Thanks for looking at the video…. If Corel has identified a problem then hopefully there will be a fix coming out soon. I’ve wanted to do this video since I have help several people that described the same issue you mentioned in this blog, and they were able to resolve their issue by understanding the mismatch of profiles. Obviously I can’t address an actual programming problem with Painter and to simply say I haven’t experienced it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist (especially since you have encountered it)…. I do have Vista 64 on one of my systems and haven’t yet experienced the problem “yet”.

John’s comments about the RGB values being the same really do hold true… even when the screen shows an apparent mismatch. But I can fully understand that appearance is problematic if you are using that representation to select colors. I can see choosing a color (based on the visual feedback from the screen) only to have it visually shift when I view it on another platform. So John is right about the RGB numbers not changing but I can see (no pun intended) how the color shift (visually) can still cause a “perception” problem.

If I can muddy the waters up even more…. color management is always happening EVEN if you turn it off… let me explain… not all devices (LCD, Printers, etc).. can show / represent all colors possible. So there is always going to be some “conversion” done to represent the color on the device, whether or not you have color management off, the device will make the choice for you. Some colors will just be beyond the capability of the device. Color Management is simply an attempt at “translation” between devices so the “perceived” colors will match other devices that are using the same “translator” (or we would say “profile”). This is why it is very important that color management is just not “turned on” without also “profiling” or otherwise calibrating each device/software in the image processing workflow. Each device needs to “tuned” to know how to translate correctly…

The way I’ve tried to simply explain it (and the real tech person won’t like this explanation) is this way… you have a group of people that all speak the same language (let’s say English)… (sort of like saying we all have devices that can do color)… now if I say to this group of people the world “cat”…. each one can and may interrupt the world “cat” differently (some will see a kitty, others will see a lion, but to them that is what “cat” means — they are in the same general “cat”egory as the others — sorry had to do it)… It isn’t until we are “profiled” and agree what “cat” means to each other that we can understand what each is talking about. So when the person that thinks “lion” says cat… I can use that profile to interpret the right image for “cat”. Ok I know that there are “technical” flaws with this explanation but I find it helps those new to color management to start to get the concept.

Color Management can seem complicated at first… but most things are when you have “middle-men” / translators trying to make everything in the workflow play well with each other…. and unless they are calibrated you really won’t be able to accomplish that to any great degree.

Wow probably more than I anyone cares to read…. Marilyn thanks for having this blog and this conversation! Hopefully it will spark more to get the concepts of color management correct and identify any “bugs” that plague us…

Take care,

Bob

To go back to a Painter X color management behavior would simply serve to keep users ignorant of color management. The only problem I see with Painter 11’s implementation is that a clone does not mirror the user-defined color management setting (turning CM off above the scroll bar)—which is causing user confusion when one notices the apparent color difference.

Perhaps Painter 11’s always-on color management is upsetting to a user who has never dealt with CM—it adds an additional layer of required knowledge and responsibility to the art-making process. But the only class of user that does not benefit from color management is one that only views their Painter art on their own display. Beyond this situation, anywhere else the art is displayed (print/book/web), the user has no guarantee that others will see the image as intended.

Rather than advising users to work around Painter 11’s color management, I see it as an opportunity to educate users about this useful tool that is critical to accurate output.

BTW, I have not seen any profiles fail to properly load with an image that you describe; perhaps it is a Windows-specific issue.

Hopefully, educators like you and I can help users embrace the benefits of color management and not see it as a necessary evil.

-john