Re: [css-color] wider/deeper colors

> On 16Feb, 2016, at 03:07, L. David Baron <dbaron@dbaron.org> wrote:
> […]
> 
> This seems rather different from fonts, in that specifying a fixed
> set of alternatives (i.e., a list of color spaces known to CSS), if
> done right, doesn't limit what developers can do, only how they can
> do it (which is something language designers limit all the time).
> If the color spaces specified in CSS can represent the range of
> colors that developers want to specify, there isn't (I don't think)
> a loss of capability in forbidding other options.  And there is a
> gain, in terms of simplicity of the platform and avoiding dealing
> with the bandwidth and complexity of loading external resources.
> 
> -David

How exactly do you imagine this working? How many ICC profiles will we alias? Do you have a set in mind that “developers want to specify”? If I want to specify colors with the color profile of my specific monitor, how I will do so? If I want to specify colors that match a specific printer's output, how will I do that?
Color profiles are not just sRGB and Adobe RGB. I have not seen a single application or language that supports ICC color profiles but limits them to a hardcoded list of “approved” profiles, “preselected for your convenience”.
Having all the syntax and implementation for ICC profiles and not allowing arbitrary ones is so wasteful it makes kittens cry. :)

~Lea

Received on Tuesday, 16 February 2016 08:20:30 UTC