DisplayMaker Legacy ColorMark+ - User Guide

1-8 Color Management Overview
Color Management
Overview
To take full advantage of the ColorMark+ software, you should
understand the following concepts:
◆ How Color is Defined
◆ Why Color Management is Needed
◆ How Color Management Works
Each of these topics is introduced on the following pages. The
entire scope of color management issues as they relate to digital
imagery and wide format output is beyond the scope of this
manual. For further information, refer to the publications listed
on page v.
How Color is Defined The ability to precisely measure and define colors is essential in
the reproduction of images. All visible colors can be defined by
three characteristics:
◆ Hue - the property of color that is determined by the wave-
lengths of light coming from an object. It is the property we
refer to when we call a color by its name, such as red, purple,
or bluish green.
◆ Saturation (chroma, purity, intensity, vividness) - the clarity
of a color, the extent to which it is not dulled or grayed.
◆ Lightness (luminance, brightness, value, darkness) - indicates
how light or dark a color is, how close it is to black.
Other frequently used terms for these three characteristics are
HSV (hue, saturation, value), HSL (hue, saturation, lightness),
and HVC (hue, value, chroma).
These three characteristics can be illustrated by a three-dimen-
sional model consisting of stacked disks. Circular movement
around each disk varies the hue. Upwards movement from one
disk to another increases the lightness. Radial movement from
the center of each disk outwards increases saturation. The model
is irregularly shaped because the eye is more sensitive to some
colors than to others.