color profiles expect to find them in specific locations. The default locations for
ICC color profiles are:
• Windows 95: <windows>/system/color
• Windows NT 4.0: <windows>/system32/color
• Windows 98: \<windows>\system\color
• Windows 2000: \<windows>\system32\spool\drivers\color or \<windows>\system32\color
Some applications can use color profiles that are stored anywhere, however, using the default location for shared
or system color profiles ensures that all applications can use the color profiles.
Although many of the applications with built-in Color Management software do not allow the use of the RGB or
HP4550r.icm profile, the Windows Color Management system (ICM) works very well with RGB printer profiles.
(The CMYK profile HP4550c.icm can be used as an alternative with the PS driver, however the HP4550r.icm file
is the recommended profile for all drivers including PS.)
The printer default settings of ColorSmart II Automatic (or ScreenMatch) and CMYK Inkset FAST must be used
with the HP supplied ICC profiles.
Installing color profiles in ICC-compliant applications
The ICC color profiles for the printer can also be used with ICC-compliant applications. ICC-compliant
applications are capable of managing color transformations within the application and in some cases use the
information for printing directly to the printer with internal printer drivers rather than using the operating system
printer drivers.
The following applications are ICC compliant, and the accompanying procedures show how to install ICM color
profiles in these applications. Other applications will soon be compliant. Check with your software vendor for more
information.
Adobe Illustrator 7.0 and later
1. From the File menu, select Color Settings.
2. Select the Printer drop-down list box.
3. From the Profile drop-down list box, select HP CLJ4550 SWOP CMYK PS. Note that Illustrator will not
accept the sRGB profile. The profile is ignored when printing with the PCL driver.
4. (Optional) Select the Intent drop-down list box and select the intent you wish to use. (Image or Perceptual is
recommended for most uses.)
5. Select OK.