Color Aims

(notes)

Essential parts (in no particular order):

• including device values

• patch set to use / minimum patches recommended

• Preparing for best results

  • averaging duplicate patches

  • smoothing

• using first measurement as an aim

• marking a color set for use as a Color Aim

• Track, Job, and Measurement-level aims

• sources of color aims

  • measuring

  • from ICC profiles

  • uploading from Curve4 Blend tool

  • Built In

  • creating automatically with "Next Measurement"

  • for Brand colors

  • uploading files saved from any source

A Color Aim in Maxwell will contain the device values (RGB or CMYK) as well as the Lab (or spectral) values that represent the desired color for the patches (ie: the color you’re aiming for).  A Color Aim may or may not have the target dimension information.

Several of the more common industry used reference conditions are included in Maxwell for use as color aims, for your convenience.

A reference set contains both a color aim and the metrics / tolerances that are used with the color aim.

Adding Custom Color Aims

Maxwell can also accept custom color aims. Files to be used as color aims require:

• Device data (either RGB or CMYK data)

• Corresponding color data (for example: Lab or spectral data)

Recommendations for best results:

• Since some charts have duplicate color patches, it is a good idea to average all duplicates and ensure that the color data is identical on all duplicate patches.

• Averaging and smoothing several custom measurements is a good way to create a reasonable “golden run” which can be put in place as a color aim.

• For best results, it is recommended that every color aim have patches representing solid colors, secondaries, paper white, absolute black and some neutrals.

• If looking to pass G7 specs, a color aim must include the 50 neutral patches of the “P2P51” target (rows 4 and 5) in order to include necessary colors for the specification.

Sources of color aims:

• Measuring into a track

• Extract a sample measurement from ICC profiles using a tool like ColorThink Pro

• Uploading from the Curve4 Blend tool

• Built-in color aims in Maxwell

• Creating automatically with "Next Measurement" option in Maxwell

• Uploading individual files saved from any source

Flag as a Color Aim

Maxwell does not make every upload available as a color aim. Once a measurement file is in Maxwell, it needs to be flagged to be available for use as a color aim.

• Look in the Details tab of the measurement to be used

• In edit mode, change “Use as Color Aim” from false to “true”

• Save the edit

Results Tab

When looking at a color aim, the Results tab will show details of individual colors in the file.

For more details see more on the Results Tab.

Details

The Details tab displays additional information about the individual measurement.

More info on the Details tab.

Measurement Conditions

Measurement conditions allow an administrator to require certain settings or conditions while measuring. The default settings are appropriate for most situations.

For example, the conditions can be set so that "only M1" measurements, or "only transmissive" measurements will be accepted. As Maxwell capabilities continue to expand, it is possible to take measurements with many different kinds of instruments. This provides a means to restrict the acceptable forms of measurement that will be allowed in the Maxwell Client.

The Measurement Conditions include:

• Light filter mode (M0, M1, M2, M3) according to ISO 13655

• Aperture size

• Scanning mode (reflective or transmissive emissive, or illuminant)

• Measurement backing of white, black or media

• Number of measurements per patch

• Control of the scan by continuous scan or patch-by-patch

• Whether the instrument is required to be calibrated for each use.

Scanning instruments differ greatly in their form and function. These options are not available or applicable for all instruments.

A similar list of measurement conditions is reported in the measurements that are uploaded to Maxwell. These reflect the history of what conditions were when the measurement was made.

See measurement conditions for information on how measurement conditions are reported for individual measurements.

Track, Job, and Measurement-level aims

For printers who have a large number of presses, each with their own color aims, it can be cumbersome to create reference sets and color aims for each individual press. Maxwell can be made to override the color aim in the reference set and instead put color aims in place at each individual track. This way, the reference set does not need to change, and the same metrics from the one reference set can be used across the organization. Many other possibilities are available. Please contact CHROMiX personnel for details.

Note that in order for the Track-level Color Aim to function, the Color Aim Override must be set to be true in the Reference Set. See the Reference Set details for more information.

Similarly, Color Aims can be set at the Job level in Maxwell.