Why There Are Color Differences in Printing from Your PC

This article describes the basic properties of color, what the relationships are between them and the differences between what you see and what you actually get using your inkjet cartridges.

Properties

Most of you will have come across these three; Hue, Saturation and Brightness; if you have ever messed around with color settings of your images.

Hue: For example; blue, green and violet are all hues. They are colors. The dictionary definition of 'Hue' is; "the attributes of colors that permits them to be classed as red, yellow, green, blue or an intermediate between any adjacent pair of these colors."

Saturation: This refers to how vivid the color is. The higher the amount of gray relative to the amount of hue, the less vivid it will be.

Brightness: Relates to the relative darkness or lightness of the color.

In 1905 American artist A. Munsell published a color measurement system, naming the three parameters, Hue, Value and Chroma (Hue, Saturation and Brightness as above). This three dimensional relationship resulted in color identification in this format, for example; 7.5YR 7/12. Here we have a yellow-red hue tending with a value of 7 and a chroma of 12. There are 40 pages in the book covering all colors in the complete Munsell system.

Monitor and printer color production

Printer

Printer colors are produced from inkjet cartridges emitting minute patterns of ink dots placed on paper. All colors that you see come from just four colors; cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K).

As an aside, a mixture of cyan, magenta and yellow should produce black, but in reality a touch of black is needed to get it.

Monitor

A phosphor is a substance that emits light when subjected to radiation. Color phosphors are illuminated with electrons in your monitor and hence images are produced. There are three colored phosphors in each pixel on the screen; red (R), green (G) and blue (B).

Monitor and printer color differences

As will be aware, the printed output you receive hardly ever matches exactly that seen on your monitor 100% of the time. This is because the way that color is produced is different and the range of colors that are produced is different between the monitor and printer, as described above.

There are ways to get a closer match. You can experiment with printer driver settings or use image editing/color management software to help match up the two.

Printing Process

Most inkjet printers can't produce variations of the three primary colors so they employ a process called 'halftoning' to represent the thousands of colors needed. The two methods used for this are 'Dithering' and 'Error Diffusion'.

With 'dithering', different colored ink dots are aligned to give the appearance of neutral colors...suitable for large areas of color such as in graphs and bar charts. There are often additional settings such as 'Coarse Dithering'...for images with limited detail and shading, and 'Fine Dithering' for images with significant amount of detail.

With 'error diffusion' inkjet cartridge dots are merged with surrounding color dots to produce natural colors with the possibility of subtle color gradation. Ideal for detailed images or photos.

If there is only text to print then 'No Halftoning' should be selected.

When scanning, be aware that it will be more difficult to get a good match because the scanner will make the image using the CMYK data format, then RGB on the monitor and finally changed again to the CMYK data format via the printer.

This article may be reproduced in its entirety provided the resource paragraph below is included and all urls kept active.

(c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and webmaster at this cheap ink cartridge & laser toner store, providing discounted brand name compatible ink cartridge and laser toner supplies. Sign up for the feed on our web site or the blog showcasing the products.

---

Do Higher Digital Camera Prices Mean Better Cameras?

Understanding digital camera prices makes finding the best camera value... Read More

Palm PC critique

I met an entrepreneur who hole heartedly disagree with an... Read More

DVD The Ultimate Consumer Digital Media

Digital Video Disc or as it is sometimes referred to... Read More

10 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

Time is money. And when you constantly have to divide... Read More

SmartCar Memory Stick for LapTop Transfer Data

With the new technology used to transfer information to from... Read More

Five Simple Steps to Speed up Your Computer

Most people download and save so much information on their... Read More

How Does My PC Get Hot

There are many sources of heat that can raise the... Read More

Reliable File and Folder Sharing in Windows Xp

This tip is on sharing files and folders on a... Read More

MCSE 70-290 Certification Primer

Microsoft Certifications are one of the most widely acclaimed, pursued,... Read More

Connect Your IPAQ to Linux

Choose Not To ConformPalm pilots and pdas are constantly growing... Read More

Temporary Fixes to Spyware, Ad-ware, and Virus Infections

So you've got some spyware, ad-ware, or viruses on your... Read More

Basic Computer Thermodynamics

That desk in front of you and everything else around... Read More

Printing Multiple Copies of Photos

I do a holiday letter every year and send them... Read More

Your Affiliate Business - Peripherals, Software, Computers

I have always been interested in computers, but in the... Read More

Passwords and the Human Factor

Passwords have a strange dual nature. The stronger and safer... Read More

A Beginners Guide to Avoiding Viruses

"Aaaaaahhhhhh! I've been invaded by a virus!" Getting a virus... Read More

The Benefits of the New Firefox Browser

You probably heard of the new Firefox browser version 1.0... Read More

Home Electronics: The Facts About Plasma TV

Not so many years ago, homes across the country watched... Read More

If You are the Only User on Your Windows XP Computer, Do You Think One User Account Is Enough?

I am going to assume that you are running windows... Read More

Uninstall Windows Media Player 10 and Start Enjoying Your Media Again

Windows Media Player 10 has been full of bugs from... Read More

Basic Problem in a PC

I have a p3 500MHz PC with 128MB RAM, 10.2... Read More

HTML Explained: Part 1

Want to save money while promoting your web-based business? Of... Read More

An All Too Familar Pain

Lost & Found for the 21st CenturyIn today's hectic world... Read More

A Peek Into the Near Future of Electronics Technology

How long do you think DVDs have around? 20 years?... Read More

Your Computer Cant Keep Time

A computer needs a certain amount of information to operate;... Read More

Improve PC Performance - 6 Tips You Must Know

Are you frustrated with your PC?Is it feeling sluggish or... Read More

More Cool Web Tricks

If you ask most people what frustrates them most about... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity Customizations

Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way to popularize it's... Read More

New Computer? Steps to Protect Your Computer Before Connecting to the Internet

Getting a new computer should be an exciting and gratifying... Read More

Desktop Security Software Risks - Part 2

This is the third in a series of articles highlighting... Read More

Protect Your PC from Viruses, Worms & Trojans

Each of the items in the checklist below is part... Read More

How To Have Two (Multiple) Copies Of Windows

Having two operating systems is not as difficult as many... Read More

Is DVD Storage An Attractive Alternative For Your Computer Backup?

If you have a computer for home use or for... Read More