0

According to WikiPedia to correctly convert from RGB to CMYK or vice versa you need the ICC profile of the display devices involved. So RGB > CMYK is possible by knowing the ICC profile of the monitor being used and converting RGB to PCS and then the ICC profile of the printer/paper combo you're generating CMYK for to convert PCS to the printer specific CMYK. Stop me if I sound crazy ;-)

So my questions is where to find an algorithm that demonstrates taking RGB values and an ICC profile to create a PCS file and, secondly, where to find an algorithm for part II - the PCS > device specific CMYK if I have an ICC profile for the printer/paper and vice versa for CMYK to RGB.

The ultimate goal is a javascript tool to allow a designer to enter desired CMYK values in a web-based tool, see an approximation of the color in their browser and then generate a CMYK file to send to print.

Tae-Sung Shin
  • 20,215
  • 33
  • 138
  • 240
earnshavian
  • 1,864
  • 2
  • 13
  • 17
  • 1
    No sane designer would ever do that... color management is one of the hardest parts of digital imaging, and definitely not in any browser's top priorities list. – CAFxX Jun 18 '12 at 21:00
  • I've had a moment of zen. The client told me this was a tool for non-designers but then was talking CMYK and I span off at a tangent before getting confirmation that the only reliance the tool has on CMYK is that these non-designers shouldn't be able to pick colors CMYK and a printing press can't easily reproduce. So an amendment to the question would be - is there a way to generate a palette of CMYK reproducible colors from RGB. As I understand it, the former is a subset of the latter so how to generate the pallete? – earnshavian Jun 19 '12 at 22:12
  • 1
    The problem is that, with 99% probability, a certain sRGB color will be displayed differently by two different screens (that is, unless you're expecting your users to have high-end calibrated monitors and optimal room viewing conditions). There is simply no way to have accurate color reproduction unless you control the whole display pipeline (and, even in that case, it's really hard and requires a fair amount of experience on the user's side). – CAFxX Jun 20 '12 at 10:29
  • 1
    related: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4707662/is-there-any-client-side-technology-able-to-convert-srgb-to-cmyk-through-an-icc – jedierikb Dec 06 '12 at 19:23

0 Answers0