Thanks Everyone for a Wonderful 2005!

Christmas 2005
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I want to personally thank a few people and organizations that have helped COLORCRITICAL have the best year ever. First I want to thank my lovely wife Justine and son of 3 years Lucas for putting up with my crazy travel schedual and for letting me know that being a father and husband is the greatest job anyone can have and that the true secret to life is balance. So here is to you Ag Clan!

I want to thank the GIA and GMB for their incedible belief in my services and for the wonderful opportunities COLORCRITICAL has been offered. The GIA and GMB are wonderful companies who have nothing but integritiy in everyting they do. In particular I want to thank a few individuals at the GIA. Eric Harsh, thanks for believing in my abilities as a consultant and trainer. Will Holland, thanks for your unbeleivable presence in being an educated speaker, your ability to woo a crowd is inspiring. Thanks Rick Scrimger for the new business and the new music... and Ben Wolf, thanks for endless business and the tour of suburban London, you drive like a real man! Morgan Cox, thanks for your contribution to my knowledge base, you are a Rock Star! Andy Scrimger, you will be missed...I appreciate all the help you have given me. I only wish for my sake you didn't get a better job. Juniper Sage, thanks for being a great Seminar Cordinator...you have yet to let me down on the road. John Bryson, I can always count on you to bounce ideas off of and enjoy our conversations immensly. Mike LaRocca, thanks for being organized when sending me to an on-site, it makes the job that much more successful. And thanks to Terri Bell for your pateince and for being on the ball when it comes to money. You are a gift to any organization. And seriously thanks to the whole GIA East staff for being so helpful to myself as a contractor. Your professionalism is amazing. I also want to Thank Bill Merritt and Paul Hultgren of GMB for their advice and direction. I appreciate our relationship immensly.

I also want to thank my team here at encompus : a creative collaborative. We have done so much this year to build the new studio and it's looking great. So here is to US! Marc Hedges, thanks for just being you, I am sure you are my unoffical brother. I love the energy you bring to the group. It's so friendly and open. Terry Parish thanks for being the "Spark" in the group, you really get us all thinking in the right direction and that has made all the difference. Fabrizio Scippa, thanks for your relentless perfection and amazing design sense. I will done anything for you! I love the direction you went with the studio, it's is really top notch with every detail considered. Jorge Naranjo, you are the superstar designer of the group and please never change a thing. Steve Stadwiser, you are a rock. I respect your work ethic of "Nose to the grindstone" - "Get it done" they should be everyone's daily motto. Finally thanks to Manuel Martinez, our brilliant Architect and Designer, without you, the place would look so unfinished. You have a great eye for deisgn and form.

I also want to thank a few particular clients who have made our year fantastic. Phel Steinmetz of UCSD Visual Arts, thanks for the support you have given to me and for believing I can make a "perfectly" neutral profile for greyscale printing. Thanks Marshall Williams and Tim Mantoani for being a great client who actually listens to the advice I give you. You both do amazing photography. Thanks Jackie Siragusa and Chris Hardy at the San Diego Padres for the opportunity to work with such a great place and team. Go Padres 2006! Thanks to the individuals at APA, ASMP, AIGA, PIDE, GATF, PMA, PhotoPlus East, and HOW conferences for making a talk about color go so smoothly.

I can go on all day but wont. Just know that if you have are a current client of COLORCRITICAL then you are appreciated, seriously. I could not have been in business without you. I know we will continue to build a great relationship in the years to come.

Here is to 2006! Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Color Control Freak Seminar

Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I will be speaking on tour again starting in January. This seminar will be geared toward creatives. Please join me for a day of learning and fun in a nearby city. Please mention the code CRITICAL if you decide to sign up. I am so excited for the seminar tour to begin. This information is needed in the design community and I promise you will learn something and begin to have total confidence in your ability to control colors.

Seminar Overview

The GIA and GretagMacbeth, in cooperation with Quark, Adobe, Pantone, HP, Eizo, nik and HOW magazine, are offering a digital color seminar for graphic designers, art directors and marketing professionals. If you take your color seriously, we can put you in control of your favorites apps, the latest tools and current best practices in color control for design.

Attendees gain street-ready skills that they can put to use immediately, like using the full power of the new Quark XPress 7 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 to specify color, accurately preview colors on-screen and ensure that designs are reproduced correctly. We’ll demonstrate the best use of affordable technologies designed for designers, including monitor calibrators, profiling software, proofing printers, color standards, RIP workflows and color sharing applications.

Registration

The 9am-4pm seminar costs $299 per attendee and includes lunch, a monitor calibration system, eLearning DVD, and the Designer's Color Toolkit. Visit the seminar website for venue details and online registration or call toll-free 888.439.4403 to speak with seminar coordinators and register by phone. For printable info, download the seminar PDF.

Cincinnati - Jan 19
Portland - Jan 24
Boston - Jan 24
San Francisco - Jan 26
New York - Jan 26
Dallas - Jan 31
Philadelphia - Jan 31
Denver - Feb 2
Toronto - Feb 2
Kansas City - Feb 7
Charlotte - Feb 7
Minneapolis - Feb 9
Washington DC - Feb 9
Chicago - Feb 14
Orlando - Feb 14
Detroit - Feb 16
Atlanta - Feb 16
Seattle - Feb 21
Los Angeles - Feb 23
Nashville - Feb 28

2005 PIA/GATF Color Management Conference

Me with Beard
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I will be speaking at the seventh annual PIA/GATF Color Management Conference December 4-6 in Phoenix Arizona. It is the only conference of its kind on the subject of color management technology. The conference will helps educate you on the latest tips, tricks, and trends in the ever-changing industry of color management. Sponsored by industry leaders such as Adobe, Apple, Gretag Macbeth, ColorManagement.com, EFI, Eizo, Epson, Just Normlicht, Kodak, Heidelberg, etc. I will be speaking on behalf of GIA on the topic of Color Management for Wide Format. The presentation is from 3:00 - 4:30 on Tuesday December 6. My presentation will include a look at the Wide Format Prininting Industry in terms of it's applications, clients, and technologies. It will also include a overview of the systems and issues surrounding color. The business of Wide Format Printing needs a color managed workflow and this presentation will shed a light on the vast and expansive topic. I hope to see you there.

Vacation - November 11-18 North Carolina

Wife and Husband
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I am on vacation this week visiting friends and touring North Carolina with the family. Part of our journey will be to visit the coast in Moreshead and the Atlantic Beach as well as visiting museums in Raleigh. The best part of the vacation will be the rest and relaxing and playing night games with the Harrelsons, games like Uno and Quiddler as well as watching a few movies. See you all next week.

Digital Printing for Photographers - UCSD Extension Winter 2005

The Ghosts of Santa Fe
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I am teaching a three day workshop at UCSD Extension in December for photographers wanting to learn the essentials for mastering digital printing. The course is titled Digital Printing for Photographers and here is the course description:

ART-40370 Credit: 1 unit

Master the skills needed to produce high-quality digital prints. This small, 3-session workshop is designed for photographers interested in perfecting the process of creating digital prints in black and white or color. The course teaches advanced Adobe Photoshop CS skills. Topics include: retouching, color correcting, and enhancing your images, as well as organizing and archiving your digital photos. You also will learn to prepare image files for output at local service bureaus or on-line printing services. Class assignments will focus on making digital prints from your photographs.

Note: Elective for Professional Certificate in Photography. This class takes place in a PC lab and uses Epson scanners and Epson and HP printers. Basic computer skills are required (see "Computers for Artists and Photographers" ART 40357). Prerequisite: "Bridging the Gap: From Film to Digital Output" (ART 40355) or "Introduction to Digital Photography" (ART 4B237). Lab fee is included in course fee. Call (858)964-1066 with questions.

I encourage anyone interested in this subject to take this course. I guarantee we will learn useful information as well as test what you learn on current printers and scanners. See you there!

Course Dates:

Dec 1 - 6:30 pm - 9:30 Extension Campus
Dec 8 - 6:30 pm - 9:30 Extension Campus
Dec 12 - 6:30 pm - 9:30 Extension Campus

Hi Rez Digital Imaging

Hi Rez Digital Imaging
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Hi Rez Digital Solutions opened it's doors to the public in October 2003 as the first collaborative for-profit business venture with The Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association (SCTCA), a non-profit agency representing 18 Native American tribes in the San Diego County area. Located in Southern California, Hi Rez Digital Solutions provides high quality, fully digital printing and marketing services to customers nationwide while generating job training opportunities and income for the local tribal community. Hi Rez Digital Solutions is part of the Tribal Digital Village that emerged from a three year partnership between the SCTCA and Hewlett Packard.

Here Brooks Wilson is evaluating a CMYK profile I built for their hp 5000 running UV Inks on hp Durable Imaging Gloss and Scrim Banner. I built the profile through Onyx Production House utilizing my Gretag Macbeth SpectroScan and ProfileMaker Software. Thanks Brooks for making room in your production time to allow me to build a profile, thanks Nancy for the Hello Deli recomendation, and thanks Kurt for recomending ColorCritical for proving color managment services to Hi Rez Digital. We will most certainly be there when you needs us.

Harvest Productions / Bulldog Products

Harvest Productions / Bulldog Inks
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week was a challenge. I worked at Harvest Productions and Bulldog Products in Yorba Linda, CA. The challenge was to build a profile for thier Bulldog Orange Dot Glossy Canvas on their new Vutek UltraVu II 3360EC True Solvent 120" Printer. We ran into an issue where my GMB i1 Spectrophotometer read density from output through Onyx Media Manager's Linearization Utility in a manner which produced very strange and unpredictable readings. With a little research and a few phone calls to GMB, Paul Hultgren of GMB helped me to realize with glossy canvas you most certainly need to use the Spectrolino/Spectroscan with a Polarizing filter to account for the reflectivity of glossy canvas. Sure enough this worked and I was able to produce linear output as well as a precision ICC profile. I also profiled their Mimaki JV3 Solvent Printer so that it produces a proof of what will be printed on the same material on the Vutek. I also built a custom profile for ther Roland FJ540 on Red Dot Canvas and Pet Glossy Film. Harvest and Bulldog are incredible, they take color seriously and I have the pleasure to work with a professional partnership. Thanks Harvest and Bulldog especially James for the music, Derek for the stories, and Chris for being a patient Production Manager. I will see you again in December!

Apple Certification

Apple Certification
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I have been certified by Apple as a Color Management Pro as well as certified as a Color Management Trainer. The process entailed a three day course and test taught by Michael Oh of TechSuperPowers.com a training orginazation for Apple. In my certification class was Mark Gundlach, color expert of GIA/GMB. We were tested and critiqued on our presentation performance as well as knowledge.

Making the Leap to Digital

DSM Tour
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

My portion of the tour has been complete. I spoke in 11 cities, Columbus, Chicago, Toronto, Minneapolis, Detroit, Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, and Dallas. The tour was a success and the content was perfect for our audience. Here are a few quotes from seminar participants.

"The instructor presented the complex world of digital technology in a very clear, easy to follow format.” – Jim Johnsen, Stahls

“Excellent coverage of the basics (which we sometimes forget) and great knowledge training for general as well as advanced topics.” – Jon Higgins, Sign-A-Rama

“The instructor was both knowledgeable and personable. His interactions with other attendees drew out experiences and questions that were very helpful.” – Joshua Rydanski, Sign Designs

“Brought to light areas in color management that we are not doing. Good instructor – encouraged feedback.” – Trish Dalgard, FedEx Kinko’s

Nissan Design International - San Diego

Nissan Design International - San Diego
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I am working with the CG/Visualization team at Nissan Design International in San Diego. Nissan is critical about color and have used the latest in ICC technology to achieve consistent reuslts across their print systems. Nissan has another Design Center in Farmington Hills Michigan which ColorCritical will also implement a color managed workflow. Thanks Nissan for making my vist so pleasant, especially to Franklin and Don.

Tim Mantoani and Marshall Williams Studio

Tim Mantoani
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week we worked with Photographers Tim Mantoani and Marshall Williams at thier San Diego studio. Tim and Marshall are serious about color and shoot mostly Imacon and Canon digital. They also have their displays calibrated and profiled regularily and use custom ICC profiles for all thier print output. It's fun to visit their studio and as also a pleasure to work with.

encompus is evolving

encompus is evolving
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Here is a current shot of our evolution at 2146 Kettner Blvd. We installed some custom designed wood from tabla furnashings to cover the computer room and above our kitchen area. We also have a brand new spanking conference table suitable for at least 8 people. Chairs are comming, we have to decide on the look and how much we are willing to spend. It looks as if we are going for alluminum. O-yea and look for our new fridge...finally. I like how the light from the west bay shines though the holes in the wood casting a lively square of light over the talbe and the floor. Fabrizio and Manuel are inpiring designers and we are so lucky to have them as part of our creative collaborative.

DSM Tour - Chicago

DSM Tour - Chicago
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Welcome to the seminar. The Digital Sign Making Tour is in full swing as I complete Columbus, Chicago, and now Minneapolis. We have medium sized crowds but eager to have information and gain insight into the this ever changing niche of digital imaging. The content is straight forward but also absolutely fundemental. Inkjet Technologies, Digital Imaging Fundamentals, Color Basics, RIP's, Media, Finishing, etc. these are the general topics. In this image I beleive I am discussing the difference between Dye and Pigment colorants and next to me prints a Naranjo rendering of Santos the Mexican Wrestler on the Roland SP-300v running Eco-Solvent Max Inks.

Stan Keniston Architectual Project

Stan Keniston Architectual Project
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

A recent project was very interesting. I worked with Stan Keniston of Architects Alcorn Keniston, LLP. The project was quite difficult where we had to measure paint swatches and match them on a Photoshop Channel loaded as a layer. I accomplished the task at hand with the help of GMB products. I measured the paint swatches and obtained their RGB values and used ColorMatch RGB as my working space. I chose ColorMatch becasue it was the same space the PhotoShop files were in and thought I would give it a try. I measured the swatches with my I1 Spectrophotometer in i1 Share and exported the data as a PhotoShop Pallett. I then imported the colors into Photoshop and loaded each channel as a selection and replaced the existing color with the measured color. I did this for the trim, garage, and stucco portions of the buildings. Once printed to a profiled printer the results were spot on.

DSM National Seminar Tour

DSM Tour
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I am on tour again. This tour is focused on the digital sign making business. The sign industry is changing every day and it has taken the leap to digital. No longer can a traditional sign shop rely totally on vinyl lettering. Inkjet technologies, Solvent Printing, UV Cure, specialty media, vehicle wraps, these are the big topics in signmaking today. Lets face it, image is everything, knowing the current technologies will transport the sign maker into the 21st century. This seminar is sponsored by some heavy hitters in the industry, including GMB, Roland, Avery, Seal, Onyx Graphics, Digital Graphics, and Sign Business Magazine. If your interested in attending see where I will be next in a city near you. Check it out.

GA Expert Training - hp Australia

GA Expert Training - hp Australia
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I spent time in Australia training hp resellers and Systems Architects on the in's and out's of the the graphic arts market. I had students from Asia Pacific, including China and Korea. The flight to Australia is 15 hours from LAX and when comming over it takes two days since we pass the international date line. Comming home I actually gain some time, in example I leave this morning at 10:30 am Thursday and return 10:15 am Thursday. I was met with wonderful hospitality and the training was energetic and fullfilling for the students. We had access to the full Designjet line and went through important labs such as file resolution, profile building, and Pantone matching. Thanks again Hani for making my stay pleasant and organizing such an event.

UCSD Visual Arts Department

UCSD Visual Arts Department
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

My contract for UCSD Visual Arts continues with the training and configuration of the Graduate Lab ran by Fang Chen. With a full install and purchase of the latest technology has to offer including GMB ProfileMaker, Onyx Production House, the hp 5500 and Espon 9600 Fang is ready and able to handle what the graduate students and staff have in their needs of large format artwork. Fang has really learned so much this year and is now fully trained to build ink limits, linearizations, and advanced greyscale profiles from Onyx and build excellent RGB and CMYK profiles from ProfileMaker and ICColor. Great work Fang and I look forward to working with you with next years contract.

Harvest Productions

Harvest Productions
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

It is always a pleasure to work with the team at Harvest Productions in Yorba Linda, California. Harvest is a premier fine art reproduction facility totally dedicated to the finest quality reproductions. They have an incredible facility completely color managed with all the necessary elements, including color managed lighting environments. GTI lightboxes, Eizo LCD Displays, Color Management Software and Hardware. This week I color managed a difficult situation where I matched color from a Roland FJ 50 running Roland Inks to a Roland FJ 540 running BullDog Inks. I also built a precision profile for BullDog Red Dot canvas. Chris is a professional and his dedication to quality is impressive, thanks Chris, I will work with Harvest any time.

Charrette Chicago

Charrette Chicago
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Charrette is one of most impressive dealers in the country right now. They resell products for the digital imaging industry and have employed some of the brightest in the business. This week I was in Chicago training their lead tech's on the latest hp has to offer for their VIP certification program. If your going to purchase a large format hp be sure to look into the advantages a VIP reseller can offer. Usually resellers such as Charrette offer a competitive program for training, installation, and after sales service. Thanks Dave for making my visit pleasant, Chicago is always a great city to visit, unless it's in the winter.

Packing up the gear!

Packing up the gear!
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Howdy All!

ColorCritical is excited to announce it's new office location!
As of Monday August 1, our headquarters will be located at:

2146 Kettner Blvd.,
San Diego, CA 92101
P: 619-543-1105
C: 619-248-4985
F: 619-234-2154

(only the address, office phone and fax are new, all other contact info the same)

We look forward to our new digs and plan to make this transition as seamless as possible for all our clients. ColorCritical will be temporarily shut down for the week of July 25 - July 29, but up and running on August 1.

If we have made previous arrangements, or if we have outstanding projects, I will be responsive to your needs. However, patience will be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Marc Aguilera

P.S. More exciting news to come!!

San Diego Padres Petco Park

San Diego Padres Petco Park
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I worked at Petco Park with San Diego Padres Staff Photographer Chris Hardy. The Padres are serious about quality images of their new stadium and team. Chris uses the Fuji Pictrography 4500 and the Epson 9600 Wide Format Printer to output his images. Working with mostly a Macinstosh OS X workflow on G4 and G5 computers and the new 30 inch Cinema Display. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Chris and Jackie, the team resposible for the quality photography and printing through out the Padres organization. Thanks Chris and know we will work with you anytime to make sure your color and quality is precise and pleasing.

i1 Webex

i1 Webex
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I am performing webex trainings for GretagMacbeth. i1 XT is a new product that contains an entire system for color management. More information can be found at www.gretagmacbeth.com. The webex trainings are twice a month and go fo two hours. The instruction is based on using the software and hardware to manage your color. It's a time effecient way to receive initial training yet not complete enough for total color management implementation. leave that for an onsite service provided by us or your local reseller.

Woodridge Press - Electronic PrePress

Woodridge Press - Electronic PrePress
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I worked with Consolidated Graphics owned Woodbridge Press in Anaheim CA.

Fedex Kinkos - Austin Texas

Fedex Kinkos - Austin Texas
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Fedex Kinkos is serious about color and quality. This week, I am in Austin working with the impressive Vutek PressVu UV 200/600 in collaboration with GIA/GMB developing a consistent color appearance from hp 5500 to Vutek across locations. This involves custom color profiling and spot color tables to insure acurate renditions of PANTONE colors. The Fedex Kinkos staff is knowledgeable and energetic and won't stop at anything to get the best results possible. It's a pleasure to work with them.

hp VIP Training

hp VIP Training
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week we started the new hp VIP Reseller Training courses at GIA. VIP's such as John from Tereck Solutions, Jason from Lynn Imaging, and Eric from Arkansas Blue Print took part in the re-certification process. Updated technical and marketing information as well as lab exercises revolving around the Designjet 5500 and 4000 were the focus of the training course. The couse is taught by myslef and offered on a constant basis. Check www.graphintel.com for class dates and times.

Canon Stockholm Sweden

Canon Stockholm Sweden
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week I was in Europe giving a presentation to Canon. Canon is at the forefront of technology and have vast expertise in color management. Thier products produce amazing results and are a perfect fit for the the ICC workflow. With the colaboration of GIA/GMB Canon is paving the way for successful solution based selling by looking at the customer need of accurate and pleasing color reproduction. Sweden is a lovely country and the weather this time of year made for a lively and interactive training session. Thanks Canon Sweden for being so hospitible and eager to learn! In particular, thanks Mark for your lively personality and Thanks Wilhelm for the proper introduction to Belgium Beer, Maredsous is amazing!

hp Tech University - Boise, Idaho

hp Tech University - Boise, Idaho
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

June 7-11 and June 14-17 was spent working with hp at their Tech University. I was there speaking on behalf of GIA and hp regartding the EFI Designer Edition version 4.2 RIP. Students from all over the world came to hear about the latest technological innovations by hp. He had hands on lech labs designed to familiarize solution architects with the features and details of the latest products. In my session we demonstrated proofing, CMYK Plus Technology, Photo Printing, and Balck and White Printing on both the Designjet 130 and 30 LFP's. This event was amazing due to the interactivity of the global representation of hp. The interaction of the various technological expertise made for stimulating breakout discussions. Thanks hp and GIA for inviting ColorCritical to participate and share our expertise.

LUCE et s t u d i o

LUCE et s t u d i o
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Accurate and pleasing color is so important to the creative process. In some cases is absolutely critical. In architecture, the photoraphic rendering sets the tone of the work and shines the best light on the designed structure. This week we worked LUCE et, the firm responsible for designing the incredible Nissan Design buildings. They have now been calibrated to a standard viewing condition as well as been trained to integrate a custom ICC workflow. Thanks Sharon for being patient and thanks Peter for your amazing ability to learn super fast.

Western Lithograph

Western Lithograph
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

What do you think of when mentioning the term "color"? I have a decent number of samples to suggest the answer will be vastly different for each-others, or is it? Western is going forward with incorporating the world of custom color management. They bring years and years of experience to the table, which has made the transition mostly easy and straight forward. This stuff is'nt really hard, it's really about details and definitions. At the end of our days together Western has taken the ball and has ran with it. Thanks Don and Larry!

American Lithography Sacramento

American Lithography
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week we were in Sacramento at American Lithography. We were integrating GretagMacbeth ProfileMaker Pro color management software. Art Gomez and his team were ready to implement the benefits of an ICC workflow. We profiled their Kodak Approval, HP 5500, and their Xerox iGen Digital Press. We also calibrated and profiled their PrePress displays to D50 g1.8 150 cd/m2. Running a Creo Brisque workflow, we applied profiles to simulate the Approval. We also used custom conversions for Pantone to process by using GMB i1 Share (a freeware application) from a good accurate profile of the Approval we were able to obtain these values for PMS colors used most often.

Jarvis Press - Dallas, Texas

Jarvis Press
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

This week we are training The Jarvis Press, Inc. on GMB ProfileMaker Pro. Jarvis has been open in Dallas Texas since 1951 and is currently owned by Consolidated Graphics. Jarvis is a quality based full service sheet-fed and 1/2 web-fed press shop dedicated to using quality color management techniques including press profiling for better seperations.Integrating an ICC based workflow will allow Jarvis to better manage the expectations of color conversion from working space to press and proofing. It will also allow for on-display soft-proofing and control over color settings used by clients.

Photo Imaging and Design Expo

PIDE
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I will be speaking at the PIDE conference here in San Diego this week and if you have time check it out. Here is the write up:

5:30 PM April 20 Color Communication: An Industry Guide to Color Management

Marc Aguilera
Sponsored by GretagMacbeth
Commercial Product/Industrial/News Track

This dynamic and forthcoming session is for everyone in the digital workflow. We start with the question, how is color defined digitally? It is different for everyone in the digital workflow. The secret is defining your color from the creation to the final result and everywhere in between.

Sammy's Camera - 4th Floor - Hollywood

Samy's Camera - 4th Floor
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Samy's Camera is a landmark for Photographers in Los Angeles. We were on assignment there with hp to educate and demonstrate color managed technologes. We demonstrated the use of a proper color managed workflow with Adobe Photoshop CS and the hp Designjet 130. I shot this image of the newly designed fourth floor of Sammy's where they keep their professional studio and high end capture equipment, including an authorized Mac Repair facility.

ColorThink!

ColorThink!
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

Here is Adobe RGB 1998 rendered 3d by Chromix ColorThink.
Adobe RGB is a "working space" used in the Adobe content creation applications. It's a good space to use but it's not the only game in town. If your looking for a larger space that encompasses more colors try ProPhoto RGB developed by Kodak or Ektaspace developed by Joseph Holmes. However, if your looking for a good general all around wide gamut space suitable for converting to CMYK then Adobe RGB is a great choice.

Color Without Limits Tour

Color Without Limits Tour
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

I am getting ready to be on tour with Graphic Intelligence Agency (A GretagMacbeth Company). The 40 city one day Color Management seminar will be kicked off in Cleveland Ohio Jan 27. As the primary speaker in 19 cities, I am sure the entire tour will be fun and informative for everyone. Please join us if your interested in learning the secrets to managing digital color, the cost of the seminar is $349.00 and every attendee gets an i1 Display 2, a powerful colorimeter that will calibrate and profile your display. More information and to sign up is here. The following cites and dates are confirmed. *(deontes city I will be speaking in)

1/27 Cleveland *
2/1 Chicago
2/1 San Diego *
2/3 Detroit
2/3 Phoenix *
2/8 Indianapolis
2/8 San Francisco *
2/10 Cincinnati
2/10 San Jose *
2/15 Milwaukee
2/15 Los Angeles *
2/17 Minneapolis
2/17 Anaheim *
3/1 New York
3/1 Portland, OR *
3/3 Philadelphia
3/3 Seattle *
3/8 Boston
3/8 Kansas City *
3/10 Hartford
3/10 Denver *
3/15 Baltimore
3/15 Dallas *
3/17 Washington DC
3/17 Austin *
3/22 Chicago
3/22 New Orleans *
3/23 New York
3/24 Nashville *
3/29 Charlotte
3/29 Orlando *
3/31 Altanta
3/31 Miami *
4/7 Toronto