Prepress Color Match Verification for Print Jobs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current color management systems fail to accurately match colors across different devices and printing processes, leading to mismatches that are often discovered only during printing, causing costly and time-consuming rework. Additionally, existing remote proofing methods do not adequately mimic the color architecture of the target printer, resulting in inaccurate previews.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses a prototypical color transformation to identify and correct color mismatches by transforming source colors into a common color space, applying the target printer's color transformation path, and ensuring color consistency across objects, with options for automatic correction or user intervention, and remote proofing that accounts for job and printer settings to produce accurate previews.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If ICC-based color management is used to transform colors between devices, then color translation capability is improved, but color match accuracy deteriorates when different source color definitions take different transformation paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing color match verification and correction during the prepress stage, before actual printing occurs. The system proactively identifies color mismatches by comparing transformed colors against expected values and corrects them beforehand, preventing costly rework during production while maintaining accurate color matching despite different transformation paths.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated color transformation is applied to handle different source color definitions, then color management flexibility is improved, but color consistency deteriorates due to different transformation paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by comparing the transformed colors against expected reference values and using this information to identify and correct mismatches. The system monitors the color transformation process, detects deviations from expected results, and applies corrective adjustments to restore color consistency across different source definitions.
3Device complexity
If color verification is performed only during printing, then process simplicity is maintained, but detection accuracy of color mismatches deteriorates due to late discovery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by moving color verification from the printing stage to the prepress stage. This early detection approach identifies color mismatches before they manifest in final output, significantly improving detection accuracy while the automated nature of the process maintains relative simplicity through software-based verification.
4Ease of operation
If remote proofing is implemented without accounting for target printer settings, then proofing accessibility is improved, but proof accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by customizing the proofing process to match specific target printer characteristics and settings. Rather than using a generic proofing approach, the system adapts the color transformation and verification parameters to reflect the particular printer's color behavior, ensuring that remote proofs accurately represent what will be produced on the target device while maintaining accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of identifying color mismatches for objects having different rendering intents within a print job prior to printing, includes identifying all objects within the print job, each object's type, rendering intent and all source colors associated with it; for each object in the print job, transforming each object's source colors using a prototypical color transformation; identifying sets of transformed objects having source colors that match within a first tolerance; transforming all transformed objects using a target printer's color space; identifying any of the transformed objects in each set that do not match within a second tolerance level; identifying any object types within the group of mismatched objects having at least two different rendering intents; selecting one of the rendering intents in accordance with a predetermined criterion; and assigning the selected rendering intent to at least one other instance of that object type.