Using the Windows Color Control Panel PowerToy

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To provide more unified control over color management settings, Microsoft has developed a color management PowerToy (or utility) for Windows XP. Microsoft develops PowerToys to add functionality to Windows XP that might interest only a limited number of customers. PowerToys are usually free but do not come with technical support. The Windows XP Color Control Panel PowerToy provides centralized control over the color management settings in Windows, as well as access to some advanced options.

In the following exercise, we'll use the Color control panel to specify the color settings in Windows XP. Before beginning this exercise, download and install the Microsoft Color Control Panel PowerToy from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/.

1.

Select Start > Control Panel > Color. The Windows XP Color Settings dialog box appears.


Figure 2.13.


Note

Color space choices are covered in more detail in Chapter 5.

The Color tab provides three unique features that can be adjusted only by using the PowerToy utility:

  • Default ICM Color Space refers to the color space used by ICM for color transformations. You can select a different default color space profile from the drop-down menu. Your choice of color space depends on the type of color work you are doing. For print workflows, the Adobe RGB color space is a good choice; for Web workflows, the sRGB color space is a good choice.

  • Color management modules (CMMs), as discussed in Chapter 1, are the engines that perform the color transformations. Although it's unlikely that you have additional CMMs installed, if you did, this setting would enable you to select from among different CMMs.

  • Display Calibration is a handy feature that enables you to select a reminder to calibrate your display. Click Set Reminder to choose a reminder period, such as seven days.


Figure 2.14.


2.

Click the Profiles Tab.

The Profiles section lists all of the profiles on your system and allows you to sort by profile name, profile class, and producer. You can click any profile to see detailed information about the profile.


Figure 2.15.


You can also click the Install button to add a profile to your system(or click Uninstall to remove a profile).

3.

Click a profile in the list and click the Gamut Plot window to see a visual representation of the gamut.


Figure 2.16.


The color profile gamut plot is similar to the visual representation we used in Chapter 1 and can display the gamut of a device relative to a color space, as well as to other profile. Click Close to close the Color Profile Gamut Plot dialog box.

4.

Click the Devices tab.


Figure 2.17.


The Devices tab lets you select default profiles for all of your devices from a single location a more convenient approach than going to multiple dialog boxes for your monitor and printer(s) and scanner(s).

By selecting a device type from the drop-down menu and then a device from the list, you can view and change profile associations, in much the same fashion as on the Color Management tab of a Device Properties dialog box.

5.

From the ICM-compatible devices installed on your system drop-down menu, select Printers and select your printer from the list.


Figure 2.18.


The list of profiles associated with your printer is displayed.


Figure 2.19.


As in the previous exercise, you can select either Automatic and Manual mode. Automatic instructs Windows to automatically select the profile based on the type of paper selected in the Page Setup dialog box; Manual allows you to select a default profile.

6.

Click OK to close the Color Control Panel PowerToy.

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    Microsoft Windows XP Color Management
    Microsoft Windows XP Color Management
    ISBN: 0321334272
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 103

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