Systems considerations in color printing

This paper is a summary of some of the current trends and major issues in color reprographics and printing. Most such systems are, or will be, digital and, therefore, have much in common. A systems view is taken, examining how various elements must be handled to accomplish the goal of making the output print match the user's desires, a process often called WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). The wide variety of color printer technologies forces one of two approaches; either the system is locked to a given printer or color must be described in device-independent (colorimetric) terms, with the latter approach becoming more common. A desire for device-independence creates a new set of problems; real scanners are not colorimetric, visual adaption makes comparison of displays to prints difficult, users lose the freedom to adjust their creations for a specific printer's idiosyncrasies, etc. The various digital printer technologies also bring new questions to be treated. Simple emulation of non-digital procedures can require very high sample densities, often not available or affordable. Thus, for example, new approaches to halftones are springing up. Examples are used to illustrate how some of these problems are being approached and where issues remain.