OKI C6150dn User Manual

							C6150 User’s Guide
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Factors that Affect Color Printing
There are many factors that affect color printing. 
Some of the most important factors are:
•the differences between the range of colors a monitor 
can reproduce versus the range of colors that a printer 
can reproduce. See page 181.
•monitor settings. See page 182.
•color settings in your software application. See page 182.
•how your software application displays color. See 
page 183.
•color settings in your printer driver. See page 183.
•viewing (lighting) conditions. See page 183.
•paper type. See page 184.
Monitor Colors vs. Printer Colors
Differences between the range of colors a monitor or 
printer can reproduce
Neither a printer nor a monitor can reproduce the full range of 
colors seen by the human eye. 
Each device is limited to a certain range of colors. 
•A printer cannot reproduce all of the colors displayed on 
a monitor.
•A monitor cannot reproduce all of the colors printed by a 
printer.
Both devices use very different technologies to represent 
color.
•A monitor uses Red, Green and Blue (RGB) phosphors (or 
LCDs).
•A printer uses Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black (CMYK) 
toner or ink.  
Very vivid colors (such as intense reds and blues) can be 
displayed on a monitor. These same colors cannot be easily 
produced on any printer using toner or ink.
There are certain colors (for example, some yellows), that can 
be printed, but cannot be displayed accurately on a monitor. 
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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These differences between monitor colors and printer colors 
are the main reasons why printed colors do not always match 
the colors displayed on screen. 
Monitor Settings
The brightness and contrast controls on your monitor can 
change how your document looks on-screen. 
Your monitor color temperature also influences how warm or 
cool the colors look. 
  
There are several settings found on a typical monitor:
5000k * or D50    
Warmest; yellowish lighting.
Typically used in graphics arts environments.
6500k * or D65   
 Cooler
Approximates daylight conditions.
9300k  *   
Cool
The default setting for many monitors and television 
sets.
*k = degrees Kelvin, a measurement of temperature
Macintosh OS 10.2 and 10.3
You can calibrate your monitor’s color regimen in System 
Preferences → Displays →  Color. 
Software Settings
Many software applications have their own color settings.
The application settings may override the settings in the 
printer driver. 
NOTE
Several of the Color Matching options make reference to 
your monitor’s Color Temperature. 
Many monitors allow you to adjust the color temperature 
through their control panels.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Please refer to the documentation for your software application 
for details on how that particular program’s color management 
functions.
How the application displays color
Some graphics applications such as CorelDRAW®, Adobe® 
Photoshop®, or Macromedia Freehand® may display color 
differently from office applications such as Microsoft® Word. 
For more information, please see your application’s online help 
or user manual. 
Printer Driver Settings
The color settings in your printer driver can change the 
appearance of a document. 
There are several options available to help match the 
printed colors with those displayed on screen. 
See page 178.
For Windows
The printer drivers supplied with your printer provide 
several controls for changing the color output. 
The default driver settings produce good results for most 
documents.
For Macintosh 
The install utility provides
•  a color matching profile for your printer
and
• a Color Option utility in the print driver. 
The Auto settings produce good results for most 
documents.
See “Automatic” on page 191.
Lighting (Viewing) Conditions
A document can look very different under various lighting 
conditions. 
For example, the colors may look different when viewed 
standing next to a sunlit window compared to how they 
look under standard office fluorescent lighting.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Paper Type 
The type of paper used can also significantly affect the 
printed color. 
For example, a printout on recycled paper can look duller 
than one on specially formulated glossy paper.   Choosing 
a Color Matching Method  
General Information
  
There is no one way to achieve a good match between the 
document displayed on your monitor, and its printed 
equivalent. 
There are many factors involved in achieving accurate and 
reproducible color.
However, the following guidelines may help in achieving good 
color output from your printer.
There are several suggested methods. The method you choose 
is determined by the type of document you are printing.
•most common [RGB]. See page 184.
•professional desktop publishing and graphics [CMYK].  
See page 184.
•photographic images.  See page 185.
•specific colors (i.e., a company logo).  See page 186.
•printing vivid colors.  See page 186.
RGB or CMYK?
The RGB color model is based on the three primary colors of 
light; Red, Green and Blue. This model is used by scanners, 
digital cameras and computer monitors.  
The CMYK color model is based on Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and 
Black printer inks or toners.  
NOTE
These suggestions are for guidance only. 
Your results may vary depending on the application from 
which you are printing. 
Some applications override, without warning, any color 
matching settings in the printer driver.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Most documents you print are in RGB format. This is the most 
common method. If you do not know your document’s color 
mode, assume that it is RGB.
CMYK documents are typically only supported in professional 
Desktop Publishing and Graphics applications.
About the Printer Drivers 
Matching Photographs
RGB only
Select a matching method appropriate to your monitor.
Windows
Natural is generally a good choice. Select a matching 
method appropriate to your monitor.
Macintosh
OS 10.2 and 10.3
Natural is a generally a good choice. Select a matching 
method appropriate to your monitor.
RGB or CMYK
If you are printing photographic images from a graphics 
application such as Adobe Photoshop, you may be able to 
use Soft-Proofing to simulate the printed image on your 
monitor. 
Support for 
RGB dataSupport for 
CMYK Data
PCL driver (Windows) Yes No
PostScript driver (Windows) Yes Yes
PostScript driver (Mac) Yes Yes
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Matching Specific Colors 
(Example: Company logo)
RGB only
Color Swatch Utility 
Use the Color Swatch Utility to print out a chart of RGB 
swatches. Select your desired RGB values from the 
swatches. Enter the values in your applications color 
picker
See “Color Swatch Utility” on page 274.  
RGB or CMYK
If you are printing from a graphics application such as 
Adobe Photoshop, you may be able to use Soft-Proofing 
to simulate the printed image on your monitor.
Printing Vivid Colors
RGB only
Choices are
•Monitor 6500k Vivid
•sRGB
•Digital Camera settings.
See “Color Settings” on page 187.  
RGB or CMYK
Auto is a generally a good choice.
See “Automatic” on page 191.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Color Settings
This is a list of all possible options. 
The list you see varies according to your computer platform, 
operating system, color production method, and printer driver 
type.
You can modify these settings by selecting Advanced Color, 
then Natural.  
Monitor (6500k) Auto               
The default setting (in Macintosh) that selects the best 
options for your printer. This selection works best for 
office situations. 
Optimized for printing general documents when using a 
monitor with a color temperature of 6500K.
Monitor (6500k) Perceptual               
This is best choice for printing photographic images.
Optimized for printing photographs when using a 
monitor with a color temperature of 6500K.
Monitor (6500k) Vivid               
Ideal for office graphics and text.
Optimized for printing bright colors when using a 
monitor with a color temperature of 6500K. Vivid or 
Digital Camera settings produce brightest colors.
Monitor (9300k)            
Optimized for printing photographs when using a 
monitor with a color temperature of 9300K.
Digital Camera
Optimized for printing photographs taken with a digital 
camera. This tends to produce prints with lighter and 
brighter colors. 
For some photographs, other settings may be better 
depending on the subjects and the conditions under 
which they were taken. Vivid or Digital Camera settings 
produce brightest colors.
sRGB
This option attempts to simulate RGB color.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Optimized for matching specific colors, such as a 
company logo color. The colors within the printers 
color gamut are printed without any modification. Only 
colors that fall outside the printable colors are modified.
Hue, Brightness, and Saturation
There are three main components to color:  Hue, Brightness, 
and Saturation.
Hue
The component that determines the frequency of light or 
the position in the spectrum or the relative amounts of 
red, green and blue. Hue corresponds to the common 
definition of color, e.g. red, orange, violet etc. 
Brightness
The component that determines the total amount of light 
(white) in the color. Zero brightness is black. 100% 
Brightness is white.  Intermediate values are light or 
dark colors.
Windows and Macintosh 10.3
Brightness can be adjusted when using the  Gray Scale 
color mode (color matching method).
Gray Scale: see page 210
Saturation
The degree of saturation of a color is its relative purity, or 
freedom from, mixture with white.
Windows and Macintosh 10.3
Saturation can be adjusted when using the Gray Scale 
color mode (color matching method).
Gray Scale: see page 210
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Color Matching ____________________
How To
 
Color reproduction is a complex topic.
This how-to information explains how to perform color 
matching with your printer.
Color Match Precision 
When the printer performs color matching, it must do many 
calculations to convert between different color formats (RGB, 
CMYK, etc). These calculations can take time to process.  
The [Color Match Precision] option allows you to choose 
between higher quality color matching (more time consuming) 
or faster but less accurate color matching.
List of Color Matching Methods
This is a list of all possible options. 
The list you see varies according to your computer platform, 
operating system, color production method, and printer driver 
type. 
To change these settings in your printer driver, refer to the 
appropriate section.
Automatic
Office Color
Graphic Pro
No Color Matching
Grayscale
Mac ColorSync
NOTE
Most applications allow the printer properties to be 
accessed from within the document print dialog box.
Application settings override driver settings.
Driver settings override printer menu settings.
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							C6150 User’s Guide
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Descriptions of Color Matching Methods 
Automatic 
Your printer automatically uses the best method to match 
color, depending on the type of document you are 
printing.
See page 190
Office Color  
This is a simpler color management system designed for 
ease of use. Office Color is recommended for users who 
are not experts in color but want good results when 
printing from programs such as Microsoft Office.
See page 190
Graphic Pro  
This is a powerful color management system based on 
ICC color profiles.
Profiles can be downloaded to the printer hard disk using 
a special utility, and then color matching can be applied 
to all incoming print jobs.
The Graphic Pro color management system is 
recommended for users who are already familiar with ICC 
profile-based color matching and require more control 
over color.
See page 190
No Color Matching 
Use this option to turn off all printer color matching.
No color correction occurs when selected. 
Use No Color Matching when you are using another color 
matching method in your application (such as Color 
Simulation).
See “CMYK ink simulations – CMYK source data” on 
page 206.
See page 190
Grayscale 
This option prints all documents as monochrome. 
No color prints. 
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