Molly Parker - Strange Dog Print and Design

US 28074

Demonstrate knowledge of colour and its management.

1) Describe how the human eye sees colour.
Light travels into the eye to the retina. The retina is a complex layer of cells which is located at
the back of the eye. The cells that make up the retina are called photoreceptors. There are two
types of receptors, cones and rods. The rod cells are named after their shape. The rod cells are
sensitive to movement and low levels of light, they also provide night vision. The cone cells are
sensitive to colours and these cells are concentrated in the fovea at the back of the eye. There
are 3 different types of cone cells. These different types of cones respond to different
wavelengths of light. The wavelengths the cones respond to are interpreted as colours within our
brain. Long wavelengths are experienced as red, medium wavelengths are experienced as green
and short wavelengths are experienced as blue. Of course most of the world isn't made up of
just these 3 colours so those cells are responding in varying degrees to give us the contrast in
colours that we see daily.
When there is the presence of all wavelengths then that is interpreted as white and when there
is a lack of light or wavelength that is experienced as darkness/blackness.

2) Describe how the wavelength of light affects the colour we see.

Light gets transmitted in waves and each wave that occurs is called a wavelength. A wavelength
is measured by the distance from the top of one wave to the top of the next wave. Wavelengths
are measured in nanometers (nm) which is one-millionth of a millimetre. The long wavelengths,
which are around 700nm, are seen as red. The medium wavelengths, which are around 550nm,
are seen as green and the short wavelengths, which are 450nm, are seen as blue. When all of
these wavelengths are present then they create white light. When there is an absence of
wavelengths then that is perceived as darkness.

3) Describe the three key features of each of the colour models.

a) Additive
The additive colour model is also known as the RGB colour model. Additive colour is the
process of adding a set of wavelengths to another set of wavelengths to create a new
colour. RGB colours depend on what device is being used. The same RGB colour values
will look different on each device.

b) Subtractive
The subtractive colour model is also known as CMY(K). This colour model is associated
with printing because when printing you are unable to add light to the colours, therefore
it has to subtract light to create the required colours.

c) LAB
 The CIELab model is better to use because it is a more uniform colour model when
compared to the non-uniform CIE XYZ colour model. The CIELab model best represents
the differences in colours.
The L stands for light. This will define how dark or light a colour is. The a and b work on
the theory that red and green and the opposite to blue and yellow. You can't have a red
green, but you can have a blue green.
The LAB colour model is based on the direct measurements of human visual perception.
The LAB colour model is a representation of how humans see colour. When looking at
the colour model the blue and red sector is slightly smaller because the human eye is
more sensitive to changes in purples and reds than it is to changes in greens and
yellows.

4) Identify how the temperature of the light is measured.

a) Describe how the colour temperature of light affects the colour we perceive.
We measure white light using the Kelvin Scale. The colour of the light is also known as its
colour temperature. The colour of the light reflecting off the object will alter our
perception of the colour of the object. If I am looking at a red apple under a yellowish
light then the apple will appear more orange (a yellow cast) than it actually is. Nothing
has changed about the apple, but the light source has altered my perception of the
apple's colour.
It is important that the working environment light setup is as standard as possible so
there are no hues being cast over colours which will alter our perception of the colour.
The aim is to have a light source producing light at 5000K on the Kelvin scale.

5) Describe how a person perceives the colour of an object.

The colour of an object is only happening in our brain caused by certain wavelengths that are
being bounced off an object. These wavelengths create an experience in our brain that we have
learned to call green, red, yellow, blue etc.
Just like screens every person is going to perceive colour slightly differently but we have been
taught that everyone is seeing the same colours as us. As we age our own perception of colour
will begin to change. The lenses in our eyes will tend to have a yellowish hue which will make it
hard to distinguish between blues and blue-greens. Also the amount of light needed to
distinguish between colours clearly will increase, as the pupils don't let in as much light.

6) Describe how a person perceives the colour from an electronic device such as a computer, TV, tablet
or smartphone.
Monitors, computers, tablets use emitted light. Devices have their own light source so they don't
need any external light to see the displayed colours clearly. The light in a room will affect the
colours that you see on the screen so it is best that low levels of lights are used in rooms where
computers are being used.
An LCD monitor is made up of multiple components that allow us to see the colour in the best
way.
 Backlight is the lightsource at the back of the screen.
Polarising filters control the wavelengths that pass through the screen.
Colour filters absorb or transmit different wavelengths to create the different colours on the
screen.
The liquid crystal layer is made up of millions of particles that block or allow light to pass
through.

7)
a) Describe colour gamut
Gamut is used to describe the range of colours that a device is able to reproduce. Every device
has a set amount of colours that it is able to reproduce. A printer isn't ever able to produce a
more saturated colour than its inks. The gamut will be set by how the ink interacts with the
paper stock.
b) Describe colour space
A colour model tells us which type of colours a device uses ie CMYK or RGB. The colour space
and gamut of a device combine to define the colour space of a device. A colour space also has
information about the relationship between the colours and the gamut. A colour space shows
you how the colours within it fall and relate to each other. Colour spaces are communicated by
using ICC profiles.
c) Describe the relationship between colour gamut and colour spaces
The colour model and the gamut of a device will combine to tell us the colour space of a device.

8) Describe how a monitor optimiser is used to measure the colour of a display unit.
Monitor optimisers are instruments that are designed to profile monitors. Traditionally monitor
optimisers mimic human colour vision using red, green and blue receptors.
Monitor optimisers don't generally have their own light source and are only able to read
monitors as they emit light. Some monitor optimisers can read ambient light. A diffusion filter
can be attached to the monitor optimiser which can then be held up to the device to either read
the ambient light as it falls on the screen or it can be held closer to the light source. The ambient
light can be read in with lux, candela and the kelvin temperature scale.
Candela is the standard unit for measuring the output of light from a light source.

9) Describe how a spectrophotometer is used to measure colour values on a printed substrate.

Spectrophotometer is able to create a spectral curve from the colours they read which means
that it gives more information than just how dark the colours are. This means that it allows for us
to make fine calculations and create accurate profiles.
The Spectrophotometer is the most commonly used instrument in colour management. They are
normally used to read colour from printed substrates but some can be portable that are able to
create monitor profiles and take ambient light reading also. But some are not printable and can
only read prints.
Spectrophotometers are able to give spectral curves and two other important measurements.
 Chromaticity - Chromaticity defines the purity of a colour as determined by the dominant
wavelength.
Delta E - Delta E is the measure of the colour difference between two or more colours.

10) Identify the significance of a Delta E measurement.

The delta E measurement is the difference between the display colour and the original colour. A
higher measurement is a larger difference in the colours and a lower number is a lower
difference in the two colours. The aim is to have a device that is as close to 0 as possible. Delta E
is the foundation of colour accuracy. It uses a single figure to show if a display shows colour
correctly, rather than having to rely on subjective views.
It is important to have low Delta E amounts on all monitors that are being used as it means that
the same colours on a job won't be affected and distorted by the different monitors.

11) Describe how you measure ambient light and describe it in terms of lux, candela and the Kelvin
Scale.
Ambient light would be measured with a light meter. This would measure the ambient light in
the work environment. Light meters will be read in Lux. As an example a candle 30cm away will
be read at around 10 lux, while a well lit room will read at 400 lux. The best lux level for image
editing is between 32 and 64 lux.

12) Describe your current work environment in terms of accuracy for viewing colour. Give details
about:
- Ambient light
All of our lights in the shop are quite bright. I believe that they would be above that
optimal 32-64 lux. All of our lighting has to be suitable for serving customers as well.
- Sunlight
In our main room, which is where a lot of the design work is done we have a very large
row of windows. This could cause an issue because as the sun moves across the sky it
will change the lighting in the room. This will affect colours shown on the screen. The
screens aren't facing the window and there is a wall between the window and the
screen so there is ro glare from the natural light.
- Electric lighting
I think that our lights in the main part of the shop will be 5000k-5500k. We have tube
lights in the back where the printers are. They were the original lights that were in the
shop which used to be a kitchen area. I don't think these are the optimum lights for
viewing printed documents as they differ from the lights in the main room where the
designing gets done. Because of this the colours of the document will look different to
the colours seen on the screen because the lighting isn't consistent.

13) Identify any possible improvements that could be made to your current work environment to
standardise the way colour is viewed.
 When working laptops could be moved to the back to ensure that the light will be consistent
when viewing everytime. At the moment the light of the large glass doors will change with the
sun position altering the colours shown on the screen at different times of day.
Desks could be painted a grey colour to avoid any extra light being reflected off the desks and
onto the screen. Also any bright colour things that are being reflected onto the screen should be
removed. These things could alter the way your eyes see the colours on the screen.
Monitors could be fitted with hoods to avoid any direct light that could be shining straight down
onto the screen. Without one when viewing colours they could change depending on which
angle you are looking at the screen from.
When viewing a printed document I could bring it out to the main room when I have been
viewing the digital document so that the lighting is consistent when viewing both.

14)
a) Describe what an ICC profile is.
ICC is the abbreviation for International Colour Consortium. This is the name of the industry
body that developed the ICC profile specification which all colour management now stems from.
The ICC gives the different profiles its suffix which are either .icc or .icm these files can both be
used on mac and windows and means that there is an international standard for colour
management.
A device is able to be ‘profiled’. This means that it has been analysed to see how it handles
colour. The information that is gathered from this will let you know if the device has a bias to a
certain colour. The profile created will move colour on and off the device, correcting its colour
bias.

b) Describe the purpose of an ICC profile.

ICC profiles are important because each device is different and without an ICC profile the colours
will vary. Every device that is able to display colour can be assigned a certain ICC profile and this
profile will determine the colour gamut that will be displayed by this device.
If the colour gamut of a laptop and a monitor are both sRGB then that means that the colours
displayed will be accurate. But if the laptop's colour gamut is sRGB and the monitor's colour
gamut is DCI-P3 then the DCI-P3 ICC profile will need to be implanted in the laptop to produce
an accurate colour display.

c) Describe how ICC profiles are used (you must mention input devices, display devices and
output devices).

ICC profiles are used to create a consistent colour from the input device to the display device to
the output device. Without an ICC profile the colours shown on each device will be different and
will not be accurate as each will display colours differently.
Display profiles are always in RGB as they deal with emitted light to show colour. When the
profile has been created for the display device it is then stored on the device and used in
applications like photoshop to make sure that it is displaying the correct colours.
Input profiles are also in RGB as scanners and digital cameras use emitted or transmitted light to
display colours. Profiles created for these devices will be stored on the computer and can be
applied or assigned to the scan or image automatically. This will adjust any colour faults that may
have happened.
Output profiles (printers) use CMYK. These profiles aren't as simple because some printers are
treated as an RGB device even though they print as CMYK. This will typically happen when
something is printed straight from an application rather than going through a different software
or RIP. The profile of the printer will contain information about how the printer, the paper and
also the ink interact and you will also be able to see the gamut and the colour space of the
printer.
The profiles will be saved to the hard drive of the computer and will be used when required.
All of these ICC profiles work together to give you the most accurate colour representation from
the image shown on the devices.