Introduction & Overview

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==Purpose of this documentation==
==Purpose of this documentation==
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to help communicate some of the intended uses of the application. They should not be  
to help communicate some of the intended uses of the application. They should not be  
considered the only uses of this tool set and it is sincerely hoped that any novel uses of  
considered the only uses of this tool set and it is sincerely hoped that any novel uses of  
-
these tools will be communicated back to the CHROMiX / the author so they may be  
+
these tools will be communicated back to [http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Maxwell_Contact_CHROMiX CHROMiX] so they may be  
included in future tutorials.  
included in future tutorials.  
-
It is assumed that the user is far enough along the color management path that they understand what a profile is and have used profiles at least in a basic way in their workflow. Basic use of the computer operating system in use and user interface (pointing, clicking, dragging, dropping and so forth) is also assumed. Please refer to the documentation that came with your computer and your color management tools for more information.  
+
It is assumed that the user is far enough along the knowledge of color management that they understand what a profile is and have used profiles in a basic way in their workflow. Basic use of the computer operating system in use and user interface (pointing, clicking, dragging, dropping and so forth) is also assumed. Please refer to the documentation that came with your computer and your color management tools for more information.
==System Requirements==
==System Requirements==
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===Macintosh===
===Macintosh===
    
    
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* A Macintosh computer with a PowerPC processor  
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* A Macintosh computer with a PowerPC or Intel processor  
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* Mac OS 8.5.1 or later or Max OS X 10.1 or later  
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* Mac OS X 10.1 or later
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* ColorSync 2.6.1 or newer, version 3.0.1 is required for full use of the Image Inspector
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* 10MB of available RAM, 15-20 MB is suggested if large images or color lists are in use
* 10MB of available RAM, 15-20 MB is suggested if large images or color lists are in use
-
 
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ColorThink 2.0 is available in “Classic” and “Carbon” forms. While the Carbon version will run under Mac OS 9 and X, we suggest you use the Classic version under Mac OS 9 for better performance and reliability. The Carbon version allows ColorThink to be run in native form under Mac OS X.
 
===Windows===
===Windows===
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;ColorThink is physically composed of a single application with several supporting files and folders. All files are gathered in two locations:  
;ColorThink is physically composed of a single application with several supporting files and folders. All files are gathered in two locations:  
-
 
-
;Mac OS 9
 
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* System Folder: Preferences: CHROMiX ColorThink: - this folder contains the main ColorThink preferences file as well as the “Profile Manager Sets” folder.
 
-
* The “Profile Manager Sets” folder contains, as you may be able to guess, the sets the user may create when enabling and disabling profiles.
 
;Mac OS X  
;Mac OS X  
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* ~/Library/Preferences/CHROMiX ColorThink: - this folder contains the main ColorThink preferences file as well as the “Profile Manager Sets” folder. The “Profile Manager Sets” folder contains, as you may be able to guess, the sets the user may create when enabling and disabling profiles. The ~ refers to the active user’s folder on OS X.  
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* {user}/Library/Preferences/CHROMiX ColorThink: - this folder contains the main ColorThink preferences file as well as the “Profile Manager Sets” folder. The “Profile Manager Sets” folder contains the sets the user may create when enabling and disabling profiles in the Profile Manager.  
-
;Mac OS 9 & X:
 
* Application Folder – this folder contains the ColorThink application as well as its subfolders. It is suggested that you always keep the ColorThink application and it’s subfolders together in the same folder on your hard disk. ColorThink will search inside these folders for required and optional files it needs as it runs. The ColorThink subfolders contain:  
* Application Folder – this folder contains the ColorThink application as well as its subfolders. It is suggested that you always keep the ColorThink application and it’s subfolders together in the same folder on your hard disk. ColorThink will search inside these folders for required and optional files it needs as it runs. The ColorThink subfolders contain:  
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** Profiles – place any favorite profiles in this folder and they will appear in all Add: menus (see below for more information regarding the Add: menu)  
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: Profiles – place any favorite profiles in this folder and they will appear in all Add: menus (see below for more information regarding the Add: menu)  
-
** Stunt Files – these are data and image files supplied with ColorThink for use as examples, in evaluating profiles, or in the Tutorial section of this manual  
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: Stunt Files – these are data and image files supplied with ColorThink for use as examples, in evaluating profiles, or in the Tutorial section of this manual  
-
** Demo Files – contains the demo profiles and image file used when ColorThink runs in demonstration mode (without a serial number).
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: Demo Files – contains the demo profiles and image file used when ColorThink runs in demonstration mode (without a serial number).
;Windows
;Windows
-
*
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* Most of the supporting files are located in the same folder as the ColorThink program.  This is usually found here:
 +
:C>Program Files>CHROMiX>ColorThink
==<center>Overview</center>==
==<center>Overview</center>==
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ColorThink is a complete tool set for managing, repairing, evaluating and graphing ICC profiles.  
ColorThink is a complete tool set for managing, repairing, evaluating and graphing ICC profiles.  
-
''There are many software tools available for building and editing ICC-compliant color profiles. There are, however, very few tools available for handling profiles once they have been built. ''
+
''There are software tools available for building and editing ICC-compliant color profiles. There are, however, very few tools available for handling profiles once they have been built. ''
;ColorThink allows the user to:  
;ColorThink allows the user to:  
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===ColorThink Tool Set===
===ColorThink Tool Set===
-
;The ColorThink tool set is composed of eight distinct tools that are designed to work together whenever possible:  
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[[Image:tools2b.jpg|right]]
-
Profiles, colors, and images are objects that can be inspected, listed, and graphed as appropriate. The interface has been designed to present as consistent as possible a view of each object and interface elements such as icons are used throughout to represent each object type. The icons and interface elements used for the objects are listed below:
+
;The ColorThink tool set is composed of eight distinct tools that are designed to work together whenever possible.  
-
-  profile
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Profiles, colors, and images are objects that can be inspected, listed, and graphed as appropriate. The interface has been designed to present a view as consistent as possible of each object. Interface elements such as icons are used throughout to represent each object type.
-
-  image
+
-
-  color list
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-
-  color
+
-
>
+
-
>
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The icons and interface elements used for the objects are:
-
>
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[[Image:4icons.jpg|left||100px|ColorThink toolset]]
Each of the major tools in ColorThink is described in its own chapter. The overall user interface design strategy and additional menu and tool choices are supplied in this chapter:  
Each of the major tools in ColorThink is described in its own chapter. The overall user interface design strategy and additional menu and tool choices are supplied in this chapter:  
-
===Drag and Drop===
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====Drag and Drop====
   
   
The Macintosh user interface feature “Drag and Drop” has been used extensively throughout the ColorThink tool set. Adding profiles to graphs or other tools and moving colors around is often just a matter of dragging them from one window into another. If a tool window has an icon in the upper left corner, the icon can be dragged “by proxy” to other locations. More detail is supplied with each tool on how and where to drag these icons.
The Macintosh user interface feature “Drag and Drop” has been used extensively throughout the ColorThink tool set. Adding profiles to graphs or other tools and moving colors around is often just a matter of dragging them from one window into another. If a tool window has an icon in the upper left corner, the icon can be dragged “by proxy” to other locations. More detail is supplied with each tool on how and where to drag these icons.
   
   
-
Dragging in the Finder – Drag color files such as profiles, images and color lists onto the ColorThink application icon to open them using ColorThink.  
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Drag color files such as profiles, images and color lists onto the ColorThink application icon to open them using ColorThink.  
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Dragging from the Finder into the application – When in either the Finder or ColorThink, profiles, images and color lists can be dragged onto:  
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When in either the Finder or ColorThink, profiles, images and color lists can be dragged onto:  
* the menu bar area to open them  
* the menu bar area to open them  
* any open graph to add them to the graph  
* any open graph to add them to the graph  
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* other locations described in each tool’s chapter.
* other locations described in each tool’s chapter.
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Dragging within ColorThink – As mentioned above, dragging items from lists or by proxy is an effective method of adding items to lists, graphing them, or performing other actions. Please refer to each tool’s description for full details.
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Dragging items from lists or by proxy is an effective method of adding items to lists, graphing them, or performing other actions. Please refer to each tool’s description for full details.
-
===Color Tabs===
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====Color Tabs====
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Whenever a specific color is displayed in ColorThink it is shown as a color tab. Color tabs share the same behaviors wherever they are shown:
+
Whenever a specific color is displayed in ColorThink it is shown as a color tab. Color tabs share the same behaviors wherever they are shown.
* The color is displayed accurately on your monitor using the monitor profile specified in the ColorSync Control panel.  
* The color is displayed accurately on your monitor using the monitor profile specified in the ColorSync Control panel.  
-
* If the color is outside the gamut of your monitor, a small black or white triangle “tick” appears in the upper right corner of the tab. It’s color will be rendered as closely as possible but will not be precisely accurate due to the limitations of your monitor.  
+
* If the color is outside the gamut of your monitor, a small black or white triangle “tick” appears in the upper right corner of the tab. Its color will be rendered as closely as possible but may not be precisely accurate due to the limitations of your monitor.  
* Clicking on the bottom white area of the tab will open it and display more information. In most cases the Lab value for the tab will be displayed but in some cases device colors (for example CMYK values) are displayed.  
* Clicking on the bottom white area of the tab will open it and display more information. In most cases the Lab value for the tab will be displayed but in some cases device colors (for example CMYK values) are displayed.  
* Dragging the tab by clicking on the top colored-portion allows you to move the tab:  
* Dragging the tab by clicking on the top colored-portion allows you to move the tab:  
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** From profiles to graphs or color lists  
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:* From profiles to graphs or color lists  
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** Between color lists  
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:* Between color lists
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===Add: Menu===
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====Add: Menu====
 +
[[Image:CT2fav.jpg|right|Contents of the Add: button]]
The Add: menu is a popup menu that appears in several tools including the 2D and 3D  
The Add: menu is a popup menu that appears in several tools including the 2D and 3D  
Graphers and the Profile Linker. The Add: menu contains:  
Graphers and the Profile Linker. The Add: menu contains:  
* All open color items such as profiles, images and color lists  
* All open color items such as profiles, images and color lists  
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* All color items listed in the “Profiles” folder in the ColorThink application folder. This folder is supplied as a method of listing often-used profiles such as popular Photoshop working spaces, the user’s monitor or printer profiles, and so forth.  
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* All color items listed in the “Profiles” folder in the ColorThink application folder. This folder is supplied as a method of listing often-used profiles such as popular Photoshop working spaces, the user’s monitor or printer profiles, and so forth.  These are the files that show up when you click the Add: button.
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Use this menu to quickly add color items to the tool in which it appears.  
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''Use this menu to quickly add color items to the tool in which it appears.''
 +
 
 +
<u>'''Note to Windows users:'''</u>  All profiles on the '''Windows''' platform generally reside in one folder, residing deep in the folder structure and sometimes hard to remember or navigate to: '''C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color'''
 +
 
 +
In addition to rest of the system profiles, the <b>Add</b>: button lists any profiles you have placed in the ColorThink '''Profiles''' folder.  This can be a great aid in finding popular profiles quickly. This folder is found here:
 +
 
 +
'''C:/Program Files/CHROMiX ColorThink Pro/Profiles'''
 +
 
 +
===Additional Menu Functions===
-
<u>Additional Menu Functions</u> – those not covered by individual tools
 
   
   
-
''About Box'' – opened from “Apple Menu: About CHROMiX ColorThink...”, this window contains:  
+
====About Box====
-
* The current free memory available to ColorThink.  
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The About ColorThink is opened from the "ColorThink 2.3" menu item (Mac) or the "Window" menu item (Windows).<br>
 +
This window contains:  
 +
<!-- The current free memory available to ColorThink. -->
* The current ColorThink application version  
* The current ColorThink application version  
* Credits  
* Credits  
* Links for updates, feedback, and CHROMiX and other web sites. These links use the settings in your Internet Config or Internet control panels to find the appropriate Web browser or email application. If they do not function correctly, consult the Internet control panel and configure it to use your Web browser and email applications.
* Links for updates, feedback, and CHROMiX and other web sites. These links use the settings in your Internet Config or Internet control panels to find the appropriate Web browser or email application. If they do not function correctly, consult the Internet control panel and configure it to use your Web browser and email applications.
-
''Edit: Preferences...''
+
====ColorThink 2.3 > Preferences...====
-
Settings for multiple ColorThink tools and overall functions are set in the “Preferences” dialog. Some of these references are also set in individual tool windows. If set in either location, they are saved to disk and used for future sessions.  
+
Settings for multiple ColorThink tools and overall functions are set in the “Preferences” dialog. Some of these references are also set in individual tool windows. If set in either location, they are saved to disk and used for future sessions.
-
''System Menu:''
 
-
:* Quick Openers: - “Open Monitors & Sounds”, “Open ColorSync Folder”, “Open ColorSync Control Panel” – easy access to the respective control panels or folders
 
-
:* “Delete ColorSync Cache File” – The ColorSync Cache file is created by ColorSync to speed menu drawing and refreshing when accessing profile lists from within the ColorSync control panel or third-party applications. If this file becomes corrupted, profile lists may appear incomplete, corrupted, or completely empty. Deleting this file will cause ColorSync to recreate it the next time it is required, slowing the computer slightly that first time. No unrecoverable profile information is lost and this quick fix can solve multiple unexplained profile issues.
 
-
:* “Disable ColorSync Default Calibrator” – If third-party calibration software is installed, it may be wise to disable ColorSync’s default calibration software to avoid user confusion and undesired recalibration of the monitor. Enable and disable the Default Calibrator from this menu.
 
-
''Profile: ''
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<big>Next Section: [[Profile Manager & Profile Inspector]]  </big>
 +
 
 +
----
-
:* Restructure Profile – A profile is restructured by reading it into memory and writing it back out to the hard disk. This process forces the rebuilding of the profile and can solve profile problems not discovered by the Profile Medic or Profile Inspector.
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[[Category:Reserved Articles]]
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:* Edit Profile with... – To edit a profile’s color information using a third-party tool, choose this menu option when it is enabled. To set the preferred editing tool, select “Edit:Preferences...” and click the “Helper Applications” tab.
+

Latest revision as of 23:47, 16 September 2019

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Contents

Purpose of this documentation

This documentation is intended as a description of the CHROMiX ColorThink tool set and not as a manual concerning color management, the building of ICC color profiles, or the use of profiles in a production workflow.

Tutorials have been supplied in the “Tutorial” section to aid in the use of ColorThink and to help communicate some of the intended uses of the application. They should not be considered the only uses of this tool set and it is sincerely hoped that any novel uses of these tools will be communicated back to CHROMiX so they may be included in future tutorials.

It is assumed that the user is far enough along the knowledge of color management that they understand what a profile is and have used profiles in a basic way in their workflow. Basic use of the computer operating system in use and user interface (pointing, clicking, dragging, dropping and so forth) is also assumed. Please refer to the documentation that came with your computer and your color management tools for more information.

System Requirements

Macintosh

Windows


ColorThink is physically composed of a single application with several supporting files and folders. All files are gathered in two locations
Mac OS X
Profiles – place any favorite profiles in this folder and they will appear in all Add: menus (see below for more information regarding the Add: menu)
Stunt Files – these are data and image files supplied with ColorThink for use as examples, in evaluating profiles, or in the Tutorial section of this manual
Demo Files – contains the demo profiles and image file used when ColorThink runs in demonstration mode (without a serial number).
Windows
C>Program Files>CHROMiX>ColorThink

Overview

ColorThink is a complete tool set for managing, repairing, evaluating and graphing ICC profiles.

There are software tools available for building and editing ICC-compliant color profiles. There are, however, very few tools available for handling profiles once they have been built.

ColorThink allows the user to

ColorThink Tool Set

Tools2b.jpg
The ColorThink tool set is composed of eight distinct tools that are designed to work together whenever possible.

Profiles, colors, and images are objects that can be inspected, listed, and graphed as appropriate. The interface has been designed to present a view as consistent as possible of each object. Interface elements such as icons are used throughout to represent each object type.

The icons and interface elements used for the objects are:

ColorThink toolset

Each of the major tools in ColorThink is described in its own chapter. The overall user interface design strategy and additional menu and tool choices are supplied in this chapter:

Drag and Drop

The Macintosh user interface feature “Drag and Drop” has been used extensively throughout the ColorThink tool set. Adding profiles to graphs or other tools and moving colors around is often just a matter of dragging them from one window into another. If a tool window has an icon in the upper left corner, the icon can be dragged “by proxy” to other locations. More detail is supplied with each tool on how and where to drag these icons.

Drag color files such as profiles, images and color lists onto the ColorThink application icon to open them using ColorThink.

When in either the Finder or ColorThink, profiles, images and color lists can be dragged onto:

Dragging items from lists or by proxy is an effective method of adding items to lists, graphing them, or performing other actions. Please refer to each tool’s description for full details.

Color Tabs

Whenever a specific color is displayed in ColorThink it is shown as a color tab. Color tabs share the same behaviors wherever they are shown.

  • From profiles to graphs or color lists
  • Between color lists

Add: Menu

Contents of the Add: button

The Add: menu is a popup menu that appears in several tools including the 2D and 3D Graphers and the Profile Linker. The Add: menu contains:

Use this menu to quickly add color items to the tool in which it appears.

Note to Windows users: All profiles on the Windows platform generally reside in one folder, residing deep in the folder structure and sometimes hard to remember or navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color

In addition to rest of the system profiles, the Add: button lists any profiles you have placed in the ColorThink Profiles folder. This can be a great aid in finding popular profiles quickly. This folder is found here:

C:/Program Files/CHROMiX ColorThink Pro/Profiles

Additional Menu Functions

About Box

The About ColorThink is opened from the "ColorThink 2.3" menu item (Mac) or the "Window" menu item (Windows).
This window contains:

ColorThink 2.3 > Preferences...

Settings for multiple ColorThink tools and overall functions are set in the “Preferences” dialog. Some of these references are also set in individual tool windows. If set in either location, they are saved to disk and used for future sessions.


Next Section: Profile Manager & Profile Inspector


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