Comparisons and Analyses of Image Softproofing Under Different Profile Rendering Intents

This paper presents some results from an experiment of image softproofing under different International Color Consortium (ICC) rendering intents, which will be available for selecting an appropriate rendering intent in printing processes. In a screen softproofing procedure, image is converted via ICC profile embedded in image itself to output device profile, then to proofing device profile. With the rendering intent of absolute colorimetry in the second conversion, the effects of different rendering intents in the first conversion have been investigated through a softproofing software developed in Matlab 7.0. A variety of testing images, including light tone, shadow detail, etc., are used for image softproofing. The color differences between original images and proofed images are calculated under the S-CIE L*a*b* color difference formulae. Comparisons and analyses on the obtained images under four rendering intents show the effects of color characteristics of original images on rendering intent selection.