Book review by Nicholas Hellmuth of The GATF Practical Guide to Color Management, by Richard M. Adams and Joshua B. Weisberg, GATF Press, Graphic Arts Technical Foundation

Good books on color management are hard to find.
Thus "The GATF Practical Guide to Color Management" is a godsend.

A 1998 publishing date means this book at least addresses the digital concerns of scanning, prepress, and printing professionals. I believe that a 2nd edition is in the works due to the rapid advance of color management in the digital workplace.

Nonetheless, this book is not yet outdated (anything from the early or mid-'90s would be dated).

"...color management software attempts to make color adjustments automatically so that less technical or experienced users can reproduce color easily, accurately, and without frustration..." (from the Foreword).

What is especially good about this book is that the author appears to be realistic, relaxed. Thus you are spared the often pompous scientific justification of other books. The author works at being practical, since, after all, the typical reader comes to this book rather bewildered.

I would recommend this book as a textbook for community college and technical courses on color management as well as for all mid-level courses on digital imaging.

For individuals, anyone who earns their living with a scanner, color printer, graphics, desktop publishing, or prepress, will need to master at least the vocabulary if not all the hardware and software. Shop managers really ought to read this as well so they have a better idea what their employees have to go through in this era of digital color management.

The book includes chapters on Color Theory, Color Measurement, Color Characterization, Color Management Profiling Software, Color Management Tools, four appendices (Vendor Addresses, Scanner Software Tests, Printer Software Tests, Standards and specs), a Glossary, and Index. 224 pages, hardbound, professionally presented and handsomely printed, $65.

What hopefully will be expanded in the next edition: vendor addresses are incomplete and Radius has changed hands. Almost all the other lists are outdated since the field of color management and hence color measurement has explored in the last two years. I would personally like to see a discussion of color management within the leading RIP software (and not merely hardware RIPs in the vendor list; software RIPs such as Onyx deserve a place in this class of book).

GATF Press (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation), web site is gatf.org, telephone 800 662-3916

Similar books to compare with:

Color and its Reproduction," 2nd edition, GATF Press" (reviewed on dye-sub-printer-review.org)
"Understanding Digital Color," 2nd ed, Phil Green, GATF Press

Follow-up for consulting on color management

If you would like consultant on color management by the FLAAR team,. Brent Cavanaugh would be the appropriate color management specialist; you could also contract for Nicholas Hellmuth. One, or both are available to train your staff directly in your own office anywhere in the world. Or you can come to BGSU and be trained on our equipment.

To arrange FLAAR+BGSU to assist you in color management, contact Sheila Irving, sirving@bgnet.bgsu.edu


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