Real World Color Management (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Bruce Fraser (Author), Chris Murphy (Author), Fred Bunting (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Every graphics professional worth his or her salt knows the importance of color management. No matter how much thought artist and client put into the color scheme for a given project, all of that work is for naught if you can't get your results to match your expectations. Enter Real World Color Management, Second Edition. In this thoroughly updated under-the-hood reference, authors Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy, and Fred Bunting draw on their years of professional experience to show you everything you need to know about color management. Whether your final destination is print, Web, or film, Real World Color Management, Second Edition takes the mystery out of color management, covering everything from color theory and color models to understanding how devices interpret and display color. You'll find expert advice for building and fine-tuning color profiles for input and output devices (digital cameras and scanners, displays, printers, and more), selecting the right color management workflow, and managing color within and across major design applications. Get Real World Color Management, Second Edition--and get ready to dazzle!

From the Back Cover
Every graphics professional worth his or her salt knows the importance of color management. No matter how much thought artist and client put into the color scheme for a given project, all of that work is for naught if you can't get your results to match your expectations. Enter Real World Color Management.

In this industrial-strength, under-the-hood reference, authors Bruce Fraser, Fred Bunting, and Chris Murphy draw on their years of professional experience to show you everything you need to know about color management. Whether your final destination is print, Web, or film, Real World Color Management takes the mystery out of color management, covering everything from color theory and color models to understanding how devices interpret and display color. You'll find expert advice for building and fine-tuning color profiles for input and output devices (digital cameras and scanners, displays, printers, and more), selecting the right color management workflow, and managing color within and across major design applications. Get Real World Color Management--and get ready to dazzle! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 2 edition (September 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321267222
• ISBN-13: 978-0321267221
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY - An Easy to Understand Color Management Book, October 22, 2003

By	V. Maciulski - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Real World Color Management (Paperback)

This is the most thorough, and easy-to-understand book on color management that I've ever seen. They start with some color theory, but don't bog down on the technical, like some other books I've seen.

They explain the color management and profile process, then tell you how to build profiles for various devices. They spend six (!) chapters on building and editing profiles. There are separate chapters for measurement & calibration, displays, input devices, output devices, etc. As an example, they cover the steps and procedures to profile RGB inkjet printers, CMYK inkjets, CMYK color lasers, CMYK solid inks, Dye-sub printers, and much more.

That process has always seemed like a bunch of mumbojumbo to me, but I found their explanations to be easy to follow. They explain the need for the right lighting in the room where you proof and print and how color shifts can occur.

Then, they deal with applications and workflow. Chapter twelve covers the Adobe Color architecture. subsequent chapters deal with separate apps like Freehand, Corel Draw, QuarkXPress and PDF.

They explain Colorsync and ICM color management systems. And there is a nice discussion about WHEN in the process to convert the color profile of an image.

The appendices have some very useful info on profiles and workflows.

It's a bit pricey, but if you NEED color management, it is worth it.

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have reference!, January 29, 2003

By	Andrew D. Rodney (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Real World Color Management (Paperback)

First, I have no idea who William X is but his review is a slam to Mr. Murphy and just useless dribble. I know Chris lives in Bolder so I have to assume this is a person with some kind of agenda towards Chris.

Now onto the book. I am a color geek myself although I try not to get into all the discussions like how many ICC Profiles will fit on a pin. I have purchased nearly every book on the subject of color, color theory and color management. I have been reading Frasers, Buntin and Murphy's posts on the Apple ColorSync list for years and have literally hundreds of posts from each archived. Real World Color Management is the best book on the subject bar none. It's VERY easy to read and well explained. Even the first few chapters on color theory are so well explained that I not only picked up some good concepts I didn't know, I learned how to explain them to others in a much more concise manner. For those that feel that color management and computer imaging are moving at such a pace that no book can be useful for any length of time, I would say that RWCM is worth the price of admission just for the foundation in color and computer theory it presents in the first 100 or so pages.

There is a huge wealth of information that I've never seen anywhere else! The areas in the book discussing how to evaluate the quality of ICC profiles is worth it's weight in gold. The various chapters covering specific software products and how they deal with color management is invaluable. What makes this book so wonderful is it's tone. It has a sense of humor (so needed with this kind of topic). It doesn't look down on the reader and more importantly, it's clear and to the point. There's virtually no math to make your head explode.

I happen to know all three authors (some more than others) and I am proud that they have finally achieved the final goal of producing what I believe is the definitive book on the subject of color management. Anyone that works with computer graphics or produces output from a computer should have this book.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best color management book, May 6, 2005

By	R. Hettinger (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is more readable, information rich, and practical than Tim Grey's well-written "Color Confidence" which had set a high standard.

Like most books on the subject, it starts with a color theory chapter. Besides being a pleasure to read, it is almost certain to teach something you didn't already know. Even a science whiz will be impressed at how gently, thoroughly, and coherently the topics are brought together.

Most of the remaining chapters can be read in isolation. Many will immediately focus on a chapter relating to their specific software and then proceed to the all important workflow chapter.

For those buying tools, the book offers excellent coverage of the major products including hardware (densiometers, colorimeters, spectrophotometers, targets, monitors, printers, and inks), profiling packages (Gretag-Macbeth, Monaco, etc), and ICC visualization/editing tools (ColorThink and such).

The book empowers you to make thoughtful choices on every Photoshop setting (black-points, colorspaces, rendering intents, etc). Also, the section on evaluating profiles is excellent. This topic is usually omitted from other books on the subject.

All in all, I give this one an A+.