Scripting ColorSync Calculator - data file input & output?

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
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#1

Hello everyone! Did a search and could not find anything on the subject.

I need to convert a large set (n>3000) of RGB colours (alternatively LAB) to CMYK. I found a DHTML function (by The Noah Institute) and based on that, wrote an add-on to my CAD-program VectorWorks, using Pascal. However, the results are disappointing and colours are way off. (Resemblance is purely coincidental.) Sliders & ColorSync calculator give entirely different values.

Now I’ve been told that ColorSync is scriptable - but I don’t know AppleScript!

Can anyone perhaps give some pointers on the subject?

The source data is either tab- or comma-delimited, eg
NAME, R%, G%, B%

Output can be anything; in the end it will become a set of XML-data files, but that I can handle elsewhere, like in FileMaker Pro. The ideal output format might be
NAME, C_decimal, M_decimal, Y_decimal, K_decimal

Sample line of the final code:
0.000, 0.029, 0.108, 0.024TVT F400

Alternatively, if someone has a good conversion formula that can be modified for Pascal… But I do think ColorSync would do it better.

#2

Hi and welcome.

ColorSync is scriptable, but you cannot script the ColorSync calculator.
Here is a collection of color conversion formulas

#3

This is disappointing, but thanks anyway, Stefan.

I was really hoping to be able to use profiles in this conversion. Or at least different schemata (perceptive, absolute etc). Calculations that I could trust.

The EasyRGB formulae seem to be identical to the failing ones I already use.

Ah well, life wasn’t supposed to be easy. (But why can’t one script the calculator? They’re just cells or something like it… Shouldn’t be that difficult…)

#4

Because in the dictionary of ColorSyncScripting there aren’t any commands to calculate colors.
No commands → no scripting!!

Here is a long winded way with GUI scripting, but for 3000 values it would take hours


property R : "0.1234"
property G : "0.2456"
property B : "0.6789"

activate application "ColorSync Utility"
tell application "System Events"
	tell process "ColorSync Utility"
		click button "Calculator" of tool bar 1 of window 1
		repeat until exists window "Calculator"
			delay 0.5
		end repeat
		my set_popup("RGB", 1, 2)
		delay 0.5
		my set_popup("CMYK", 2, 1)
		my set_RGB({R, G, B})
		tell group 2 of group 1 of window 1
			set MYCK to value of text fields 1 thru 4
		end tell
	end tell
end tell
display dialog "C: " & item 3 of MYCK & return & "M: " & item 1 of MYCK & return ¬
	& "Y: " & item 2 of MYCK & return & "K: " & item 4 of MYCK & return
on set_popup(_value, _group, _popupidx)
	tell application "System Events"
		tell process "ColorSync Utility"
			tell group _group of group 1 of window 1
				tell pop up button _popupidx
					if value is not _value then
						click
						delay 0.5
						click menu item _value of menu 1
					end if
				end tell
			end tell
		end tell
	end tell
end set_popup

on set_RGB(RGB)
	tell application "System Events"
		tell process "ColorSync Utility"
			tell group 1 of group 1 of window 1
				repeat with i from 1 to 3
					set value of attribute "AXFocused" of text field i to true
					keystroke (item i of RGB)
				end repeat
			end tell
		end tell
	end tell
end set_RGB
#5

Of course… I was just moaning about the lack of those!

Looks interesting… Thanks again! If there’d be file i/o it might just do the trick.

#6

just thinking out of the box and total without reason but is there maybe someway to access the color sync utility through the shell ? or maybe there is a shell plugin that could be called by applescript ?