Profile Prism News/Upgrades

Overview:

Version 8.0 has a completely redesigned profile generation engine that produces accurate, beautiful color for all types of profiles (camera, scanner, and printer)!  Incredible color accuracy and saturation allow v8.0 to make the most of all your profiles.  This update also fixes a UI issue where some text labels appeared as "white on white" and were unreadable in the previous version when using certain Windows themes, particularly older XP themes.

Click here to go to the support page where you can renew your yearly membership (if you haven't already renewed in the past year) and download the latest version.

v8.x Release History

Version	Released	Description
v8.43	Aug 7, 2014	v8.43 includes a minor adjustment that eliminates visible hue shifts in out-of-gamut areas for printer profiles.
v8.42	Aug 5, 2014	v8.42 includes the following: Better handling of out-of-gamut colors for printer profiles increases performance on all papers but most notably matte papers. Includes a new data file for most recent PP-included color target (R130730-ddi) derived with our in-house spectrophotometer.
v8.41	July 26, 2014	Minor adjustment to improve orange/red transitions.
v8.4	July 18, 2014	Final adjustment to printer profiling to ensure closest possible accuracy while maintaining saturation.
v8.3	July 17, 2014	Made a minor adjustment to the saturation algorithm for printer profiles: improves skin tones.

Overview: Version 8.0 is fully Windows 8 compatible, features an updated (more modern dark gray) UI, and offers more accurate color when creating ICC profiles thanks to advancements in color technology over the last few years.  User friendly tips such as a warning to change old profile descriptions and automatic naming of modified (tweaked) printer profiles will help you along the way as you create the most accurate profiles to date!  Enjoy the subtle color improvements that result from the v7.0 --> v8.0 upgrade and the UI changes that make the software easier than ever to use.  If you print a lot of photos and you create and tweak printer profiles regularly, v8.0 will be well worth the upgrade.

Overview:

Version 7.0 uses an all new color management engine that offers greater color accuracy and slightly faster performance.  This major upgrade builds upon Profile Prism's world renowned color accuracy by offering subtle improvements to color accuracy, particularly at the extremes of tonal range where you will see smoother shadow and highlight detail.  The already excellent profile developing and tweaking tools remain unchanged so there is no learning curve for existing customers: simply reopen your old target images and generate a new profile to get the improved color accuracy of v7.0.  Click here to go to the support page where you can renew your yearly membership (if you haven't already renewed in the past year) and download the latest version.

Overview:

Version 6.5 offers new camera profiling options, slightly faster profile generation, and full Vista compatibility

New Features:

• Camera profiling: v6.5 becomes the first profiling tool that can create profiles that correct hue shifts and saturation problems without affecting tonality (brightness and contrast).  Use the new "Gamma Match" options under "Tone Reproduction Curve" to create profiles that can correct hue and saturation errors without dulling photos or reducing contrast.  When profiling cameras, it is often desirable to let the device (or raw conversion software) dictate the tone curves so that software selections like "standard", "linear", "film" or camera menu selections like "standard", "neutral" or "vivid" remain intact while hue shifts such as reds turning orange or blues turning purple can be corrected along with over/under saturation of certain colors.  Being able to correct hue and saturation errors without affecting brightness, contrast, or dynamic range eliminates issues with camera profiles generating dull or lifeless images while correcting even the most elusive color shifts and saturation problems.
• Speed: v6.5 generates profiles up to 15% faster (depending on the system).
• Vista support: v6.5 offers full Vista compatibility including an updated Vista compatible help system.

Overview:

Version 6.0 offers more accurate profiles and a color tweaking wizard

New Features:

• More accurate profiles: v6.0 has an updated profile generation engine that offers improved color accuracy.  All profiles (camera, scanner, and printer) will show improved performance via higher accuracy and reduced color casts.
• Color Tweaking Wizard: While v6.0 generates more accurate profiles from the start, minor color errors are sometimes unavoidable when developing printer profiles for some printers/papers/inks using a scanner due to metamerism (how the scanner perceives colors for differing target media under its own lighting).  The second part of the v6.0 upgrade will assist users by providing a simpler way to correct these minor inconsistencies, improving on Profile Prism's already powerful color editing tool for printer profiles.  Use the new Color Tweaking Wizard (accessed via the wizard dropper on the editor window) to manipulate colors without worrying about primary colors or color compliments.  Does your printer profile show a slight magenta cast in grays?  Simply use the Color Tweaking Wizard, select "Add/remove magenta", and click until the real-time preview shows the same amount of magenta visible in the test print!  Repeat this simple process for other colors until the on-screen image matches the test print, save the modified profile, and you're done!

v6.0x Release History

Overview:

Version 5.2 contains functions that make the editor easier to use and more accurate

New Features:

• Higher quality edits: v5.2 offers a better correlation between changes made on screen versus changes that appear in the profile, thereby reducing conflicts like the magnitude of the change made on screen not matching that saved in the profile. This version also produces smoother transitions as a result, but these changes will most likely result in the need to start from scratch (from the unedited plain vanilla profile) to redo your editing with this version.
• Added gray/neutral capability: v5.2 allows separate adjustments for "light gray" and "dark gray" when the center dot (neutral) is selected on the color wheel. v5.2 defaults to light/dark gray being locked together so that a consistent/overall color cast can be removed from grays, but they can be unlocked and adjusted separately to correct profile problems such as dark grays appearing red while light grays appear cyan, or any other "corkscrew" effect where dark grays have a different color cast than light grays.
• Dropper: A dropper above the left test image now allows colors in the left test image to be previewed via a black dot on the color wheel as you move the dropper over the image. The color under the dropper can be selected/locked via left clicking the dropper on the image. This function makes it simpler to choose the proper color on the wheel when editing. Please refer to the help for more details.
• Go Back: A "Go Back" button is provided to allow you to go back to the settings used at the beginning of the current pass (this pass), the beginning of the previous pass (last pass), or from scratch with all adjustments set to zero (scratch).
• Opening profiles: Improved the "Open Profile" function so that all adjustments reset to zero if the new profile being opened doesn't have prior/saved adjustments.

Fixes:

• Editor window: Fixed a problem where the main window occasionally popped up on top of the editor window while working in the editor.
• Profile description: Added a check to insure that very long profile descriptions will not overwrite other parameters in the profile.

v5.2 Release History

Version	Released	Description
v5.21	11/04/04	v5.21 resets the right test image in the editor window automatically when the "go back" function is used, making the behavior of the "preview" and "go back" functions more intuitive in this version.
v5.22	11/05/04	v5.22 includes the following: Increased the resolution of adjustments by allowing fractional values. Sliders can still be used to adjust up/down to integer values but fractional values may be entered manually in the edit boxes to the right of the adjustment sliders to create higher precision (smaller) changes. Corrected a bug that was causing adjustments to be doubled (added) if "Save Modified Profile" was used more than once from the editor without exiting/reentering the editor window. Corrected a bug that was causing the "would you like to save" warning to appear even if you already saved the profile and made no changes since the save. Corrected a bug that was causing slight posterization on certain types of gray scale adjustments. The correction may result in a need to make slight modifications to your previous gray scale adjustments if you choose to re-edit profiles created in earlier v5.x versions.
v5.23	11/05/04	v5.23 corrects some intermittent problems with the right test image on the editor window such as old and new images being superimposed on the right test image after using "File", "Open Test Image".
v5.24	11/06/04	v5.24 corrects the contrast slider on the editor so that it is no longer backwards; so that sliding to the right increases contrast and sliding to the left decreases contrast. There is no need to modify the contrast settings stored in your previous edits since they will be "flipped" automatically whenever you load an old/edited profile, thereby insuring the same results even though the contrast slider has been flipped to the correct orientation.
v5.25	11/09/04	v5.25 corrects a bug that was causing Profile Prism to crash with a "read beyond end of file" error message after opening certain 48 bit TIFF's from Vuescan.
v5.26	01/20/05	v5.26 offers a better method of making global changes to parameters like saturation, contrast, and brightness using the "apply changes" button. See the updated help near the bottom of this help page under the heading "the since last preview group and apply changes button".
v5.27	01/21/05	v5.27 fixes a glitch that was causing the main window to pop up on top of the editor window under certain conditions.
v5.28	05/18/05	v5.28 includes a color highlighting tool that highlights colors in the (left) test image in the profile editor when the mouse button is held down on a dot on the color wheel. This version also corrects some issues with the color dropper remaining active at inappropriate times when using the editor.

Overview:

Version 5.1 corrects some minor issues with the profile editor and adds new functionality to the editor

New Features:

• Progressive editing: You can now compare the test print from your last editing pass to the right image in the editor window to refine adjustments with each pass, always moving the adjustments from their last positions to whatever new positions are required to match your latest print with the right image on the editor window. Be sure to reread the Editing Printer Profiles help section for more info, particularly the heading labeled "If further editing is needed (second pass)" near the bottom.
• Resizeable editor window: You can now resize the editor window and the preview images will expand with the window. The selected size is remembered between sessions.
• Preview button: The "Preview" button now grays out after the current settings have been previewed in the right window. The button becomes active again once new changes have been made. This behavior assists the user by indicating when changes have been made but those changes have not yet previewed on screen.

Fixes:

• File saving bug: Fixed a file saving bug that was causing zero-byte files to be created under some conditions. Also fixed an issue where the "ICM" file extension was not being written automatically if not specified.
• Installation: Fixed an issue in the installation file where the "Checking for previously installed components" step was taking too long on machines with a large number of files/programs on the hard drive(s).

v5.1 Release History

Version	Released	Description
v5.11	10/26/04	v5.11 corrects a problem where the profile (file name) listed on the main window was not being loaded automatically in the editor unless the file name on the main window contained the "icm" extension. This version also associates the adjustment parameters with profiles in such a way that they can be retrieved for files in different folders such as c:\program files\prism\test.icm and c:\myprofiles\test.icm. This change is transparent to the user and simply ensures that two files named "test.icm" can have different adjustments if the files are in different folders.

Overview:

Version 5.0 allows precise editing of printer profiles

New Features:

• Profile Editor: A quality scanner based profiling tool like Profile Prism is very helpful in color managing "screen to print" color, however, due to differences in how your eyes perceive color in prints and how your scanner interprets printed targets, there is often a need for some fine tuning or editing of certain areas of printer profiles. Until now, scanner based profiling tools only offered cumbersome or very generic editing tools and offered no way to fine tune profiles without a lot of trial and error. Profile Prism v5.0 now allows detailed visual editing of printer profiles through a simple and effective workflow that eliminates nearly all trial and error adjustments! Editing is accomplished via an innovative technique where you specify exactly how a test print looks when compared to the same image on screen. Simply use the editing controls to make the (correct) image on screen look like your print, and the editor examines the differences and creates a corrected profile! The Profile Prism editor was designed to allow visual correction in just a few passes by using simple but effective tools that accommodate the way we perceive and work with color in digital images. The editing process allows the user to focus on a specific color band, making different changes to different colors as necessary, all while viewing the effect of these changes on screen! All profile editing is done based on the initial profile and results are saved to another profile without the need to regenerate profiles when adjustments are made. We know that our users have been waiting for a simple and effective way to edit profiles, and we think you'll agree that v5.0 was worth the wait! To access the new printer profile editor in v5.0, simply create your initial printer profile with all "Initial Adjustments" on the main window set to normal/zero and then click "Edit", "Edit Profile" from the main window. The workflow for editing printer profiles is described in detail on the Editing Printer Profiles help page.

Overview:

Version 4.4 supports both "perceptual" and "relative colorimetric" rendering intents for printer profiles

New Features:

• Printer profiles: v4.4 now produces printer profiles that contain both "perceptual" and "relative colorimetric" mappings. The rendering intent may be selected in the printing software prior to printing. Prior versions produced profiles that supported only "relative colorimetric" intent. The ability to choose "perceptual" or "relative colorimetric" when using your printer profiles from Profile Prism v4.4 allows you to select the color management method that best suits your images/workflow. Please see the help section "Profiling a Printer - Step by Step" and scroll to the bottom of the page and refer to the "Rendering Intents" section for more information.

Version	Released	Description
v4.41	07/04/03	v4.41 fixes an intermittent crash (access violation) that occurred at the end of the profile generation process when generating printer profiles from some scans.
v4.42	07/06/03	v4.42 generates profiles up to 20% faster than v4.41 while not compromising color accuracy.
v4.43	07/07/03	v4.43 enhances the red and blue gamut for "perceptual" intent to prevent reds from turning orange and blues from turning purple.
v4.44	08/18/03	v4.44 eliminates color smearing in shadow areas (dark colors). This change affects only printer profiles; camera/scanner profiles are not affected.
v4.45	09/18/03	v4.45 improves shadows in printer profiles when profiling printers with very dark output. Also added "printer profile usable range" message to give an indication of the quality of shadows in the test print and changed the print driver recommendations for Epson printers. v4.45 also has a new printer-target-40.tif file that has a black border to eliminate "light bleed" that tends to brighten color patches on the edge of the target. This minor change to the target can have a noticeable effect on profiles as we've found light bleed from the small white border can falsely brighten the outer color patches on many scanners.
v4.46	09/30/03	v4.46 includes a brighter printer target for profiling printers that produce output that is too dark to scan realiably (such as Epson printers in "no color adjustment" mode). Simply print the included "printer-target-bright.tif" and make the corresponding selection for "Printer Target" on the main window. See the updated help for more details. v4.46 also includes a slight improvement to blue gradients in printer profiles.

Overview:

Version 4.3 renders higher quality printer profiles

New Features:

• Printer profiles: v4.3 renders printer profiles with smoother gradients, particularly in shadow areas, by detecting and correcting deficiencies in scans caused by deterioration of scan quality in shadows. Ability to detect shadow and highlight "quality thresholds" in scans allows Profile Prism to automatically extrapolate data in printer profiles when necessary. This improvement will increase consistency/quality of profiles, allowing generation of acceptable printer profiles from a wider range of scanners.
• Ability to better utilize raw scans: v4.3 can automatically "clean up" 48 bit TIFF scans, allowing increased profile accuracy when using linear/raw (1.0 gamma) scans at 48 bit color depth.

Version	Released	Description
v4.31	06/24/03	v4.31 corrects an issue that caused abrupt shifts to black in shadows with v4.3. v4.31 also tests your printer profile after it is created to determine if posterization (banding) exists due to abrupt shifts in color gradients. After examining the profile, adequate smoothing is applied to the profile to eliminate posterization artifacts.

Overview:

Version 4.2 offers the ability to compensate for metamerism and ships with two reference targets: a standard IT8 reference target and a matte target for profiling cameras

New Features:

• Two reference targets: We received feedback from users regarding difficulties associated with trying to profile a camera using a glossy IT8 target. There was an overwhelming call to bring back the older 753 patch matte targets because they do not produce glare when photographing the targets with a camera and they can account for lighting variances caused by lens vignetting or poor lighting. Starting with v4.2, Profile Prism will be shipped with an IT8 reference target and a 753 patch matte target equivalent to the older pp-?? targets. To improve longevity of the more fragile matte targets, they are now shipped in their own plastic sleeve like the IT8 targets to protect them from reacting with the cardboard sleeve. Since we have officially brought back the 753 patch matte target, both (glossy IT8 and matte) targets are available for sale separately. The matte targets use different media and colorants than IT8 targets so having both targets expands the utility of Profile Prism by allowing you to choose the right target for the job.
• Better accuracy using old/new matte targets: v4.2 will now be more accurate when using matte targets. Accuracy of profiles developed with matte targets has been improved for all matte targets: old pp-?? targets that shipped previously and new matte targets being produced/shipped. Users who have existing pp-?? targets will see an improvement in profiles when using their old matte targets so unless your old pp-?? target is worn or faded, there is no need to purchase a new matte target.
• Metamerism compensation: Since media/colorants react differently under different light sources, any printed target will exhibit color shifts when viewed (or scanned/acquired) under certain light sources. These color shifts, known as metamerism, can affect the quality of printer profiles because two different types of targets (reference and printed target) are being scanned and may have their own distinct color shifts under the scanner's light source. v4.2 offers a method of [manually] equalizing the differences in color shifts between the two targets. Refer to the help for details.

Fixes:

• Startup bug fixed: v4.2 fixes a bug that caused a startup crash in prior versions if the default target data file was deleted.

Version 4.2 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v4.21	06/06/03	v4.21 produces slightly more neutral prints by approximating the amount of optical brighteners in the paper and compensating for the color of the paper versus predicted ink coverage. v4.21 also fixes a problem that caused some printer profiles to produce slightly oversaturated reds. Finally, v4.21 contains an updated printer-target-40.tif file that prints larger (7.92 x 5.77 inches) and contains a dotted line for cutting the target from the printed page.

Overview:

Version 4.1 now shipping with IT8 reference target

New Features:

Starting with v4.1, Profile Prism will be shipped with an IT8 reference target rather than the older matte target. We have found that there are quite a number of loyal Profile Prism users who actually wear out the matte paper targets by taping and untaping, over exposure to ozone, UV, and finger oils, etc. We believe that the change to industry standard IT8 targets provides users with targets that are more durable and provide higher quality profiles over a longer period of time without the need to update/replace targets frequently. While IT8 targets do not allow for correction of lighting variance as do older PP targets, we believe that it is better to correct issues with lighting up front rather than attempting to correct them after the fact. In addition, the dot-free continuous tone color provided by IT8 targets eliminates any adverse interactions between image capture and dot patterns, improving reproduction of subtle colors such as gray scales and skin tones in profiles.

While v4.1 cannot automatically correct for lighting variances across the IT8 reference target, it does evaluate overall lighting variance and reports the amount of variance to the user. This allows the user to make change(s) to the image acquisition methods in order to improve lighting of the target in the original photo/scan. Note that lighting variance is more of an issue with camera profiling and is less of an issue when using scanners. Finally, recent improvements in Profile Prism software now allow incredibly accurate profiles using IT8 targets as the reference. We believe that the combination of revised profiling instructions (now separate for cameras, scanners, and printers) and use of more durable IT8 reference targets allows Profile Prism to achieve optimal profiling performance while at the same time being more cost effective.

IT8 targets now shipping with Profile Prism are also available for $15 to existing users (the same price as older targets) and may be ordered separately at http://www.ddisoftware.com/prism/ordering.htm. We also now offer IT8 targets on 35 mm slides for the purpose of profiling slide scanners.

Note: You may still use Profile Prism with your existing pp-10, pp-11, etc. reference targets, however, these targets are no longer offered for sale.

Version 4.1 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v4.11	05/03/03	v4.11 includes the following: "Jiggle corners" option now works on all targets, including the new IT8 targets. Fixed a bug that was causing high "lighting variance" readings. Updated the "good histograms" in the help file to correspond with the new IT8 and printer targets.
v4.12	05/14/03	v4.12 is now compatible with IT8 data files supplied by colour-science.com.

Overview:

Version 4.0 features a quantum leap in printer profile accuracy and consistency

New Features:

• Printer profiling: v4.0 uses an all new 9,261 color patch printer target and completely redesigned printer profiling code to generate profiles unmatched in quality and accuracy. The new color target and associated algorithms provide a dramatic breakthrough in profile accuracy and consistency across different printers/papers/inks. In addition to allowing profiling of Epson printers in their true raw output mode (no color adjustment), v4.0 also eliminates "yellow cast" issues reported by users of older versions who were using Canon printers. Existing users should check the "release notes" section of the program help since there have been significant changes in recommended print driver settings, scanner settings, target evaluation, etc.
• Faster: The large range of printed color patches has eliminated the need to "interpolate" data across the color gamut and has also reduced profile generation time as a result. Profile Prism v4.0 is up to 30% faster at generating printer profiles.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are upgrading from a previous version to v4.0, you do NOT need a new reference target for v4.0! The pp-10, pp-11, etc. targets have not changed and your existing pp-10, pp-11, etc. reference target may still be used with v4.0. The 9,261 color patch printer target is included (as a TIFF file) with v4.0 and should be printed from your photo printing/editing software for profiling. This new printer target is then scanned with your existing Profile Prism reference target to produce the printer profile.

Version 4.0 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v4.01	03/22/03	v4.01 fixes a problem that caused v4.0 printer profiles to render pure white with a slight color cast (usually pink/magenta) when using the profiles in PhotoShop. In addition, v4.01 fixes the "RGB bias" selections which were inadvertently "disconnected" in v4.0.
v4.02	03/31/03	v4.02 produces printer profiles with an expanded gamut which eliminates problems like blue/purple transitions. In addition, v4.02 will render smoother gray scales with better neutrality.
v4.03	04/07/03	v4.03 fixes a bug that caused corrupted profiles when using IT8 targets produced by Agfa or Wolf Faust.
v4.04	04/08/03	v4.04 improves rendering of deep/bright reds in printer profiles. The change does not affect camera or scanner profiles.
v4.05	04/09/03	v4.05 contains an adjustment to the rendering of deep/bright blues and reds in printer profiles. v4.05 produces a smoother and wider blue gradient while providing deeper reds without sacrificing skin tones and other colors.
v4.06	04/11/03	v4.06 contains an adjustment to bright yellows in printer profiles. In addition, the "Profile For" option is now enabled for printer profiling and allows selection of "Highest Accuracy" which produces the most visually accurate results or "Smoother Gradients" to produce more mathematically accurate colors with smoother gradients. See the help under "Profiling a Printer - Step by Step" for a full description of the "Profile For" option.
v4.07	04/13/03	v4.07 offers additional messages which are displayed after creation of printer profiles. The new messages (dynamic range and gamut coverage) assist users in evaluating the contrast and color range of different types of media. In addition, when profiles are created with v4.07 or later versions, the evaluation messages are saved and can be recalled using "File", "Recall Messages For". See the help under "Contents", "Profiling a Printer - Step by Step" and click "Final review of any additional messages" for full info on the new features. The purpose of v4.07 is to provide users with useful information about the media they are profiling. The actual profiles created by v4.07 will be identical to v4.06.
v4.08	04/15/03	v4.08 contains a more accurate pp-29.dat file. For those using the pp-29 reference target, reprofiling may lead to minor improvements in some profiles. The change only affects the pp-29 target, so if you use any other reference target, v4.08 will be identical to v4.07.

Overview:

Version 3.7 features the ability to profile using IT8/Q60 targets and offers more accurate profiling

New Features:

• Support for IT8/Q60 targets: v3.7 offers the ability to use IT8/Q60 reference targets to create profiles. While IT8/Q60 targets are fully supported and can be used to replace the included Profile Prism reference target, IT8/Q60 targets (which are available from pro imaging dealers at additional cost) are mainly useful for profiling devices (like slide scanners) that cannot accept the Profile Prism 5x7 reference target. See the Profile Prism help under "Using an IT8/Q60 Target..." for full details.
• Better color: v3.7 delivers more accurate profiles due to new gamut normalization code that can account for differences in color range between reference targets, input devices and output devices. Resulting camera, scanner, and printer profiles are more accurate, especially near gamut boundaries. In addition, printer profiles will be more accurate and consistent across a wider range of printers and paper.

Overview:

Version 3.6 offers simple profile color "tweaking" ability

New Features:

• Manual color adjustment: v3.6 offers new RGB "bias" settings that allow manual control over color casts caused by metamerism, paper brighteners, and other issues that can cause non-optimal results during profile generation.
• Minor facelift: v3.6 has a more consistent and logical layout of parameters on the main window.

Version 3.6 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v3.61	02/02/03	v3.61 corrects an issue where not all target versions are visible in the dropdown under "Prism Target" on some machines.

Overview:

Version 3.5 adds visual monitor calibration and improves tonal response of all profiles

New Features:

• Monitor calibration: v3.5 allows calibration of most monitors (depending on video card compatibility) via visual input from the user. A "gamma loader" is installed into the Windows boot sequence to ensure proper calibration at the system level. See the help under "Calibrating a monitor - step by step" for details.
• Camera, scanner, and printer profiles: v3.5 is capable of producing slightly wider and smoother tonal range for all profiles, with printer profiles benefiting most from the change.

Overview:

Version 3.2 further improves rendition of out of gamut colors in printer profiles

New Features:

• Printer profiling: v3.2 is a refinement of v3.1 that renders smoother gradients and more accurate hue for colors that are out of the printer's gamut (not reproducible by the printer). In gamut colors such as grays, most skin tones, and other less vibrant/saturated colors will remain unchanged from v3.1. Bright and/or saturated colors will be improved in v3.2 with smoother gradients and less hue shifting. Note that little change will be noticed in samples printed from v3.1 versus v3.2 unless bright, saturated colors are included in the test prints.
• Camera/scanner profiling: v3.2 is identical to v3.0 and v3.1 with respect to camera/scanner profiling.

Notes: If you already have scans that you used in v3.0 or v3.1, there is no need to rescan targets. Simply use your scan(s) that you used for v3.0/v3.1 and reprocess them with v3.2.

Version 3.2 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v3.21	09/25/02	v3.21 fixes a bug in v3.2 that was disabling gradient smoothing for out of gamut colors, resulting in faint banding or "halos" in some bright, saturated colors. While v3.2 was able to generate relatively smooth gradients without any smoothing applied, the automatic smoothing in v3.21 will now render perfectly smooth color gradients even for colors that are not reproducible by the printer.
v3.22	09/27/02	v3.22 fixes an internal range error that was causing highlight blowouts or strange color shifts in bright, saturated colors under some conditions. The fix, which affects only the brightest and most saturated colors, affects both scanner and printer profiles. To find out whether (or to what degree) this fix will affect the bright, saturated colors in your own profiles, you must rebuild your profiles with v3.22 and evaluate the results. In general, the fix will have more impact on scanner profiles than printer profiles, but differences may be seen in both.
v3.23	11/11/02	v3.23 includes an updated DLL that allows Profile Prism to achieve slightly higher color accuracy in deep shadows. In most cases, the difference will not be noticeable, however, a slight improvement in rendering of gray scales is possible in some camera, scanner, and printer profiles.

Overview:

Version 3.1 is designed to enhance printer profile performance when profiling a wider range of papers/inks such as those from third party manufacturers

New Features:

• Printer profiling: A new contrast scaling technique allows v3.1 to produce stunning results on a wider range of papers/inks. v3.1 excels in creating profiles for third party inks and papers where contrast and tonal range may be less than optimal. Papers and/or inks that have a low dynamic range (A.K.A. "D-Max") will benefit most from v3.1 while the benefits of v3.1 will be less noticable when profiling paper/ink combinations that already offer a high dynamic range.
• Camera/scanner profiling: v3.1 is identical to v3.0 with respect to camera/scanner profiling.

Notes: If you already have scans that you used in v3.0, there is no need to rescan targets. Simply use your scan(s) that you used in v3.0 and reprocess them with v3.1.

Overview:

Version 3.0 offers a significant improvement in printer profile color accuracy

New Features:

• Printer profiling: v3.0 provides a significant improvement in color accuracy of printer profiles by using a new two-pass color matching algorithm. In addition to an improved base color matching algorithm, v3.0 now automatically performs a second, color refining pass that is transparent to the user but greatly improves dynamic range and accuracy, resulting in more accurate colors from skin tones to saturated colors.
• Camera/scanner profiling: v3.0 provides a slight increase in color accuracy for camera and scanner profiles as well, however, the difference in camera/scanner profiles will likely not be noticible in most cases since camera/scanner profiles are much easier to generate and have been very accurate since the initial Profile Prism release.
• IMPORTANT: v3.0 uses a new printer target called "printer-target-30.tif" that prints a wider range of colors. Simply print the "printer-target-30.tif" file found in your Profile Prism installation folder and scan it along with your existing pp-10, pp-11, etc. calibration target. No changes have been made to the Profile Prism calibration targets (pp-10, pp-11, etc.) and this change only affects printer targets that you create from your own printer(s). Note that v3.0 is backward compatible, so you can still use scans of the older printer-target.tif files if you like, however, best results will be achieved by printing the new printer target. Whether you choose to print a new printer target using the printer-target-30.tif file or use existing scans of the older printer-target.tif file, be sure to select the appropriate printer target on Profile Prism's main window under "Printer Target".

Fixes:

• System color folder v3.0 will now automatically default to using the color folder for the operating system currently being used: useful when multiple operating systems are installed under a dual boot.

Profile Prism v2.7 (08/21/02)

Overview:

Version 2.7 offers more accurate printer profiling

New Features:

• Printer profiling: v2.7 improves color accuracy in printer profiles by providing a better color match for colors near the edge of the gamut boundary and colors that are outside the printer's color gamut. As a result, v2.7 produces more accurate and pleasing color, especially for vibrant/saturated colors.

Profile Prism v2.6 (07/02/02)

Overview:

Version 2.6 offers refined color matching to provide greater compatibility for a wider range of printers.

New Features:

• Greater printer compatibility: Printer profiling is a complex task that requires profiling software to consider the color gamut of the inks being used, how those inks absorb onto the paper, variations between how grays are rendered (which use primarily black ink) versus color (which use between 1 and 5 color inks), rendering of "out of gamut" colors that are impossible to render with printer inks, and many other factors. v2.6 is able to examine many of these factors and offers an adaptive color matching algorithm that is more effective and consistent across printer brands/models and also more effective for a wider range of print driver settings. The result is more consistent color when profiling different printers, papers, and ink.
• Saturation control: v2.6 now offers a saturation control. With brightness, contrast, and saturation controls, users can now effectively modify the "pop" of their photos while still ensuring accurate color (hue). This is especially important for printer profiles where variables like lighting and even the gloss level of the paper can affect the look/feel of the final prints.
• New "Browse" function for saving profiles: v2.6 allows users to browse and save profiles to the standard Windows color folder via the "Browse" button next to the "File Name" parameter.
• New file overwrite warning: v2.6 offers the standard "file already exists" warning when "Create Profile" is clicked and the selected file name already exists.

Fixes:

• Disappearing parameters: v2.6 fixes a bug that caused certain profile parameters to be "blanked out" after performing some operations.

Version 2.6 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v2.61	07/08/02	v2.61 now automatically saves all profile settings and crop markers each time a profile is generated. When the same image of the targets is opened in the future, Profile Prism will display the date that the image was last used to develop a profile and will prompt the user to reload all settings and crop markers. The availability of this option means that each image/scan only needs to be set up and cropped once. Future profile generations from the same image/scan can be performed by simply loading the old settings and changing any desired parameters, then clicking "Create Profile". In addition to this usability enhancement, the help file has also been updated to indicate new recommended settings for Canon printers, specifically, setting the "Print Type" to "None" instead of "Photo".

Profile Prism v2.5 (06/17/02)

Overview:

Version 2.5 generates the most accurate profiles to date.

New Features:

• Greater overall color accuracy: v2.5 has a more advanced algorithm for color matching. The new algorithm is able to examine color patches and determine the outliers within the set, excluding them from the regression so that erroneous measurements do not bias overall color response. The result is a marked improvement in accuracy, especially with respect to printer profiles. v2.5 eliminates issues like skin tones appearing "bronzed" or blues shifted toward purple that prior versions exhibited for some printers/papers. Note that the new color matching algorithm does apply to camera and scanner profiles as well, however, Profile Prism has always been incredibly accurate when generating camera and scanner profiles so the difference in your profiles will be much less noticable (if at all) in camera/scanner profiles when compared to printer profiles.
• Faster profile generation: v2.5 is up to 25% faster at generating profiles than previous versions.

Profile Prism v2.4 (03/28/02)

Overview:

Version 2.4 offers more neutral color when creating printer profiles

New Features:

• Printer profiling: v2.4 renders more neutral color over a wider range of printers, inks and papers when compared to prior versions.

Version 2.4 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v2.41	04/03/02	v2.41 opens up the "White Balance" control for printer profiling, allowing the user to select whether neutral gray colors follow the white point of the paper (default) or true neutral tones that are independent of paper color. See Profiling a printer - step by step, profile details and parameters, white balance in the help for more details.
v2.42	04/08/02	v2.42 offers new tools that assist in evaluating the capture of color targets, such as the ability to detect partially clipped color patches, ability to locate and scroll through clipped patches, and a densitometer that displays valuable information about each color patch such as RGB color values, lighting variance, and more. For information on how to use the new tools, simply open the "step by step" section of the help (for either camera/scanner or printer profiling) and look at the end of "Step 2: Opening and cropping the target". The information regarding the new densitometer, how to scroll through clipped patches, and new information on clipping can be found just prior to the start of "Step 3".
v2.43	04/09/02	v2.43 has improved detection/messages regarding clipped color patches and a rewritten help section on the subject of capture range and clipping. v2.43 also fixes a problem where the clipping message was not being reset after loading a new image. v2.43 has no changes to the profile generation itself and will generate profiles identical to v2.42.
v2.44	04/13/02	v2.44 now supports 48 bit TIFF images and has a fix that ensures that min/max/clipped "X" markers appear properly on the printer target after a new scan is loaded.
v2.45	04/24/02	Significant changes made to the "Profiling a Printer - Step by Step" portion of the help file to make that section more precise and up to date. Changes include recommendations for specific print driver settings by brand, scanner settings for the capture of the targets, new information about when to use "printer-target-bright.tif", and other information that has been refined since the release of printer profiling in version 2.0. No changes whatsoever were made to the profile generation part of the software, so in technical terms, v2.45 is identical to v2.44 except for the help file and the "v2.45" version number.
v2.46	05/29/02	Made a change that will allow profiles to correct more abrupt color discrepancies. The result is that v2.46 can now generate more accurate profiles for printers that require more color "adjustment" such as printers with pigment inks or other printers where narrow/fine corrections are needed.
v2.47	06/03/02	v2.47 contains an updated color management DLL that provides slightly better precision for some of Profile Prism's internal color gamut calculations. The result is a slight increase in color accuracy.
v2.48	06/07/02	v2.48 includes another minor update to the color management DLL to ensure the highest level of accuracy. In addition, a small adjustment was made to the tone curves that results in slightly brighter highlights in printer profiles (camera and scanner profiles are unaffected). Other than this small change to highlights, changes to overall color rendering of v2.48 versus v2.47 are negligible.

Profile Prism v2.3 (03/20/02)

Overview:

Version 2.3 offers better color matching, faster profile generation and offers a new "brightness" parameter.

New Features:

• Better color matching: v2.3 focuses on better matching of colors that are outside your printer's color gamut. Like prior versions, v2.3 is still incredibly accurate at rendering printed color when the colors being printed are withing the color gamut (range) of your printer. This latest version, however, improves the appearance of colors that are outside your printer's gamut (physically impossible to reproduce by your printer) by using smarter color matching algorithms that are designed to maintain in-gamut color while maximizing the appearance of out-of-gamut colors (like bright blues for example). The result is less noticable color shifts and a better overall color match for all prints.
• Faster profile generation: Profiles now generate in less time (especially camera/scanner profiles) thanks to more efficient code.
• New "brightness" parameter: Realizing that some users prefer more/less shadow detail than normal, we have added a "brightness" parameter. Since the brightness parameter allows you to change overall brightness and depth of shadows using a gamma curve, it would be more accurate to call it "gamma", but we chose "brightness" to be less confusing to new users. In any case, the new parameter allows you to boost or suppress shadow detail and the overall appearance of "brightness" in profiles.

Version 2.3 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v2.31	03/21/02	v2.31 includes a new, brighter printer-target-bright.tif file that is very useful for printers that produce dark prints in their baseline (no color management) mode. While the new gamma corrected target is useful for printers that produce dark prints in raw mode, the old printer-target.tif file is useful for printers that have no true "raw" print mode, or those that gamma correct brightness even with color management turned off. See the printing the printer target and scanning the result help section for details on how/when to use the [now] two included printer targets.
v2.32	03/22/02	v2.32 fixes a problem where not all color patches were being considered when using the new "printer-target-bright.tif" image for printer profiling, resulting in reduced range reported in the "spectral sample range" message.

Profile Prism v2.2 (02/26/02)

Overview:

Version 2.2 offers even greater color accuracy and smoother color gradients across the entire color spectrum.

New Features:

• Increased accuracy and smoother color gradients: While prior versions rendered accurate profiles with relatively smooth gradients, v2.2 has an enhanced data smoothing algorithm that can detect and correct errors in the printing/scanning process. The result is smoother and more accurate color rendition in all areas of the color spectrum. Differences in color rendition from previous versions will depend on many factors including image content, printer being profiled, scanner used to capture the color targets, etc.

Fixes:

• File, Open fix: v2.2 fixes a bug that caused program instability after clicking "File", "Open" and manually typing a file name that does not exist.

Profile Prism v2.1 (02/08/02)

Overview:

This update offers new, smaller ICC profiles that have better color accuracy as well as diagnostic tools for developing better printer profiles!

New Features:

• Printer Profiling: v2.1 uses redesigned ICC profiles that provide better color accuracy while being physically smaller in size. Printer profiles generated by v2.1 now have a more consistent tonal range while providing more neutral color. In addition, a histogram display has been added that will allow you to evaluate the capture range of your scanner when scanning the Profile Prism and printer targets. Separate histograms are displayed for both the Profile Prism target and printed target as soon as the targets are cropped. The help has been updated to include information regarding how to evaluate histograms to determine if your scan is good/bad.
• Increased Color Accuracy for camera/scanner profiles: v2.1 fixes a bug that was causing v2.0 to generate errant color for camera/scanner profiles if the "Let device dictate WB" option was used.

Version 2.1 Revision History

Version	Released	Description
v2.11	02/09/02	v2.11 restores target evaluation messages (exposure, white balance, etc) that were being overwritten/cleared by the new dynamic range evaluation in v2.1. Other than the restoration of these text messages, v2.11 is identical to v2.1.
v2.12	02/11/02	v2.12 includes some small changes to the format of ICC profiles generated by Profile Prism. The changes will ensure compatibility across platforms and between different ICC aware imaging software.
v2.13	02/21/02	v2.13 has new gamut mapping formulas that result in greater profile accuracy, especially in shadows and very dark colors. Although the visible difference is slight over most of the brightness range, you may notice that v2.13 opens up shadows and renders more accurate color in dark/shadow areas of photos. This version also generates all profiles about 20% faster and fixes a memory problem that caused prior versions to crash if numerous profiles were generated in one session without exiting.

Profile Prism v2.0 (01/31/02)

Overview:

This major release offers higher overall color accuracy and ability to create printer ICC profiles!

New Features:

• Printer Profiling: Profile Prism v2.0 closes the loop on color managing your prints by enabling creation of high quality printer ICC profiles. Now you can develop profiles for your camera, scanner, and printer with one professional profiling tool. Offering a true color management solution at a cost of $69, Profile Prism goes beyond just being cost effective! Note that a good quality scanner and scanning software is necessary for creating printer profiles (see the step by step instructions for printer profiling to see exactly what is involved in creating a printer profile).
  Click here to see samples from an Epson Photo 750 printer before/after profiling
• Increased Color Accuracy: v2.0 offers increased color accuracy over prior versions including more accurate camera/scanner profile generation.
• More versatile ICC profiles: v2.0 generates ICC profiles that have inverse transforms, allowing them to work in both directions (as a "to" or "from" profile). Although generated profiles will be larger in size (400k to 500k), they can now be used with greater versatility in ICC aware photo editors for operations such as merging data into an existing image, etc.

Profile Prism v1.7 (01/07/02)

Overview:

Version 1.7 improves the accuracy of the tone (brightness) curves.

New Features:

• More accurate tone curves: A more accurate curve fitting algorithm is now used to generate the RGB tone curves in PP profiles, resulting in more accurate contrast in some cases. Depending on the shape of the tone curves for the device being profiled, the difference in contrast may or may not be noticable. In general, any differences will be small.

Profile Prism v1.6 (11/19/01)

Overview:

Profile description now stored correctly as a null-terminated string. Prior versions had no null character which could cause some ICC software to "complain" about PP profiles.

Profile Prism v1.5 (10/23/01)

Overview:

Version 1.5 improves the "Jiggle corners" function and provides some minor fixes.

New Features:

• More accurate "Jiggle corners" function: v1.5 has a slight improvement that allows the "Jiggle corners" option to be more accurate in detecting chart alignment.

Fixes:

• Checking the "Jiggle corners" option with no image loaded: v1.5 fixes an error message that appeared in v1.4 if the "Jiggle corners" option was checked before any image had been loaded.
• Cropping a second image without restarting: v1.5 fixes an error message that appeared if a second, smaller image, was loaded and cropped without restarting Profile Prism.

Profile Prism v1.4 (10/18/01)

Overview:

Version 1.4 focuses on both higher accuracy and a twofold increase in speed of profile generation.

New Features:

• Better profile accuracy through more precise target alignment: v1.4 allows for easier and more accurate placement of crop corners by using the new "Jiggle corners" option. This new option can detect the best corner placement for best overall alignment of the chart. Users must still place the crop marks at the corners, however, the software will now "jiggle" all four corners to find the best overall alignment given lens distortions, targets that are not perfectly flat, etc. The result is higher profile accuracy and less of a tendency for profiles to be "dull" due to inaccurate alignment of the gray illumination grid on the target. Of course, placement of the crop marks on the corners is also much less time intensive.
• Better profile accuracy due to a new illumination detection algorithm: v1.4 uses a more sophisticated and more accurate method of correcting the effects of uneven illumination in target shots.
• Speed of profile generation: Optimization of the profile generation algorithm results in v1.4 being more than twice as fast as previous versions at generating ICC profiles. This speed increase comes with no compromise in quality!
• Expanded help: Expanded help with quick links to important topics.

Profile Prism v1.3 (10/05/01)

Overview:

Version 1.3 focuses on providing better detection of clipping in target shots while giving a better description of how to handle clipping in the help file. v1.3 also creates profile that are slightly more accurate than older versions.

New Features:

• Better clipping detection: The clipping detection in v1.3 is not quite as sensitive as that in v1.2. Prior versions reported that data was clipped if there was any possibility of clipping. v1.3 reports clipping only if clipping is a certainty. See the "Step by Step" section of the help instructions for more information.
• Better accuracy: A slight improvement to the precision of measurements in the data files will make profiles more numerically accurate, however, it is unlikely that profiles generated with v1.3 will result in any differences that are visually detectable.
• Cosmetic changes: Changed the program icon and made it visible again (it was not visible in v1.2). Also, changed the clipping warning message to be less confusing.
• Expanded help: Expanded the "Step by Step" section of the help to better define what Profile Prism considers "clipping" and how it is detected and corrected.

Profile Prism v1.2 (10/04/01)

Overview:

Version 1.2 focuses on giving the user better tools/messages to evaluate their target shots prior to profile generation, and provides a smoother user interface. Profiles generated by v1.2 will be identical to those generated by v1.1, however, the enhanced evaluation messages will help users find possible problems with their target shots that might have passed all the tests in v1.1. Consequently, v1.2 can help generate more accurate profiles by ensuring that shots of the color target have appropriate white balance, exposure, etc. up front.

New Features:

• Advanced clipping detection: v1.2 checks every patch in the target three separate ways to detect possible clipping in data due to overexposure. Since clipping can occur even when exposure is reported as accurate, the new data clipping detection can alert users to specific patches where data is not being captured properly. If clipping of data is detected, every color patch where clipping occurred is marked with an "X" and users can scroll through the color target to examine the clipped patches. Knowing where your camera/scanner is clipping data can help in further evaluation of the image and can help in finding the right exposure. See the "Step by Step" section of the help instructions for more information.
• Cosmetic changes: Made some cosmetic changes to window titles, crop buttons, etc. to help increase user friendliness.
• Expanded help: Expanded the "Step by Step" section of the help to include all displayed messages in the "Messages" section with a description of each reported test result.

Fixes:

• White balance message: Fixed a problem that caused the white balance evaluation message to report the wrong white balance if clipping was also detected in the same image.

Profile Prism v1.1 (10/01/01)

Overview:

Version 1.1 incorporates user suggestions and focuses on providing options that allow users to create more accurate profiles for a wider variety of conditions. Profiles generated by v1.1 will be slightly more accurate than those generated by v1.0.

New Features:

• Contrast option: Since some viewers may prefer a little more contrast than that provided by the 100% accurate profiles, we have added an option to allow developing profiles that render images with more/less contrast. Be sure to read the "Step by Step" section of the help instructions for more information.
• White balance option: In addition to a mode that generates profiles where white balance is dictated by the camera/scanner and should not be changed, we now offer a new option. This new option allows you to neutralize grays/white in images where your camera/scanner typically renders images with a color cast. Again, see the "Step by Step" help instructions for more info.
• Instant messages: Target measurements like white balance accuracy and exposure information are now displayed as soon as all 4 corners of the target image are located, eliminating the need to start a profile generation to view these parameters.
• Restore defaults option: Added a "Restore Default Parameters" option under "Edit" on the main menu that restores defaults for all dropdown selections.
• Cancel option: It is now possible to cancel generation of a profile in progress.

Fixes:

• Accuracy: Fixed a bug that was causing a very slight inaccuracy in the green channel.
• Tone curve graph: Fixed a bug that was causing only part of the tone curve to display if your screen settings were set for small fonts. This bug did not affect profile accuracy in any way as it was only a display problem.
• Corner crop buttons: Improved the appearance of the corner cropping buttons so that the corner markers on the buttons are more identifiable.
• Tone curve graph redraw: The tone curve graph is now cleared once a new image is loaded so that a curve from a previously processed image cannot be confused with one that has not been processed yet.