[thelist] cmyk color to web

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Thu May 31 02:50:49 CDT 2001


> From: viveka <me at karmanaut.com>
> 
> It's not free, but you probably already have it:
> Photoshop will do this.
[...]

it's worth noting that your color profile can affect what numbers you 
get... depending on how you have your system calibrated...

given that, Photoshop is still a good way to go, but since the 
original post also asked about Pantone, color profiles will have a 
greater effect there, since it has to be converted twice (Pantone -> 
CMYK -> RGB)...

if you have a Pantone to process book around, grab the CMYK 
equivalents for the Pantone color from that book, and type those in 
to Photoshop...

also, keep in mind that RGB and CMYK have different color 
gamuts, and given their very nature (additive vs. subtractive), you'll 
find you just won't get the colors you want (especially as you 
wander from machine to machine to eyeball it)... Photoshop will 
warn you (via a little alert icon in the color choose) should you pick 
a color that is out of the other space's gamut...

of course, you could do the conversion through LAB to get the 
greatest control, but given the output method (some dude's 
miscalibrated monitor, multiplied by a million users), that would 
just be silly...

good tutorial on RGB/CMYK from Adobe, note the last image on 
the page:
http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/color/colormodels/rgbcm
y.html

good color talk, including good gamut chart:
http://www.wideopenwin.com/wtp/color.htm

quick description of RGB vs. CMYK:
http://marvin.mrtoads.com/rgb_vs_cmyk.html

images of the differing gamuts (mostly CMYK):
http://www.idea-digital.com/knowledge/colourspace.html

don't let your client hold the color swatch up to the monitor... and if 
you have one of the silly Pantone Web Swatch books around, burn 
it and pretend you never bought it...






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