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Matching colors
The process of matching printer output color to your computer screen is quite complex
because printers and computer monitors use different methods of producing color. Monitors
display colors by light pixels using an RGB (red, green, blue) color process, but printersprint
colors using a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) process.
Several factors can influence your ability to match printed colors to those on your monitor.
These factors include:
● print media
● printer colorants (inks or toners for example)
● printing process (inkjet, press, or laser technology for example)
● overhead lighting
● personal differences in perception of color
● software applications
● printer drivers
● PC operating system
● monitors
● video cards and drivers
● operating environment (humidity for example)
Keep the above factors in mind when colors on your screen do not perfectly match your
printed colors.
For most users, the best method for matching colors on your screen to your printer is to print
sRGB colors.
Swatch book color matching (HP Color LaserJet 3700 series
printer only)
The process for matching printer output to preprinted swatch books and standard color
references is complex. In general, you can obtain a reasonably good match to a swatch
book if the inks used to create the swatch book are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These
are usually referred to as process color swatch books.
Some swatch books are created from spot colors. Spot colors are specially created
colorants. Many of these spot colors are outside of the gamut (color range) of the printer.
Most spot color swatch books have companion process swatch books that provide CMYK
approximations to the spot color.
Most process swatch books will have a note on what process standards were used to print
the swatch book. In most cases, they will be SWOP, EURO, or DIC. To get optimal color
matching to the process swatch book, select the corresponding ink emulation from the
printer menu. If you cannot identify the process standard, use SWOP ink emulation.
For best matching of PANTONE
®
four-color (4C) process colors, use the SWOP or EURO
emulation for CMYK inks in the HP Color LaserJet 3700 PostScript emulation driver when
printing from PANTONE
®
-certified applications.
388 Chapter 7 Troubleshooting ENWW