A color mapping method for CMYK printers and its evaluation

Abstract

A method is described for realizing the mapping from the three-dimensional color space of color stimuli to the four-dimensional CMYK space of printer ink signals. Color reproduction on a printer is considered as the problem of controlling an unknown static system with four inputs and three outputs. The algorithms for the mapping are based on a two-phase procedure using neural networks, which eliminate the need of UCR and GCR. The first phase determines the printer model with a neural network, and the second phase determines the controller to realize the inverse mapping for the printer model. The performance of the proposed method was examined on experiments using a dye sublimation printer and an ink jet printer.