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Use ColorThink Pro to answer the question:

Contents 1 "How do I know if this scrambled target is color managed?" 1.1 The Problem 1.2 The Solution 1.2.1 With an RGB target 1.2.2 CMYK target 1.3 When would I use this?

"How do I know if this scrambled target is color managed?"

This one is so simple, that it's almost harder to describe it than it is to do it.

The Problem

One of the most common reasons why the procedure of profiling a printer can fail is that the target used was color-managed in its printing. A good profiling target needs to be printed without any use of profiles in the print path.

One trick that many use is to look for the solid yellow patch in the target, and make sure that it really is solid yellow - no other colors (little drops of cyan or magenta) in there. If there are other colors in there, that is a sign that color management is happening and you should look to find the source of it, turn it off, and print a new target. You can locate a solid yellow patch relatively easy with a "visual" target - a target where all the colors are laid out in neat, orderly rows. But how do you find the 100% yellow patch in a scrambled target?

The Solution

• Drag the reference file for the target into ColorThink Pro. It will open up automatically in the Worksheet.

With an RGB target

1. Click on the "B" heading in the Colors field to order the list according to the blue amount (the opposite of yellow), smaller to larger. The entire list is re-ordered so that the top third contains patches with no blue.
2. At this point it is a simple matter to visually run down the column of color patches, looking for a strong yellow - skipping over those that have anything less than 255 in the R or G column. Yellow, in the RGB world, is made up of Red and Green.
3. Once you have found the 255.0 255.0 0.0 patch, you have found the 100% yellow.
4. Check the far left column to see what the name or location this patch is found on your target, and voilå - you know where to look on your target.

In this example, you would find the 100% yellow patch in column "I", row "9" of your target.

CMYK target

1. Click on the Y heading in the Colors field to order the list according to yellow amount, smaller to larger.
2. Click on the "Y" again to order the list the opposite way: from largest to smallest. Now the entire list is ordered so that the top fourth of the colors contain 100% yellow.
3. At this point, it is a simple matter to visually run down the column of color patches, looking for a strong yellow. (You might run into a few that have small amounts of cyan and magenta, etc., but you can easily skip over those when you see the numbers in those columns.)
4. Once you find 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 - you've found the 100% yellow patch.
5. Check the far left column to see what the name or location this patch is found on your target, and presto - you know where to look on your target.

In this example, you would find the 100% yellow patch in column "S", row "9".

When would I use this?

This test is a good confirmation that your target was made without color management. This might be useful if you have to depend on someone else (in your company or an outside print vendor) to print the target for you, and you're not sure of the settings they used.