Signs of the Times - June 2014 - (Page 40)

Te c hno lo g y R e v i ew By Chris and Kathi Morrison X-Rite's ColorTRUE App Raise your hand if you own an iPad or an Android tablet. T ablet devices offer portability and ease of use that far outweigh a traditional laptop. With a tablet, you can show finished sign photographs, plus the client's design drawings and relative data. However, one real flaw in tablet use is the lack of accurate color management, meaning, the colors you show your client may not be exactly what the final processing produces. X-Rite, a leader in color-management solutions, has identified tablets' value in the creative and marketing process, and now offers its ColorTRUE app, a tablet, color-management system. You can download the ColorTRUE app from the iTunes store for iPads and iPhones, or acquire it from Google Play for Android tablets and phones. And, if you use the app in conjunction with a supported X-Rite color-measurement device, you can calibrate your mobile device to match your computer, to obtain color-managed image viewing. Once done, you can show your client the colors they'll actually get. The process is even more impressive for clients who are serious about accurate final-output colors. 40 SIGNS OF THE TIMES June 2014 If you've read this far, you're serious about color management. Further, you probably own X-Rite devices or plan to add serious color management to your workflow. If you don't have color management installed, you can purchase X-Rite's inexpensive ColorMunki Display system and then easily calibrate your desktop and mobile devices. Accurate systems calibration makes a positive difference in prepress and workflow management. Although today's high-resolution tablets are great for showing your work, X-Rite advises that tablets are not so great when showing detail. Proper color management, however, will allow you to see details as the photographer or designer intended. For example, we've noticed our iPad's screen colors tend to be oversaturated and have realized the images, once transferred to our desktop system, look very different. ColorTRUE addresses such issues by creating a tablet profile that matches your working display. The app is versatile. For example, you can set the white point at the same value as your desktop. In Chris and Kathi Morrison own and operate The Image Specialists, a full-service graphics company based in Clements, CA. Chris is also a Microsoftcertified systems engineer. Key Information X-Rite 4300 44th St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49512 (800) 248-9748 www.xrite.com Contact: Liz Quinlisk strategic marketing director (845) 566-0466 lquinlisk@xrite.com addition, it allows you to provide ambient-light compensation, so that you see an accurate color rendition regardless of room-lighting conditions. A print-simulation mode allows your client to see what an image will look like; essentially, it shows the image as it will print against a specific paper/printer profile. The coolest ColorTRUE feature, we think, is its ability to support ICC profiles other than sRGB. Generally, if you upload an image to a tablet, the sRGB color space is what you get. The good news is the app supports the Adobe® RGB or ProPhoto RGB color spaces. Presently, you need the app's built-in viewer to see the corrected colors. It's because no system-level, color-management support exists. However, X-Rite's software-development kit (SDK) allows almost any app developer to add color management, which their users can use to create a ColorTRUE profile. X-Rite encourages developers to support ColorTRUE. With X-Rite's position in the industry, and the design industry's rapid adoption of tablets, we're confident that more apps will follow. Check it out. This exciting app will make your mobile device a much more valuable business asset. n http://www.xrite.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - June 2014

Signs of the Times - June 2014
Columns & Departments
Features
ST Update
Technology Update
What Shops Need to Know about Windows XP
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review: X-Rite’s ColorTRUE app
Technology Review: Color-Logic’s process metallic color system
New Products
Advertising index
Editorially speaking

Signs of the Times - June 2014