A Colorimetric Investigation of Soft Proofing.

The purpose of this test was to demonstrate that the representation of a color on a soft proof that is displayed on a calibrated color monitor will match the appearance of that color on the final printed reproduction. The hypotheses in this study were rejected because there was not a significant number of acceptable images. Of the nine soft proof images that the judges were asked to rate acceptability on each workstation, only one, the soft proof of the IT8 target, was rated as acceptable. Furthermore, it was rated as acceptable only at one proofing stage, as a color preproof, simulated under one printing condition (SWOP). All other images were rated unacceptable. To determine what factor influenced the judges' decisions, a Fisher's Least Significant Difference test was performed. The statistical testing indicated that acceptability was not influenced by the workstation or which printing condition was simulated, but by the swatch color. To determine if a correlation existed between acceptability and low CIE L*a*b* (E, a Pearson product moment correlation was performed. The resulting factor indicated that as acceptability of a color swatch increases the CIE (E decreases. However, (E was not a dependable predictor of acceptability. It is the objective of monitor calibration devices to manipulate the color gamut of the monitor to within the gamut range of the press. However, in this particular study the calibration device used reduced the color gamut and luminance of the soft proof below that of the press, thus affecting the ability to accurately simulate the colors of the press sheet on the soft proof.