Krita + Printer Color Management = Official GSoC’12 Project!

The Krita printer color management proposal has been accepted into the 2012 Google Summer of Code!

The initial phase of this project will actually begin right now – it will involve fine-tuning the libCmpx interface, looking over the possible areas of integration in Krita, and formulating a game plan with my mentor and the key people involved with printing and color management. The official coding period begins in late May, so there is time at the moment to lay down a three-month strategy.

This project will be a huge undertaking for me, especially since color-managed printing under Linux is essentially on the cusp of becoming a reality. But I will do my best in the coming months!

-Joe

Krita and libCmpx (Possible GSoC 2012 Project)

Happy Easter, everyone!

I just wanted to announce that I will have some free time over the summer, and have submitted my proposal for Google Summer of Code 2012.

The project will focus on adding print color management to Krita, using libCmpx as the interface that will make it happen.  Two important steps in the proposed color-managed printing workflow for Linux include selecting the right printer driver settings based on ICC profile (or vice-versa), and embedding that profile inside a PDF format. Both can be done using the libCmpx interface, making Krita the perfect application for its testing and integration.

In addition to modifying Krita’s print dialog to accept color management-related options, some more work needs to be done within libCmpx.

Since libCmpx is intended to be a ‘general’ color-managed print solution for KDE/Linux, there needs to be a way to pass an ICC profile calibrated PPD file to the CUPS print chain – whether or not the print application uses PPD files.  Modifying libCmpx’s Selector module to convert between non-PPD print options (from an application’s print dialog) and the calibrated PPD file (to be sent into CUPS) would be a way to go. Oyranos code is housed in this module, and will provide the means to “translate” between the conversions.

Development within Ghostscript is also making strides in helping fine-tune its mechanism to embed a profile into a PDF/X3 file. This feature is coded within libCmpx’s Renderer module, and will likely to see some improvement during the summer.

Joe