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About ColorSync
ColorSync is a system extension that provides color-conversion capabilities
and improves color consistency. ColorSync “translates” the colors used on one
device so that they match the colors displayed or printed on another device.
ColorSync color conversion is a central part of Macintosh computing,
ensuring that programs, monitors, printers, scanners, and digital cameras use
the same scheme for color conversion. This means you can scan an image,
display it on your monitor, and print it—with visually matching colors every
step of the way.
How ColorSync works
ColorSync does not convert colors directly from one device to another.
Instead, ColorSync takes information about each device’s color capabilities
and compares it to an independent color standard. In this way, it converts the
colors produced on one device to closely matching colors that can be
reproduced on another device.
ColorSync defines the colors a monitor, printer, scanner, or digital camera can
reproduce in a ColorSync profile. ColorSync profiles are compatible with the
profile specifications of the International Color Consortium (ICC).
Next, ColorSync converts device-specific colors into standard colors. The CIE
color standard describes colors in terms of how they are perceived by the
human eye under standardized lighting conditions. (CIE stands for the
Commission International de l’Eclairage, the International Commission on
Illumination, which founded the standard in 1931.)
ColorSync profile
Monitor Printer
CIE color standard
ColorSync profile
1 ColorSync checks
a device’s ColorSync
profile for the device’s
color capabilities.
2 ColorSync translates
device-specific colors
to standard colors, which
are not limited by
the color capabilities
of any device.
3 If a device can’t
reproduce a standard
color, ColorSync
chooses the device’s
closest match.
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Appendix D