[clue-tech] gimp CMYK follow-up

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On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 21:07:23 -0700
Jeff Cann <j.cann at isuma.org> wrote:

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> FWIW - I know folks are waiting for gimp to have 16 bit color support.
>  I also 
> know that some folks claim that because of this missing feature, gimp
> is not ready for a professional graphics use.
> 
> I wrote in a previous thread that I had been in contact with the
> maintainer of the 'separate' plugin for gimp.  I mentioned to him that
> I am using the plugin to separate a brochure that will go to press. 
> Here was his comment:
> 
> "I work at a small printing company, and have been using GIMP and the 
> separate plugin for over a year.  I can see no difference in the 
> finished article between graphics separated in the GIMP and those that
> I allow PageMaker or InDesign to separate."
> 
> His list of missing features:  "A decent colour-managed preview of the
> working document would be nice, as would 16-bit support, but what I
> miss most of all at the moment is the ability to work with spot
> colours."
> 

Jeff,

I believe that there is limited support for CMYK in Gimp... it must be
there since my Epson printer use CMYK. However, I believe that the
publication business requires CMY color separations. Maybe that is what
is missing from GIMP.

CMY does not require 16-bit to work. Even in products such as Photoshop
that is relatively new. There was limited 16-bit support in versions
prior to CS. CS is all 16-bit.

However, 16 bit support is desirable... my Nikon produces 12-bit images,
so Gimp forces me to lose 4-bits somewhere along the way. Now that is 

Also, Photoshop does support for ICC profiles which is probably the most
important feature missing from Gimp.

It is interesting to note that professional photographers and Photoshop
gurus recommended submitting TIFF files with 8-bits per pixel for print
publication.

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