ColourKit Visual Neutral Reference

• Fine tune your Output Profiles
• Compensate for the adverse effects of
  • Fluorescence
  • Metamerism
  • Photochromicity
• Made using acid free archive paper with no optical brighteners added
• Careful ink formulation ensures neutral in all viewing conditions

When creating an output profile, measurements are taken from the printed colour chart and the system determines what balance of the colour channels is required to produce a neutral gray.

However, the perception of what a neutral looks like may be adversely effected by the fluorescence, metamerism or photochromic characteristics of the print process.
In other words, the viewing conditions that you view the print in generally do not match the viewing conditions that you measured the chart with.
Changes in the viewing conditions like the colour temperature or how bright the light is can effect the colour of the print.

While it is possible to measure these effects in a limited set of conditions and a limited set of material types it is very time consuming and the results are inferior to those that can be gained from using the human eye.

To this end the ColourKit team have developed a quick, simple and accurate process for setting the neutrals of a print process accurately to neutral.

The user prints out a chart in the highlight, midtone and shadow regions with a range of colours of varying cast's around what the profile thinks is neutral. The user then selects the most neutral patch on each of these charts and ColourKit will modify the profile to correct the neutrals.

Doing this without any aids is a skilled task but with the Visual Neutral Reference Chart it becomes very easy.

The chart is manufactured on acid free archive paper with no optical brighteners and printed with long life inks for maximum stability.
The ink formulations have been carefully chosen for the chart to look neutral in all viewing conditions so it is unaffected by the colour temperature of the illumination and the brightness of the illumination.

The Visual Neutral Reference Chart has three sections each corresponding in lightness with the chart printed out by ColourKit. Each section has a hole in the middle so you can view just one patch of the printed chart and select the patch that is closest to the Visual Neutral Reference Chart.

Correctly Matching Patch

Incorrectly Matching Patch