OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

ColorSync Utility

ColorSync helps ensure color consistency when you’re scanning, printing, and working with color images. This package includes ColorSync software as well as premade ColorSync profiles for a variety of monitors, scanners, and printers. And the ColorSync Utility has a bunch of tools designed to make working with ColorSync profiles and devices easier. You’ll probably never need it, but I wanted to let you know it’s there, just in case.

A ColorSync profile is a set of instructions for a monitor, scanner, or printer, which tells the device how to deal with colors and white so the device’s output is consistent with that of other devices, as determined by the ColorSync profiles of the other devices. In theory, if two devices have ColorSync profiles, their output (on-screen, on a printed page, or in a scanned image) should match. Put another way, the color that you see on-screen should be exactly the same shade of color that you see on a printed page or in a scanned image.

If you’re not a graphic artist working with color files and calibrating monitors and printers to achieve accurate color matching, you probably don’t need the ColorSync Utility (unless you’ve gotten hooked on iPhoto and want your printed inkjet color pictures to match up correctly).

If you’re compelled ...