******************************************************* IMPORTANT INFORMATION for Colorific v95.33 Users ******************************************************* Colorific v95.33 Release Notes May 22, 1997 ******************************************************* READ THIS FILE COMPLETELY BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO USE THIS PRODUCT! IMPORTANT! THIS PRODUCT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR USE IN LIFE SUPPORT DEVICES AND SONNETECH MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS TO THE CONTRARY. LIFE SUPPORT DEVICES ARE THOSE DEVICES WHICH ARE USED TO MEASURE, DIAGNOSE, OR EVALUATE THE TISSUE, SYSTEMS OR FUNCTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY; OR OTHER DEVICES EMPLOYED TO SUPPORT OR SUSTAIN LIFE OR GOOD HEALTH. Sonnetech, Ltd. 350 Townsend Street, Suite 409 San Francisco, CA 94107-1699 Customer Support via INTERNET:..................http://www.colorific.com Customer Support (Faxback and Voice).... (415) 957-9941 Voice Only ............................. (415) 957-0152 Customer Support FAX ................... (415) 957-9942 America Online .............................. colorific Internet E-mail address.............. colorific@aol.com ******************************************************* Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction: New Features 1.1 Windows 95 1.2 Windows NT 2.0 FOR BEST RESULTS: 2.1 Obtain updated printer drivers and profiles 2.2 Avoid double color correction when using some graphics programs 2.3 No color matching in CMYK Mode 2.4 Use special glossy paper for ink jet printers 3.0 Optimizing Your Display's Color Balance 4.0 Loading "Monitor.inf" File during Colorific Setup (**This new feature is not documented in the Colorific User's Guide!**) 5.0 Colorific and Adobe Photoshop 6.0 Colorific and Kodak Precision-Enabled Applications 7.0 Colorific and Other Graphics Applications 8.0 Uninstalling Colorific 8.1 Uninstall Colorific v1.x BEFORE installing Windows 95! 8.2 Uninstalling Colorific v95 9.0 Reporting Problems ******************************************************* 1.0 Introduction 1.1 This section contains a list of features in the current Windows 95 version of Colorific. * Optimizes color matching by updating the Windows 95 internal registry with the unique characteristics of your monitor. Without Colorific, color matching suffers because Windows 95 assumes generic values for gamma, phosphor chromaticity, and white point. * Works with Windows 95's Image Color Matching ("ICM") module, so you can get great color matching results with any Windows 95-compatible color printer driver. * Provides TRUE INTERENT COLOR(tm) by creating an ICC (International Color Consortium) format profile needed for "tagging" Web pages to enable them to display with accurate color * Provides TRUE INTERENT COLOR(tm) by creating an ICC (International Color Consortium) format profile needed for internet "plug-in's" from SGI, Adobe, Pantone, Microsoft,and other systems offering internet color correction to your display (see: www.colorific.com) * Creates monitor profiles in the Kodak Precision format used by PageMaker 6.0, PhotoStyler, Picture Publisher, and other programs, in addition to the ICC-format profile needed by ICM and other Windows 95 programs. (See sections 2.0 and 6.0 below) * Reports white point, chromaticity, and gamma for each gun (red, green, and blue) via the Colorific Control Panel. On certain graphics cards, there is the ability to adjust the color balance of your screen to optimize it for Desktop Publishing, Multimedia/Video, or Daylight color balance (see section 3.0 below). * Automatically prompts you to recalibrate your monitor when you change color depths, change monitors, or make other adjustments affecting on-screen color. * Offers a shortcut to calibration: just click on the Colorific icon in the Windows 95 taskbar, then click on the "Recalibrate" button in the Control Panel that appears. * Many Colorific versions distributed by monitor makers provide an updated "monitor.inf" file that optimizes Windows 95 for your new monitor. (See section 3.0 below.) 1.2 This section contains a list of features in the current Windows NT version of Colorific. * Performs a subset of Windows 95 functionality until Windows NT supports the Windows 95-equivalent Image Color Matching ("ICM") module. * Creates monitor profiles in the Kodak Precision format used by PageMaker 6.0, PhotoStyler, Picture Publisher, and other programs, in addition to the ICC-format profile needed by ICM and other Windows 95 programs. (See sections 2.0 and 6.0 below) * Provides TRUE INTERENT COLOR(tm) by creating an ICC (International Color Consortium) format profile needed for "tagging" Web pages to enable them to display with accurate color * Provides TRUE INTERENT COLOR(tm) by creating an ICC (International Color Consortium) format profile needed for internet "plug-in's" from SGI, Adobe, Pantone, Microsoft,and other systems offering internet color correction to your display (see: www.colorific.com) **************************************************** 2.0 FOR BEST RESULTS, YOU MUST READ THIS 2.1 OBTAIN UPDATED WINDOWS 95 PRINTER DRIVER AND PROFILE Many printer drivers originally shipped for Windows 95 do not yet support all the color matching options available in Windows 95. These options are: 1. Saturation Matching (best for business graphics) 2. Photographic matching (best for photographs and complex images) 3. Colorimetric matching (best for matching a precise color, as in logos) Many early printer drivers for Windows 95 offer only Photographic matching. Even if 3 matching options are listed in the printer driver, not all will necessarily be available. (Try printing the same image using each of the 3 options. If the 3 prints look the same, you need an updated printer driver.) Colorific alerts you at Windows boot up if your printer driver should be upgraded to a newer version supporting all 3 color matching options. Contact your printer manufacturer to obtain the latest driver, or look for the driver in the manufacturer's CompuServe forum. (At the time of this writing, many drivers still offered only "Photographic" matching.) 2.2 AVOID DOUBLE CORRECTION WITH HIGH-END PROGRAMS Many applications originally intended for Windows 3.1 from Adobe (Aldus), Micrografx, Corel, and others have some type of color management built in. Applications of this type include Photoshop, PageMaker 6, Picture Publisher, PhotoStyler, Corel 5, 6, 7 and others. Colorific makes sure that Windows 95's ICM feature gives you excellent color matching. However, if your application simultaneously performs its own color matching, DOUBLE CORRECTION will result. The resulting prints will be overcorrected and color matching will be poor. Contact Adobe, Micrografx, Corel, or the appropriate application vendor for details on how to use ICM with your color-managed application. If you configure your application properly for ICM, you AUTOMATICALLY configure it properly for Colorific. If your application uses the Kodak Precision (tm) CMS, see section 6.0 below. 2.3 NO ICM COLOR MATCHING IN CMYK MODE Colorific complements and completes the image color matching ("ICM") technology in Windows 95. ICM only performs color matching for applications in RGB mode. If you use a high-end graphics application that enables you to work in CMYK mode, be aware that Colorific and Windows 95's ICM will NOT perform color matching at print time unless the image on-screen is viewed in RGB (not CMYK) mode. Contact your application vendor for more instructions about using your application with Windows 95 and ICM. 2.4 INK JET PRINTERS NEED SPECIAL PAPER Unless you use special glossy ink jet paper, the colors from your ink jet printer will be dull and will not be a good match to the colors on your monitor. There are several makers for this type of paper. We recommend Colorific-approved inkjet paper from IJ Technologies. As a gift for reading this readme file, call 1-800-356-6962 to request a FREE 5-sheet sampler pack. IJ Technologies: Colorific-approved and recommended: Ultragraphix I Presentation Glossy Paper Ultragraphix I Presentation Matte Paper Ultragraphix I Photographic Matte Paper Ultragraphix I Photographic Glossy Paper IJ Technologies, Inc. St. Charles, MO 63303-5157 USA Tel. 800-356-6962 This paper is nice in that both matte and glossy finishes are available. And it works well with most color inkjet printers, including those from Canon and HP. Other good souces for special glossy ink jet paper include: Hewlett-Packard: HP 51636H LX Series Glossy Paper (8.5 x 11 inches) HP 51636H LX Series Glossy Paper (210 x 297 mm) Contact HP in the US at 800-538-8787. Outside the US, contact HP in your country. This paper is available worldwide in computer stores. It works well with most color ink jet printers, including those from Canon. Rexham Graphics: RIJ4WHP Paper for HP Color Ink Jet Printers, 8.5 x 11, 50 sheets RIJ4WC Paper for Canon Color Ink Jet Printers, 8.5 x 11, 50 sheets Contact Rexham for European sizes and part numbers. Rexham Graphics, 28 Gaylord Street, South Hadley, MA USA 01075-2894 Tel. 413-536-7800 FAX 413-536-4414 Technical Support: 800-831-9551 Not only does Rexham make a white bright specialty paper that works in virtually all ink jet color printers including HP, Canon, and Apple, but they also offer a high quality white film (glossy) and overhead transparency film. Rexham media has a unique surface coating that controls absorption and keeps ink from bleeding or dulling, effectively allowing Colorific to match your screen colors to your printed output. Rexham also offers an entire line of wax thermal transfer media for most thermal transfer printers, and is constantly introducing new and innovative products. For transparencies, please be aware that color matching may not be perfect. This is because the bulbs that light overhead projectors are missing much of the red spectrum to avoid creating heat, which can burn or melt the transparency material. So the color you see when you print on transparency material may not be the color you are able to project onto a screen. ****************************************************** 3.0 Optimizing Your Display's Color Balance With certain video cards and video card drivers, Colorific can adjust your display to optimize it for desktop publishing, video/multimedia, or daylight. If your card and driver support this feature, choose your preferred color balance in the Colorific Control Panel. If you do not see any options in the Colorific Control Panel, either your card, driver, or current video settings do not support this feature. This feature is not available in 16 or 256-color modes. Try changing to a higher color mode to see in the options become available. If not, ask your video card maker if they have a Windows 95 driver that supports Windows 95's "DDIGammaRamp" function (also known as "Downloadable Gamma Tables"). ****************************************************** 4.0 Loading "Monitor.inf" File during Colorific Setup (Windows 95-only) If you received Colorific from your monitor maker, you might be given the option to install an updated "monitor.inf" file during Colorific installation. This file is used by Windows 95 to determine the optimal refresh rates and other settings for your display. If you are not given the option to install a new monitor.inf file, then the monitor.inf file included with Windows 95 is the current file used by your monitor maker. To install the new monitor.inf file, Colorific brings up Windows 95's Display Control Properties control panel. If this control panel blocks the instruction window displayed by Colorific, simply move the Display Properties control panel to one side. ****************************************************** 5.0 Adobe Photoshop Current Color Space (Windows 95-only) Colorific provides you with information about your monitor that can be used to update the Adobe Current Color Space data structure. Updating the Current Color Space fine-tunes Photoshop's internal color management. To update Photoshop's color space, go to the Colorific Control Panel and click on the More Info... button. Record the values in the Chromaticities and Gamma sections. In Photoshop, choose Preferences/Monitor Setup from the File menu. A dialog box will appear listing information that Photoshop currently assumes about your monitor. In the White Point list box, choose Custom. In the dialog box that appears, enter the X and Y values for white point provided by the Colorific Control Panel, then click OK. In the Phosphors list box, also choose Custom. Another dialog box will appear. Here, enter the X and Y values for red, green, and blue phosphors from the Colorific Control Panel. Photoshop Monitor Setup can only accept a single gamma value, so you should average the red, green, and blue gammas reported by Colorific and enter that value in the Gamma field. Choose OK to save this new information. See items #2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 above for other important information about how to configure your application for use with Windows 95 and its ICM (image color matching) feature. Detailed information about using Colorific with particular graphics applications is available from the Sonnetech WEB PAGE: WWW.COLORIFIC.COM. It is also available by our faxback system. Call (415) 957-9941 from a fax machine phone to request a catalog of documents. ******************************************************* 6.0 Applications using the Kodak Precision CMS Colorific creates a Kodak Precision (tm) monitor profile in your Precision database. This profile can be accessed by Kodak Precision-enabled applications such as PageMaker 6, PhotoStyler, Corel Draw 7, Adobe Photoshop, and Picture Publisher. Open the Kodak CMS from within your application, then choose the profile named for your monitor model. If you use the Kodak Precision CMS for color-correcting your print jobs, your should NOT enable ICM in your printer driver. Use either method of color-matching, but not both. If you use ICM rather than Kodak Precision for color matching, see items #2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 above for other important information about how to configure your application for use with Windows 95 and its ICM (image color matching) feature. Detailed information about using Colorific with particular graphics applications is available from the Sonnetech WEB PAGE: WWW.COLORIFIC.COM. It is also available by our faxback system. Call (415) 957-9941 from a fax machine phone to request a catalog of documents. ******************************************************* 7.0 Other Applications For other applications that let you customize monitor information, use the data listed in the Colorific Control Panel to update your application with the accurate monitor profile data. It is important to update these settings to achieve optimal color matching with your application. See items #2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 above for other important information about how to configure your application for use with Windows 95 and its ICM (image color matching) feature. Detailed information about using Colorific with particular graphics applications is available from the Sonnetech WEB PAGE: WWW.COLORIFIC.COM. It is also available by our faxback system. Call (415) 957-9941 from a fax machine phone to request a catalog of documents. ******************************************************* 8.0 Uninstalling Colorific 8.1 Uninstalling Colorific 1.x Colorific 1.x (for Windows 3.1) does not work with Windows 95, and can cause Windows 95 to boot only in Safe mode, so unless you plan on using Windows 3.1x as well as Windows 95, you should remove Colorific 1.x from your system. If you've already installed Colorific 1.x into Windows 95, you should uninstall it using the instructions below. To uninstall Colorific 1.x automatically, insert the Colorific 1.x installation disk in a floppy disk drive and choose Run from the Start menu. Type a:\setup (or b:\setup), just as you did when installing Colorific. At the second dialog box, you will given the option to uninstall, reinstall, or exit -- choose Uninstall. The uninstall procedure will remove most Colorific files and will also edit Windows' SYSTEM.INI file so that Windows 95 can boot normally. To complete the uninstallation, delete files remaining in the Colorific folder (usually C:\HGC), if any. If for some reason you can not uninstall Colorific 1.x automatically, you can edit your SYSTEM.INI file manually to recover full use of Windows. Open your SYSTEM.INI file using a text editor such as DOS Edit or Windows' Notepad. (If you can run Windows, you can open SYSTEM.INI for editing simply by double-clicking on the file's icon in File Manager or Explorer.) Edit the file as follows: a. If you do NOT have Adobe Type Manager installed, find the lines in the [boot] section that begin with system.drv and hgc.system.drv. Most likely they will be: system.drv=C:\HGC\hgcsys.drv hgc.system.drv=system.drv Replace these lines with one line reading: system.drv=system.drv b. If you have Adobe Type Manager installed, you will find these lines in the [boot] section: system.drv=atmsys.drv atm.system.drv=C:\HGC\hgcsys.drv hgc.system.drv=system.drv Remove references to hgcsys.drv, making the lines read: system.drv=atmsys.drv atm.system.drv=system.drv After making the above changes to SYSTEM.INI, save the file. You will then be able to run Windows 95 in normal mode if you previously could not. Then, delete the C:\HGC directory and remove Colorific 1.x from your Programs menu, if necessary. 8.2 Uninstalling Colorific v95 If you ever need to uninstall Colorific v95, first use the right mouse button to click on the Colorific icon in the right corner of the Windows 95 taskbar. (The Colorific icon is a monitor displaying a blue, red, and green design.) Choose Exit from the menu that appears. (If you haven't run Colorific, you will not have a Colorific icon and can skip this step.) Then use the left mouse button to click the Windows' Start button and choose Settings/Control Panel. When the Control Panel window opens, double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Highlight Colorific for Windows 95 in the list of programs, then click the Add/Remove button. (If you forget to choose Exit from the Colorific taskbar icon before removing the program, some files will not be deleted because they will be in use by Windows. You can delete these remaining files the next time you restart Windows. To do so, use Windows Explorer to delete the Sonnetech folder from the Program Files directory, usually C:\Program Files\Sonnetech). To undo the changes Colorific made to ICM, use Explorer to open your Windows 95 directory, then open the System\Color subdirectory. Delete all files whose names contain "Colorific" (eg. "Colorific1_2.icm"). If for some reason you can't run Windows 95, uninstall Colorific by deleting the directory "C:\Program Files\Sonnetech". (This will not update the Windows registry and is not the recommended way to uninstall, but it could be useful in the event of a software conflict.) ******************************************************* 9.0 Reporting Problems If you experience any problems, please report them to Colorific Customer Support by fax (using the attached form) or via Internet e-mail or America Online. Make multiple photocopies of the form and use a separate form for each problem being reported. Please mail or fax your completed forms to us as soon as possible. PROBLEM REPORT FORM Sonnetech, Ltd. 350 Townsend Street, Suite 409 San Francisco, CA 94107-1699 Customer Support FAX ..................(415) 957-9942 E-mail address .................... colorific@aol.com Product name: Colorific for (Windows 3.1/Windows 95 Windows NT/Mac OS System ___) Version: _____ Customer name: Internet e-mail address: Fax number: Address: My hardware is configured as follows: CPU/Speed: Memory: Video card (make and model): Bug occurs in the following video mode: 1) Resolution running when bug encountered 2) Color depth (e.g., 16/256/32K/65K/16M colors) Software running when problem occurred: Other system/software information: Problem description: *******************************************************