ColorThink Pro - Grapher
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ColorThink Pro Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Profile Manager
- Profile Inspector & Renamer
- Profile Medic
- Grapher
- The Color Worksheet (part 1), (part 2)
- ColorSmarts Guide
- Recommended Reading
Contents
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The Grapher
Color information can be complicated - and 2D and 3D graphs aid visualization and help in evaluating profiles, devices and printing processes. The Grapher will plot the gamut volume (or outline) of ICC device and Space profiles - and the color list from Named Color Profiles (NCP) in (Y)xy, (L)uv, or (L)ab coordinates. It will also plot color lists resulting from measurement data, synthetic test data and image file colors. Device profiles include Scanner/Camera (“scan”), Monitor (“mntr”), and Printer (“pntr”) types. Device Link (“link”) and abstract (“abst”) profiles have no discernable gamut and therefore cannot be plotted as volumes. Their effects, however, can be graphed. For instance, an abstract profile can be applied to image / color data to create a vector graph.
Creating Graphs
Click the 2D or 3D Grapher button on the Menu Bar to open an empty graph.
- Click the 2D or 3D Grapher button on the menu bar of the Profile Inspector, Image Inspector, or Color List windows.
- Select GraphOpen 2D Graph or GraphOpen 2D Graph from the pull down menus.
- Drag a color, color list, image, or profile (either from within ColorThink or directly from the Finder) onto a 2D or 3D Grapher button
Controlling the Grapher
Zoom
The ColorThink Grapher was designed so manipulation of the plot item display was intuitive and powerful. The mouse plays an important role in this ability. A summary of its functions is:
- Click-drag to rotate the graph left-right or up-down.
- Shift-Click-drag to slip or “shift” the graph around the screen.
- Option-Click-drag and then drag the mouse “up” and “down” to zoom in and out. Zoom all the way inside a profile’s gamut to view it from the inside.
Window size
The graph window and the Plot Items window can be re-sized to be larger or smaller as you wish. On Windows operating systems, click and drag any corner to change the size and shape of the window. On Mac systems, click and drag the lower right-hand corner.
Graph Elements
Graph Control Window
Dimensions
To select 2D or 3D: Click on the 2D or 3D radio button and ColorThink will change to that graphing mode.
- In each coordinate system, graphing in 2D removes the lightness component and the chromatic component is the only information plotted. As a result, the graphs show the outer edges of the gamut regardless of the lightness level of this information. For lightness information in addition to the chromatic information, use the Grapher in 3D mode.
- 3D graphs have the ability to display much more information than 2D graphs. Subtle gamut differences and color shifts are represented in 3D that are not possible in 2D. For example, in evaluating an inkjet printer which may be used for proofing purposes, it is important to determine that the inkjet can reach the same black point that the press or analog proof to be simulated is able to produce. In 3D it is immediately apparent when a proofer will not get dark enough whereas a 2D-gamut overlay would not reveal this information and the proofing printer might have mistakenly been deemed appropriate for the task.
Coordinates
- To select the graphing dimension
Click on the Lab, Yxy, or Luv to change the graphing dimension:
The Yxy Chromaticy diagram is a popular 2D method for illustrating the gamut differences between different devices or printing methods. Yxy, however, is not perceptually uniform and so does not give an accurate illustration of gamut shape and size. For example, the greens in the Yxy diagram are exaggerated and plot covering a larger area than greens actually represent in our perception. For this reason Luv is included as a graphing coordinate system. Luv is designed to be more perceptually uniform than Yxy and the area devoted to each color more in line with our perception. The Lab coordinate system is also offered as a graphing option. Lab also offers a reasonable gamut shape and size representation but many claim also suffers from areas of perceptual non-uniformity.
In general we recommend the Yxy or Luv coordinates for 2D graphing only. Lab has been found to be easier to visualize, understand, and compare when creating 3D graphs.
Axes & Labels
Check the “Plot [vertical] axis” or “Plot [cross] axes options to plot lines for the axes. This can help with the visualization of color spaces
Spectrum Locus
Background
Changing the Background slider will vary the brightness of the background.
Grid/Spin Tab
At the Grid/Spin tab, the grid lines can be turned on or off, including the foreground grid if desired. Turning off the grid can make it easier to see details in a profile, for example, without the grid obscuring the field of view. Capturing and compressing pictures and videos can often be done with a smaller file size when the grid is turned off.
- Spin Control
The spinning of the plot items in the graph can be controlled several ways:
- None: Plot items can be “grabbed” and rotated by clicking on the graph window and dragging left-right or up-down. The plot items will not rotate on their own, however.
- Inertia: Plot items can be rotated as in “None” but if the mouse button is released while moving, the plot items will continue to rotate at the speed at which they were released. (Default setting) Use the <- and -> arrow keys on the keyboard to “nudge” the display left and right. Each nudge will increase the rate of rotation.
- Continuous: Plot items will continue to rotate at a constant speed in one direction.
The Slicer
With the slicer turned on, a luminosity slider opens up on the graphing window, and a horizontal plane is "sliced" through the plot area. This allows the viewing of a profile, color list or image pixels at various sections of the color gamut. For example, individual pixels in an image can be compared to the gamut of the printer to be used.
- The horizontal slice plane can be shaded if desired.
- Mac only: Concentric chroma rings can be added to help visualize equal distances from the center of the color space. Chroma rings are not available on the Windows version of the software.
- The Luminosity control can be moved up or down to slice through different sections of the plot area.
- When used with profiles, the top of the profile above the slice is invisible.
- When used with color lists or images, the slicer shows a narrow section immediately surrounding the slice point, and everything above and below the slice becomes invisible.
Also see Animating the Slicer.
Plot Item Control
To Add plot Items
- Drag the icon representing the item (color, color list, image, or profile) onto the Grapher window either from within ColorThink or directly from the Finder.
- Choose an item from the “Add” popup menu located immediately below the “Plot Items” listbox.
- Click the 2D or 3D Grapher button on the menu bar of the Profile Inspector, Image Inspector, or Color List windows.
To Remove plot Items
- Select the plot item from the Plot Item list and press the Delete key.
To Show or Hide Plot Item
Check or uncheck the box to the left of the plot item in the Plot Item Listbox.
Checking the box will also select the plot item. Unchecking a box will not select the plot item.
- To Highlight a profile (2D only)
- Select the item in the plot list.
Setting Plot Item Colors
- Select an item in the plot list,
- Select:
- True Colors All color points and vertices are colored using the actual Lab color values processed through the current monitor profile. Colors outside the gamut of the monitor will be plotted as the closest possible color (using the relative colorimetric rendering intent and the current CMM)
- Single Colors All colors in the plot item will be colored using a single color. The next available single color will be selected for the plot item. To change the plot color, select a different color from the adjacent popup menu.
- Delta-E Coloring (available in Vector mode only). Delta-E coloring will color the vectors (color shifts) in a plot item using green/yellow/orange/red depending on the amount of color shift depicted by the vector. To change the criteria for the error levels at which the color changes occur, select the “Delta-E Colors” tab and move the sliders in the color bar. In this manner you can select your shop-standard error levels and evaluate color shifts according to your own standards.
Tone using L*
Tone using L* - For true-color accuracy ColorThink darkens the colors plotted according to the Lightness (L* component of Lab) value of the color. This can cause dark colors to become invisible against dark backgrounds. Uncheck this box to remove the darkening effect and lighten the dark portion of the plot item. The colors are less accurate but details in shadow colors are much more visible.
Opacity
To vary the Opacity (transparency) of a plot item:
- Select the plot item in the list.
- Drag the Opacity slider left or right to decrease or increase the opacity of the plot item.
This is especially helpful for turning a profile gamut volume transparent so color data or other profile gamuts located inside or behind the current profile are visible. Please refer to the Tutorials section for an example of this technique.
Working with Color Lists
A color list can be a file that contains color information such as measurement data files, synthetic test data, a list from the Colors tab of the Color Worksheet, or even image files. A color list can be displayed on the grapher as points or as vectors.
As Points
- Point shapes can be either squares, cubes or spheres.
- Use the Size slider to change the size of each color point plotted.
- Join with lines will attempt to connect adjacent points with lines.
As Vectors
Plotting colors as vectors allows a graphical view of color shifts in 2 or 3 dimensions. This is a powerful technique to quickly get a feeling for how color shifts are occurring in different colors (different areas of the 3D color space) and what types of shifts (lightening/darkening, hue shifts, saturation changes) are occurring.
Vectors can be used to:
- Compare two sets of measurement files showing:
- - Color shifts as inks dry
- - Differences between papers
- - Differences between ink sets
- - Differences between printers
- Compare two sets of image data showing color shifts after applying profiles or performing color edits.
- Show color shifts as profiles are applied to either color lists or image data.
The vectors will look like little tadpoles. The dot will appear at the end of the vector and represent the color that is second in the list of plot items. Think of it as the first list is the "before" and the second list the "after".
This feature can be very useful for viewing device drifts, how different printer/ink/media settings affect color, or how different filters on your reading device affect the color values.
Enabling Vectors
- Select an Image or Color List plot item and click the “Vectors” button.
- A “destination” box will appear.
- Drag your comparison data or a profile into the destination box.
Comparison data can be another color list or image file. It is suggested the original color list and the “destination” color list have the same number of colors. If the number of colors in each list differs, ColorThink will plot all the vectors for which a color exists in each list. Additional colors in the longer list will be ignored.
If you drag a profile into the “destination” box, ColorThink will “round trip” the color list and show the color shift that occurs as a result of this conversion. This round trip consists of a conversion from Lab to the color space of the device profile and then a conversion back to Lab using the same profile. Assuming the “back” or “proofing” conversion of the profile is accurate, this round trip transform will show how much color sift occurs as a result of the profile application. You will see out-of-gamut colors shift in-gamut to as to become printable, in-gamut colors shift due to perceptual renderings or profile errors.
- Rendering Intent (profiles only)
To change the rendering intent used for the conversion (the Lab->device part of the conversion):
- Select the rendering intent from the “Intent” popup menu. ColorThink will recalculate the color shifts using the new intent.
Coloring by delta-E - see delta-E color in Plot Item Control above.
Working with Profiles
As Volumes
When plotting profiles, ColorThink shows the device gamut captured by the profile using a gamut volume shape (for 3D graphs) or a gamut outline (for 2D graphs). The appearance of that volume can be in three different styles:
- Wireframe is the simplest plot and joins the vertex points together using lines. Linearity/calibration of the profiled device shows as differing spaces between the lines.
- Flat Each 4-sided polygon on the gamut surface is rendered using a single, solid color. This effectively shows the gamut volume, the linearity/calibration of the device and the color representation of the locations in the Lab colorspace.
- Smooth Each polygon’s color is rendered smoothly, blending the different corner colors across the surface of the polygon. This is the most accurate color rendering of the surface of the device gamut but at the expense of gamut surface detail.
Resolution
Some profiles might have fluctuations along the gamut boundary. In these cases a higher resolution can be selected to provide more precise gamut calculations. Be aware, however, that the smaller the resolution, the longer amount of time it will take to create the gamut plot.
- To change profile volume resolution:
- At the "Res" drop-down box...
- Choose a different resolution step (Minimum, 25%, 10%, 5% or 1%)
Device Gamut
By default, ColorThink Pro will graph the device gamut of an output profile. This will give the most accurate representation of what the particular device (ie: printer, press) is capable of. This graphs the color as it is delivered to the profile connection space (PCS). This is known as the A to B (or the RGB/CMYK to Lab) transform of the profile. Another way to put this is that you're looking at the proofing action of the profile rather than the printing action. By default, the Device Gamut radio button is selected.
Choosing any of the rendering intents with the other radio button will change the graph to display other rendering intents in the A to B transform. Please note that this is the A to B transform shown, not the B to A transform. This graph does not show what effect different ink limiting or black generation will have on the printing. These are represented in the B to A side of a device profile.
Constrain Channels
The Constrain Channels feature plots a volume as if each ink channel had been limited according to the values of the slider.
Possible uses:
- Learn more about how color is created. (For example: remove black and see how gamut of the device changes.)
- Overlay a proofing system gamut with a press gamut, constrain the proofer ink channels to reduce its gamut until its gamut approximates (just contains) the press gamut. This can be beneficial to proofing systems by reducing the oversaturation which contributes to hue shifts that sometimes occur in inkjet printers.
Seeing the difference
Making use of different colors and varying gamut opacities can aide in easily seeing the difference between two device gamuts.
As Points
- Point shapes can be either squares, cubes or spheres.
- Use the Size slider to change the size of each color point plotted.
- Join with lines will attempt to connect adjacent points with lines.
- Point Set provides a choice between...
- - The points on the surface of the gamut,
- - Only the primary colors (Red, Green and Blue) within the profile
- - Only the primary and secondary colors (Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta & Yellow) within the profile
- - The RGB Device Neutral colors (grays).
Plotting a profile as points and using a narrow point set allows you to identify the action of the individual inks in an inkjet printer. Used in conconction with "connect with lines" this can allow you to visually see problems such as hooks in ink saturation, linearization problems, black and white printing color casts and more.
Working with Images and Lists
ColorThink will graph .tif images and .jpg images.
When an image is brought into the Grapher with an embedded profile attached to it, ColorThink Pro will use the embedded profile to determine the graph points. When there is no profile attached to an image, it will plot the image in sRGB space.
- Keep in mind that ColorThink Pro attempts to map every pixel in your image to its respective point on the 3D graph space.
This is a powerful tool, but one that can require a lot of computation time. It is recommended that the user downsample images to less than 1 Megapixels in size if speed and CPU capacity is limited.
Due to the slight warping of Lab space, and the rounding of color numbers in the process of quantifying colors, the grapher might not display every single pixel in an image.
Saving Graph images
ColorThink Pro can save the graph window as an image in either "BMP" format (Windows version) or "PICT" format (Mac version).
1] Go to File, Save as BMP image (Windows) or Save as PICT image (Mac)
2] Choose a file name for the image and the location at which you wish to store it.
Note: The size of the saved image is dependent on the size of the grapher window. See Window size for instructions on how to change the size of the grapher window.
Quicktime Video
- Saving Graph as QuickTime Video file
You can also save the action in the graph window in motion in a QuickTime video. This allows the sharing of 3D graphing with anyone who has a QuickTime viewer. With this feature, a movie is automatically made showing everything in the grapher window revolving a complete 360o turn. This can be done using profiles, images, colorlists, and with or without the slicer. See [Quicktime Video using Slicer]
1] Go to File, Save as Quicktime Video
2] Choose the frame rate.
3] If "Specify Quicktime Options" is checked, you will be given options for compression format and quality in the next step.
4] If the slicer has been turned on in the Grapher, the animate slicer option is activated when saving a QuickTime movie.
5] The Compession Settings dialog box comes up if Specify QuickTime Options has been checked in #3] above. This allows the user to specify how many frames per second are to be captured, which compression type is to be used, and the quality of the compression of the video. In general, when a large number of frames per second are chosen, the file size will be larger. Also, a high quality compression will increase the file size of the movie.
The size of the grapher window determines the size of the final movie, so size your grapher window accordingly. See Window size for more information.
File sizes can be reduced by making your movie window smaller or by using less complicated images. Most compression algorithms will be more efficient with simpler graphs, so turn off the grid and simplify the background to reduce the file size of the movie.
There is a very large selection of available compression types to choose from. These choices are part of the Quicktime program, and will change depending on which version of Quicktime you have on your system. We find that Photo - Jpeg works well and provides a good quality image.
Animating the Slicer
A Quicktime video can be made with the Slicer turned on. This option will move the slicer from the top of the gamut to the bottom and back up to the top again, as it proceeds through one full rotation (360o) of the 3D graphing window.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- While in the Grapher...
To Save a Graph
- Press control/command-S to save an image file of the graph window.
To Save a QuickTime movie
- Press shift-control/command-S to save a Quicktime movie of the graph window.
To Open a profile from the Plot list into the Profile Inspector
- Double-click the profile in the Plot list.
To open a gamut of points into the worksheet as a colorlist
- Hold down the option key and double-click the profile in the plot list.
Grapher Help
There is also a Grapher Help page which lists many of these shortcuts. Click the blue ? in the top right corner of the Plot Items pane.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
- delete - removes item from plot list
- left/right arrows - rotate graph left / right, nudges rotation if using intertia (3D)
- up/down arrows = rotate graph up/down (3D)
- space - stop rotation if using inertia
- g - gridlines on/off
- s - slicer on/off
- t - "Tone using L*" on/off
- command/control - 2/3 - toggle between 2D and 3D mode
Mousing:
- shift-drag - move graph around left/right(3D) and up/down
- option/alt-drag - zoom in/out using mouse up/down movement
- command/control-drag - move slicer up/down
Numeric Keypad:
- 2, 8 - rotate graph up/down (3D)
- 4, 6 - rotate graph left/right (3D)
- 5 - stop rotation if using inertia (3D)
- '-' - slicer on/off