HP Designjet Z6100 Printer series - Manual (Page 117)

What is color?
We see the world around us as steeped in color. Color is in the first instance simply an aspect of how we
experience our environment and is therefore subjective. Our color experiences are closely related to brain
activity that is triggered by signals that our eyes send to it. These signals undergo a complex and highly
interlinked sequence of processing stages that make the relationship between what our eyes emit and
what we experience anything but direct. The signals sent by the eye depend on the light-sensitive cells
that line the back of our eyes, and they belong to three types, each sensitive to electromagnetic radiation
of different physical properties (wavelengths). Such electromagnetic radiation is called light and objects
appear to have certain colors because of how the objects interact with light (by emission, reflection,
absorption, transmission, scattering, etc.).
Our individual experiences of color are also affected by our previous experiences and memories and by
the way in which we put our experiences into language. Finally, environmental factors such as changes
in lighting, scene content, or the proximity of other colors also have an effect, which makes the way in
which we view a given display or print an essential part of the colors we see. Differences in all these
aspects (from physiological differences between people, to differences in their past experiences, memories
and linguistic tendencies) can result in people talking about colors differently even in response to the same
light reflected from an single object. However, many similarities exist between how individuals experience
color. You can make very specific judgments about color that others will also agree with when care is
taken in the process. In conclusion we can say that color results from the interaction between light, objects,
and a viewer, which makes it a very complex and to a large degree subjective phenomenon.
The problem: color in the computer world
Color-imaging devices such as printers, displays, projectors, and televisions create colors by using
different methods and materials (colorants). Displays, for instance, use colorants that emit red (long
wavelength), green (medium wavelength), and blue (short wavelength) light. A white color requires all
three colorants and black requires that none of them be used (i.e. that no light be emitted). Devices that
use light-emitting colorants are called additive, because the light from them is added together before it
enters a viewer’s eyes. Printers, on the other hand, use materials that absorb parts of the light that shines
on them. They are called subtractive. Typical prints use cyan (red absorbing), magenta (green absorbing),
and yellow (blue absorbing) inks and an additional black ink that absorbs light at all wavelengths. To get
white using a printer requires not absorbing any of the light that illuminates a piece of paper and to get
black, all of the inks need to be used to absorb all of the light that is present.
To control the output of color imaging devices, the following color spaces are normally used:
● RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) is the color space typically used for additive devices. A color is
represented as a combination of specific quantities of red, green, and blue colorants that create the
range of colors (color gamut) in the device.
NOTE: Colors in subtractive devices can also be controlled by using RGB data. Especially
when control over the printer’s black ink is unnecessary, this is an efficient option.
● CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) is the color space for subtractive devices, such
as printers or presses. A color is represented as a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
(K) inks, and combinations provide the entire range of colors in the device.
What is color? 105
Color management