I have recently started a multi-city color theory and management training tour for X-Rite at several Xerox locations throughout the U.S. The one day internal seminar entitled Color Under Control is sponsored by Creo Color Servers and centers around the entire color perspective, from creation to display to print.

So far we have presented in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and I have narrowed it down to a few things. One is content. Teaching color to professionals in color needs to have perspective. The focus of Color Under Control has two major structures, Settings and Applying Settings. There is also a healthy dose of color theory which if presented with absolute detail can put the audience to sleep. Our approach is to serve up a healthy dose of theory focusing on the most important ingredients to understanding this vast discipline. We focus on the nature of color in respect to RGB and CMYK which both are defined as device dependent and understanding and comprehending device independent color such as CIELAB.

Reactions to the seminar have stimulated discussions and many satisfied remarks have been written and spoken to both me and Mark Gundlach of X-Rite. I really feel the strength of the training is in our perspective in content and in the delivery of that content. We take out the importance of any one part of the digital workflow and focus our energy toward the entire perspective, from assigning input color to conversion to the working space and conversion to the final print space.

The second reason the seminar has been received positively has to do with delivery. Delivery of technical information has to create a picture and be clear in concept. Understanding color means you need to comprehend “under the hood” concepts. I personally advocate the “color traffic controller” role in color management. The color traffic controller manages all incoming color from source space to destination space. The color traffic controller manages the working space to the print space. The OS manages the working space to the display space. You first have to understand it conceptually before you venture off into the details.

As you gain experience managing color you will find there is always this commonality. All color converts from a source space to a destination space, the destination space becomes the new source space. When you engineer applications to accept these color spaces in the form of embedded profiles there is a seamless conversion into and from applications. Luckily applications like Adobe’s CS Suite and most RIP’s like Creo’s SPIRE RIP both have these engines and settings built into them. ICC is not going away and it is here to stay. Some users reject color management like they have a choice. It’s really difficult to totally reject all ICC based color management because you will likely be confronted with it somewhere in the process. The best thing users can do is understand how ICC profiles work and where ICC profiles are working. From that perspective you can engineer a process to use color conversion effectively and solve most all color problems.

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Client’s are fussy when it comes to color and it’s important to set the tone with a client in order to foster a good working relationship with them. Ask your client about their ideas of color usage when you start a project. Also make sure you ask why they may or may not have these color preferences. Get whatever known color values the client may have in CMYK, RGB, and PANTONE Spot to avoid guesswork.

Keeping in mind a client’s design objective and input, concentrate on designing to your own taste and select colors based on your particular vision. Creativity, and especially color usage, is very subjective so develop a rational for why you chose a particular palette. Look into psychological symbols of particular colors and be mindful that different colors mean different psychologically concepts to different cultures.

Limit color choices to avoid confusion and overload and always present your favorite choices. Show color on print and screen in your presentation and make sure both the display and your printed output has been calibrated and profile to ensure the best reproduction. Summarize the client’s ideas and objectives and explain how your color choices along with design elements meet these objectives. Initiate a discussion regarding color only relative to the objective and challenge revisions that will not meet the objectives effectively and accept changes that will. Reference Color Design Workbook : A Real World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design by Adams Morioka and Terry Stone published by Rockport Publishers.