Oki C9800hdn, Reference Manual, Page: 86 / 109

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8-86 Desktop Color Primer
Color Reference Guide for C9800 - 86
Understanding color gamut
Different color reproduction techniques have different color capabilities, or gamuts .
Color transparency films have comparatively large gamuts, as do color monitors.
The color gamut that can be produced using process inks or
CMYK toners on paper is
smaller. This is why some colors that can be displayed on a color monitor, especially
bright saturated colors, cannot be reproduced exactly by your Fiery—nor, for that
matter, can they be reproduced on a press using
process colors . Moreover, different
printers have different gamuts—some colors your printer can produce cannot be
reproduced on an offset press, and vice versa. The following figure illustrates this
concept of differing gamuts.
You must account for the gamut of your printer when designing on a color monitor.
When printed, colors that fall outside the printer gamut are “mapped” to printable
colors. This process, referred to as
gamut mapping , takes place when color data is
converted or adjusted to meet the gamut requirements of a printer.
The Fiery is specially designed to perform gamut mapping at high speed with high-
quality results. It provides these color management features automatically, using either
built-in default settings or settings you select for a particular print job. For added
flexibility, you can also use the Fiery color management system in combination with
the color management systems on Windows and Mac OS computers.
Color transparency film
Other print device
RGB monitor
Offset press (white)