Influences of Rendering Intents on Reproduced Colors Using Color-Managed Graphic Workflows

This study is an extension of work done by Bohan and Radencic at PIA/GATF and presented at the Color Management Conference in Phoenix, Arizona in December 2006. The current study was a partial replication of the earlier work, which had uncovered some concerns about the validity of the samples. In the current study, a test file consisting of two ISO targets (one color chart and one natural image) was distributed to four color management software vendors, who were asked to prepare five files for output to the SWOP reference printing conditions. The five files represented applications of each of the four available rendering intents plus a file that applied no color management. This study found that the application of color management had a pronounced measurable effect on reproduced colors with all of the rendering intents. Furthermore, there were substantial differences between the rendering intents and between the software products. Interactions were found between the rendering intents, the software products, and the specific colors being reproduced. Several anomalies were found with varying degrees of consequence, from idiosyncratic characteristics of particular software products to substantial flaws in reproduced work.